Thanksgiving 2010

This Thanksgiving we headed north again to spend my week off of work up in Bayside.  The week flew by and the kids kept us very busy.  On our way north we stopped by one of my oldest friend Elisabeth's house and she took some Christmas family photos of us.  Jonah was not in the best of moods and the photo session was came to a very quick end when he fell apart, but Elisabeth was able to snap a few great pictures.

Once in Humboldt we kept pretty busy.  There was some general maintenance to do around the house, we visited with friends, spent a few hours at drop in gymnastics, and spent a beautiful Thanksgiving morning on the beach.

Jonah was a little clingy  while we were at the gym, but Cairo got right in there and tried everything.

The first few days in Bayside were full of rain, but by Thanksgiving everything was dry, crisp, and sunny.  We took advantage of the beautiful weather and took the kids to the jetty for a nice walk and a snack.

Cairo took this picture for us.  Not bad.

Cairo's second try was even better!  Good job Cairo.

Driftwood on the beach.

Cairo decided she was going to try and pick it up...

... but it didn't budge..

Snack time.

Summer, fall, spring, or winter- no trip to the beach would be complete without playing in the sand.

Notice, there are NO pictures from our Thanksgiving meal in Ferndale.  While our morning walk on the beach was fun, the kids missed their naps. This created monster children.  Cairo refused to eat and had very poor table manners and Jonah was trying to get into everything- EVERYTHING.  Erik and I both scarfed down one serving of the food and had to take an early exit.  Not only did we get no pictures from Thanksgiving, we barely got to talk to the family.  I can't wait to have a holiday meal that doesn't involve me trying to get a child to eat or behave or do anything else but enjoy the food and the company.

Pretend

Cairo is a dreamer.  She loves to play pretend.  These days she is making everything she gets her hands on have conversations with each other- dolls, bracelets, silverware, stickers.  Her typical themes involve either friends, marriage, or family.  She seems really fascinated with the social relationships around her.  I find that listening to the things she says is insightful.  It gives me an idea of her view on the world and the relationships of the people around her.  It gives me a chance to see how her mind ticks.  Cairo is so lucky to have such positive influences of family, friends, and love in her life.  She is already beginning to understand and appreciate the value of friendship and love.

The Leaning Tower of J Bear

hand built, with love by Jonah Bear

Don't believe what you see!

These kids cause a ruckus around the house.  Don't believe those innocent faces!  They are really monsters!

Chef Erik

I can't say enough about how wonderful it is to have a husband that cooks.  Since I have been with Erik his love for cooking has really developed and I have reaped the benefits of it.  He has exposed me to new foods, flavors, and a whole new thought process about food.  I am more than happy to do the dishes and clean the kitchen!

Some people love to read through food magazines or look at recipes and say, "Yum, we should make that," but they never follow through with it.  Lucky me, Erik looks at a magazine, finds something that looks good, and makes it!  He recently got copies of a new cooking magazine full of really good everyday meals.  He decided to try a few.  This one is a chicken polenta.  The polenta was creamy (due to milk and cheese), the chicken had a fresh lemony flavor, and the sauce was a delicious tomato base with capers, onions, kalamata olives, and prosciutto.  Yum! Of course, he also made chopped brussel sprouts.  Not my favorite veggie, but I ate my serving.

Halloween

 We had a great Halloween.  We vegged out in the morning,  carved our pumpkins, went trick-or-treating, and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  Jonah got a little possessive of the candy.  He kept grabbing handfuls out of the bowl and putting it on the chair.  Then, he would take the candy and put it back into the bowl.  Whenever my mom would take the bowl to give candy to the trick-or-treaters, Jonah would scream "MINE!!!!" and run after the bowl, grab it, and try to yank it back.  At this point he has no idea what is inside the little packets that make that crinkly noise, but I am sure that it is only a matter of time.