Austen spent her first Thanksgiving at Morgan’s new house in Ayer, Massachusetts. She started off a little cranky, probably because of the 5-hour drive throwing off her schedule and Mommy & Daddy not realizing she was very hungry but too wound up to eat. Fortunately, Austen eventually allowed Mommy to feed her a bottle and went to sleep just before it was time to sit down for dinner.
As usual, dinner was excellent, so kudos to chefs Uncle Tod and Aunt Holly. Ample dishes, all cooked to perfection, encouraged everyone to eat all their veggies. Of course, the dessert, pumpkin cheesecake prepared by Uncle Mark, was equally great. The four cousins had a good time playing en mass. Emma took turns “playing” with the younger ones, perfecting her “cheeeeky cheeky” tickle. Morgan was busy crawling and walking around the house — when she wasn’t sitting in her Bumbo chair watching language videos. Erin and Austen enjoyed staring at their older cousins and spent a lot to time on the play mat and in the swing. Not to miss out on the entertainment, there was a lengthy poker game played by the daddies, Zack, Rin, and Mommy. There were some tense moments, particularly in the later hours as people became impatient with the dealer’s lollygagging. In the end, Mommy, an amateur at poker, nearly won it all before becoming too tired to go on. Surprisingly, Zack and Rin, the two poker “experts,” didn’t fare as well as they should’ve. The night after Thanksgiving, we played poker ounce again. This was a much more relaxed version, with candy and popcorn serving as the main incentive to stay up. Emma couldn’t sleep so she was allowed to stay up with the adults … provided she remained on the sofa. This turned out to be too much of a limitation for her, especially after candy was spread out on the floor and Emma learned what really happens in the night after little girls go to bed. (Just as during the game the night before, Mommy dominated at Texas hold ‘em and quickly took out Rin and Daddy, although she felt kinda guilty about this.) We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again for Christmas but hope they don’t expect such an extravagant culinary experience, unless Uncle Tod loses some bet at poker and ends up having to cook again. 🙂 Here are some really cute photos of the cousins (and their minders).