Gina Kirschenheiter & Travis Mullen Celebrate Thanksgiving in Her Long Island Hometown

Although she’s lived in California for nearly a decade, Gina Kirschenheiter will always be a New Yorker at heart.

The Real Housewives of Orange County mom proved this during a weeklong getaway to her hometown of Long Island, where she and her boyfriend, Travis Mullen, celebrated Thanksgiving with her parents. Gina began documenting the trip on November 23, when she posted photos and videos of her reunion with friends.

Gina reunites with her Long Island "besties"

“First day Back on [Long Island] and it’s already the best trip ever,” she captioned the post. “Got to see my besties, they are my [heart emoji] and all the babies. In heaven! Love sharing this with you babe [Travis]. And of course had to go to my favorite restaurant on Long Island [Robke’s] Thank you [co-owner Louie Selvaggio]!!! Everything was incredible as always!”

Gina and Travis spent the following days enjoying their time with Gina’s parents, Susan and Gene Archer. The week included a family shopping trip to Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace, some mouthwatering home-cooked meals, and a little walk down memory lane. On Wednesday, November 27, Gina posted a video of a mug she had made for her father more than 20 years ago. 

“So I have to share this because this, I thought, was pretty on-brand for me and my parents,” she said while highlighting the sentimental piece, which featured her hand-drawn picture of Gene playing tennis “My dad saved this mug that’s clearly a work of freaking art from 1993. It’s a Father’s Day mug… It’s me and him playing tennis.”

Inside the mug were a few random office supplies, like binder clips and a destapler, as well as a chocolate bar from Gina’s Sweet 16. 

“[It’s] probably a health hazard that they've kept this,” the OC ’Wife joked while highlighting the 24-year-old chocolate. “But apparently to my parents, this is rare works of art, so we’ve shrined it... I mean, you just can’t make this sh-t up.”

Gina shares a look at her family's amusing Thanksgiving contest

Fast-forward to Thanksgiving Day when Gina and her family enjoyed a traditional holiday feast and participated in a friendly competition. The group slipped on a pair of novelty chicken leg socks and did their best turkey dance.

"I’m giving my vote to turkey #2 (her mom)!!" Gina captioned the amusing video.

Gina on co-parenting with her ex during the holidays: "We're just so open"

Gina returned to Long Island while her three kids — Nicholas, Luca, and Sienna — spent Thanksgiving week with their father, Matt Kirschenheiter. Gina, who divorced Matt in 2019, spoke about her co-parenting relationship in a recent interview with The Daily Dish, explaining how she and her ex split family time during the holidays.

“We still have boundaries and, obviously, stuff like that, but we’re just so open, like, ‘Oh, you want to come over Christmas? Whatever. If you have plans, great,’” she said. “Like, ‘Oh this year you’re taking the kids for the week for Thanksgiving. That’s wonderful.’ I want my kids to have that experience. I’ll have Thanksgiving with them next year. We’re just very reasonable about it. It’s really all about what’s in the best interest[s] of the whole family.”