Thanksgiving Day (almost)

Today, Aiden went with Auntie Steph, Uncle David, Justin, Madison, Auntie Gina, Alyssa, Auntie Dionne, and Vito fishing. He was very grown-up about the whole thing. We warned him that he would have to get up very early. And he agreed. He got up this morning without complaining. We warned him that he would have to sit still and be quiet so he didn’t scare the fishies. He was fine with that. So off he went early in the morning with everyone. He even caught some fish! He said he had a really good time, and that Uncle David helped him a lot. He told Maria that he wants to practice fishing a lot so he can do it all by himself.

The fishing kids: Aiden (4), Madison (6), Alyssa (5)

Aiden with his fish :-)

Jeremy was a little sad that he wasn’t going. He isn’t exactly at the age where he can sit quietly and wait for the fish to bite. So he got to help Vavu cook breakfast after Aiden left. He helped Vavu make some pancakes. He really enjoyed that. He was really content this morning – just playing on his own – with any toy he wanted whenever he wanted. He got creative and made a duck fly an airplane. So we were happy he had a good time too.

Sous Chef Jeremy

After everyone came back, the cousins stayed and played at Vavo and Vavu’s house. Steph went back to her house to start the Thanksgiving ham, and Vavu started the turkey here.

The kiddos having fun before the rain started too bad

Aiden getting frozen custard in the rain. Can you tell he was excited? He was jumping...

When it was time for naps, Jeremy went to sleep and Maria took Aiden out for his special dessert all to himself. We went into Rogers and had Andy’s Frozen Custard. Frozen custard is a big thing back here. Maria kept seeing frozen custard places everywhere. So off we went, in the rain to get frozen custard. Aiden was sooo excited when we got there. They had many many combinations to choose from, but Aiden wanted a cone. So he bypassed all the mix-ins for a plain chocolate cone.

Next door was a big Hobby Lobby store. After being so good in Archivers (by not buying anything), Maria thought she could handle looking at the scrapbook stuff in Hobby Lobby, because she had never been in one before. WOW. That store was wonderful. Maria could barely contain herself. Ack! There was tons of scrapbook stuff and craft stuff. If only she had been a shopping spree winner...that would have been nice. But alas, it was not meant to be. The shopping spree would have to wait until another time.

We returned home and everyone was back at the house ready for “Thanksgiving dinner”. They were playing dominoes and pinochle...watching movies and visiting. Aiden went in to take a nap, and Maria went to catch up on the blog.

After the kids were done napping, it was playtime for them again. They really enjoyed spending time together this evening. They kept themselves entertained the whole night. They were running around – which did lead to a nasty bump on Madison’s cheek. So they moved on to hide and seek and play on the bed and air mattresses.

Thanksgiving dinner was awesome. We had turkey and ham and the traditional mashed potatoes, gravy and shay (Portuguese stuffing). We had corn on the cob, peas, and cranberry sauce, too! It really was like Thanksgiving. Vavu made a blueberry pie for dessert, and Vito made one of his famous cheesecakes. Today’s special was banana cheesecake. Yum! We played Ticket to Ride and Scattergories after supper. Then after a little more visiting, it was time for everyone to head out. Our numbers will be dwindling as we lose more of our crew tomorrow to the airport back to CA.



The rest of our time here is completely unscheduled. Ahhhh...relaxing! So we’re just going to see what we feel like doing tomorrow. What a luxury. The boys already want to try the scooters that the neighbor’s children were kind enough to lend to us to use. So if the rain lets up, we’ll probably be doing a bit of that.

Our [almost] Thanksgiving Day