We were graciously invited to my sister's house in Rhode Island for Thanksgiving. Or maybe I graciously invited myself. Either way, it worked, and we found ourselves on a long journey up north.
And I mean long. Because of this:
I guess everyone else also invited themselves to their sister's house.
No matter. We had a new kitty to keep us company. My niece desperately wanted a cat and couldn't find one for a reasonable price so my sister asked if I could possibly bring one with us. I poked around on the interweb and found Steven. He lived with us for a couple of weeks and during that time, Michael fell in love.
He really was a sweet little guy.
But back to Thanksgiving. Did I tell you I invited myself to Rhode Island? Well, I did and it was totally worth it. I had a lovely time. "What made it lovely?" you might ask. I'll tell ya.
We played games like Skittles, Lord of the Rings Risk, Skull King, and Polish Poker with cards from a cottage cheese container.
We watched Wicked. Well...some of us watched Wicked. Some of us stayed in the lobby with Baby the whole night. My sister and I took turns. We chose the later show because Baby was supposed to fall asleep during the movie. She was still wired at 10:30. Turns out my brother-in-law let her suck down half of his Coke Zero before the show. Way to go, Jared.
We ate delicious food. Every meal was delicious. Yeasted waffles, clam chowder, biscuits, guacamole, and the prettiest charcuterie boards you ever did see. I ate about a gallon of pimento cheese. Worth it.
My sister also took a tip from a patient and greased up a paper bag to cook the Thanksgiving bird inside. It seemed like a questionable idea when her arms were covered to the elbow with Crisco, but it actually turned out great. Who knew?
We had ice cream at the Ice Cream Barn.
We set up for Christmas and Baby loved the train set. Almost as much as my brother-in-law.
We went to the Boston temple to do baptisms. It was beautiful and serene. Sissy accidentally left her underpants behind when she changed out of her wet clothes and my sister kept bringing it up to annoy her. It's an aunt's duty to lovingly heckle.
We stopped by a nerd store in Boston that Michael has long wished to visit. It's called Micro Center. That guy darted around like it was a theme park. When I took their picture, Baby hung her head in shame to be with nerds. She got over it quickly though when I let her roam free. Then she darted around like it was a theme park.
Baby did a lot of darting about over the week and she done wore herself out.
And of course...of course, of course, of course, we talked and laughed and talked and laughed.
Dadgum the days flew by. I loved every minute. Except the drive home. It was long. And long. Baby lost it at Wendy's when I wouldn't let her drink my soda. It was time to get home.
But it was a wonderful trip. How grateful and blessed I am to have my siblings as friends.
Happy Thanksgiving!