We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with 20 people sharing the day at our house. I had a few anxious thoughts about where they were all going to sit, but it all worked out beautifully once I figured things out.
We set up a table in front of our fireplace. Luckily the day was so warm that I did not have to build a fire, so those guests did not get roasted:) In the garage, I put an extra leaf in the table that stays out there and put some tv trays by the chairs. I also put extra chairs and tv trays where ever there was a corner. Lastly, I broke my “don’t eat on the couch” rule, and no one spilled. Patsy’s room became the play room, and the kids played games in there.
We had SO much food! We had all the traditional foods, with a few twists. I cooked the turkey on Tuesday, and just warmed it up. The potatoes, though, I mashed that morning, and made gravy. Our family loves potatoes, and we ate the entire 10 lbs!
Then we took off for a couple of days of camping at the beach. No matter how rainy and wet, we still love it! And, boy did it turn out to be rainy and wet!! Last night, Rob had to get up around midnight and put the awning in, it was so windy. Then, a little later in the night, the power went out. He got up again to change the water heater to propane, the the fridge does it by itself. Then it came back on, and woke us up again. We drove home today, very slowly and safely, wishing we had a couple more days because we needed a nap!!!
We took Jake with us, as he has been longing to go camping for months. This morning, he was already asking when the next camping trip would be. We stayed inside for the most part, watching movies, reading books. The kids did lots of craft kits and Legos.
The sad news is that my main computer crashed It’s in the shop. So, my phone will have to do for now, and I find blogging much harder. (Note: The phone did not work at all, nothing posted, there just was not any reception there in most places, so I’m now switched out to an old computer that we had at home and am making a better post. Sadly, this computer will not do pictures, so I have to use the one poor one I was able to load on my phone, plus there are old pictures I can use. But, no new ones from this trip until the good computer comes home.) Hopefully, it will be fixed soon. (Note: It’s fixed. We lost the entire hard drive and everything on it. I’m bummed. We can pick it up whenever we can drive up there–a day or two)
Glad you had a lovely Thanksgiving. I’m sure the family enjoyed being together. Sorry to hear about your computer, though. Hopefully, all will be fine now that it is fixed.
I’ll be even happier when it’s in my hands and I get it back in use. It will be like starting over—it’s blank?
I am so glad your Thanksgiving went great. Going camping in winter is the best time ever because there are fewer people around.
Sorry about the computer crashing. I do not mind being patient and waiting for more posts. They will eventually get here so I am fine.
Jeannie @ GetMeToTheCountry
Thanks! We have found that camping is one of the few ways to get me to just sit down and rest?. So in a lot of ways, it’s our hotel on wheels. We did all our cooking inside—no fire at all. It’s pretty hard to enjoy that while the rain drips down your neck…unless you’re Rob?
Ugh! I hate that about your computer!
We had a lovely Thanksgiving as well. We squashed 11 of us into the dining room but that is the limit. If anyone else had been home it would have been some in the kitchen, too but us grandparents do not mind sitting in there with only the grandchildren. The mashed potatoes were the most popular food at our house, too. I have started using red potatoes and not peeling them and it saves me a good bit of labor. I scrub them the day before so that I only have to cube them up. I tried a new recipe for crock pot candied sweet potatoes and 11 of us ate almost all of 3 pounds of them. I will use that recipe again because everyone loved them. Our 29 and 37 year old sons decided to burn a pile of debris on the back of our property and caught an huge oak tree on fire. Thankfully they got it put out but in 23 years my husband has never done such a thing back there. Boys will be boys when they are together no matter what age they are!
We don’t mind the lake house in the rain and cold now that the kids are grown but it was miserable when we had a week like that when they were with us. They were like a bunch of caged lions. They see no value in resting and still do not. We see it as a chance to be really, really lazy and sleep a lot. I am so glad you could get away. I want to see your coast some day.
Good grief!!! Boys, boys, boys! What is it with boys and fire (and guns, and fireworks and…..)? I’m glad everything was ok.
It sounds like you had a great weekend, too:).
I hope you can see the west coast sometime, too. The one thing about our water is that it’s COLD here in Oregon! So, getting our feet wet wasn’t even an option this time. It’s really beautiful, though, and wild. I’ve never seen the Atlantic, so I can’t compare the two. I’m sure it’s amazing, too.
I’m very fortunate that Jake is completely content to build Legos for hours, and the girls like to read, watch tv, do crafts, etc. If it was summer, I would be the one itching to get out and do something active, but I was really tired, and glad to get some down time!
I’m so sorry about your computer! Your Thanksgiving sounds lovely.
Thanks! It’s fixed and I’m using it. It has taken Rob and I (mostly Rob) this entire evening to get it set back up so it’s usable, as it was blank when we got it back!
We did lots of camping when our kids were still home. We have had one trip with one son and his wife, although we have to tent camp now. We just aren’t able to justify the expense of a camper no more than we would get to use it. Do any of your grown children ever get to go with you and the 3 girls now? It’s so much fun and the more, the merrier!! —-Vicky in Ky
It’s very rare that any of the older ones go with us. Our eldest, Abbie, does occasionally make it work, but not for a while now.
That’s terrible losing all the content of your hard drive 🙁 how frustrating. A belated happy thanksgiving to you & your family. I wonder if Harnet and yourself would consider sharing her Beri Beri lentil recipe with your readers?
I will ask her to share the recipe. She showed me one day, but I don’t quite remember it:)
It was pretty simple, though, if I remember right.