Thanksgiving in Michigan

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great time in Michigan. As with most vacations, the time went by too fast. Once again, I didn't take as many pictures as I wish I had, so I'll try for a compelling narrative.

On Wednesday we arrived around rush hour in Detroit. It's hard to believe all the negative news about that place when the roads - from freeways to city streets to suburban avenues - are packed with traffic. There are millions of people there with places to go and things to do, so it can't be all bad! If only they would start buying houses...

After quite a long drive and picking up dinner from La Shish - the best Middle Eastern cuisine outside, well, the Middle East - we arrived at the home of our friends, the Harpers. It was great to see Chris and Kristin, but spending time with four-year-old twins Kate and Kyle was the real treat!

We awoke to tiny voices chanting "it's snowing, it's snowing" on Thursday morning. Sure enough, our first real snow of 2007 found us in Michigan! (It was also colder and gloomier than Minnesota for all you who continue to think we've moved to the frozen tundra.)

Chris and Chris (they go by their last names when together, but it still gets confusing!) played in the snow with Kyle and Kate for awhile in the morning.

By early afternoon, the Harpers left for Thanksgiving with Kristin's family. Once Chris finished watching the Lions lose (and taking a nap), we headed for Mike and Donna's house. Two of their kids weren't there (Laurie and Cindy (and Ryan)), but Jenny, Michael, Matt and Gina were there and Heather came in from New York with her boyfriend Jahn (sorry if I didn't spell that correctly). Grammy Opal was there and Suzanne came in from California for a few days. A friend of the Forans' also joined us.

There we enjoyed a scrumptuous Thanksgiving feast of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, yams and various side dishes followed by Grammy's out-of-this-world pies. Pumpkin, cherry and pecan. Mmmm, mmmm. Can we have Thanksgiving again this week?

On Friday morning we were, of course, ready for another big meal! Matt and Sherrie invited us to their house for brunch. They live just a few miles from the Harpers. Also joining us were their sons Jack (7) and Nick (5) and Chris and Matt's friend Jerry, his wife Gina and their kids Gueneviere (3) and Gabriel (1). We had a great time and ate way too much of the delicious quiche, sausage, fruit, veggies, bread that they had prepared.

After digesting and chatting with the Darnells, we met up with Opal and Suzanne. Suzanne turns 60 on December 23 (sorry! I hope you weren't trying to keep that a secret!) and we won't see her then so decided to do a small celebration one month in advance. We visited the Yates Cider Mill for some cider (of course) and - because of course we needed more junk food - their homemade donuts.

After the cider mill, believe it or not, we went out to eat! At La Shish again (because it's also Suzanne's favorite). We've decided that we have to visit Michigan more often so we don't feel the need to gorge ourselves on all our favorite local food. I didn't even mention the many slices of before and after Thanksgiving pie from Achatz.

Following an early (and light) dinner and birthday toast to Suzanne, Chris and I headed back to the Harpers. We brought a make-your-own-bouncy-ball kit and wanted the chance to make them with Kyle and Kate. It was a very easy process of mixing water with colored crystals in a mold. I had fun and the kids seemed to enjoy them. Chris warned me that it might not be a very parent-friendly gift, but as of Saturday morning the Harpers weren't cursing us, so I think it was ok!

By noon on Saturday we were on our way back to Minneapolis. Although we wish we'd stayed longer, we were glad to have some time to relax. Thanks, all, for the fun and food!