Thanksgiving in Southern California

Yes, I know everyone is busy prepping for Christmas but I would be remiss if I missed a Thanksgiving post. Frank, Alex, and I drove down to Southern California to spend Thanksgiving with Dan and Carrie. We drove down on Tuesday and back on Saturday to minimize traffic hassles. Wednesday we played a scavenger hunt game. Thursday we watched football, caught some of the Macy's parade, relaxed, and ate, and ate more. Friday we bowled and went to see the Disney movie Frozen.

We spent Wednesday walking 3+ miles around Laguna Beach playing a sort of scavenger hunt type game called ClueHoo. Check it out at http://www.cluehoo.com/. One of the first clues was to find the lady who loved to shop. Here she is.

Ok. So which one is the shopper?

The game is played by downloading an app to your smartphone. You find a location based on a clue. Then you solve a riddle or figure something out there and, when you type in the answer, you get a clue to go to another location. Locations included statues, unique signs, landmarks, architecture marvels, etc. Clues were painted on pottery, imprinted on molded brass plaques, "spoken" by spirits. In one place you had to pedal a stationary bike outside a bicycle store which generatd enough power to light up a sign within the store window giving you your next clue. It was fun and cleverly done. Not part of the game, but along the way we saw this one-of-a-kind car parked along the street our clue was on.

Now this is what I call custom detailing on a car!

That is not just a very artistic paint or mosaic tile job. Look closely at the detail. This is certainly a squad car befitting a geek!

"QWERTY" keyboard any one?

The hunt took us through downtown Laguna Beach with its quaint and artsy shops, along the Pacific Coast Highway, along the shoreline through scenic Heisler Park, to an art museum, to an iconic movie theatre, and back to our starting point near City Hall. It was a stimulating experience both physically and mentally for left and right sides of the brain. Alex was a trooper and seemed to enjoy hiking all 3+ miles of it with us. We had our picture taken at the end of the hunt. We were more tired than we look in the photo. The trek was good in that we pre-banked exercise to offset the calories of the next day's Thanksgiving dinner.

Here we are at the end of the game, sporting our ClueHoo lanyards and badges and resting our feet.
We still had enough energy to smile for the camera.

There is one major item to be thankful for this year. We are going to be grandparents again. Dan and Carrie are expecting a baby girl at the end of March. Despite being five months pregnant, Carrie wanted to host the holiday at their home and cook the whole meal. Cooking is her hobby and passion. So is running. She ran a 10K Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning before preparing a gourmet meal for us. Now that is something I would never attempt the morning before getting a full-fledged Thanksgiving meal on the table even if I were not five months pregnant. Amazing. Here was her menu.

Carrie's menu for Thanksgiving 2013.

Alex positively loved her Spicy Chicken Bites appetizer.  I think they may have been truly gourmet Chicken Nuggets to him. Carrie's cornbread casserole is a tradition I love. She makes that at our house too. Here are some pix of the main course and desserts.

Doesn't that bird look luscious? It was so moist!

I love a good crumb apple pie. This one was delicious.

My contribution was cutout cookies and chocolate crackle cookies I baked up in Livermore and brought down.

We all contributed to putting the food to good use! We ended the evening with a group photo.

Carrie and "mini-carrie", Dan, Frank, Alex, me, Carrie's mom Diane,
and of course Snoopy.

After dinner Frank, Alex, and I returned to our hotel. When we had checked in two days earlier we had seen hotel staff decorating the courtyard garden for Christmas. Thanksgiving evening they turned the Christmas lights on. We had a second floor room with a garden view and this is what we enjoyed right outside our window.

This is the decorated garden as seen from our balcony.

The photo barely does justice to the trees dripping with lights.

Friday was raining so we picked some indoor activities. Frank and I took Alex bowling while Dan, Carrie, and her mom spent a laid-back morning at Dan and Carrie's. In the mid-afternoon, we all went to see the Disney movie Frozen. I really liked it. Alex stayed engaged the whole time. Frank got in a good nap.

I highly recommend seeing this.

This movie is visually gorgeous with rich, pure, jewel-tone colors of an icelandic, crystalline world and an abundance of swirling details of snow and costuming. It was as much a feast for the eyes as a Thanksgiving meal is to the taste buds. The music was fantastic. Since the leads are two females (usually dual leads are a girl and a guy) the musical duets could have tight fitting harmonies from two female voices. The sound was so melodic and strong without anyone screaming rather than singing. We saw the movie only in 2D and it was great. The plot was a little thin, but hey, it had good characters, awesome scenery, love themes (both romantic and sisterly), and captivating music so you did not need an intricate plot to distract from all that. I really did like it and would go to see it again. This Disney movie DVD is getting purchased for sure.

