Ah, Thanksgiving…this day is one of my faves for many reasons. The nostalgia I have every year, waking up to the smells of baking, and the Thanksgiving Day Parade on. My mom would wake up extra early to get started on 10 pumpkin pies (yes 10), and no, there were not 25 people at our Thanksgiving dinner ha! Family, warmth and laughter fill the entire day and it’s my favorite. If you’re searching for ideas on what to do once the dessert plates are empty, Look no further!

I’m just going to go ahead and get my least favorite activity out of the way, but one that I’m sure fills many households on this day. Football games are on all freakin’ day, and this is actually something that is a good buffer when everyone's bellies are so full you can’t think. Gather in the living room and those who want to can watch the game and others can sit and chat or relax while they gear up for the desserts to come!

Games are a huge part of my family, and usually we break them out before the desserts are served. We’re not a Charades/Pictionary type of family (although those options are sufficient), we like games like SkyJo, Skull King, Fruit Salad, Code Names, or any other card game!

We’ve never done this mostly because it’s usually freezing on Thanksgiving Day in Utah, however this is a great idea! Whether you have to bundle up or your state is warm and sunny on this day, a good walk after dinner is not only fun but healthy after all the food you consumed! I might recommend a quick stroll after dinner this year!

We all know that Christmas may start in some homes before Thanksgiving or after Thanksgiving, so whichever one you believe in your house, this is the perfect time to bust out that first Jolly film! Everyone's full anyways so it makes for a perfect relaxing activity! Might I suggest Miracle on 34th Street? My fave version is the one with “Matilda”. This movie starts out with the Thanksgiving Day parade so its a great movie for the day to tie in both Holidays!

Some people hate it, some people love it, we are DIE-HARDS in my family. Well some of us are anyway…for a couple of years we got the guys to go, needless to say it's now just us girls that go out ha! The time after feasting is when we bring out the catalogs, hop online and map out our shopping journey. We assign items each person needs to search for in stores, we make lists of everything we need, and plan our route of what stores open first. We’re shopping all night and all day Black Friday and it is so much fun! Although we love the BF madness, we hate the years that stores open on Thanksgiving Day, 10pm or later is fine. We’re all about showing up before the stores open, waiting in lines outside, freezing our buns off to “patiently” snag all the deals for Christmas gifts!

My sisters and I are huge crafters, but we usually don’t do one on Thanksgiving Day. This could be something fun to start! Find one that is easy enough that won’t keep you doing one thing for too long (you don’t want people to get bored), and maybe something the kids can do as well to keep them entertained!

Thanksgiving Day is honestly about being together, so whatever activity you do, do it as a family! And if your family chooses not to do anything but sit around and chat with each other, then perfect! That’s what my family does too and that’s one of my favorite things. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!