Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving is not my most favorite holiday.  It used to be.  And I mean my favorite...over Christmas.  That's how much a girl loves to cook.  Since my Dad died, I have had no motivation to put on a Thanksgiving feast.  The last time I did it was in 2008.  It was the last time my Dad was ever at my house and the last holiday that we traditionally celebrated before he dies.  (I say traditionally because we did celebrate Christmas but he was so sick we opened presents in his room while he slept off and on in bed.)  For that reason,  I don't cook turkey anymore.

This year, my step-dad had knee replacement surgery two days before Thanksgiving and my Mom (the person I rely on to pick up the holiday slack) spent it with him in the hospital.  So we trekked on up to Long Beach to celebrate with my step-mom, Lynda and that side of our family.  We like to pretend we're celebrities...you know, eating appetizers and drinking beer while we watch football from the penthouse suite.  And of course we bring our dogs.  Isn't this how everybody does Thanksgiving?

 We were not there even five minutes before he got food on his clothes. 

 'Munchkin' hanging out with Aunt Brenda.

 Yummy!

We had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel.  It was nice.  Just us.  The rest of the town must have be cooking their own turkey.

 Uncle Mel showed 'Munchkin' how to use a point and shoot.

 'The Boy' played with his new Thomas and Friends Pez dispensers the whole time.  We are going to have to put a stop to this.  Lately, as soon as he sees Grandma Lynda, the first thing he says is "what did you bring me?"  He ate Pez for dinner.  All 6 packets of them.  And that was it. 

 She was entertained for a long time.

 Playing at the table.  There's those excellent manners, again.

After dinner, we went back to the suite and my Aunts and Uncle and cousins took off for the homeless shelter.  We stayed behind and drank wine and chatted. 

 'The Boy' watching the water show across the street at the Performing Arts Center.  He called it "the colored water". Smart boy.

 Hey played with Ginger for a while which is a big deal.  This is the first time he chased after her instead of running away.  I'm pretty sure he started yelling at her to get off of his buh-buhs lanket right after I took this shot.

It was a pretty relaxed day but not exactly the kind of tradition that I want to pass on to my kids.  So I think next year I will suck it up and pretend to be Martha Stewart again.