Thanksgiving

We had a nice, low key Thanksgiving. We did the local 5k fun-run. It was quite a bit different from the San Diego one obviously. They had barricades up over the icy patches on the trail and there were lots fewer participants. Instead of giving everyone a t-shirt they did a drawing with all the race entry forms and gave away 350 pies. They let the walkers start whenever they wanted and then sent the runners without dogs or strollers around a different route. M finished with S and AJ in tow in 25 minutes while J and I finished with my typical 47 minutes.

Dinner was nice with just the five of us. Typical yummy food; so happy to have a dishwasher this year! I asked the family what they were thankful for and J answered first saying he was thankful for S. (aww how sweet!) M said he was thankful that the kids don’t like his favorite spicy sweet potatoes recipe. S was thankful for the pilgrims and pioneers and AJ said, “bapt! babapt!”, his favorite sound right now.

In the evening we had a family come over for our annual pie party. They had four girls and S was so excited. After they left she said, “Dad! There were SEVEN girls in the house tonight!!!!” (that counts the mom & myself too.)

Friday morning we had our traditional morning after breakfast of pumpkin pie then we headed out to visit the Badlands National Park. S kept calling it “Batland” and after we’d been driving through the park for some time she asked, “Why are there so many mountains here?” I said I didn’t quite understand what she meant and she replied, “You said we were going to Batland, I thought it was going to be more like Disneyland or Legoland!” Spoken like a true native SoCal girl, but I felt like I’d failed in some way as a parent that she wasn’t more excited about mountains.

She has always had a lot of questions and having her dad talk about his research so much has fueled the fire. Here’s a conversation we had on the drive to the Badlands…

S: Mom, what would happen if we dug a hole into the center of the Earth?

Me: The metal on our shovel would melt in the hot lava.

S: What if we used a shovel made all of wood?

Me: Well it would burn up.

S: What if it were made of carbon fibers?

M and I snickering, Me: You’ll have to ask your dad that one.

The Badlands were... interesting, but I like the Black Hills better. We crossed some of the prairie to get the Badlands. It was amazing how huge the sky felt with hardly a bump to break up the horizon, let alone a tree. I took a bunch of shots and stuck them together to make the above 360 panoramic view of the prairie horizon. (yes, I know the railing and decking didn't go together smoothly. Just focus on that crazy horizon.) Once in the park, we stopped and watched some big horn sheep jump around on the formations; that made the trip for M. The kids loved the prairie dog towns. J found a box elder bug and decided it would like to go on a hike with us! He carried it pinched between his thumb and first two fingers for at least a half hour…I’m sure the hike changed the bug’s life, if not ended it.

On Saturday night we bundled everyone up to and went downtown to the parade of lights. J fell apart, turns out he was getting sick, so just M and S went to watch. We didn’t realize how long it would be and after about 45 minutes, S declared it was too cold. Afterwards M was recapping some of the highlights of the parade for those of us who’d missed it. He said there were fire trucks covered in lights, Harley Davidson motorcycles covered in lights, classic cars covered in lights, a float sponsored by a plumbing company with toilets covered in lights, the high schools' marching band covered in lights, even real live horses covered in glitter and lights. Then he asked S which one was her favorite. Without hesitation she replied, “The parade of lights in San Diego!” 
Yeah, we miss all of you... and the warmth.