Thankful.

Once you have started the dizzying downward slide into the holidays, there is just no stopping. 

Unbelievably, since surviving Finley's birthday we have already consumed two- count 'em- fried turkeys and several pounds of  prime rib, along with myriad carb-y sides and an embarrassing quantity of holiday libations, in that most American of all celebrations of gluttony: Thanksgiving.

Weather and work and travel mayhem combined to keep us home and- against all my Walters instincts- chilling for the long weekend. Luckily, we got a couple warm days so we got to add "beach time" and "s'mores in tank tops with friends" to our long, long list of things to be grateful for this year.

That and "world's best in-laws who not only cook but also do home improvement chores."

Even F+F got in the spirit, and not just because it was 60 degrees out today. (Also because their father upped their allowance.)

The weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving were a blur, but they did involve some sightseeing,

the slaughter of waterfowl,

game nights and vaccines (!!)

and a "race-cation" to Hagerstown (and Gettysburg) for the small matter of a 50 miler (for Mom)

and the far more important matters of hotel pools and breakfast waffles (for the hooligans).

Plus, cannons.

Somewhere in there, we also celebrated Seth's 9th Alive Day with a trip to the National Cathedral. And, naturally, steaks.

Now we head into December with the big guy off conducting international arms deals in Finland, and the World's Best Trained Service Dog (naturally) at home sleeping on the couch, howling at random, and chasing the cat.

And the rest of us grateful for a warm fall, Thanksgiving leftovers, good friends, and even better family. And that Mickey has yet to eat the cat.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, skipped Black Friday (as we always do with glee), and jumped in some leaves.

Finley is SEVEN! And we are exhausted.

I don't know why it's never hit me before that the week of Halloween --> Finley's birthday is like the Olympics of parenting, but three near-catatonic adults on the couch on Sunday night (and several snoring dogs) are all the proof I need that it's a fact.

That's not even accounting for the Walters family tradition of having the tree up the week after Halloween...

Seth and I snuck in a quick date night (to see Bill Maher in Baltimore, which was awesome) somewhere in there, but mostly we've been squeezing in fall activities

which included a number of Halloween parades,

Halloween at the beach,

and Halloween in our front yard, after the neighborhood haunted house was way too scary.

Plus yard work. 

And then we rolled straight into birthday week. (Which magically coincided with testimony week, make it to the polls week, and "Dad brought home a donut the size of a pizza from his hunting trip" week.")

It gets harder every year to process just how big our babies have gotten. Seven feels particularly grown, 

and the annual retelling of the birth story now evokes such long-ago memories, I almost don't even cringe when Seth fetches the salad tongs.

We were so lucky to have Jayne here to help (by which we mean, do most of the work) to celebrate our big girl (plus the onset of a very late fall).

Finley expertly capitalized on working-parent-guilt and demanded sushi (Mr. Chicken Nuggets was unenthused),

a laser tag party,

and both cake and cupcakes. (Jayne outdid herself this year, and the red velvet was the best I've ever had, no kidding.)

A fantastic and exhausting and sugar-saturated time

was had by all, and we finished off the week as fall evenings were meant to be spent:

with our new stok firepit (strong recommend) and a complete disregard for fire safety.

Also, Finley got a nail stamper and decorated her brother's nails and this might be the photo of the week. She told him he looked "very handsome."