even more west

We went even more west for Thanksgiving this year, due to a very nice invitation from our friend R, who asked us to join him, his wife C, and their children out in the San Francisco area.  So last Wednesday, after I worked a half day and H skied a half day, we hopped on a plane for the coast.  Our visit was long overdue: we hadn't seen C for about six years and we'd never met any of their three kids.  After some initial shyness, oldest boy N (6-ish) and daughter T (3-ish) warmed right up to us; the youngest, M, is not quite a year yet and was not quite sure what to think about his schedule being so completely disrupted.  N and T are really nice kids (and I'm not just saying that because they read this blog with their father), funny, well-behaved and smart: they're fluent in three languages at present - Italian, which their mom speaks to them, German, which their dad speaks to them, and English, which everyone else speaks to them.  It's impressive.

The holiday weekend weather was spectacular: sunny, clear and low 60s, which enabled us to do a fair amount.  C and I went out Thanksgiving morning for a run/walk with one of her friends; R, H, N, T and I walked for a couple of miles around their neighborhood before Thanksgiving dinner; Saturday, before we left to go back home, we drove to the coast and played on a beach for a while, poking at crabs in tidal pools.  On Friday, N wanted to "climb a mountain" since that's what H and I do out here in Utah, so all six of us had a nice stroll in the rolling foothills between the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific.  N and T had pinwheels attached to their backpacks which is something I may have to consider for next summer.

Ready to climb a mountain!

We had a lovely time visiting with R and his family, and we really appreciate their adding us to their already-busy lives for the holiday.  We hope that the rest of you reading this had just as a happy Thanksgiving holiday with friends and loved ones as we did.