First Thanksgiving in Virginia

Dave's sister Melanie and her family moved about the same time we did. Our Florida-to-Virginia move wasn't nearly as much of a climate shocker as theirs: Arizona to Connecticut. Melanie's husband is an optometrist with the Navy, and they drove all the way down to see us for Thanksgiving.

Melanie and Sam are dedicated runners, so Dave signed them all up for the local Thanksgiving 5k along the James River. Sam came in first in his division, (there were several hundred runners) and may have come in first overall if the course had been more clearly marked.

While they ran, I watched the 5 kids, and we played by the riverside history mural.

Stackable cousins! Collect them all! Samuel (left), Nate, and Jane held up Andy and Jessica.

In the picture below, we're outside the children's museum with James River fountain in the background. All the kids took turns climbing down the metal caterpillar and getting "pooped" out; Jessica was the last one, shown here.

Hiking picturesque stairs in the historic section of Lynchburg on our way back to our car:

Later we played and worked on Thanksgiving dinner. I ordered a card table the exact width and height of our kitchen table, and a new long tablecloth. The dinner looked great with all white dishes. (It was a perfect warm day, and if we'd thought of it sooner, we probably could've set up the table outside.)

Melanie and Sam made sweet potato souffle, a fruit salad, whole wheat rolls, and stuffing. Dave brined and cooked the turkey and made the mashed potatoes. And I made creamy beans and peas, Indian succotash (my new favorite), and mashed trio (turnip, rutabaga, and potatoes). 


It's ironic that Samuel, forks held the highest, was the pickiest eater, but Jessica was a close second. There was only one food everyone loved: turkey!

 Happy Thanksgiving!

 After the feast we took naps, did some Wii dancing, and went on walks,

and of course, ate pie. Melanie and Sam brought pumpkin and pecan (my favorite). Dave and I made apple, cherry, and grasshopper (chocolate mint) pie. I experimented with several variations of pumpkin: maple pumpkin with walnut streusel, pumpkin with gingersnap crust, and apple butter-pumpkin with pecan streusel. (Honestly, I think normal pumpkin pie is still best, but it was fun to try, and I had to use up that apple butter.)

The next day we slept in, then did some black Friday shopping. I got discounts on Candy Land, our new Kitchen Aid mixer, outdoor lighted Christmas trees, and this:

Friday we also visited the Thomas Jefferson summer home: Poplar Forest, which is in the heart of Lynchburg. Surprisingly, the home was lived in and owned by private citizens until the 1980's; they only began restoring it, adding museum buildings, replanting historical landscaping, and restoring the furnishings (burned in an earlier fire) in the last 2 decades.

The home is octagonal, and the grounds very symmetrical.

Below our niece and nephews, pretending they are impatiently waiting to use the "necessary": the fanciest outhouse I've ever seen.

Below, Jessica, age 21 months, stands next to her 4-yr old cousin Andy. That's our tall daughter!

At home, we set up Jessica's little Christmas tree with plastic ornaments in her room. (It took forever to get this shot; silly kids!)

Bubbles + shaving cream paint + fizzy bath colors +  cousins = FUN!

And Dave opened up his extensive Lego Technics collection to make this Lego car with his nephews with gear shifts, steering, shocks, and headlights. Pretty impressive.

While Melanie and Sam had to sleep on air mattresses, they at least had their own place in the office. And the cousins slept on couches and air mattresses in the front room. We never could have accommodated them in our old squishy place. They left first thing Sunday morning. Thanks for coming to visit, Jarvis family!