I know everyone is now in full on Christmas mode, but I'm still stuck on Thanksgiving. We did buy a tree for the apartment today, but haven't done any decorating. I've ordered cards but they're not in yet, and I've done very little shopping so Thanksgiving it is.
I'm not one of those people who can skip the holidays just because we're living an in-between sort of season right now. I want twinkle lights and cinnamon candles and I don't want turkey dinner in a restaurant. I'm not knocking that if it's your tradition, and if I need to have dinner in a restaurant to accomodate someone's travel or family situation, then sure I will do it, happily I might add. But that's not our tradition and holidays are a time my heart longs for the memory of childhood and the little things that mark the holidays as our own.
As you get older, or more specifically as your children get older, you have to adjust the picture you have in your head of how a holiday will actually look in real life. I get that, and I do keep my mind and heart focused on what's most important. That doesn't mean I won't try to have at least a smidgen of the traditions our families have enjoyed year after year as part of any new celebrations we embrace. It's going to require some creativity this Christmas, but I'm working on it.
Today though it's November, and November is a month set aside for counting our blessings and giving thanks so let's talk turkey.
Daughter2 and her boyfriend have been dating for some time now, but we've never met his family in person. We've never been in the same state at the same time (it's us remember), so this was the year we decided to be intentional in changing that. His parents invited us to spend Thanksgiving with their family in the Buckeye State, and we were happy to accept.
We drove up on Wednesday and enjoyed a casual dinner in their lovely home, followed by a whole weekend of lovely moments spent chatting, eating, and refreshing our ping pong skills. I used to have ping pong skills, but haven't played in such a long time and I'd forgotten how much I loved it.
I always think of my brother when I play ping pong. He used to play me a game most nights after dinner and he always beat me, even when he very sweetly played right handed (he's a lefty). Those games have a page in the scrapbook I keep in my head.
Also, I will go ahead and say what everyone is thinking. Yes my youngest looks like me. Exactly. If you saw a picture of me at her age you would swear it was her. Except I wasn't as fair haired back then. ahem.
Our Thanksgiving meal was delicious and very similar to what I would have prepared if we'd been at home. This made me happy because I don't like anyone to mess too much with the Thanksgiving menu. There was lots of football watching and a little Foosball playing and the weather was phenomenal so there was even a picture perfect evening spent beside an outdoor fire. I didn't take a lot of pictures because this was our first time in their home, and I try not to be obnoxious with my camera until you know me better.
Friday morning hubs and I met for coffee with friends from our Maryland days. These friends moved to Ohio right before we moved to England, but we've stayed in touch and Daughter2 and their Daughter1 are still great pals. We saw the mom and daughter in January at Daughter1's wedding, but there's not a lot of time for lengthy conversation at a wedding, so a coffee catch up was nice. Her hubs came too and we hadn't seen him in years, so that felt extra special.
Daughter2 and her boyfriend picked us up from our coffee date and drove us downtown to meet his family for lunch. We dined in a restaurant overlooking the river with a really pretty view of the city. After lunch we spent a few hours wandering through the Newport Aquarium on the Ky side of the river.
In case you can't tell Daughter2 loves the Aquarium.
She's something of a shark aficionado, not sure where that came from, but from the time she was very small she's had a keen interest in sharks. She's full of all kinds of knowledge and shark trivia which honestly is not a bad thing for a third grade teacher to have on tap.
In the Newport Aquarium you can touch a shark if you dare. You can also walk across the shark infested waters via a net bridge, which of course we did.
I'm pretty sure that's not as dangerous as I made it sound.
She was in her happy place here.
Before we went back to the house for dinner we made an ice cream stop at Graeters. I hear if you're in the Cincinnati area you must try Graeters and y'all know I'm a rule follower. People from Cincy always go on and on about the ice cream here, and I must say it lived up to its reputation. I had peppermint stick which was completely scrumptious and felt really festive too.
Friday evening we hung out at the house, had pizza, watched more football, and just generally made ourselves at home. We had such wonderful hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed our weekend in their home.
We drove back to SC on Saturday with a brief planned stop in TN to say hello to hubs parents. Daughter2 rode back with us since her boyfriend had a couple more days in Ohio, and it felt a little bit like the old days roadtripping with one of our girls curled up in the backseat. We don't have kids in the backseat too often anymore. Sniff.
Of course there was one more must-try dish before we left town-the iconic Skyline chili. It's hard to describe if you've never tasted it, but basically its a chili-ish dish served over spaghetti or atop a small hotdog called a coney, topped with lots of cheese and onions if you want, or just a whole lotta cheese.
Skyline doesn't taste exactly like traditional chili nor does it taste exactly like traditional spaghetti sauce. It's somewhere in between and it's good!
We had an uneventful drive home and I feel ready now to welcome the season of Advent. While it seems like so many people have had Christmas up and running in their homes for several weeks now, we're just getting started. That's how I like my holidays-one at a time.
I hope your Thanksgiving was full of blessings too!
Sounds like such a wonderful weekend getting to "meet the parents." My girls are crazy for shark week! They look forward to it every year. Great pics!
ReplyDeleteFunny that we were both in Ohio over Thanksgiving. I was up north much farther than you, in Medina. And my younger daughter is still with her boyfriend in Arizona over the holiday weekend, meeting his family. Maybe we BOTH will have weddings to plan again soon! ( :
ReplyDeleteOur Thanksgiving was indeed full of blessings, though not as eventful as yours! It sounds like your "meet the parents" weekend was just about perfect! Love the photos and happy faces. We have only begun a little Christmas decorating, but Thanksgiving decorations are packed away for another year, and the leftovers are nearly gone. On to a new week!
ReplyDeleteOne holiday at a time here too. Your daughter really does look just like you. You're both very pretty!
ReplyDeleteThank you : )
DeleteThis was a BIG Thanksgiving, what with traveling and meeting the "other" family. Beautiful photos. I'm like you - one holiday at a time for me.
ReplyDeleteMy parents use to live in Cleveland back in the late 80's so I've spent a good deal of time in Ohio. Looks like you may be planning another wedding sometime in the not so distant future. :o)) Yes, holidays really change once children marry and you are right, we have to adjust and go with it. I'm with you on enjoying each holiday one at a time. Yes, you and your daughter look so much alike and you look like you could be her sister rather than her Mom. Happy first week of December
ReplyDeleteYour whole week-end sounds wonderful! Glad you enjoyed it. And yes, that pretty daughter of yours looks just like you! We too had a good week-end FULL of grandkid delight, and if I get a chance later today [still soo busy!] I intend to blog all about it. Just put the final touches on our Christmas decs yesterday and lite it all up and so I am totally in Christmas mode now, lol. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteLoved your blog today and all the pictures. You are all such beautiful people! AMEN to the statement about having to change our holiday habits when the kids become adults. If we aren't flexible, 't may lose them and that makes for emptiness.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a perfect holiday celebration. I relate to you seldom having a child in the back seat. Even my granddaughters are grown up now!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great time. I'm glad you got to enjoy some of the things in our area on your visit.. Skyline is the best and so is the Aquarium. We love them both.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteSounds like a perfect Thanksgiving. :-) I love the fact D2 loves sharks. :-) FUN!
I am a one holiday at a time girl too.
Fun photos.
Carla
Loved today's piece. We did some decorating yesterday and even got our tree put up. Like you, we like to celebrate the holiday no matter the situation. One year we draped a green sheet over the telescope stand, wrapped some lights around it, called it a tree. You have a beautiful family!
ReplyDeleteHow awesome that you meet his parents. Sounds like a fabulous weekend. Love the photo in front of the tree.
ReplyDelete