Hayride

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I’m so grateful to have a big, loving family who gathers for holidays to share a great meal and laughter and create memories year after year.  My parents house has lots of room for their grandchildren to run around (including our pup Boston) and in the past couple of years Dad has started a tradition of a Thanksgiving Hayride. 

The best part about the hayride, besides the thrill associated with your siblings hanging on for dear life as Dad rolls over bumpy patches, is the opportunity for great, candid photos of family members.  Dad hooks a trailer to the car with four-wheel drive, fills it with hay and we all pile on for a scenic country drive.  Younger hay-ride attendees cuddle up on someones lap, blankets and stories and cups of hot chocolate are shared since it’s usually pretty cold outside and everyone is having a great time. 

No one has fallen out of the trailer yet but anything can happen on a hayride.  In one of the photos below, my sister Tasha is doing “the wave” with cute green mittens on.  Last year, the hayride stopped near some cattle grazing the field.  The cows were curious and came over to see what was going on.  After the hayride resumed the cows began chasing the trailer…..because we were sitting on hay which of course cows love to eat.  Exciting at first, things got really interesting when we realized the hayride was approaching a closed gate and the cows would catch up with us.  

If you’ve never been on a hay-ride, I definitely recommend one or starting a Thanksgiving tradition.