Thanksgiving - So Cal Edition

After over 4 1/2 months of almost absolutely not a drop of rain here in OC, the night before Thanksgiving it poured. Thursday morning was still overcast and as I prepared the food for the afternoon's meal our venue was still in doubt. The plan was for us all to meet up at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Laguna Beach for food prep, then head down to the beach to eat our meal.

Grandma phoned me an hour or so before we left and said "It is gorgeous down here, the sun is shining and everything looks beautiful!" As we loaded up the van with food, kids and sweaters, we still were doubtful. As we drove down El Toro and towards the Canyon the rain was falling heavily and the gutters were running with water. At the intersection of El Toro and Laguna Canyon Road the rain started to let up, and by the time we emerged from the Canyon and turned on to Grandma and Grandpa's street, the sky was bright blue and clear, the sun was shining, and everything looked freshly washed off.

I dropped the kids and Pete off at the beach to hang out with Grandpa who was saving us a picnic table at Heisler Park, then headed back up the road to help out Grandma. Before we could begin the finishing touches on our meal she and I shuttled some food (along with a couple of homeless folk we picked up at the church along with the turkeys) over to the Episcopalian church for the Resource Center's community Thanksgiving meal. I would have liked to take the kids along for a peek at how some others get their Thanksgiving dinner, but there wasn't an inch of space left in the car. I remember when I was younger on Thanksgiving morning, along with our traditional game at the local bowling alley, my dad would drive us down to the other side of Salt Lake where the local Rescue Mission was preparing food for the homeless. We wouldn't get out of the car, but he would wave over one of the workers and hand them some bills, for which they would always thank him.

So very small good deed done for the day, we zoomed back to Grandma's to meet up with everyone else to prepare the food and spend a wonderful day together.

Here's some photos of what our Thanksgiving was about; family, food, fun and gratitude.

Playing games and drinking sodas while waiting patiently for the food

Down on the sand - Harriet and Abbie use Abbie's phone and camera to take pictures

(it was such a clear day that we caught rare glimpses of Catalina Island across the water - where all eighteen of us spent Thanksgiving two years ago!)

These military men were taking a look around the beach and the tide pools

The tide was low and getting lower - the Laguna tide pools were full of fun things to see:
hermit crabs, little fish, sea anemones, shells

I remember when the boys were younger and we would come here, all they would want to do was throw shells and rocks endlessly into the surf. Now I could barely keep up with them as
they climbed over the rocks, explored the pools and had driftwood sword fights

Jed with one of his treasured finds

while some of us were on childcare/beach duty, the rest (Sue, Dave, Grandma, Grandpa) were up at the house working hard to get the food ready. This year we had one oven roasted turkey, and one that was deep-fried by Dave. It was also injected with a creole butter/cajun spice mixture that gave it some kick. Yummy!

Yeah! The food arrives! Let's feast.

Two kinds of turkey, Costco rolls, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, cranberries, yams, warm gravy in a thermos - not the most formal of meals but it was delicious!

We weren't the only folks there having Thanksgiving dinner, there was a larger party at the top of the hill, and a two person group on the tables just above us. People strolling by smiled and many said "Happy Thanksgiving!"

our sun drenched Thanksgiving dinner

After we ate it was back down to the water where the tide was now completely out

the shells beds covering the rocks were beautiful

the boys loved climbing this rock

I joined them for a photo

Abbie recently got a phone for her birthday, and boy, was Harriet hooked

the boys were climbing the (cliff) walls

Jack

Well, even here in So Cal the sun goes down sometimes, so we packed up and headed back to Grandpa and Grandma's to digest a bit more to be ready for dessert -
in the meantime Grandma had a project for the boys - packing peanut sculptures!

Just lick 'em and stick 'em! Porter and Jack made this igloo

Finally it was pie time and Henry was ready

Pies courtesy of Sue and Dave: cherry, apple, pumpkin

Thanks to everyone who made the day great.
(and for even more info/photos of us all today, check out Sue's blog linked on my sidebar through Coe-habitations! Great post Sue!!!)

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!