This week, Ethan has been on 'fall break', which I guess is the equivalent of half term in the UK. I must confess to finding the timing rather odd though, as term started on Aug 17th and they break up for Christmas in another 3 weeks?! (If I were being cynical I would say it maybe had more to do with the Rancho staff wanting a few extra days off for Thanksgiving as most other schools seemed to have a week off mid October!). Whatever the rationale though, it was a very welcome break, especially as Mr B also took a few days off and we managed to cram so much in. It felt more like a two week holiday!
On Wednesday, whilst I was having a long overdue haircut, the boys decided they would do their Christmas/Birthday shopping (every year they complain how inconsiderate it is of me to have my birthday 2 weeks before Christmas!). When I met up with them again for lunch some two and a half hours later, they were loaded down with shopping bags. Just as I was thinking 'Ooooooh, lucky me!', I noticed that the bags were all Holister ... American Eagle ... Abercrombie & Fitch ... Express etc., (all places they like to shop for their wardrobes). Hang on a minute ... "Erm ... did you actually buy anything for me?" I joked, thinking they had probably cleverly secreted my presents inside the other bags.
"Weeeell ... **both looking shifty and smiling nervously at each other**... we did look but then decided that you are too fussy and we would probably get the wrong thing so we thought you could go and choose your own....?" Seriously?! Hopeless.
Later that evening, we visited 'Zoo Lights', an annual light display featured at the Phoenix Zoo. I am not sure what I was expecting exactly - maybe a small display with a few pretty lights wound round trees? What we saw though, completely exceeded my expectations! WOW!!! It was a magical display of thousands of coloured lights formed into all kinds of animals and birds (including a moving hummingbird), set to music, covering the majority of the zoo! Really pretty, and made even more enjoyable as we were able to stroll around in comfortable temperatures, free from the cumbersome heavy winter coats that we have been used to wearing at the end of November, which was so nice. By the time we left, we were all in the 'holiday' mood (which we have come to learn kicks off the day after Halloween and lasts until January!)
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| Tiger, Tiger burning bright ... |
The next day was Thanksgiving - a first for us - and we were all looking forward to experiencing a traditional Thanksgiving dinner later that day, thanks to the generosity of one of my friends who had invited us all to join them at their home.
We began the day though watching the famous Macy's Holiday parade on TV. Whilst I imagine you can only get a small sense of the celebration on TV, it was nonetheless a spectacle to watch (if a little cheesy) Huge floating balloons, marching bands and colourful floats, interspersed with musical and dance performances, closing with the main man himself ... Santa on his sleigh! Whilst it must be spectacular to experience first hand, I'm not sure I would want to be watching it live in New York ... all those people packed in liked sardines along every inch of the route ... ugh! Much better to watch it from the comfort of my cosy bed with a mug of coffee and a bacon sarnie.
We began the day though watching the famous Macy's Holiday parade on TV. Whilst I imagine you can only get a small sense of the celebration on TV, it was nonetheless a spectacle to watch (if a little cheesy) Huge floating balloons, marching bands and colourful floats, interspersed with musical and dance performances, closing with the main man himself ... Santa on his sleigh! Whilst it must be spectacular to experience first hand, I'm not sure I would want to be watching it live in New York ... all those people packed in liked sardines along every inch of the route ... ugh! Much better to watch it from the comfort of my cosy bed with a mug of coffee and a bacon sarnie.
As it was a beautiful cool morning and we weren't expected for dinner until 5pm, Mr B and I decided to take a hike (literally) up one of the mountains close to our house. It was a lovely way to start the day and quite invigorating, although the scenery became somewhat monotonous being mainly cactus ... after cactus ... after cactus ... I should just add here that The Tween was nowhere to be seen for either of the above events, preferring to fester in his pit binge watching The Walking Dead on Netflix!
