Thanksgiving Weekend 2023 - Black Friday

Friday, November 24, 2023

Pete took us all out to lunch at a very nice restaurant named Cooper Hawk. The food was delicious. I had the shrimp and scallop risotto and it was divine. 

They also made me up a very well done Canadian Old Fashioned. 

After lunch we dropped Xander off at basketball practice and then headed home. Steph, Abby, and Emma put up Christmas tchotchkes although Mom helped out with decorating the tree. 

I found the crackling fire channel on tv and sat and got comfortable on the couch. Abby played some Christmas music on her phone. It wasn't connected to a speaker so it sounded like it was coming from an old transistor radio. 

Steph put a Santa hat on Thora Peaches which looked very cute. 

Mom took a picture of me with the manger scene she and Dad made oh so many years ago. 

Abby made a power point of her Xmas wish list. I got a kick out of that. Most of the things were found on Amazon and she made note of when she found an item on sale. 

Pete made cheese fondue for dinner along with some chicken breasts (internet photo). 

Abby had a friend over and they played games with Xander and Emma for most of the the evening while Mom, Pete, and I had some Bailey's Irish Creme and watched Password on tv. It was a laid back and enjoyable day. 

Oh, and by the way I got Whammed today while scrolling through Instagram. I believe last year I made it to just before Christmas. 

Technically I don't think the Whamaggedon thing starts until December 1 but I'll still consider myself out. 

Thanksgiving 2023 - The Dinner

 Thursday, November 23, 2023

While Pete contemplates cooking the big dinner. . . 

I opened up a Fresca and sat down in front of the tv. 

Mom enjoyed the sunshine out on the porch. 

I joined Mom outside for a bit and it was particularly pleasant in the direct sun. 

After a bit Mom came back inside and took a little nap. 

Pete had the turkey on the smoker.

I took a little walk before dinner. 

And peeked at the turkey as it was nearing completion. It looked like Pete had it seasoned nicely. 

Turned out the turkey was gonna take a little longer than expected so I poured myself a little whiskey. 

The table was set...

...and I couldn't wait to dig in. 

Family photo.

Dinner was all very delicious.

After dinner we played games, including Pictionary, and had pumpkin pie.

All in all it was a lovely Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving 2022 - Emma

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Thanksgiving Weekend 2021 - Christmas Decorating

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Emma and I played some darts this morning (she won AND got her first ever bullseye.

Stephanie told me the kids really want the house  decorated every year but have never really helped and she ends up doing it herself. This year Emma was really excited to help. Stephanie and I helped her find the Xmas stuff in the basement. She wanted to set up the manger scene first. 

It was very sweet seeing Mom help her with the wooden part of the manger scene. 

Emma arranged the figures all on her own. 

Emma also set up and fluffed the tree by herself. Mom and I helped her put on a few of the decorations but she did quite a bit of on her own. Stephanie put set the TV to holiday songs on Amazon Music. I sang along to a few of the tunes while Emma finished up the tree. She was amazed that I knew ALL the words. 

I finally admitted that all the songs were sing-a-long and had the words posted on the screen.  

Stephanie got the stockings hung and also put up the Advent calendar. Part of the reason she's less than thrilled to decorate every year is that she ends up doing it all by herself. Well, this year Emma was old enough to really lend a hand. It was wonderful to she how excited she was and how she really enjoyed helping. 

Thanksgiving Weekend 2021 - Brewery Hopping

Friday, November 26, 2021

Pete wanted to go on a brewery tour today so we went to a whole bunch of them. Leo met us at the first one for lunch. It was nice to catch up and he taught us a card game called 99 which the kids really liked. 

We went to at least 6 different places. Some were wineries and one was a distillery. 

My favorite drink of the day was a whiskey-bourbon cream drink. 

Pete and Xander played a golf video game at one of the places.

Steph and I got cider slushies at one place. Here Abby pretends to drink Stephanie's slushie so Stephanie and take our picture together. 

The final stop had you pay up front for 32 ounces of booze and then put it on a card you could use to to scan a tap and pour your own drinks.

I started with a strawberry mojito and then tried a beer they carry from Pete's brewery. 

Pete had a friend of his meet us there. Pete and Xander continued to play their golf video game and Pete's friend joined in. Emma and I played darts.