It started when Viv and I had the whole week off and decided to go to Sequoia National Park. But then we thought, "the Rees family likes Sequoia," so we invited them. But then there were three of us getting together just an hour from home, and wouldn't it be fun to have Beth and Sarah stop in? And if we're all at the Airbnb when Mom and Rachel fly in, well, they should obviously come up. Just like that, we had 20 people in the little cabin and it was clear that Thanksgiving was going to be a party.
Other notable moments:
- touring the Greek Orthodox monastery. When we drove up to the imposing iron gates, Gordon bravely pushed the call button and asked, "Are you open to the public?" A pause, and then a voice came from on high:
Who are you?
Another pause, while Gordon examined his soul for the answer, finally replying:
I'm Gordon Rees.
And the gates slowly opened for us.
- at the same monastery, we were all on our best behavior until Eric gave Beth a heart attack when he reached up and grabbed the gigantic golden chandelier and gave it a big swing. Her whole assessment of his character and her success as a parent was momentarily in question until the tiny nun stepped out from behind him, and Beth realized that Eric had only been following instructions.
- it was rainy, so Sydney led a round of DND, lots of FIFA was played, and hot sauce taste testing was a success. We did brave a couple of misty, drippy hikes among the grandeur of those amazing trees.
- we played hot potato dares
- we had 'easy favorite things' dinner
- Chris hiked from barn road to the bridge formerly known as Squaw Leap. It really didn't take him that long
- Sarah fixed an age-old problem by just going to the store and buying more measuring cups
- we made 22 pies. New ones included spumoni, persimmon, and rhubarb custard.
- Beth took a lot of the boys back to her house and made all of Theo's dreams come true at a fruit stand
- All of a sudden we have enough good volleyball players to play 6 v 6.
- We painted half bananas, because Beth is good at woodworking and Vivian is funny
- Basically, everyone got enough to eat and nobody cried (much). Happy times