And so to the main event of the day, the Thanksgiving Dinner. It appears that here in the US, whenever you are invited to someone's house for any kind of event, you are expected to bring a dish towards the dinner, as co-ordinated with the host. I had agreed to bring two side dishes and chose sides that were traditional in our family growing up, and which I have continued to serve every Christmas dinner. As someone else was already bringing the sprouts (!), I chose mashed carrot and swede (think that may be a Northern thing?) and pigs in blankets, both of which appeared to be unknown to the 14 other dinner guests, and were met with murmurs of 'interesting ...' and 'how unusual... ' as they gingerly spooned it onto their plates. I must confess to being somewhat intrigued by what to expect as I had seen a few features on breakfast TV over the past week focusing on Thanksgiving dishes, which included sweet potato with marshmallows (one 'innovative' chef also adding crushed up Butterfinger bars, which is peanut butter covered in chocolate ... pass the bucket!) and my hairdresser telling me how their Thanksgiving dinner is not complete without some equally sickly sounding dish called 'Candy Yams' ... boiled with brown sugar and butter ... Oh good lord!
Everything was quite delicious though, if somewhat different to what we are used to, and thankfully, not a marshmallow covered sweet potato in sight! There was so much food ... turkey, beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, acorn squash, sprouts, corn with bacon, broccoli & grape salad (?), stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy ... and then dessert of pumpkin pie, chocolate cake & butter tarts (very similar to tiny mince pies). Phew! We could barely move afterwards! In order to accommodate the large number of guests, tables were split between the dining room and the lounge and as the latter had the TV ... and of course the traditional Thanksgiving football game ... the man gravitated towards that one whilst us ladies opted for the former, which seemed to be the perfect solution!
The following day was Black Friday, allegedly a shopaholic's dream and the day that most Americans start their Christmas shopping. Personally, whilst I LOVE to shop, I couldn't think of anything worse than fighting with crowds of frenzied shoppers, high on sweet potato & marshmallows and so aside from popping down to the Guitar Center with Ethan to choose a new acoustic for his Christmas present, I did all of mine from the comfort of the sofa ... all of the bargains - none of the crowds, perfect.
Another busy week lies ahead with I think only two free evenings between now and next Sunday! The 'holiday season' is well and truly underway here - decorations are up and twinkling lights are everywhere you look. Also, the 'holiday party' invitations seem to be arriving thick and fast - we can't keep up with them all! (I think perhaps inviting the novelty British family is a thing this year!) Still, we're not complaining. We wouldn't have it any other way!
What are you all up to? Are you getting into the holiday spirit yet? (and yes, I am aware that it is still November ... but when in Rome ... or the USA ... !
Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.
TTFN
Bev x
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| desert hike ... (now a dessert hike would have been much more fun ...!) |
Everything was quite delicious though, if somewhat different to what we are used to, and thankfully, not a marshmallow covered sweet potato in sight! There was so much food ... turkey, beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, acorn squash, sprouts, corn with bacon, broccoli & grape salad (?), stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy ... and then dessert of pumpkin pie, chocolate cake & butter tarts (very similar to tiny mince pies). Phew! We could barely move afterwards! In order to accommodate the large number of guests, tables were split between the dining room and the lounge and as the latter had the TV ... and of course the traditional Thanksgiving football game ... the man gravitated towards that one whilst us ladies opted for the former, which seemed to be the perfect solution!
The following day was Black Friday, allegedly a shopaholic's dream and the day that most Americans start their Christmas shopping. Personally, whilst I LOVE to shop, I couldn't think of anything worse than fighting with crowds of frenzied shoppers, high on sweet potato & marshmallows and so aside from popping down to the Guitar Center with Ethan to choose a new acoustic for his Christmas present, I did all of mine from the comfort of the sofa ... all of the bargains - none of the crowds, perfect.
Another busy week lies ahead with I think only two free evenings between now and next Sunday! The 'holiday season' is well and truly underway here - decorations are up and twinkling lights are everywhere you look. Also, the 'holiday party' invitations seem to be arriving thick and fast - we can't keep up with them all! (I think perhaps inviting the novelty British family is a thing this year!) Still, we're not complaining. We wouldn't have it any other way!
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| oooh ... shiny! |
What are you all up to? Are you getting into the holiday spirit yet? (and yes, I am aware that it is still November ... but when in Rome ... or the USA ... !
Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.
TTFN
Bev x
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