We left Saturday morning to drive back in hope of avoiding the traffic frenzy typical of the Sunday on Thanksgiving weekend. About 45 minutes away from Dan and Carrie's we passed a fourteen vehicle accident. Timing is everything. We must have just avoided it. Traffic was not backed up and no emergency vehicles had arrived on the scene yet. Folks were milling about inspecting damage on the array of crumpled and dented vehicles. It did not appear as if anyone were seriously injured. We never learned the circumstances. It was not foggy or slick; there was just pretty dense traffic moving at about the speed limit, interspersed with some slowdowns and stops. I guess it was the unexpected stops that got folks in trouble. The rest of our drive was boring and uneventful. After seeing a pile-up of so many vehicles, boring and uneventful were yet other things to be thankful for.

Robin's Birthday in Oklahoma

Alex was born on my birthday and so, just like funds can, our birthdays often get co-mingled.  I did not want Robin's birthday (Oct 14) to be forgotten because of Autumn's (Oct 11) being so close. Frank and I did not leave right after the Autumn's party on Saturday, but rather stayed on for Robin's birthday.

For Robin's birthday, we stole an idea from Autumn's. Robin had a smash cake, too. Frank and I secretly bought one at the grocery store. But in Robin's case, Jeremy insisted that for an adult there were additional conditions and rules; a smash cake meant she had to smash it in her face, pretty much like those pie throws in slapstick comedy.

First Robin blew out the candles on her real cake.

Make a wish and blow real hard!

Then we brought out the smash cake and she blew out the one candle on it. Jeremy explained the rules of an adult smash cake.

The candle on the smash cake is one to grow on. Or is it grow up?

Robin ties back her hair lest it get in the frosting of her smash cake.

On your mark, get set....

She then admires that beautiful rose of a cake while she works up her courage to...

It sure is a lovely rose. It is mostly messy frosting though.

SMASH it in her own face!

1, 2, 3....!

Robin is a good sport about it all.

Facial, anyone?

Now, that sure is celebrating a birthday in a very adult manner! I think it was worth Frank's and my staying a few extras days in Oklahoma to be co-conspirators.

Autumn's First Birthday and Robin's Thirty-Something-ist

Autumn's birthday is easily remembered because it is 10-11-12. Robin's birthday is October 14th. To celebrate both birthdays, Frank and I flew from Boston, MA to Oklahoma City, OK via a Southwest Airline flight that stopped off at Baltimore, MD. We got there in time to help with the preparations for Autumn's birthday party to be held on Saturday, October 12th.

We did not need to switch planes on our way to see Robin, Jeremy, and Autumn, but we did have one stopover.

Jeremy, Robin, and Autumn all came to pick us up at the airport. We stayed at their new home our first and last nights in Oklahoma. The other nights we stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites so that Jeremy's mom, dad, brother, sister, brother-in-law, two nieces, nephew, another sister, and her boyfriend could all stay together at the new house. Yup, that's two from Robin's side and ten from Jeremy's side to be at the party - and that's before the daycare classmates and their parents were counted. After all, this was a special event. Autumn was turning one! Robin had planned a party with a theme of a "Monster Mash" and had even sewn her a monster print dress for the occasion.

Autumn is wearing the party dress her mom sewed for her
while showing how many years old she is.

All those extra hands were invaluable, pitching in to make the snacks and deploy the decorations Robin had planned for the party. There were Frankenstein snack cups, Monsters Inc. apple slices, witches' brew punch, and witch hat cookies. Adding a bit of the Halloween bent, were orange mini-pumpkins with tiny stems, spider deviled eggs with legs of olive slivers, and oreo cookies with orange frosting faces.

Frankenstein snack cups were created in the lab of a mad scientist from green waffle cones
with anatomically accurate frosting features affixed. 

Apple slices have more "a-peel" when presented with Mike Wazowski flair.
Mike was Sully's side kick from the Monster's Inc movie.

Jeremy's sister Felicia presents the "steaming cauldron" of witch's brew,
an apple juice punch magically enhanced with a bit of dry ice.

The witch hats were concocted of Hershey kisses, inverted fudge stripe cookies, and a
special spell of steadiness cast over the hands that applied the orange frosting hat bands.

These peeled clementines with celery stems were kid size pumpkins.

The decorations followed the monster theme. Each guest could have his picture taken inside of Boo's disguise when she was being hidden from the citizen's of Monstropolis. Notice I said each guest, and not each kid.

Here is Frank making sure the camera shots of the kids will work well.

