Thanksgiving
My mom and Jon hosted Thanksgiving, and it was really a lot of fun because my dad was in town as were Uncle Bob and Caxton, who came up from Las Vegas. Bob is teaching accounting at the community college in LV, but luckily they're on holiday during Thanksgiving so he had time for the drive north. Jon did his signature barbecued turkey, which is always delicious, and we had loads of food. Jon had just had a tooth extracted earlier that week, so the menu wasn't quite as elaborate as usual (I missed the chutney with cranberries, pearl onions and dried fruit, for instance); but it was still lovely. It was also really fun to catch up with Bob and Caxton; we hadn't seen them since last Christmas, and of course Devon has really changed since they saw her last.
Devon was a little shy at first, no doubt because the room had lots of people and some of them she didn't know; but she warmed up and really started interacting with everyone. She had a little Thanksgiving dinner with us (although I think that the yogurt and berries got bigger raves from her than the turkey and stuffing) but spent most of her time trying to get various people to read stories to her and play other games. My mom has lots of toys for her at their house, so it was easy to keep her entertained. By the time the end of the evening rolled around, though, she was getting tired and started saying, "Go home." It's interesting how she's just recently started asking to go home when we're out and she's tired; normally she'd just get fussy but not associate it with anything that would help the situation (like going home). Now she's just starting to ask about going home when she's out and getting tired (not that she subsequently asks to go to sleep, though).
We spent Friday with my dad, Uncle Bob and Caxton, although the latter pair did escape for a while to the de Young. A few weeks ago I had seen a bus in the city with a poster for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I thought it would be fun to take Devon to see it. I'm totally opposed to Christmas trees in public places -- I think there's enough Christianity in the US without city- and state-sponsored Christmas trees -- but I did think Devon would like the lights (and luckily she has no idea what a Christmas tree is anyway -- later when she understands the symbolism we'll probably have to pass on things like these). My dad and Walt bowed out, but Uncle Bob and Caxton decided to come with us, so we all rode the 38 Geary downtown to Union Square, which has a huge Christmas tree every year.
Caxton provided this great photomontage of our time there and the lit tree, although the outing really turned into something of a debacle. I had just seen this bus poster in passing and didn't think to check the information before we set off for Union Square. This poster had noted 5:30 as the time when the tree was lit, but when we got to Union Square, it turned out that the tree wasn't going to be lit until 6:30 (a woman we sat next to thought perhaps Ghiradelli Square lit its tree at 5:30 -- I didn't even know there was another tree in the city, so it never occurred to me that another location would have a tree lighting ceremony). At any rate, it turned out that Union Square had a whole program of singing, tree lighting and who know what else. We got there at 5 and the place was mobbed even then; it was really rather astounding. However, since I had mistimed everything so badly, Devon was totally fussy after an hour (and I didn't bring food or anything that would tide her over for a long time) and we had to leave well before the tree got lit.
This was another instance where after an hour or so she started asking to go home. I think she was actually enjoying the crowds (I thought it was rather awful), and she did score a neat flower balloon from a clown who was twisting balloons into shapes for kids. She's a bit obsessed with popping balloons these days, though, so after she got the balloon, she proceeded to pop each petal (and scare several other children in the process). After the balloon was decimated and there was another 45 minutes before the tree was to be lit she started getting antsy. Uncle Bob and Caxton did stay, though, and later told us that the whole ceremony was lovely and had caroling and all sorts of other entertainment.
Devon was a little shy at first, no doubt because the room had lots of people and some of them she didn't know; but she warmed up and really started interacting with everyone. She had a little Thanksgiving dinner with us (although I think that the yogurt and berries got bigger raves from her than the turkey and stuffing) but spent most of her time trying to get various people to read stories to her and play other games. My mom has lots of toys for her at their house, so it was easy to keep her entertained. By the time the end of the evening rolled around, though, she was getting tired and started saying, "Go home." It's interesting how she's just recently started asking to go home when we're out and she's tired; normally she'd just get fussy but not associate it with anything that would help the situation (like going home). Now she's just starting to ask about going home when she's out and getting tired (not that she subsequently asks to go to sleep, though).
We spent Friday with my dad, Uncle Bob and Caxton, although the latter pair did escape for a while to the de Young. A few weeks ago I had seen a bus in the city with a poster for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I thought it would be fun to take Devon to see it. I'm totally opposed to Christmas trees in public places -- I think there's enough Christianity in the US without city- and state-sponsored Christmas trees -- but I did think Devon would like the lights (and luckily she has no idea what a Christmas tree is anyway -- later when she understands the symbolism we'll probably have to pass on things like these). My dad and Walt bowed out, but Uncle Bob and Caxton decided to come with us, so we all rode the 38 Geary downtown to Union Square, which has a huge Christmas tree every year.
Caxton provided this great photomontage of our time there and the lit tree, although the outing really turned into something of a debacle. I had just seen this bus poster in passing and didn't think to check the information before we set off for Union Square. This poster had noted 5:30 as the time when the tree was lit, but when we got to Union Square, it turned out that the tree wasn't going to be lit until 6:30 (a woman we sat next to thought perhaps Ghiradelli Square lit its tree at 5:30 -- I didn't even know there was another tree in the city, so it never occurred to me that another location would have a tree lighting ceremony). At any rate, it turned out that Union Square had a whole program of singing, tree lighting and who know what else. We got there at 5 and the place was mobbed even then; it was really rather astounding. However, since I had mistimed everything so badly, Devon was totally fussy after an hour (and I didn't bring food or anything that would tide her over for a long time) and we had to leave well before the tree got lit.
This was another instance where after an hour or so she started asking to go home. I think she was actually enjoying the crowds (I thought it was rather awful), and she did score a neat flower balloon from a clown who was twisting balloons into shapes for kids. She's a bit obsessed with popping balloons these days, though, so after she got the balloon, she proceeded to pop each petal (and scare several other children in the process). After the balloon was decimated and there was another 45 minutes before the tree was to be lit she started getting antsy. Uncle Bob and Caxton did stay, though, and later told us that the whole ceremony was lovely and had caroling and all sorts of other entertainment.
posted by Devon Szalva at
10:37 PM
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