The Poco Loco Olsons: Thanksgiving Recap

Yes, we are knee-deep in Christmas preparations at this point, but I can't continue without taking a few moments to recap our wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. Eric's mom and dad graciously invited many of the family members on my side of the family to join them in their home for a fun holiday together. We were incredibly touched... especially considering the sheer number of us. There were the four of us, my brother and his family, my mom, and my niece Anna. Seriously... that's a lot of us to invade a home.

We awoke Thursday morning, gathered our gear (including the poinsettia that swallowed Seattle ... aka my mom's host/hostess gift for Eric's parents), and made our way up to the ferry dock. My brother and his family met us there (gratefully, they didn't drive off a random cliff or the 520 bridge on their way.... oh, did I mention the pea soup fog we had that day? It was incredible and made seeing a bit of a challenge at times... all without incident, thank goodness.)

After we crossed the water and piled out of the cars, we quickly got to work prepping for the day's fun and meal. A week or so before, we divvied up the menu responsibilities. I was in charge of the pies (pumpkin, pecan, apple/cranberry) and knowing pies don't exactly travel well, decided to make them once we were on the island. I made the pie crusts ahead of time and pre-measured the ingredients at home the night before, so it was basically a roll out, stir together, and bake process. Definitely the way to go! (Side note: I need to get more Karo syrup to leave at the island ... I finished the bottle up there.)

Eric's mom and dad were fantastic hosts ... right down to hosting a scavenger hunt for the kids and providing not one, but TWO turkeys for the day: one smoked and the other roasted. Karen (pre-Thanksgiving) had a brilliant idea of having Annika be in charge of the cranberry sauce prep; she had a fantastic time and loved being a big enough kid to have a "real job" for Thanksgiving. Her real job also resulted in a lovely addition to the meal ... of which, she had three helpings! :)

We happily stuffed ourselves with Jack's AMAZING smoked turkey for lunch and took in the happiness that is Thanksgiving: football, going for walks, and spending time together with loved ones. Various people napped while others chit-chatted, read, and played games. (Don't ask Karen about playing the card game War with Ian ... tee hee hee!)

Before dinner, Troy, Staci, Ian, Conor, and I headed out for a bit of a walk. We went up the hill and explored the meadow that deer often feed in (and on). We didn't see any deer, but still had plenty of fun watching boys disappear into the incredible fog bank. I was glad that Conor's coat was such a bright color... I was able to keep an eye on him just that much longer thanks to it.

We had an absolutely perfect dinner together and the kids were thrilled to have their own table, so us boring adults didn't cramp their style too much.

After dinner, we fell into a turkey coma, watched more football, and eventually pulled out The Game of Things, which is a fantastically fun game! We had fits and giggles galore!! The dark horse wound up being our nephew Ian... he quickly showed that he could hold his own in a group of adults. Kudos to him!

At what felt like was 2 a.m., but was really closer to 9 p.m., we all fell into bed to sleep off the tryptophan and dream of a wonderful day with very full bellies!