A path of Sully balloons led the guests to the front door. Side walls of the dining area displayed hand-painted renditions of monsters, baby style. The far wall as you entered the dining room presented the food spread and the banners announcing Autumn's Monster Mash. 

Sully guided the guests path to the party.

Wookie widda bottle was one of the baby monster portraits on the walls.

The spread for Autumn's Monster Mash included a pennant banner and
two Draculas in tuxedos acting as sentinel cupcakes on either side of the cake.

Frank and Robin picked the cake up from the bakery while I stayed in the car with Autumn. The cake was to have a big reveal and no one was to see it until Autumn's daddy had. Jeremy was busy with other tasks and could not take the time to look at the cake. I tried to contain my curiosity and went off to do other preps. When I passed by the dining room later I saw the lid of the cake partway up. Thinking Jeremy had already seen it and that I had missed the big reveal, I raised the lid further and looked in. The cake was decorated with monsters and even Cookie Monster had a cookie in his mouth. It was so cute... except for one detail. The bakery had misspelled Autumn by omitting the final letter. "Didn't any one notice Autumn's name?" I asked Robin. Her first instinct was be shocked and to gasp at me, "You peeked before Jeremy?" Then she rushed over to the cake, peered in with dismay, and proceeded to rant against the bakery. Had time permitted she would have stormed back there to have them fix it. Luckily, Jeremy's brother had a very steady hand and there was leftover orange frosting from the witches hats, so Josh came to the rescue and added the "N". Crisis averted.

Josh's steady hand saved the day.

Happy Birthday A-u-t-u-M-N

What "Monster Mash" would be complete without a "Graveyard Smash"? Autumn was not tactilely timid. She initially explored the cake gingerly but then dove into tasting all that gooey, messy, chocolate stuff.

A gravestone smash cake.

Patty cake, Patty-cake...

Yum! And what photographic foresight! Black icing contrasts really well.

Cleanup was best achieved by going directly to the kitchen sink. Autumn thought this part of the smash cake ritual was fun, too.

Robin and I hosed icing off Autumn legs, arms, and face.
I loved the Monster's Inc. pink onesie Robin selected for her ritual cake smash.

What birthday is complete without presents! Frank and I sent a Kettler tricycle ahead as our gift, and Frank assembled it shortly after we got to Robin and Jeremy's home. It has a push handle and foot rest feature that let her enjoy the tricycle even before she learns to pedal. She loved it! That red bell accessory has a very merry sound that just makes you smile, even if the cute, little, blond, blue-eyed rider that's wearing a big grin isn't your granddaughter.

Grandma and Autumn are trying out her new tricycle
in the circular driveway in front of her house.

Toodle-oo Tuesday in Boston

Dan and Carrie would be leaving on a mid afternoon flight to return to California but we still had Tuesday morning for a final Boston activity with them. The agenda included a guided tour of Fenway Park. The tour began in the team store, a strategy representing entrepreneurial planning at its finest. Dan, Carrie, and I browsed the store while Frank sat in a comfortable seat to wait for the tour to begin. I bought a Boston Red Sox rubber duckie for Autumn. Then we were off! Cue organ music... Take me out to the ball game...

Frank prefers waiting to spending money.
This tends to be his fiscal philosophy in general so we complement each other well.

Autumn thought this little duckie was yummy.
Upon my giving it to her, she shoved it straight into her  mouth, baseball cap first.

The exit to the store directed us across the street to historic Fenway Park.

The tour started by a taking a peek into the visitors' locker room. Then the guide led us single file up into the stands to get an overview of the stadium. Each party in the line paused in front of a photographer, who posed them for a souvenir picture, another fine example of entrepreneurial excellence. Dan took a photo of Frank and me as we passed along one of the upper walkways. Frank asked how the intricate pattern in the playing field was made. We could understand how a mowing pattern could make the striped or checkerboard design but how about the "B Strong"? We learned that the pattern is created by angling a hose directing a stream of high pressure water to lay the grass down in different directions, providing the two tones of color. I thought to myself, "This is just like the nap of velvet, corduroy, or fur fabric." The fabricaholic in me never dies.

Frank and I paused to admire the playing field from up high.
I was fascinated with the technique for patterning the green.

Behind our backs in the "B Strong" photo is the Green Monster. The scoreboard is in that tall green wall. The corridor behind the scoreboard is unheated, icy cold in chilly weather, and swelteringly hot in warm weather, and yet two men worked faithfully within those non-ideal conditions updating the scores during every game. Well, almost every game.  They only missed one game collectively within over twenty years of service. That was the day one of them got married and the other was his best man. Our tour guide thought the wedding should have been scheduled during the off-season. Our tour then walked to the seating area above the Green Monster and we were allowed to sit there a bit and admire the ball field from that vantage point within Fenway Park.

