Turkey Day!

I hosted Thanksgiving at my house for the first time this year. My mother- and father-in-law (how do you punctuate that? It's not my "mother and father-in-law" is it? Wouldn't that mean my mom and Hubs' dad? ...) came with two of my brothers-in-law, Phil and Nathan. It wasn't my first time cooking turkey, but it was the first time I'd cooked it for anyone but our little family, so the pressure was on.

If you've never done turkey or are intimidated, I would highly recommend the Reynold's Turkey Bag.  There's no need to baste at all; the bag keeps it moist and the clean-up is a breeze!!  This how I have made it each year since the Martha Stewart Debacle of 2007.  Have any of you ever found yourself successful with a Martha Stewart recipe before?!  I am just waiting to hear a success story... from ANYONE.  Martha began her TV talk show right about the time that I began staying home with Pinkalicious.  I had grand aspirations of being the perfect wife and mother now that I could dedicate all my time to it.  The answer was of course to become Martha. [There are many stories to share on this subject, but they are for another time.] Fast forward 2.5 years and it is my first opportunity to cook a Thanksgiving meal for our family of three. Why ask for help from my mom, aunt, or grandma, whose turkeys I have enjoyed all my life, when Jennifer Garner swears on a Martha Stewart recipe for cranberry turkey?  Certainly I will overcome my dislike of cranberries because it's Martha Stewart and when I produce this turkey, beams of light will extend from around my head and my turkey resulting in the first sainted turkey dinner my husband has ever had, and Jennifer Garner and I will become BFFs!  I learned several things from this experience:

1. I don't like standing in front of an open oven every 30 minutes 
2. There isn't time to shower in between cooking and eating a turkey dinner 
3. If you glaze a turkey with cranberry whatevers, it will be in the drippings and therefore the gravy
4. Martha Shmartha. I still don't like cranberry... ESPECIALLY in my gravy 
5. Who in their right mind eats parsnips?!  Why would anyone serve that to people they like?
6. In the end, presentation and method mean nothing if the food isn't what you like to eat

Serving this monstrosity, I discovered that Martha and Jennifer were nowhere to be found and had abandoned me to another crap recipe that The Hubs had to endure.  It was a Thanksgiving of failure and what I had most to be thankful for was a husband with kind words and a large trash can.  Since then, Mom's directions have become my guide, and the Reynolds bag, my trusty tool.

Beyond the food (yes, my brain does get there eventually) we had a nice time with our company. Although, the gifted banana from my father-in-law was ... special.

I'm not sure what this was about.  It was a bit like Jerry and George bringing the bag of oranges to the Japanese.  

The best part of hanging out, for me, was playing the game Balderdash.  The six of us played for a while and then The Hubs and I played with Phil and Nathan later that night.  I laughed SO HARD!!!  In Balderdash, there are strange laws, movie titles, names and words. The object is two-fold; first, to try to determine what the right definition is, and second, to write a definition that other people will think is the right one and vote for.  For example, the movie title we were given was "Weekend with Lulu."  The four choices were:

1. An English adaptation of the existential play "The Theater of the Absurd," where George waits for God.
2. All the circus freight is en route to the next town except Lulu The Dancing Bear.  Leo, a cab driver, does his best to get her there and in the process, makes a friend.
3. When a young man is stranded in the mountains with a psychopath, he is pushed to his limits and must make the hardest choice of all!
4. Planning a romantic escape with his girl, a guy instead finds himself driving around France in an ice cream truck with his mother-in-law.

Can you guess the real plot of the movie? The Hubs wrote #1, I wrote #2, Nathan wrote #3, and the right answer was #4!  Seriously!!  So if someone votes for your answer, you get a point, and if you guess the right answer, you get two points.  One person is in charge of collecting the answers (this round it was Phil) and he would have received three points if no one guessed the right answer.

I love how creative each person can be and how ridiculous the right answer is - we just laughed every time!!! If you're looking for a new group game, I would highly recommend Balderdash!!

Full of laughs, moist turkey, and not a cranberry in sight, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving for us!  I hope yours was wonderful, too!

The Getaway!

Last Christmas, The Hubs and I received some money as gifts. We decided we would try our best to save it and use it for a vacation. We will be married for 10 years in June, 2012 so 2.5 years seemed like enough time to save for something nice. But then we debated about whether we should go off by ourselves on a big celebration when we haven't even taken one as a family. As this conversation came and went a few times, we had our second child and suddenly some time away became imperative.

We've never taken a weekend away just the two of us. Partly because we have been on one income for 7.5 years of our 8 year marriage with Steve working on his grad degrees and then my staying home with the children.  But also, Steve and I have been very good about carving out time for each other in our daily lives. There's never been a big push to get away and finally have some time together... until Mr. Monkey. Thankfully each of our parents were willing to take a grandchild so we could get some time alone for a WHOLE WEEKEND!!!  Here are some highlights of our highly anticipated 72 hours.


We had some fun family time on our way down to SoCal which was sweet. =)

After we dropped off the kids, we headed to The Orange County Mining Company for a nice dinner. I had purchased a coupon from Restaurants.com, which was buy $50, get $25 off. We were ready for some prime rib and a view!

That's right! No Restaurant.com gift certificates!!  I will be blogging against them soon, but I won't spoil the splendor of my weekend with my angry raving.

