Thanksgiving 2011

We didn't go anywhere for Thanksgiving this year.  It was just us - which means I did all the cooking while the boys played.  I sent them out so they wouldn't get in the way.  Alex took them to their favorite hiking place and then played at the beach until the food was done.  

The food turned out okay.  I'm blaming the less-than-stellar results on our ancient Wedgewood Futura gas oven.  The turkey was overdone on one side - I should have turned it midway through cooking.  The green bean casserole also overcooked.  The sweet potatoes were too soft and the pie filling bubbled out through the sides.  It still tasted pretty good.  The rolls and real mashed potatoes were great, as well as the fried chicken.  I think next time I won't do turkey at all!  We all liked the fried chicken drumsticks so much, and they were MUCH EASIER than the turkey.  The boys wouldn't eat the sweet potato apple casserole, but I liked it (even though it was more like sweet potato applesauce).  Jared and Owen loved the jello.  I would have preferred cranberry sauce, but I knew they wouldn't eat that so jello seemed like a good alternative.  So, there it is.  A full day's work for a 20 minute meal.
  

Nothing fancy.  You can see that we had a very casual feast, complete with Spiderman in attendance.  :)

 The day after Thanksgiving, we took the boys to a local park, which was packed.  We forgot that our city is the place people want to come for Thanksgiving.  I didn't take any pictures at the park, but we enjoyed playing tag amidst the crowd.  We also stopped to see the turtles and ducks nearby.  In the evening, we did a mini hike at the beach to watch the sunset.  Beautiful place!  Sure missed seeing family though.

We loved seeing Weston carry around the seaweed.  Some kids carry blankets or toys around for security...  Weston carries seaweed.  :)