Long and tiring weekend

We started our trip out to my folks' house on Wednesday afternoon. Thankfully it was uneventful. But our favorite midway stop was in turmoil. The "fast" gas station that we always stop at was being remodeled. So we just ate dinner and got fuel in the next town. We got to my folks' about 6.5 hours after we started, so it was good. There were no traffic accidents. There weren't a bunch of SLOW as snail cars in the mountains. We were able to go-go-go! What was crazy is that the kids didn't fall asleep until about 30 minutes before we got to our destination.

My sister and BIL (Sis#2 and Jello) hosted once again this year. I finally was able to see their renovations. They changed their master bath into a 2nd hall bath. Their master bedroom became their craft & workout room. And they added a "real" master bath and room. When they first bought this house in 1994, it was a 3 bedroom 2 bath place with living room, dining room and kitchen. Now? It's a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, living room, and great room (kitchen with bar, dining area and HUGE family room). It's doubled in size since they first moved in. It's fabulous!

Here are the kidlings on the way to turkey.

Anyway, we had a typical San Diego family Thanksgiving:
Sis#2, Jello, their daughter (Kay), their 2 sons (Mickey & Theo) - 5
My parents - 2
Jello's parents - 2
Jello's older sister (Ann) and her husband (Cray) and son (Kev) - 3
Jello's younger sister (Ari) and her husband (Mike) and 2 sons (Al and Air) - 4
LilSis and Shorty - 2
And me and mine - 4
Jello's nephew and girlfriend -2

That's how many? 24 people!

But we definitely had enough food. Everyone brought a piece of the meal. It was a feast! We had one deep-fried turkey and one traditionally baked turkey. Here's the deep-fried one:

Around 5pm we headed out and drove over to Shorty's parents' house. Actually, the Hubs, my Dad, and the Bear headed back home. It was just us girls and Shorty that went over. I brought a bottle of champagne with me. I didn't want to arrive empty-handed. They'd already had dinner and were all just hanging around. We ate dessert and chatted with them and the rest of Shorty's extended family.

On Friday, none of us wanted to go shopping. I decided that a trip to SeaWorld was needed. The Bear had never been so I thought it was high time he was able to see those animals. And it was a good time. LilSis and Shorty came out with us. Shamu was a hit. The penguin enclosure was closed for renovations but there were some in the outdoor area. We saw the dolphins. We touched some sting rays. We saw the rescued manatees and even got to see the sharks swim above us.

You can see by that last photo that they both were DONE. Thank goodness that horse was the last stop of the day. The Bear has his sweatpants around his knees and his hands in his pockets along with a little scowl on his face. How special!

On Saturday we watched Mickey's football team in a playoff match. Mickey ended up not being allowed to play. Why? Because he had some minor breaks in his wrist. The officials wouldn't let him play with a 'soft' cast. You can see him (without his pads) and one of his coaches walk onto the field below. The team ended up having to play with only two running backs when they are used to playing with three. The break in his wrist happened at LAST weekend's playoff game in Phoenix. That's right. Sis#2 and her clan drove out to Phoenix to play a football game. And then they had to go to the hospital to get Mickey's wrist checked out. But my kids had a good time watching the game. Kay and Theo had a good time too. I bought them all hot dogs and nachos, so they were snacking away.

And then it was Sunday. Time to drive home. It was an uneventful drive home. The kids konked out in about 30 minutes into the drive. They only slept for an hour but at least they slept. We got home before the sun descended into the horizon. It was a fun trip. A tiring trip. But...it was REALLY nice to be home. Our place. Our bed. Our space.