Well kids, it looks like we have some catching up to do. All the way back to Thanksgiving, if you can believe that. Do you remember Thanksgiving? I know it’s hard to think with all the carols of the bells ringing in your ears from every store you entered this week, but see what you can come up with. My favorite line from this Thanksgiving came from our neighbor, who is eight. That Wednesday, he strolled over to us outside our house with his hands in his pockets and casually asked, “Where are you guys going for Disneyland?” It’s difficult to describe the “aw shoot!” moment when he realized he’d blown the reveal. We just glossed over it, though, and focused on how excited we were for him.
Turns out we went to Burlingame for Disneyland this year. We’d made plans with our friends from LA to meet along the coast for Thanksgiving, but then it turned out we were all hoping to head to the snow this year, and in the end we decided to meet after Christmas instead. So on a whim, we searched the prices of every Embassy Suites in the Bay Area, and came up with a scorcher of a deal down by the airport, and we decided to just go there for the night. We didn’t tell the kids because we really love watching their faces when they get surprised.
Thanksgiving morning, Tom and Honey did a Turkey Trot – about four miles through the valley to the beach and back. While they were gone, I surreptitiously packed the necessities – a board game, some movies, snacks, and a changes of clothes. We stopped in San Francisco to have lunch at a diner and walk around a bit, and then we headed down to the hotel. When we pulled up and Tom said, “What do you say we stay here tonight?” the kids went bazonkers. And rightly so – it was awesome.
Yep, there were these mammoth trees filling the atrium of the building. There were glass elevators. There was a pool and two jacuzzis. There were koi swimming around in these little ponds and streams that you could walk along to watch them.
Check that out – do you see the little tables and bridges? Can you find the waterfall? Any second now, Snow White will appear.
This is what I’m here to tell you – hotels rock. So do overnights when the kids can basically do all the things they love best in the world. We were right next to the airport, for crying out loud – we just sat on the bed and watched the planes come in. Most of all we were hugely, happily thankful to be together. I hope you all had a wonderful time as well – I’d love to hear what your favorite Thanksgiving foods are. Hands down, mine is apple pie. Although I made Mum’s sweet dinner rolls that week as well just because it’s plain wrong to have a major holiday without them. What makes Thanksgiving for you?