cash money baby.

A few years ago on Thanksgiving Laura and Matt went with the Andersons to celebrate. With it just being my parents and me, my Mom vetoed the idea of making Thanksgiving dinner for the three of us. 

So what do you do on a day that everything, seriously everything, is closed and everyone is at home eating a yummy meal? Well, you go to the horse races. 

My parents dragged me out of bed and made the drive to the horse races. Can you imagine the group of people gambling, on horses, in Inglewood, on Thanksgiving day?? It was weird. A weird crowd, but believe me, very entertaining.

When this same problem, of just me and the parents, came up again this year you know what we decided to do. 

Horse races at Hollywood Park. on Thanksgiving. 

Super classy. Super fun.

and im not even joking.

ok, maybe about the classy part.

There were 8 races, every half hour. At first I thought this was going to make for dragged out day, but I couldn't have been more wrong. My dad and I got super into it and read about each horse, checked their odds, went and looked at the horse before the race and then would make our picks.  

 This place was obviously loaded with Dodger fans. Add that to the reason why I loved this place. 

I dont know what I enjoyed more. Watching the races, or watching the PEOPLE that are watching the races. I am telling you, the most interesting crowd I have ever seen. I tried to snap as many photos as I could of all of the unique people there. My favorite part was that most people there werent even watching the live races, they were too busy gambling inside and watching the TV's of all the different events to gamble on. pathetic yet hilarious. 

By the third race my dad and I decided to actually bet on some horses. Sinning, I know, but you can hardly resist putting down $2 on a horse. 

Right before our race started. with my betting ticket.

 $2 on Mobilized. 

He started out in the pack and along the last curve he got in the lead. I was so excited. I jumped. I screamed. I cheered and was SO excited when my horse crossed the finish line in first place. It was such an exciting moment!

 I won $5! 

After that race we decided to quit while we were ahead. 

 Since we weren't really celebrating Thanksgiving, being the All-American girl that I am, I wanted our Thanksgiving to still be as All-American as it could get. Horse racing kinda fits into that category. So the perfect meal on our All-American non-traditional Thanksgiving day celebration--Hot Dogs. 

Could this day have gotten any better? 

I think not. 

We loved all eight races. 

I got super excited about each one, although this is not a surprising statement. 

Mom loved it even though she didnt want to go. 

We spent the rest of our Thanksgiving going to the movies (Unstoppable, amazing!!) and eating waffles for dinner. 

I think this is the best way to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Hopefully the start of a new tradition? 

I think so.