Friday, December 31, 2010

Thanksgiving: Reader's Digest version

I'm a little behind the times...

For Thanksgiving we had a full house and loved it. Cousins James and Cameo along with their two kiddos Jacob and Eli, cousin Heather, Aunt Andrea, Uncle Jeremy, and baby Gwendolyn joined us for our trip to Sea World. The day was really nice and warm and the park was a bit busier than last year. The shows were fun and we all had a great time.

Matthew and Melissa were ecstatic to have cousin Jacob over for a slumber party. They both love playing with him. Isaac and Eli were more rivals but I imagine they will be friends once they outgrow THE twos.

During the Shamu show we sat behind Muslim family speaking Arabic. They bought some dippin' dots ice cream. Melissa, ever the shy one, asked "What's that?" pointing to the ice cream. The lady patted her on the head and gave Melissa her ice cream. I was a bit embarrassed and politely tried to give it back but the lady insisted and smiled at Melissa. That girl is a charmer. While watching the show, Melissa shared her ice cream with Jacob. Later she chattered in her usual happy manner to the lady. I don't think the woman understood a word she said but she grinned, nodded, and patted her cheek.

Later that afternoon little ones played at a very busy playground. While there I had the scariest 3-4 minutes of my life. The playground had a lot of nooks to hide in and 3 places to exit. (Terrible, terrible design, I think.) Isaac managed to dart out of my sight and I couldn't find him. The place was swarming with kids making a search harder. After the first few minutes I concluded he wasn't in the playground any more. I started a sweep around the playground when I heard him crying above the general din. An elderly couple was carrying Isaac and saw my frantic face. "Is this one yours?" Isaac lunged into my arms. "We found him running towards the alligator pond and thought he might have come from the playground." My kids are determined to give me gray hairs before my time.

When the kids got tired we trekked back home for a big Thanksgiving feast. Everything was cooked the day before, but it still took many hands to get the tables setup and the food reheated. Thanks all!

After the meal (and dessert!), we were too tired from the day's activities to have our traditional cousin games. We lounged on the couches, full and satisfied.

We will miss James and Cameo when they move from Houston. :(

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