Thanksgiving in GA
Ever since we heard that my sister and her husband were expecting a baby in November, our family planned to visit them in Athens, Georgia over Thanksgiving. We drove up the Sunday before Thanksgiving, where we stayed in a vacation home on Lake Oconee. The foliage was beautiful; I can't imagine New England was any better. Dave became nostalgic for the pine forests. We were i-so-la-ted, but mostly we were happy to hang out, anyways
After a good pregnancy, and a tough but successful delivery, James "Henry" Robertson was born on November 15, 2004 at 8+ lbs. and 23 inches. Many of my friends have had babies, but I've never been so proud of anyone like I was for my sister for carrying and delivering that child. Congratulations, Emily and James!
Henry was only a week old when we arrived in Georgia. We spent lots of time holding him, and he was well-tempered child. We also spent time waiting for him to be fed or put to sleep, so we didn't start this or that activity without Emily and James. Henry was often swaddled, so we began calling him the little burrito.
James blessed and named their baby in church in Athens the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
We had a good time, going on walks, watching movies, playing games, talking, watching parades and football games, and taking turns holding the newest edition to the family. We went to see The Incredibles--two thumbs way up. We also saw The Legend of Johnny Lingo and The Best Two Years, both very good. The boys threw the football around in the red Georgia mud. We had good laughs over games of Risk and Monopoly.
Dad performed the traditional "Tom Turkey's Last Flight" to our delight. It started years ago when Dad in a silly moment flew the turkey around the kitchen like a bomber plane and shouting "Caw! Caw!" before it zoomed into the roasting pan and the oven.
The 27-lb. turkey was the biggest our family had ever cooked, and Dad took a minute to get a good hold on that slippery turkey. Then it soared around the kitchen, and even into the bedroom to harass some late sleepers. Dad was good this year, and we applauded the performance, complete with wing-flapping and dripping turkey juices. Hooray!
Everyone took the opportunity to buy favorite snacks and whip up their best dishes. Comfort foods, everywhere!!!! James made his delicious homemade eggnog, while I made the yummiest green salad with everything. Dave, to everyone's approval, presented his own creation, mid-July soup. If it hadn't been on the last day we found out Chris can make bananas foster, he would've cooked too.
At the official meal, Mom cut no corners with her homemade stuffing, Dad made his famous yams, and Emily served up iced orange rolls with orange zest cut into little diamonds. Jeff complimented everyone by eating everything.
One of the highlights of the week was the paper airplane contest. Dad coordinated it, and he created two classes: one class limited to one 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper; and one unlimited class where the plane had to be made of some paper/wood product, but powered by anything.
The "one sheet of paper" classes came in all shapes: from skinny, pointy paper jets to crumpled balls. Emily made the same plane she's made since she was 10; I named my two versions after fictional characters and drew teeth on the front.
We held the limited class contest inside the house. Here Mom launches her creation. Some planes won not for distance so much as for acrobatics, looping backwards for negative yardage, and flying so high as to get stuck on tall ledges. I won for distance.
Chris' rubberband and propeller plane took second place for distance. Most of the time, though, it's flight curved into the nearest tree, where we cried laughing as Chris try to dislodge his plane by throwing other objects into the tree to get stuck with the plane. Ha ha ha!
Dave won the unlimited class by slingshotting his double thick paper jet with stretchy balloons and popsicle sticks over a short launch rail. The rest of ours flew only as far as we could throw them.
THE END
Dave and Liz Robertson
Family
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