Treasure Day

Today was treasure day. Yesterday, Andrew came across the Mrs Fields Cookie box that Noemi had brought over with gingerbread people though the box now was empty. He started calling it a treasure box. So Vic told him and Gina that today would be treasure day and that at some point there would be treasure in the box. That certainly held their interest. So during Andrews nap (he ended up sleeping 3hrs today), Vic went out and bought a few things to put in the box. The kids were very excited to go hunting for it and then open it up. Inside were two bags, one for each kid, filled with little toys and books. They really enjoyed it. One of the items, a doll book, kept Gina's interest through dinner at Flames. She loved changing the outfits on the doll.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Grandma Loretta and her companion Elaine drove up the day before and stayed at the Cypress Hotel in Cupertino. We spent most of the day straightening up the house since my Dad was providing all the food. Vic took the kids to the park for a good hour so I had time to clean up the kitchen. Later, Gina helped out by vacuuming the living room (with the hand held vacuum) and putting the tablecloth on the table. The kids were agreeable to the idea of sitting at the small kids table during dinner so we didn't have to make the table bigger. My dad brought over the turkey, stuffing, gravy, green beans and potatoes while my brother Steve provided the salad and cranberry sauce. Everything came together nicely and the dinner was very good. It was definitely nice not having to do any of the cooking this year. Loretta brought 2 pecan pies that she had made while my dad brough pumpkin and pecan that he had bought from Draegers. Loretta's pecan pie was very good though she wasn't very happy with it. The pumpkin pie was also very good; even the kids tried it though I think they liked the whipped cream on top best.

In addition to pies, Loretta also brought toys for the kids. Andrew received two toy trucks and a race car. He was quite happy with his toys. Gina of course also enjoyed playing with the trucks. Gina received a cheerleading doll. When the hands or feet are pressed, the doll sings a different cheer. It's the kind of doll that gets very annoying very quickly. Of course, there is no off switch but Gina was good about not playing it when asked to stop.


After dinner, Nana and Alice arrived. They had had dinner in San Francisco with John and Granny Alice at an Italian restaurant near the Wharf. Apparently, the turkey dinner wasn't very good there so they also indulged in our leftover turkey.

Alice really enjoyed seeing Dylan for the first time. Dylan got a lot of holding time with Auntie Alice both yesterday and today. He falls asleep very easily when held so he was perfectly happy.