The day of

She is my daughter. I loved watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade - commercials and all. I think she say there for 2 hours straight - definitely not something we do on a regular basis here. I did have her folding napkins at least.Preparations.

The bird. Mike is exceptionally fond of the bird. I need to let him start cooking it. I think he snapped about 5 pictures of it...just sitting there on the platter. Don't get me wrong, I soak up the fondness and the praise for not burning it.
And give thanks that he takes on the hassle of carving it!
Carnivores
In the end

Year two with the Thoms. Might have been year three if we knew they lived a two blocks down the road when we first moved here. A lovely tradition - to bad no faces in the pictures to prove it.

Year 3 and counting

It has become a Thanksgiving tradition to take a picnic to Switzer Canyon with the Coopers - only this year we were down the Main Cooper as she had back issues. The Coopers have a block that seconds in awesomeness only to ours - in regard to neighbors. Since Lainie could not come, Christine the block yarn dyer and master knitter (that is really her job, dying yarn - some days you can pass her house and see racks of beautiful yard drying in the sun) - Christine joined as as the surrogate mother.A real giant tumble weed - really.
Joseph and Ryan spent most of their time battling the giant tumble weed.
Menu - turkey sandwiches, popcorn, apples and pumpkin cookies. A pilgrim feast, sort of - only I forgot to get turkey at the store and substituted cheese and crackers.

I learned on this trip that there used to be a house in the canyon. This grove of palms lined the driveway.

Funny story - Ryan has a reputation of being...well, maybe a little rough. Let's just say it was a big deal for his mother to let him come to the canyon with a sword without her supervision. He's not mean...just a little rough. He was sent with thorough instructions not to poke or hack or stab or anything anybody. So Olivia and Joseph pulled out their Indian headdresses and Ryan says, quite matter-of-factly, "Oh good, something we can shoot!"


Looking forward to next year...

A little fresh air

I have not seen it, but supposedly there has been this nasty haze settled over the city recently. Maybe it is the Santa Anas...or maybe just the curse of living this close to L.A. Either way, we never need much of an excuse to find a trail and walk it. (Problem is these days we are always eager to go, but can't always figure out how to make it happen.)
Hasn't quite gotten the hang of the walking stick...


At least he has one end down...it's the wrong end, but it's progress.
Maybe this is why we can't always figure out how to make it happen...babies...

Ridley. Wish we could have just let her take off. I kind of miss the old days when dogs didn't all have to be leashed. The only time I ever remember putting our childhood dog on a leash, I hooked her to one end of a chain (and I mean chain, not a leash) and her best friend to the other end. It didn't turn out well and I never did it again.
'Bout time she starts carrying her own weight!
Thanks, Thoms! That was nice.