What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had! We watched the Macy's Parade in the morning and then drove over to spend the day with my parents. It's an hour drive to their house and of course we had to use that time for our number 1 Island Family tradition - listening to the song Alice's Restaurant. I realize this is an odd tradition, especially with kids, but 20 years ago on our very first Thanksgiving together the Island King and I were driving to his mother's house and heard that song on the radio. It's an odd song about Thanksgiving with Alice, littering and the draft and it always makes me laugh out loud. After that first year we would play that song every Thanksgiving and when the Island Girl was young she could sing the chorus just as well as any of the nursery songs she knew. Now all 3 kids sing right along with the chorus and when Arlo Guthrie tells his audience that they should all sing the chorus together we all sing so loud the car shakes LOL It's just not Thanksgiving at our house without Alice's Restaurant. The Island Girl told me one time that she asked her friends about the song and none of them had ever heard of it. I told her that it's just one of those strange little things that make us special LOL My dad always shakes his head, laughs and says "Leave it to the Island Queen to teach her kids a 1960's stoner song" LOL
So after singing "You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant" we finally made it to my parent's house.
My sister, Wine Woman and her kids, Zig, Zag and the Little Redheaded Girl were there 
along with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin from California. My Aunt and Cousin flew in several days ago but my poor Uncle flew all night on the red-eye and arrived around 10 Thanksgiving morning. 
While the rest of us were having wine he tanked up on coffee LOL
My dad, Golf Man 
fried a turkey 
and it was SO good. The kids ate outside, which they loved, while the grownups got to enjoy a nice sit down dinner inside. The weather was great until late afternoon when a cold front moved in and it got really cold really fast. That didn't stop the little people from playing outside though and they ran around like Banshee Indians LOL We were able to keep them off the beach and out of the water though which is rare. It seems like every Thanksgiving someone has to go for a swim - just to say they did LOL My sister and I used to go swimming every Thanksgiving and Christmas but now that we've gotten older we don't like cold water so it's usually dad and our kids that play Polar Bear.
My sister's husband is in Germany working right now but we all got to see him via webcam over the computer. He's really missing his kids and he looked so sad that we all felt really bad for him. He seemed so sad to be missing all of the fun but some of the other people at the hospital he's working at got together and had an American Thanksgiving so at least he got to eat a little turkey. We definitely missed him and are glad that he'll be back for Thanksgiving next year.
My sister and I had fun watching the kids play and were able to escape dishwashing duty since we had to "watch the kids" LOL
We visited all afternoon and ate WAY too much and then it was time to go to my MIL's house. You'd think that we wouldn't have been able to eat another bite but not too long after we got to her house we did it all again LOL We had a nice evening visiting around the fire with her and her husband and before long we were all tired and sleepy and could hear home calling our names. We got home and unbelievably the kids ate a little more before settling into our bed to watch a movie. They only made it through the first 20 minutes of the movie before they were sound asleep. The Island King and I relaxed and I started making a crocheted bunny for my niece but it wasn't long before we fell asleep too.
It was a great Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for.
I'm ready for next year so we can do it all again!Labels: Done
along with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin from California. My Aunt and Cousin flew in several days ago but my poor Uncle flew all night on the red-eye and arrived around 10 Thanksgiving morning. 
While the rest of us were having wine he tanked up on coffee LOL 
fried a turkey 
and it was SO good. The kids ate outside, which they loved, while the grownups got to enjoy a nice sit down dinner inside. The weather was great until late afternoon when a cold front moved in and it got really cold really fast. That didn't stop the little people from playing outside though and they ran around like Banshee Indians LOL We were able to keep them off the beach and out of the water though which is rare. It seems like every Thanksgiving someone has to go for a swim - just to say they did LOL My sister and I used to go swimming every Thanksgiving and Christmas but now that we've gotten older we don't like cold water so it's usually dad and our kids that play Polar Bear.