The view from our table.  If it was later, we could have seen the Disneyland fireworks!

Our Westin Heavenly Bed that SOMEONE ELSE made [insert maniacle laughing here]!!!

Cable!  Sports!  The Hubs had to check the Fresno State game =)

Two minibar offerings that together would have cost the same as another night's stay. 

Strawberry Shortcake at the Cheesecake Factory

If you can break from your cheesecake order, I would highly recommend this! I think it's my fav. Definitely a dessert for more than one!

I am smiling for several reasons. 

1) My kids are elsewhere (I mean that with all love!)

2) I slept in until 10am, baby! And then, I laid in bed and watched the rain pour outside our window!

3) We're in line for Harry Potter - the movie I've been most excited for in 2010!

If you love HP, you know what this means...

HeyO! I loved every minute of it!  Except for maybe that weird part.  If you've seen it, you know what I mean.

My attempt at looking like Harry, with a straw for a wand. I can't really pull it off.  And that's probably good for both of us.  

Honestly, it was so good to have time together that was relaxed and uninterrupted.  We could finish sentences!  We could be quiet!  We could sleep in!  We could renew our friendship, which was getting lost in the business of life.  This weekend was the highlight of my year, as it made me thankful for every aspect of my life.  It was a true vacation which energized me to come back stronger. =)

Fall Pictures

Last year we had to wait until the middle of December for fall pictures with enough leaves on the ground.  This year I dressed the kids in some green in protest and tried to find some colorful trees.

Cayucos, November 6

The longer I blog, the more pictures of my family at the beach you will see. Prepare yourself. I'm turning this post into a digital album.  I love how much the weather/sky changed in the 2.5 hours we were there!

Morro Rock in the distance

 

Seriously awesome!  Gotta love the father-daughter chonies shot!

The tide was WAY out!  I don't remember seeing the beach this way before.  It was beautiful!

My son the cholo.

Cute boys!!

I don't know what this was besides hysterical!

Pinky, Papa, and Peter

My dad's favorite Disney movie is Peter Pan. He loves anything pirate, really, and several of my most embarrassing and funny "Dad" moments include instances when he's talked like a pirate in public. Ar, Matey! But because my dad, "Papa" to Pinky, loves Peter Pan, she loves Peter Pan. Despite Captain Hook, spiteful mermaids, bombs, and Tiger Lily's near-drowning, it is the only movie she will watch without asking to fast forward something. Whenever she watches the movie or reads the book, it's because "this is Papa's favorite, so I need to."  I love how she loves my dad and loves to spend time with him.

I stayed with my parents when I traveled with the kids for a quick trip to visit some friends, Becka and Allie.  We all live apart now and it was a great reunion of our cute selves and our kids who had never played together before. Both Becka and Allie are truly authentic women who have blessed me in many ways.  Four hours was not enough time, but I'm so glad we had that!!

Here are three of the five (and a half) cutie kiddos!

Because we were coming to town, my parents offered to take Pinkalicious and me to see Peter Pan 360.  I was SO jazzed to see it when I had checked it out some months before.  You can click on the video on their website to get a taste.  It is performed on a circular stage and the scenery is projected onto the ceiling of the tent just above the audience.  As Peter and the others fly through London and off to Neverland, they are lifted into the air in the middle and the projection moves so that it looks like they are really flying.  It's amazing!  And while I was so excited to get to see this new adaptation, Pinky was so excited to see a play with Papa that was Peter Pan!!!

I thought our tickets were for Tuesday night, so we dressed up and headed to the theater.  Just as we were stepping out of the car my dad noticed that they were for Wednesday night.  Pinkalicious was heartbroken!  I haven't seen her sob like that in a very long time.  My dad did what any grandparent would do and offered to do dessert as a fun option - destination: Rainforest Cafe!!  If you've never been, I would definitely recommend it!  There are aquariums and automated animals everywhere in a jungle theme.  It's always raining on the perimeter of the restaurant, but every 30 minutes a storm comes through and the rain increases with thunder.  It's quite an experience!

Dancing - I remember doing that! =)

This is me with my fellow monkey brain.  I'll bet he thought the tickets were for tonight, too.

How ironic.  An ad for our show on the placemat.

Dessert to share - it was as good as it looks!

Feeling the rain!

Wednesday night came and we did it all over again (even in the same clothes!), but this time we actually made it! What a thrilling performance!! I especially enjoyed the mermaids who "swam" like Circ de Soleil. Pinkalicious loved it from beginning to end, except when the pirates were fighting the Lost Boys. Oh, and when Captain Hook slit a pirates throat. haha  She is still asking to go again... with Papa. =)

Behind the sign is the tent, beautifully lit.

The waiting area was set with lots of lovely, comfortable seating and cute decorations.

I got one picture inside. Apparently the stage is copywrited so pictures aren't allowed.

We sat in the back row, so this gives you a nice feeling about the size of the tent.  You can see the lights in the middle, which is where the lines would drop for the characters to fly, and then outward from that the scenery was projected on the entire ceiling.   The props were on doors that rotated them under the stage and brought new ones up on the other side.

What a great time we had and special memories made!  Thanks Mom for babysitting Mr. Monkey, and thank you Dad for two fun evenings.  You were the best part!