Thanksgiving Weekend

No Turkey Bowl
I started off the weekend sick, working from bed on Wednesday with a fever, cough, and all my sinuses seriously clogged--so there was no Turkey Bowl action this year. And that broke Aaron's heart. For the last few weeks we've been playing catch, learning fundamentals, and practicing plays, all in anticipation of playing some football on Turkey Day. I was feeling better when we arrived in Sherwood around 2:00 p.m., so Aaron and went to the park across the street from the Booren's that has a soccer field with an artificial surface--not that we needed it, since it was sunny and dry (but a little cold and windy). The in-laws and cousins were playing soccer (three-on-three), and didn't want to play football at all. Aaron was so upset he didn't even want to play in the soccer game; he just watched on the outskirts, passing the football to himself and kicking it around and asking if we could go home. I offered to play football with him, but he refused, so I played soccer with the others.

The Aftermath
After the feast, I camped out downstairs in the basement watching football; it was probably for the best, as I was still sick. We spent the night at Megan's sister Nichole's house in South Beaverton, as there was no room at the Booren Inn (they now have two girls boarding with them). Thankfully, Aaron was still awake when we arrived at Nichole's place, cause even hauling a sleeping Edward up three flights of stairs was tough.

Black Friday
Meg woke up at 4:50 a.m. and went shopping with Nichole. I'm not sure where they all went, but Meg bought all of her presents for me, so I'm probably the first man on the planet to have his Christmas shopping done for his wife! I fixed and served the boys pancakes and had them dressed by 8:30 when the girls returned from shopping. Meg and I then picked up Shannon (Meg's friend from high school) and Jeff (her husband and my distant cousin) from her mom's house in Sherwood, dropped our boys off at the Booren's, then began our drive north to Seattle--well, Redmond, actually, where the girls other friend from high school, Susan (the same trio that went on that trip to Burbank last year), and her husband Pavan. We stopped at one point so Meg could get a drink, but like 45 minutes later she had to pee. So we got off the highway and pulled up to an unmanned service station that fortunately had a Honey Bucket open for business.

Strangers in Our Own Land
We made it to Susan's house in the late afternoon, and after a very brief tour of their house and a Skittles snack break, we were back in the Sienna to go to an Indian buffet (Pavan is from India). The food was pretty good, and it was cool to eat in a restaurant where we were the only white people (this last happened for me at a Chinese restaurant on NE Sandy Blvd that some of my Japanese friends took me to in the late 90's--and that was by far the best Chinese food I've ever had in America).

Sculptures in the Park
We then drove into downtown Seattle and strolled through the Olympic Sculpture Park, which borders Elliot Bay and is just north of the core downtown area. We had a good time walking through the sculptures (which reminded me of a similar park in Ube, Japan, that I visited near the end of my mission), throwing rocks out into the bay, and generally enjoying the time without having to worry about the kids running away or falling into the water. We nearly watched the sun go down into the ocean, when we decided to traverse another bridge and head into West Seattle, where we had some great views of Seattle from a place I'd never been before (but read a lot about in Sunset). Finally, Meg drove us safely back to Redmond (but not before stopping at the Kirtland Fred Meyer for stuff) where we finished the night eating turkey leftovers, watching movies, taking turns sitting in the shiatsu massage chair, and playing Pit.

Pikes Place
Susan and Pavan made a hearty breakfast Saturday morning before we headed out again for downtown Seattle. We wandered around Pike's Place Market, ate fresh donut holes, and marveled at how many people can fit in such a tiny place. We ate lunch down on the waterfront, which was filled me up for the rest of the day. Jeff is a BYU fan, and he was following the lack of excitement on his Blackberry, giving us updates every three minutes and claiming BYU won in the end because of all the good karma he was getting from Pavan, whom Jeff desperately tried to convert to being a fan of BYU football. Before we were ready to leave, I left our table to go to the bathroom but when I passed by the bar, I saw the Ducks game was on, so I stopped and watched. Much to my disappointment, the Ducks fifth-string QB was in the game playing like garbage--what else could possibly go wrong with the Ducks's season? Oh wait, there are still two games left . . . Meg found me eventually, and asked where the bathrooms were. I stated that I didn't make it, so I wasn't sure. She replied, "You pee'd your pants?" Ha, ha, ha. She was serious, but I was simply distracted by the game--I'm a guy, for heaven's sake.

The Drive Home
After lunch we walked back to our cars, said our goodbyes, and headed for home. Meg actually got tired about an hour later and asked that I drive the rest of the way (this is the girl who drove 13 hours straight from Salem-SLC and the reverse). She ended up talking with Shannon the whole way back. After we dropped Shannon and Jeff off at their family's house, we picked up our boys at the Booren's; they were happy to see us, although they were coughing and tired and didn't go to church the next day. I feel bad for Aaron whenever he is away from Meg for the night, because he always has an asthma attack (this trip was no different). I'm not sure why, but at least he had his medicine that he could take that helped him out. But thanks to G&G for watching the boys and letting us have a fun weekend away.