Thanksgiving, Ritchie Style!

With the advent of Thanksgiving 2011, we started a new Ritchie family tradition - an annual quickie family getaway retreat.  And where else would we do our first Ritchie Family Annual Quickie Thanksgiving Getaway Retreat (we'll have to think of a shorter name for that, eh?) but our FAVORITE regional hotel, the ROXBURY!!!  I've documented a couple of our stays here before (see here and here), though we've been many more times than just these three.  Anyway, it's a fabulous little hotel in the Catskills and each room is a theme from the '60s and '70s era of TV & movies, but not in a tacky way.  Some of the rooms are definitely over the top (over the top AMAZINGNESS!!), but you won't find a cleaner or more luxuriously appointed hotel (in terms of textiles, bedding, bathroom amenities) anywhere.  It's owned, operated and decorated by former Broadway set artists, so there ya go.  Awesomeness.

Here's their new addition - isn't it great?

 

More cuteness.  I could NOT love this limey-apple-green and black and white color combination MORE.  As a matter of fact, I'm going to paint our front door this same color come spring, I love it so much.  Fortunately, the rest of our house is already black and white.  Yes!!

Gloriousness!

So, here we are in the Genie's Bottle room.  Helloooooo color!  (and Mark)

Other side of the front area (notice Shelby & Noah already on the couch waiting to watch TV - little junkies):

And look at this - flowers that Mark had ordered ahead of time to be waiting in the room for me.  Cue the "awwwwwwwwwws" now.  Yep, gotta be thankful for my Markli.  :)

Bedroom one, invaded.  (note to self: clean your camera lens!!! Sheesh!)  Ordinarily I don't EVER stay in a hotel unless it has white bed covers (you know what stains hide on those colored ones, right???  ewwwwww), but the Roxbury is my ONLY exception because they're fabulous and I trust them to be clean.

Bedroom two, which is where the kids were transferred after I decided I wanted bedroom one.  And here my little kid gang is, doing what they love most in hotels (aside from jumping on the beds, which they are NOT supposed to be doing) - watching TV in bed, the ultimate luxury, since we don't allow TVs in bedrooms.

Back to bedroom one, with ME enjoying watching TV in bed.  Gosh, that IS a nice luxury.  We'll need to rethink that no-TVs-in-bedrooms-rule, Mark.

The glorious bathroom, shaped round like you're INSIDE a bottle!  (Genie's Bottle, remember?)

I must admit, this was my first encounter with a tub like this.  Have you ever seen one of these?

ALERT!  ALERT!  A BLOG FIRST:  Me in the bathtub!!!!  Yessirree!  See my hand in the mirror waving?  So, I just sat perfectly upright in this strange little tub and read a book.  I'm not sure what else to say, other than it was...different.  And the kids refused to go near it, fearing it was too deep for them.  Which, of course, it wasn't, but I suspect they just didn't want to waste their valuable and rare watching-TV-in-bed-in-a-hotel-time with something as mundane as a bath.

And here's the cool thing - the bathroom was a pass-through bathroom, connecting both bedrooms, so I could hang out in MY room but still keep an eye on the kid gang.  VERY convenient.

This whole trip was Mark's idea (another FIRST!) and he wanted us to decide on three goals each (or as we called them in the Genie room, wishes) for 2012.  Each of us had time in the "throne" seat while Mark wrote down our goals, since HE is supposed to keep track of them and make sure we're doing something about them in 2012.  I'm not sure how that will turn out, so if you see Mark around, ASK HIM and REMIND him that he's supposed to be doing this!

Noah's turn:

1. Go to China  (Noah is obsessed with China, we have no idea why)
2. Go to Africa  (that's reasonable)
3. Play baseball  (the first we've heard of this, it came out of left field.  BWA HA HA, pun intended!!!)

Here's Connor usurping the throne from King Noah:

Now it's Connor's turn:

1. Learn French (because dabbling in 15 other languages isn't enough for him!)
2. Go to Seaworld  (works for me)
3. Go to another country, even it's just Canada (again, works for me, especially if we can go to the rumored hotel made of ice in Toronto??)

