Pre Thanksgiving Thankfulness

PonFe Nisan 29, 2022

So, Lucas and Jennifer left us Sunday evening. SAD FACE.

The kids had Monday off. Veterans Day! It's amazing all the days you get off when there's not a strong Jewish contingent that requires the school district to basically close down in September. That said, I'd rather have all my Jewish friends and have all those holidays off.

Anyhoo, here we are in Burbank with a noticeable lack of Chosen People. My darling husband took the day off and procured some deeply discounted Six Flags tickets. We stuffed the kids in the car and managed to make it halfway there before the kids figured out where they were going.

The park was dead. Most of the rides were working, but most of the gift shops and food concessions were closed. In other words, the perfect time to bring small kids to the park.

We went straight to their favorite ride: the bizarro Tweety Bird ride, where you lock your progeny into wire cages and spin them around. You know, for kids.

Since we had been to the park last year, the kids remembered their favorite rides and we happily gravitated to them.

The Goose's favorite: the Road Runner Express, a midrange coaster that she is barely tall enough for. She is a thrill seeker. She loves the coasters.

Arlo will have nothing to do with the coasters, no thank you ma'am. Put that kid on a bloodcurdling screaming water slide with a line full of teenagers? No problem. A beginner coaster? NO THANKS.

He and I made a beeline for the bumpy train.

This is how dead the park was: he rode it six times in a row. The first three was by himself, the last three was with his siblings after they tired of the coaster. Arlo was in heaven.

Off to the a-couple-rounds-around-the-garden train.

Who's that romantic lad in the last car?

I know that kid.

My sweet baboo in front of the DC Universe. A logo ago.

That's the Superman/Lex Luthor ride. The Superman side is at the end of the curve -- straps you in flat your belly, shoots you up the tower, and shoots you down as if you were flying. The Lex side is a sheer drop -- you can see it on the straight side. No thanks to both, sez I.

Oscar and The Goose on the Flash ride. When it got really fast and Oscar slid over to squash The Goose, he protectively his arm around her and they cuddled and laughed and laughed. Sometime I think we actually did something right.

The one thing I hate about Six Flags is all the carnival games. Geez, you pay upwards of 70 bucks each to get in, and then your kids are accosted by carnie barkers at every turn?

We let the kids play one game. Oscar won a giant squid hat and promptly gave it to The Goose, who proceeded to charm every teenaged- and young-adult-couple in the park. Everyone loves a cute little girl in a giant squid hat.

Back to the Looney Tunes section of the park. The Goose was not happy with her inability to spin the cups. I recruited her brother Oscar on the next ride and they spun like nobody's business. They emerged, she -- glowing and happy, he -- pale and ready to puke. My poor Oscar B has never been able to handle spinning.

I fed him a couple cheese sticks and they were back on the roller coaster.

The Goose and Oscar have a strange relationship. She and Arlo are two peas in a pod, and they've spent most of their lives together. But since we moved, The Goose has turned from a mere annoyance to a treasured accomplice for Oscar B.

Again, the great thing about moving away from everyone you know and love is that your family will cleave together. I am reminded of this every day.

We had a great couple of hours at the park and went home, sated, tired, and happy.

Wednesday was The Goose's preschool's Thanksgiving celebration. I was under the impression that it would be some munching of cornbread, a couple of feather headdresses, and some songs.

I was wrong.

We picked up the kids, outfitted in Native American or Pilgrim garb -- they made both. The Goose sported her Native American Headdress, a bow and quiver with arrows, and a shaker. Here she is with her sassy girlfriends.

We all met in the gym, where the minister of the church gave us a Native American blessing in full Indian garb. The kids then stood and sang a couple of Indian-inspired songs and did a dance around the gym.

We then went out to the sand yard, where we found all kinds of adventures waiting for us.

Face paint!

A ton of volunteers, roped into grilling and serving, all in costume.

All of The Goose's friends and their family, sitting down for the feast. Kid-made cornbread and cranberry relish. Grilled fish and buffalo. Bean soup and apple cider. Pumpkin cake.

After the feast, there is corn grinding.

Paint made from crushed berries.

Let's paint a wigwam with those crushed berries!

Horseback riding, past the plains!

Riding the buffalo!

Plucking out some arrowheads from a basket!

Fishing!

Papoose!

Digging for turquoise in the sand!

It was an amazing day, put together by amazing people. I know I say this every blog post, but I am so grateful we discovered Grandview.

More of the Burbank Infrastructure Project: Arlo walked outside to get into the car for our weekly library trip, saw the pylon and exclaimed "Who put that damn orange thing there?!?"

Perhaps I should temper my language a bit.

Arlo's Christmas list.

My kitchen succulent garden grows. I'm working up to a couple years from now when we buy another house and surround it with these plants and cuttings from my friend Susan's perfectly Southern California garden.

Dang it. The good cookies are back at Trader Joe's.

Arlo made this turkey for me.

Oscar won four medals for his test scores on the CST. (We're not in NJ anymore, that's for sure.)

The Goose was a good sport during endless chores today, so I bought her a wee snowglobe.

Here's our Thanks tree. We've been writing things that we are thankful for on color-coded leaves this past month and attaching them to these branches.

If you are reading this, rest assured, you are one of the things we are thankful for.