Thanksgiving visit with Grandpa

My dad came up for a visit with us over Thanksgiving, and we had a great, laid-back time. I didn't cook much (and what I did cook involved the crockpot!) so I was actually able to relax and enjoy his visit. He brought his dog, Daisy, with him, and -- no surprise here -- Maggie loved having a dog in the house.

She learned very quickly how to rub Daisy's belly:


I'm so sad this one turned out blurry! Maggie loved giving Daisy hugs. And Daisy loved giving Maggie kisses. It was one big love-fest around here. :)




We had a nice walk at the Botanical Gardens, even though it was a little chilly. We didn't bring a stroller at all, and Maggie walked almost the entire time. I was very impressed with her stamina!








And I was so excited to discover that Maggie LOVES pumpkin pie! So glad to have another pumpkin-lover in the house. :)


Hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings, too!

Go Gamecocks!

We're gearing up to watch the Clemson/Carolina game this afternoon, and Patrick's been teaching Maggie to say "Go Cocks!" It's adorable. If we can manage to get it on video, I'll be sure to post it. In the meantime -- go Cocks!!!

Grits

Maggie loves grits. LOVES them. She's very happy when she has them for breakfast and enthusiastically scoops them up with her spoon and her fingers and any other way she can figure out to get them to her mouth, and they get everywhere, and all these factors happily combine to make for a fun photo shoot!

Behind the wheel

Maggie loves to play in the front seat of the car (when it's in the garage, parked, and turned off, of course!) There's just something about the steering wheel that is so fascinating (not to mention all the other buttons -- she especially loves turning on the emergency flashers!)

Birthday fun

I had a great birthday today! Maggie enjoyed celebrating my birthday, too. :) She was pretty uninterested in opening presents at her birthday (a whole 2 weeks ago) but she was all about opening my presents today.

Yay presents!


Ripping some paper:




Enjoying some yummy cake:


Family portrait:


Not birthday-related but too cute not to share:


It was a fun day -- thanks to everyone who helped make my birthday special!

A walk in the woods

Here are a few pictures from our visit to the Botanical Gardens this morning. It was a bit chilly, but we still had a great time!

Waving excitedly to the ducks out on the pond

Blowing a kiss