Thanksgiving for the Memories

It's so rare that the three of us get to spend four days in a row all together--that in itself is something to be thankful for. This year, Jarrah was quite aware of the significance of the holiday--"turkey, cranberry, stuffing and pumpkin pie." She actually favored only one of these delicacies (Hint: it's red, and handily consumed with a spoon to avoid other less-perfect foods.)

Here are some notes and photos from our long weekend:

Dinner at Grandma and Pop-Pop's in Orange County. It was worth three hours in traffic to get there, and Jarrah slept the whole car ride like a Thanksgiving miracle.

Dinner with Jessica, Jason and Yea-Yea at Sammy's on Black Friday, including Jarrah's first "Messy Sundae." Lately, the highlight of restaurant meals is "sitting like big gull." Jarrah is also becoming an ace photographer; you can see her portraits of Yea-Yea and "Mommy-Daddy" here.

This meal was preceded by Nia and some ill-advised sale shopping at Fry's, where the line was literally a mile long and we had to ditch our basket of goodies along the way so I didn't miss my class.



Road trip to Temecula, with a visit to Professor Pennypickle's Imagination Workshop in Old Town, a child (and adult--John, this one's for you!) paradise of science experiments and old-fangled machines.
Throw in a sunny stroll and a barbecue meal and you have the perfect complement to William's 4th birthday party, the real attraction of the greater Temecula area.



Plus, Jarrah's first pinata! The best thing ever invented as far as she was concerned: you whack the hell out of a cute monkey and then are rewarded with a shower of candy and "gummies" (which, she would like you to know, are not the same as candy.)