Thanksgiving and visitors

Yeah, I know it's almost Christmas.  Shortly before Thanksgiving, first Natasha, and then Zoia, came down with a nasty bug that resulted in the TV being on all day for a whole week while they lay on the couch and I tried to come up with new and interesting ways to get them to drink something - anything.  

The illness, and then another one, is still making the rounds through our family.  It has been a long, long, LONG month.  So apologies, again, for the blogging hiatus.  This post is brought you by a sore throat, wooziness and general head-to-toe achiness that has had me laid up in bed for the last day.

So Uncle Jamison and Aunt Michelle came to visit for Thanksgiving.  It was nice to have family in addition to a few friends for our festive meal.  We cooked a 20-lb turkey and enough food for 30 people (we had eight adults, three little kids and two babies).  This year I tried brining for the first time, and also made an herb butter to rub under the skin.  Michelle volunteered to apply the butter.  I told her she might consider a career in midwifery.

The turkey was pretty tasty.  I think I might actually like turkey - this is the first time I've ever said that! Must have been the brine.  And probably the butter.

M&J dutifully did their part in entertaining and helping with the kids.  Michelle played human Barbie doll and story reader at the same time.

Jamison fed the baby and had many tea parties with Zoia.

We also found some time to hang out as adults.  We went to a wine tasting.

We conducted scientific comparisons of fraternal forehead wrinkles.

And we taught M&J how to eat khinkali properly (if you don't look stupid, you're not doing it right).

Oh yeah, and there was a little sight-seeing.

It was a great trip!  Hope to do it again soon.