Slappy Has Thanksgiving in LA - Take 3

After all of the eating that took place, leftovers still remained. It was decided something needed to be done about that, and it was a job we all took seriously.

Everyone's Thanksgiving was brought over, as we all realized that making meals from our own leftover side dishes - for the Kender-Page that meant meals of mashed potatoes and apple crisp - were not as filled out as a meal where all of the basic food groups were hit.

I think it speaks to how seriously we took our leftovers that they are in focus, and the people are not.

That said, at the end of our final Thanksgiving meal, we were able to relax, happy, full and well-balanced.

Slappy Has Genetic Encoding

Let's start with Mom. She apparently enjoyed a good sink bath as well.

And the freedom of not letting the man and his "dress code," keep you down.

Which inspired Dedo to send the above pictures after seeing Maddie with her monkey socks.And yet somehow, the big Kender genes seem to take a back seat, when the Page gets involved.

Yeah, those 2 are of Dad. I think we know who won the dominant/recessive battle. Now to figure out where those blue eyes came from...

Slappy Chills with Her Posse

Back when both Aarin and Jess were pregnant, they bought these outfits in 0-3 month size and 3-6 month size. Little did they know that their girls would end up being the exact same size at the exact same time.

However, eventhough, ELF is 4 months younger than Maddie, she has the patience of at least an 8-month old. During this photo session she endured a very excited Maddie, who insisted on showing her friendship by grabbing ELF in the face (see Jess' hand holding hers down in the above photo), and a very excited Lilly who gave her a full body hug, ending up with ELF swallowed in between the sofa pillows and Lilly's purple dress. ELF remained cheerful the entire time.

Slappy Has Thanksgiving in LA - Take 2

After stretching our stomachs the day before, we headed to Elizabeth and Jim Danger's house for Thanksgiving 2.

Another incredible cheese and wine spread, along with wonderful company.

There was urban family and blood family (Elizabeth and Jim's, who told stories of younger sisters not being able to walk until they were 16 months because older ones would push them down). And of course, Arthur, who continues to be a source of fascination for Maddie.

Slappy Has Thanksgiving in LA - Take 1

John and Erin hosted Thanksgiving this year, and the spread was tremendous. There were cheeses and veggies to munch on as the house warmed with the smells of tradition.

There were enough people that the living room furniture had been banished to the corners, and an "L" shaped table filled the entire space.

It's good to have friends.Especially on the holidays when you're so far away from your family - amen for urban family.Sam carved the turkey. Please note - there was also mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, brussel sprouts, salad, wild rice, french onion casserole, rolls, mac and cheese and 3 different types of stuffing.And a smoked pork butt, carved by Arthur.

After dessert (chocolate chip pie, chocolate-maple pecan pie and apple crisp), we played Apples to Apples because we are dorks and the wine flowed freely. It made not being able to be home, a lot easier to swallow, especially since we really could not have swallowed another thing.

Slappy Heads Home

After driving to Lea and Carl's the night before, Maddie woke up to a wonderful breakfast and her favorites - the piano and Bridgette, the dog. Sadly, this also meant she would be dropping her grandparents off at the airport, and making the 7 1/2 hour drive home (which she handled like a pro for the first 7 hours, and screamed for the last 1/2 hour - not bad.)

Slappy Eats At The Sea Ranch

After another huge meal of popovers, baked potatoes and mushrooms, and homemade bread, some of us were ready for some sea kayaking. (For those of you not familiar, the woman front-left is Sarah, and the man, center-back is Q - they were not the ones kayaking, neither were the Pages).

It was Glenn and 9-year old Sam who headed down to brave the surf. Who knew it would end up with a game of hide-and-seek?
As in Glenn's glasses hiding somewhere in the surf, while we all seeked for them.Sadly, Maddie does not know what, "Look for Glenn's glasses" means, so Glenn ended up with his choice of a prescription snorkel mask or Grandpa Toby's extra set of bifocals.

Maddie took a break from it all to learn about black sand with Taisie.

While digesting lunch later that day, Sam and Emma played a game of pool.

Dad Sam joined in, which Maddie thought was thrilling, laughing excitedly every time he shot. Jess stood by and thought about the dinner of homemade pasta that was to come.

Slappy Explores The Sea Ranch

After a breakfast of chocolate chip cookies, persimmons, and bismarcks, a long walk was desperately needed. Sam (the 9-year-old version), also a budding photographer, worked on his skills with mom, Nancy. Maddie enjoyed the familiar feeling of being strapped to her Taisie, while enjoying Grandpa Toby's company. The sun, however, was still her enemy. We all walked to the bottom of the sea cliffs for some spelunking.

Emma and Sam showed Dad, Glenn, how to do it.

After a dinner of grilled salmon and Vietnamese mango salad, Sam and Sam headed back to the beach to catch the sunset. (It must also be noted that at lunch, Jess had her first grilled oysters and was immediately a convert).

Gorgeous. (The writing at the bottom of Sam's photo is a trial program he used to merge 3 exposures together).

Slappy Heads to The Sea Ranch

But first, breakfast at Toast with her BFF, Maya.

Then a refreshing walk through the San Fran hills.And finally - after waiting half of her life to finally see them again, meeting Taisie and Grandpa Toby at the Oakland Airport.

Here, the eternal question of , "How do 4 adults, 1 baby, and 8 pieces of luggage fit in one hatchback?" was asked. It was then followed by, "Which is smarter - Google Maps or the Pruis' GPS?" Answer - Google Maps. Which begs the question - "Which did we use?" Well, the GPS seemed to have us on the windy 1 for so much less... Little did we realize, it had us on a wayyyyy more windy side road (think one lane in parts, no reflectors, white-knuckles and mountain drop-offs - we literally passed only one other car in an hour and 15 min - a UPS truck). We are sooo smart.

Slappy Has A Long Drive

This morning, Maddie, Jess, and Sam headed out on the road at 4:30am because they love to be driving when the sun rises. Ok, actually, this being Maddie's first long car ride, her parents were freaked out by the prospect of 6 hours of crying baby. This way they were guaranteed at least 2 1/2 hours of quiet before... Maddie's First Rest Stop - The Apricot Tree in Firebaugh, complete with fine figurines, an original Pac-Man and jerky.

Some time (and not too bad a drive) later, Maddie finally got to her BFF, Maya, in San Fran. After reconnecting, they began their new favorite game - "I reach my hand to your mouth - You lick it - We both laugh."

Then Kears and Sam played the same thing, but since we were in the Castro, noone thought anything of it.We all waited for Todd to come home from work, put the girls down, and remembered what it was like to have a dinner without having to clean off anyone's face, except one's own.

Slappy Has Good Times

What could bring such joy to a 7-month-old?

Why, patting Dad's spiky hair, of course!
I could do this all night.

Slappy Eats Vietnamese

We all met up with Auntie Jamie for a noodle meal at the new Vietnamese joint in her neighborhood. There were long communal tables to eat at, and Maddie's presence seemed to scare off one man reading his paper. In actuality, though, it was Auntie Jamie who kept throwing toys across the table.

Slappy Has Brunch and Pie

After meeting up with K-Dub, Shanna, Tim, and Eric at Auntie Em's, we all had a Sunday morning brunch, just blocks away from Shanna and Tim's new house.After being disappointed by the deep-fried french toast, Edith (who is 26 weeks old on-the-inside) invited everyone back to her house, where Shanna and Tim had cooked a blueberry pie and a fig tart (made with figs off of their fig tree). Nothing like 2 pieces of pie to really end a brunch well.