Thanksgiving Day

Frankie playing with the kids

Wednesday began with another drive to the airport, this time to drop off Austin and Tammy so they could catch a flight to LA where we would meet up with them again the next day. So the rest of the day we hung out with Henderson parents and packed and prepared for the trip. We would have left sooner but Jon had classes and work on Wednesday so we couldn't leave and my mom wanted to caravan together, which usually works out pretty well and gives us all an added measure of comfort in knowing there is pretty immediate help close by in case of any vehicle malfunction or whatever other emergency there might be- although, fortunately, we didn't experience any of those problems at all this trip.

We planned to wake very early (3-4ish in the am) to get an early start on the drive, but late night packing and my general tiredness and discomfort resulting from a cold I still have yet to kick put us all packed and ready to go closer to 8am. Then, after the prayer for safety had been said and as everyone was buckled in, Dad decided he wanted to double check the fluids in our Accord that my parents have been using (which, I actually think was inspiration and an immediate answer to our prayer because if he hadn't done it our car could have gotten seriously messed up and caused some major problems for the trip). He had changed the oil in Tucson and was worried because it didn't seem to be running well on the way up. So he and Jon took a look under the hood and found oil all around the spark plugs. Apparently, Dad missed the less is more memo about not topping off the engine with oil. So, everyone got out and Frankie played with the kids on the grass while Jon and Dad took each spark plug out and cleaned it, dropped the filter and let all the oil drain, and then refilled it with the proper amount of oil, making due with whatever they had because, of course, there's no Autozone open on Thanksgiving morning. So that was fun ;) I think we finally started driving out of town around 9:30.

Not too bad, really. LA is only about a 6 hour drive for us. The drive out went really smoothly. I drove the van with my mom and all the kids- there was minimal bickering with boys playing their DSs and Brittany reading a book and helping with little girls who mostly slept and watched DVDs- ahh, the ease and comfort of the modern age :) Jon drove the accord with all the guys. We only made one stop and we arrived at Jimmy and Jonny's apartment in Santa Monica around 3 their time (we gained an hour).

We were totally surprised by the awesome Thanksgiving dinner that Jimmy, Austin, and Tammy had put together in a kitchen that is quite literally about the size of our walk-in closet. There was a gorgeous full sized turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes from scratch, candied yams (which I never eat/like and found absolutley delicious), corn, fruit salad, and then we had brought bottles and cans of various olives and pickles, cranberry sauce, and beverages. It was a serious feast and so welcome after having been on the road for the better part of the day. We were quite the group all crammed in their little apartment and we even added Jimmy's friend, Michael from Switzerland who had come to Thanksgiving in Tucson last year. The food was so good, that we were all too full before we could eat any of the three different pies they had. So we decided to go hang out at the beach before the sun went down and have pies later.

Sophie in the sand.

Sally and Jonny

I love the beach! I love the feel of cold sand inbetween my toes, and the roar of the waves, I even love that funky fresh fishy smell. The kids were super excited to see the ocean and they ran out to it and Shazer ran into it before I could tell him not to. It was pretty cold and I'm sure the water was frigid but he didn't seem to mind at all until it was time to go and then he started getting the shakes. I regret not having brought their swimsuits and extra towels- I had just assumed it would be too cold- but I should have known that wouldn't be a deterent for my kids. I did remember to bring a shovel and pail for sandcastles which successfully kept Sally and Shule diverted. Sophie was a crazy girl and kept wanting to run in the ocean or go home with other families- we had to keep a very close eye/hold on her and I was really wishing for one of those kid leashes (I've never used them, they seem like a really practical thing, I just have a hard time getting over how much they make a child look like a pet).

Our hotel (Austin & Tammy, Mom & Dad, and Jon and I all had rooms at the same hotel which made things really convenient) was right on the beach so we went and checked in when it got dark. We were all hanging out in our(Thwaits) room when Jonny and Frankie came in, hiding something behind the door. Jonny then proceeded to give a speech about how he wanted to do something nice for mom to thank her for giving birth to him (his birthday was that Sunday) and that he'd been really trying to work on his various talents lately so he decided to make her a painting and he worked really hard on it and he hoped she liked it. Then he presented her with this:
Sorry I didn't get a full shot of the painting, it was huge. Jonny then said that he could picture it hanging over her fireplace. If you know my mom's artistic taste at all you would know that this painting would be completely hideous to her. We were all shocked and looked at my mom to see how she would tactfully accept this apparent monstrosity of the heart. She was speechless (again, if you know my mom, you know what a feat that is). I wish I had the whole thing on tape because it was seriously priceless. As she went to take a better look at it (probably to buy time) and noticed there was writing on the back she asked Jonny to see it, then he finally came clean and admitted to finding it by a dumpster on the walk over (the writing on the back was actually a dedication to a girl named Kimmy or something like that and said love always from the artist- we all supposed that relationship ended when she was presented with the hideous gift because the paint was still fresh). It was one of the best practical jokes ever! So funny!

Mom's laugh of huge relief after Jonny fessed up.

Then Tammy and Mom offered to watch our kids so Jon and I could take a walk on the pier. How could we say no to that?! That is one of the best things about taking trips with family- being able to sneak off with my honey to explore sans kiddos.

We never did eat any pie on Thanksgiving, or even the day after. More beach to come and then...Disneyland!