The Finale: Thanksgiving '08

From my mom's, we drove to East Aurora, where my sister, niece, and nephew live. Our first stop, though, was at the Roycroft, where Jon's parents were staying. Yes, our week was culminating in a big way- both sides of the family would be together. Brita, Cecil, and our family met Corinna and kids for lunch. It was our first Tim Horton's experience, satisfying Jon's long craving for doughnuts. From there, we caravaned to my sister's house, for an afternoon of chatting and

...reading...

...more reading...

...and a little bit of checkers.

If you're reading this blog, you certainly know by now that Jon, the kids, and I are vegetarians, but I have been known to, shall we say, "slip" on our infrequent travels to the Buffalo area. That night, Corinna, Derek, Kyra, and I decided to give Jon's folks a little time with their own, and we went to a restaurant called Duff's for dinner. Duff's was a menagerie of video games, balloons popping loudly behind Derek's head, facebook mysteries being solved, and laughter. But as for what we ate...well, what happens at Duff's, stays at Duff's.

Wednesday we went to a children's museum in the building where my sister works.

Jubilee's favorite part was the faux-garden.
Jon is very proud.

Guess this carrot isn't ripe!

She also liked the little kitchen.
I guess I'll admit that I became slightly obsessed with sorting out the
foods by category.

I have always been impressed with Derek and Kyra's patience
with small children. They didn't even text excessively.

Zephyr built a little house.

That night we all had dinner together at home, then mixed it up by breaking out the cards. Oh yes, by this time, Jon's brother and nephew had joined the fray.

I must mention that Zephyr received his first set of Legos.
When we got home, he said, "If you all need to go somewhere, you can
just leave me at home with my Legos. I'll be fine."

Thursday morning and it was gametime. Besides the usual suspects, our mom, grandma, dad, and stepmom would join us for Thanksgiving dinner. Dinner for fifteen.

Corinna, Jon, our dad John, and James

Note Cecil and Bruno lurking in the back

For several years now, I've missed holidays with family. Sometimes I'll call when they're gathered together, and the phone will get passed around, but I still feel the distance very acutely. Although there were no deeply profound conversations or skeletons brought out of the closet, it felt good to be together. When I was growing up, we were frequently with extended family for holidays. Even if our kids don't get to experience it very often, I'm glad they had it this year.

The back row missed the memo that this was the Coyote picture

We left that very evening. We had a 6 am flight out of Buffalo, and, as it turned out, it was cheaper to return our rental car that night and get an airport hotel room than to return it the next morning. But the fun wasn't over.

We had a layover in Atlanta that lasted, literally, all day. What a lucky break! Not only does one of my closest friends from high school live in Atlanta, but she has a daughter just seven weeks younger than Zephyr. And it gets better- there's an excellent children's museum in Atlanta! But wait, there's more. The Bob the Builder exhibit we've been tracking to see if it would come anywhere near our hometown? It just happened to be at that children's museum in Atlanta! BINGO!

Jubilee sat on Pilchard listening to positive affirmations from Bob for longer
than I care to mention. "Teamwork gets the job done!"

It was so excellent to catch up with Amy. We hadn't seen each other in over fifteen years, but she looks even more amazing than she did in high school. And, if anything, her fun, positive, accepting approach to life is even more pronounced.

Her beautiful daughter, Tigist, has definitely inherited her mother's friendly warmth. Upon meeting Zephyr, Tig enveloped him in a huge hug, which Zephyr was shocked enough to stand still for.

Zephyr never really caught up.
Welcome to life with the opposite sex, little ones.

She also let me carry her back to the museum after lunch, clinging to me in a mutual cuddle. (Zephyr and Jubilee couldn't even be coaxed to hug their own relatives after several days together, so I found Tigist's sweet affection very welcome.)

Jubi was, once again, drawn to the play foods.
If you're paying attention, you'll notice that that makes it 3/3.

I can't look at his face without thinking "Work, dogs, work! Play, dogs, play!"

A quick stop at Trader Joe's on our way back to the airport, and we were, at last, on our way home. As we brushed our teeth in our own bathroom late that night, we experienced the wonderful balance of that wistful-post-vacation-feeling, and the relief of being back in our own comfortable space and personal paradise.

There's no place like home.