Aunt Samantha Comes to Town

For Thanksgiving, Benjamin's Aunt Samantha came to visit. That made for one very happy little boy. We celebrated a little differently and had a Mexican feast. Since there were three adults and only one toddler, I was actually able to get in the kitchen and cook! A rare treat these days.

On the menu for Thanksgiving: steak and veggie enchiladas with a homemade tomatillo enchilada sauce, sweet corn cakes, yellow rice, homemade guacamole and Trader Joe's Karat Cake for dessert (don't waste your time. Chocolate ganache cake will far exceed your expectations... this barely meets them).

Aunt Samantha came bearing gifts from Benjamin's Maryland grandparents! Among them was a very cool tractor nightlight that Benjamin refers to as a truck because he hasn't nailed down the word tractor quite yet. He loves it. You can gauge how much he loves something by the number of times he says it in a row. The count was off the charts. We went shopping, ate lots, went out to a delicious lunch and Skyped with Benjamin's grandparents.

We even went to see Santa! Our local Bass Pro Shop was having Santa and friends at their store and boy was that awesome! I totally recommend it. Free carousel, crafts, trains, mini exhibits and of course, Santa and company! We love that store anyway because of how huge it is and the big fish tank in the middle, but seeing the Easter Bunny earlier in the year and now Santa (but more important to Benjamin were Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman... as he literally followed them everywhere they went) have definitely added to the cool factor of the store.

Santa didn't phase him at all. My kid is quite cool having complete strangers hold him. Sigh...

B loves his Aunt Samantha so much that when she was reading one afternoon, he grabbed the iPad (that he was playing on in the kitchen) and walked to the formal living room where she was laying. He crawled up on the couch and just sat with her to be close. So sweet. Aunt Samantha even went with us to a gymnastics class. And as if he didn't love her enough... she left a special "deet" for him on the bed after she left. It took him no more than 20 minutes to find that deet and inhale it. Really fun weekend!

And that mullet in the last photo? It's gone. Dad cut it this weekend.