Here are Carrie, Frank, and Dan in the seats above the Green Monster.
Note the sign at the lower left corner. There is a close-up of it next.

I don't quite know why, but I was bemused by this sign at the Green Monster seating area.
Do the seats spring up and fire the offending fan into the air?

Our tour continued among the various pavilion levels of the stadium. We entered and paused for a bit in the pressroom, where the sports writers and sports reporters watch the games. We learned there is assigned seating and a pecking order. Along the way we passed no other than Micky Mouse. As a Disney fan I could not pass up a photo-op with Red Sox Mickey. I also could not miss the opportunity for another father/son photo during our saunter around Fenway Park.

As a Disney fan I could not pass up this photo-op!

This photo does not have the same prestige as the "Men of Boston" photo from my previous post
but it gets across the same point.  We were all having a fun time bonding while horsing around.

We also saw the Citgo sign, an iconic part of the Boston skyline. One well-known baseball player whose name I have forgotten (sorry, but, no sports figure is well-known to me) got his inspiration to hit home runs from the sign. He would spur himself on by envisioning the ball launched off his bat with the words,  "Cee - it - go"! The CITGO sign is also a nostalgic image for Frank and me from our MIT days. During the majority of his graduate student years, Frank lived on the 11th floor of Tang Hall, a graduate student dorm.  Frank's room 11B-4, had a great close-up view of the CITGO sign right outside his window.

The final bullet of the CITGO sign facts points out that anytime a home run ball is hit
over left field in Fenway Park, the CITGO sign is in the image.

At the end of the tour we walked through the Red Sox and Fenway Park memorabilia room. One gentleman there proudly showed me his world series rings.

This gentleman was not a Boston Red Sox player but sported two rings.
The team had voted that support members got rings as well.

This is a closeup view of the World Champion rings for 2007 and 2004.

After the Fenway Park Tour we had enough time for a light lunch before Dan and Carrie had to catch their ~3:00 flight. A restaurant just outside and across the street from the park was Sweet Caroline's. Carrie, technical writer that she is with a strong eye for detail, immediately spotted the mangled reference on their advertising chalkboard. Dan and Carrie were married in San Juan Capistrano.

Can you spot the phrase? Were those flocking fish intentional?
Maybe the beer does flow like wine within.

Although I did not know it at the time, I now know that the phrase is a quote from the 1994 movie Dumb and Dumber.  I guess my taste in movies back then did not sway me to rush right out and see that one. Or, if my younger tastes did woo me into watching it, then there is mercy in getting older, and I've forgotten I'd seen it. Here is the phrase in context.

Quote from the 1994 movie Dumb and Dumber

As I was writing about this I found out that those salmon have their own web site, too.  Check it out at http://salmonofcapistrano.com/. Although "the Salmon of Capastrano" was a bit of a slight to their wedding venue in a weird way, it was also funny. We laughed it off and ate there! We sat at a booth where the wall behind us was a vertical bank of dirt planted with real foliage. I wondered how the restaurant owners watered it? Although the bar was extensive, the wall gave the room a very atrium-like feel and the abundance of wood tones lent a luxe feel.

We had our final lunch with Dan and Carrie at Sweet Caroline's, across the street from Fenway Park.

We made our way back to the town home on Appleton street where Dan and Carrie picked up their luggage and set off for Logan Airport. It was great to have been able to spend such concentrated time with them. It was even more special to have had the opportunity and circumstances to share with them snippets of our lives when we were just a few years younger than they are now, back just before and just after Frank and I were married.

Dan and Carrie posed for one last picture in our 83 Appleton rental before departing for the airport.
This downstairs area was where Frank and I stayed while their bedroom was upstairs.

We had the rental on the town home for one more night since our flight to Oklahoma was not until Wednesday. As timing worked out, we were able Tuesday evening to re-connect with our friends John and Sue for a quiet evening of dinner and conversation. John works in nearby Cambridge and Sue drove into the city after she left work. We relaxed in the town home for a bit and then meandered to the Metropolis Cafe on Tremont Street for dinner. It truly was Toodle-oo Tuesday since we said good-bye to them also that day. Wednesday morning we took "the T" out to Logan airport.

In the background behind Frank, the train of the first leg of our subway route to the airport is approaching.

We were off to Oklahoma to celebrate our first granddaughter's first birthday and her mommy's over thirtieth. I took the following picture at Boston's Logan airport because it just seemed to capture the role of the modern grandparent - getting out of their rocking chairs to fly off and see the kids and grandkids.

The modern vs. the old. Jet plane vs. rocking chair.