December 2, 2011
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We had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Thursday morning, we drove to Sonoma county to spend Thanksgiving with James’ parents and pick up Zachary. Zachary had such a great time there … he played board games, ran model trains, watched silent movies (okay, maybe that wasn’t a highlight), and helped his Grandma with a 1000 piece puzzle.
Unfortunately, due to the rain, he was unable to take advantage of their huge (by California standards) backyard. For dinner, Mom#2 prepared a traditional dinner with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and vegetables. Thank you!
The following day, we went to visit Rad and Danielle at their new house. I loved all the woodwork, vaulted ceilings, and tile work – and their backyard deck is perfect for entertaining guests. I left my jacket there on purpose in hopes of getting invited back. Zachary and their son Tristen had a good time playing Battleship and Mario Kart (Wii) before we headed down to the Bay Area. Congratulations Rad and Danielle on their new home!
We had a second Thanksgiving dinner with my sisters at Sophie’s house. What a feast! Highlights included a golden turkey, Alton Brown style and lobster mac cheese with truffle oil. Very gourmet … and more importantly, delicious. I met Alice’s boyfriend Rob, who seemed like a very nice guy. (Isn’t that what the neighbors always say after a major crime? “He seemed like such a nice guy…” Hmm.)
After dinner, we went to Global Winter Wonderland, which was in the Great America parking lot. It was quite an interesting display of light sculptures. Most were made of wire and colored cloth, but there were 2 sculptures made of tea cups, spoons, and rice bowls. There was also a huge vase … at first, I thought it was made of pieces of glass, but upon further inspection, I realized it was made out of small bottles of colored water. Incredible!
There was an indoor area, which featured vendors, a small stage where groups performed cultural dances, and a Santa. It was not very crowded at all, and with only 3 families ahead of us, we got our obligatory 2011 Santa photos. What a relief to have that out of the way … my intolerance for standing in long lines increases exponentially with age.
On Saturday, James took the kids to Dave and Busters, while Sophie and I outlet shopped at The Great Mall. I picked up a new pair of super stretchy jeans at Joe’s, as well as a few items for a gift exchange. In the afternoon, we went to Aunt Aileen’s 60th birthday party. Zach and Calie had a fun time playing with cousins Auggie, Hayden, and Samantha.
We also got to meet 3-month-old Audrey for the first time. What a sweet baby … don’t believe anything Chrissie posts on Facebook, this girl is an angel. Happy Birthday Aunt Aileen and Congratulations Chrissie and Justin on your new addition to the family!
On our last day, we went to the local farmer’s market to pick up the best salsa I’ve ever had (from Swank Farms.) Then we drove to San Francisco for the Dicken’s Christmas Fair in Cow Palace. The event was very well done with many costumed characters – we wish we had dressed up! Scrooge was running around, there was a clan of chimney sweepers, and couples milled the streets in suits and ball gowns. Zachary and Eddie played some carnival games, we watched dancing, and Zachary learned a gambling game from some 19th century bums (yes, I had to look that up.)
There were some fun photo ops, and the kids dipped candles to take home. For lunch, my sisters treated my family out for dim sum as a belated birthday gift – thank you! As normal, Calie showed her dominance over animals by eating jellyfish, octopus, shrimp, pork, and duck tongue, while Zachary choked down some sticky rice and a plain steamed bun. After our late lunch, we headed back home with no traffic at all (not that I would know … I was in a food coma while James drove.)
I hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine. I truly have a lot to be thankful for … a close family, wonderful friends, an awesome career, and great health to enjoy it all to the fullest! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Comments (1)
An interesting thing about the Sky-Land-Water mural is that some animals (and sports equipment?) are in more than one category, and this is reflected in the mural. In fact, it’s not only reflected, but also with some sort of attempt at achieving a proper ratio between categories. For example: I noticed that for every 3 flying ladybugs, there are 7 that are just walking around. That seems plausible to me. And I see that the alligator water-to-land ratio is 2:1. That seems fair too. Now, the 4 soccer balls in the air compared to just 1 on the ground seems a little off to me. But maybe that’s just me. I don’t think it’s quite accurate in World Cup level competition, but maybe for the 10-and-under set it’s true. In games, I know I used to kick the ball as far away from myself as possible through the air. And all those header drills…
Some frogs inhabit land environments for most of their adult lives, so I do feel this was an oversight.