Vacation Day 3

Sorry I didn't blog sooner. I'm having computer issues, but I'll save that for another post...

Day 3 of our vacation was fun. We woke early and took the hotel shuttle to the Metro station (that's D.C.'s subway system) and rode the Metro into the city. We disembarked at the "Mall" which isn't a shopping center, but rather the area in Washington, DC near the monuments, museum and Capitol Building. Here are the boys at the Metro station awaiting our ride.

Our first stop was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. We spent a lot of time in the dinosaur exhibit and the marine life exhibit.

This was all very nice, but my favorite part was the Gems & Minerals, home of the Hope Diamond, among other famous, fabulous jewels. Here are Son #1 and Son#2 next to my birthstone, amethyst.

Vacation Days 1 & 2

We recently drove from Louisiana to Washington, DC to visit my mother for Thanksgiving. I'm lumping Day 1 & 2 together since we were on the road both days (Louisiana to Knoxville, TN on Day 1, Knoxville to Alexandria, VA - just outside D.C. - on Day 2).

Zack and I were sick for a bit of the trip - strep & upper respiratory ick. If you have to feel yucky, it might as well be when you're snuggled in the car for two days. It sort of forces you to relax since there isn't anything else to do. Sons #1 and #2 passed much of the time playing video games (on long car rides, I relax the time limit they can play). Here's how Son #3 passed much of his time on Day 1:

The hotel in Knoxville was nice. The indoor pool was open 24 hours, plus there was a really neat game room - video games, pool table, racquet ball courts... We dined at Ruby Tuesdays, and turned in early.

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Day 2 - woke in time to attend church, before hitting the road. A nice uneventful drive through the mountains. It apparently snowed a couple of days prior at the Tennessee/Virginia state line so we stopped at the Virginia Welcome Center so the kids could play a bit.

Later that evening, we checked into our hotel, the Hilton in Alexandria, Va. Our room was on the 25th floor - great view, fast elevator. Kids were impressed. We met my mother for dinner. Then returned to the hotel for prepare for a busy Day Three.

The Best of Elle*Bee: Happy Thanksgiving

I'm repeating my post from last year because not much has changed. Here's what I wrote about Thanksgiving traditions:

Since moving back to the state in which Dear Hubby and I were born and raised, and where his family still resides, we’ve settled into our regular Thanksgiving tradition. It’s generally accepted that we will all gather at my father-in-law’s house. We always did with the exception of two years: his Sister #2 hosted one year, his Sister #4 hosted another year. Her house is largest of all the family’s but hers has an older oven and smaller than ours.

Still the drill is the same: Father-in-law will cook a turkey AND a ham. (Dear Hubby’s Brother #2 is allergic to poultry.) He also makes a casserole of some kind and a meat dressing. I never understood the concept of meat dressing, but whatever…

My mother would always make herbed bread dressing (aka embellished Stovetop Stuffing). This is my contribution to the festivities. I have also branched out into cornbread dressing with cranberries and walnuts because of my brother-in-law’s poultry allergy (my regular Stovetop Stuffing contains chicken stock). I don’t eat it though – not a fan of cornbread. Update 2007: I'm not in the mood to make cornbread stuffing so in addition to the aforementioned Stovetop and the below-mentioned green bean casserole, I'll make roasted, seasoned brussel sprouts. An acquired taste, I know....

I also make the traditional string bean casserole, complete with the Durkee’s fried onions on top. And I’ll buy an apple pie. I remember early on when Dear Hubby and were dating, I was initially mortified by his family’s Thanksgiving menu. Meat dressing? Pumpkin and mincemeat pies, but NO fruit pies? No black olives? (Okay, so that was a stretch. My mother used to set out a little dish of raw radishes and pitted black olives to snack on while the turkey was roasting, so I’ve come to associate black olives with Thanksgiving.)

My own personal tradition – after dishes have been loaded in the dishwasher and the football game’s on TV – I’ll write my Christmas cards. (For the record, I don't actually mail the cards until around Dec. 10th.)

This year, 2007, someone else is bringing a fruit pie. I have my olives, and my Christmas cards, so I'm all set!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * Fastforward to November 21, 2007 * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Again, we have so much to be thankful for this year. Continued health for our family. My losing 20 pounds via WeightWatchers and not having gained it back (ask me again when Thanksgiving is over!). An awesome family trip to Disney. An uneventful hurricane season, which formally ends on December 1, so perhaps I'm counting that blessing a little prematurely (but I don't think so). Good friends, great family. Well behaved (most of the time) kids who still seem to accept and practice our family values. It's been good.

Here's wishing all of you a very Happy, Safe Thanksgiving, and even more to be thankful for in 2008!

Thanksgiving Wishes!

It's 1:00 on Wednesday. Thanksgiving Eve, if you will. I've just finished cooking for tomorrow. As I mentioned in my previous post, my father-in-law will cook a turkey and ham and we "kids" bring side dishes and desserts.

My herbed bread stuffing game out very well. My cornbread stuffing - embellished with pear, walnuts and cranberries - is okay, but not as tasty as I hoped. Turns out the pears lost their flavor in the cooking process. Go figure. I'm not stressing about it, though, since I make it primarily for my brother-in-law who's allergic to poultry and therefore, cannot have my herbed bread stuffing which is made with chicken broth. He might be eating my cornbread stuffing just to be polite, for all I know.

My green bean casserole came out very well, if I do say so myself (it's pretty hard to screw that up).

Tonight we've been invited to a little get together at the church before the prayer service. Tomorrow morning there's a Mass at 9 am so I'll go to that too. After I get home, I'll start heating my stuff in the oven then bring it to my father-in-law's house (4 blocks away).

Lots to be thankful for this year (a partial list, in no particular order):
1) Family
2) Friends
3) Church
4) Health
5) an uneventful hurricane season

Hope you and yours have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Traditions

Since moving back to the state in which Dear Hubby and I were born and raised, and where his family still resides, we’ve settled into our regular Thanksgiving tradition. It’s generally accepted that we will all gather at my father-in-law’s house. We always did with the exception of two years: his Sister #2 hosted one year, his Sister #4 hosted another year. Her house is largest of all the family’s but hers has an older oven and smaller than ours.

Still the drill is the same: Father-in-law will cook a turkey AND a ham. (Dear Hubby’s Brother #2 is allergic to poultry.) He also makes a casserole of some kind and a meat dressing.

I never understood the concept of meat dressing, but whatever…My mother would always make herbed bread dressing (aka embellished Stovetop Stuffing). This is my contribution to the festivities. I have also branched out into cornbread dressing with cranberries and walnuts because of my brother-in-law’s poultry allergy (my regular Stovetop Stuffing contains chicken stock). I don’t eat it though – not a fan of cornbread.

I also make the traditional string bean casserole, complete with the Durkee’s fried onions on top. And I’ll buy an apple pie. I remember early on when Dear Hubby and were dating, I was initially mortified by his family’s Thanksgiving menu. Meat dressing? Pumpkin and mincemeat pies, but NO fruit pies? No black olives? (Okay, so that was a stretch. My mother used to set out a little dish of raw radishes and pitted black olives to snack on while the turkey was roasting, so I’ve come to associate black olives with Thanksgiving.)

My own personal tradition – after dishes have been loaded in the dishwasher and the football game’s on TV – I’ll write my Christmas cards.