Shelby's turn (photobombed by King Noah, hoping to return to his rule soon), even though she didn't have to specify any goals.  Her only job is to be cute.  :)

Queen Mommy (with assistance from Princess Shelby):

1. Get the house completely simplified and organized.  (Hey, it *could* happen. But I'll have to go back on caffeine in a big way.  And get a couple of nannies.  And get a $5,000 gift card to The Container Store - my mother ship, my Mecca)
2. Get in shape and get healthy (yawn, I know)
3. Get a bigger vehicle (keep in mind we were fresh off a 3.5 hour drive with 3 kids smashed all together in the back seat of a small SUV - my main thoughts during that time were ^#^!&#@&^ WHY DIDN'T WE GET A @#@&#*($&*@(&$ BIGGER CAR??!?!??)

And of course, what fun would a Ritchie family getaway be without playing our favorite family game, The Adventurers!   (sooo thankful my kids never liked Candyland)

Unfortunately, Noah's adventurer was smashed to death in the exit corridor by a rolling boulder.  Here's how he took that news:

And after that he continued to tantrum, and hit his chin on the edge of the table, thereby necessitating a chin Angry Birds bandaid:

And here's Connor in timeout for laughing at Noah dying and then cutting open his chin.  We found that doing timeouts outside in bare feet worked QUITE well - after all, no one likes cold, wet feet.  (another note to self: Move time-out chair to our front porch in the winter)

We didn't do our actual Thanksgiving dinner at the Roxbury, but came back to have dinner at home.  Here we are, and yes, we ARE still in our pajamas, thanks for noticing:

Oh, yes, you also noticed that our Thanksgiving table had no turkey, and are those…..chicken wings?!?!?  What kind of Thanksgiving is THAT!??!?  Well, a few years ago, Mark and I realized that no one really liked any of the traditional Thanksgiving foods (except Mark, who will eat anything except jalapenos), so why bother going to all that hassle?  So, instead, everyone chooses one or two favorite dishes for which we are VERY thankful, and we eat and share those. 

Here's thankful Mark with his pork ribs stew concoction (and he's thankful he didn't have to share because no one else wanted any of THAT!):

Connor is thankful for ravioli this year:

Shelby is thankful for macaroni and cheese (with a side of Honey Nut Cheerios) - AGAIN (same in 2010):

Noah is thankful for pizza (and has been every Thanksgiving of his life):

And it's no secret to anyone that knows me how thankful I am for Angie's famous hot wings!  Mark complained that this was the third year in a row that I wanted these for Thanksgiving.   He also has to make them for Mothers Day and my birthday.  And a few times inbetween.  But I really really love them and I am really and truly thankful for them.  And I'm thankful that I do NOT have to eat turkey or cranberries or sweet potatoes or pie - none of which I like.

To finish off our Thanksgiving 2011, after dinner we went to Lights on the Lake, Syracuse's annual 2-mile drive along Onondaga Lake with…well, lots of Christmas lights!  It's fabulous!  And yup, we STILL didn't change out of our pajamas (I specifically told Mark I wanted a Pajama Thanksgiving, meaning we didn't go anywhere that required real clothes, and darnit, I made it happen!).

We always let the kids sit in the back of car, free to roam (and fight). That's Noah getting comfortable here.

As they get bigger, it's getting too crowded back there.  YES, we definitely need a bigger car.

It didn't take long for the boys to remember our summer drives up the gravel roads to my parents house in the mountains of southern Idaho where I let them hang out the sunroof, and indeed, whaddya know - worked great for Lights on the Lake, too!  Of course, it's also been unseasonably warm here this fall.  Which I am EXTREMELY crabby about.  I am NOT thankful for this CRUMMY WARM weather.  Bah humbug!

Our Thanksgiving weekend grand finale was getting our tree up early (complete with bad cat on bottom who keeps batting ornaments off).  Joy to the world!  Something done EARLY.  I'm thankful for that, for sure. (Unless we put it up TOO early and it starts drying out and dropping needles everywhere.  Then I'll be grouchy about that, too, in addition to the lack of cold and snow.)

 

Footnote:  I know you're all ogling my BEAUTIFUL red sideboard table next to the tree.  As a matter of fact, if I saw it on YOUR blog I would immediately email you and ask where you bought it and/or BEG you to sell it to me.  Anyway, I am the supremely and eternally THANKFUL owner of an original Vintage Charm piece by the uber-talented Darice.  My sideboard's name is Olivia, and is she the very definition of *glorious* or what??  :)