Thanksgiving

This year we did something different for Thanksgiving. Instead of heading down to Va., we rented houses in Ocean City. Mom, Dad, Becky and Ari came up from Va., Dave, the girls and I, Joan, Dan, Maithili, Kishore, Ashwini, Julia, and Madeline came in from Philly, and Doug, Vicki, Carley and Chris came from W. Chester.

It was really a lot of fun. Warm at the beginning of the week, but chilly later one, and there wasn’t much open, but it was still lovely. We spent time on the beach, walking the boards, and then the day after Thanksgiving kicked off Christmas shopping on Asbury, where they had a parade.

On our last day we also spread some of Nana’s ashes into the ocean and along the beach. It was one of her favorite places, and the last time we were all there was for her birthday last October.

The Thanksgiving crew!
The trip wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Manco & Manco’s!
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We headed down to Charlottesville for Thanksgiving again and enjoyed the regular festivities. The weather was pretty warm and beautiful and we got to spend a lot of time outside. Dave cooked the dinner, with Uncle Doug deep frying the turkey per usual. It was a delicious feast like always. This year Chris joined for the first time and Quinn came in from Arizona, which was great. Becky’s boyfriend CJ was also there. It was a great crowd.

the chef!
Lauren and her favorite part of the turkey – the leg!
The Thanksgiving gang!

The rest of the weekend we enjoyed activities around town including holiday lights at Boar’s Head, hiking to the quarry, and wine tasting at King Family Vineyard.

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We headed down to Charlottesville again for Thanksgiving. This year only Doug, Vicki and Nana came down as well. We had a gorgeous long weekend and were able to eat dinner outside (again). Doug did the deep frying and we all agreed, this was the best turkey we’ve ever had. Dave got the rub just right, and Doug has the oil temp and timing down.

  • the master fryer!
  • Dave & Doug
  • Lauren and her turkey leg
The Thanksgiving crew

We brought Petunia with us and she met Vahid for the first time. She was fascinated and a little nervous, but then started to try and bit her shell (dumb dog), so we had to separate them.

One night the girls had a sleepover at Becky’s new townhouse – but I don’t think they got much sleep.

  • Nana & Pap Pap with the grandkids
  • the girls at Becky’s for a sleepover
  • Lauren & Ari reading in front of the fire
  • Petunia meeting Vahid

The day after Thanksgiving we went to a whisky distillery that was a converted house in a beautiful spot at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Even though the weather was much chillier than the day before, we all sat outside around a fire pit – and the whisky also helped to keep us warm 😉

  • Whisky around the fire pit
  • Me & Becky in our twinsie outfits

On our last night there we went to Winterfest at Boar’s Head. It was an outdoor lighted walk around the property that ended with Santa.

  • The girls with Santa & Mrs. Clause

It was a lovely trip and really nice just to hangout with the family.

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We headed down to Charlottesville again this year for Thanksgiving. Because of COVID it was just our family this year who made the trip. We minimized our stops along the way to try and make exposures as few as possible.

This was the first long trip with Petunia. What we’ve found is that if you put her in the back of the car she’ll chew anything around her, BUT if she’s in the front seat she’ll travel happily anywhere. So… she did the whole trip from the seat of honor (oy).

Petunia enjoying the front seat.

Once we arrived we did little but hang around the house and enjoy the great weather. It was unseasonably warm all week, so we got to spend a lot of time outside.

Petunia got to meet Penny and they became best pals quickly. We arrived in the day, instead of the middle of the night, which is what we usually do, because we knew the dogs would be insane for the first few hours. We were right.

Penny & Petunia. Keep away was a favorite game. As was sitting on top of Petunia when she finally got the ball! After many (many) hours of nonstop playing they finally rested, if only for a few moments. Once recharged they were back at it!

Since we won’t see my family for Christmas, we decided to celebrate that as well. We all got into it and it really felt like Christmas. The kids decorated the tree on “Christmas Eve” and we had a big, festive dinner. On the morning of “Christmas” the girls were up early and ready to open presents.

Decorating the tree on “Christmas Eve”
Waiting at the top of the steps on “Christmas” morning
  • Lauren painted a platter for Nana
  • Ari got a hoverboard
  • Sophie loving on Penny
  • Ari & Lauren figured out how to simultaneously use the hoverboard

And then the next day was actual Thanksgiving, so we quickly changed gears and got into the Thanksgiving spirit. In all there was enough eating and drinking in those three days to last the entire month!

Since Doug and his family didn’t come down this year, Dave was in charge of deep frying the turkey. Doug had sent along detailed instructions from the last six years, so he had some good guidance. It turned out deliciously!

  • lowering the turkey
  • the finished product
  • Lauren approved!

It was such a gorgeous day that we ate outside.

It’s the first year that I can remember that the kids got to sit at the “big table” and we didn’t have to serve the food buffet style.

On the day after Thanksgiving we took our usual hike. It was another gorgeous day and we had a special visitor – our friend Carl, who lives in North Carolina, came up for a quick visit. It was really great to see him!

  • The Three Musketeers
  • the hiking crew
    The whole family!
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    We headed down to Charlottesville Tuesday night before Thanksgiving. It was the usual crowd this year – Doug, Vicki, Quinn, Carley, Nana, and our family.

    Since we were last down in Va. Becky has adopted a new pet – Penny, who is a purebred Great Dane. She’s only 6 months old and already over 100 lbs! We were a little worried bringing Benson down because he’s such an old man now and pretty frail. In their first meeting Penny knocked him down, but after that he held his own, even playing a bit.

    Benson and Penny playing tug or war

    Thanksgiving morning we had the now annual Glenaire Turkey Trot starting at the top of mom and dad’s driveway and looping around the neighborhood. This year Lauren ran it with Dave and me! We had to do a little run/walk action, but she made the whole thing!

    The Turkey Trot gang

    After the trot we headed back to the house and Dave started cooking. He’s been cooking for so many years now that he’s got the schedule down to a science and the whole day is pretty low stress – totally acknowledging that the person writing this is also the person sitting in the living room, reading a book and sipping wine 😉

    Doug deep fried the turkey again, which has been our tradition for maybe the last 6 years. It great – frees up the oven, takes about 45 minutes, and tastes delicious!

    • Doug pulling the turkey out of the deep fryer
    • Penny is nose height with the turkey. Luckily she was caught before that tongue came out!
    Obligatory pre-meal picture!
    Kids table

    The day after Thanksgiving we enjoyed another tradition – hiking and then wine tasting. It was a beautiful day and we hiked Sugar Hollow and then headed to King’s Family Vineyard in Crozet.

    Hiking in Sugar Hollow. We brought Penny and the Rainer’s dog, Jasper, with us. Penny loved jumping in the creek, Jasper, not so much.
    The cousins at King Family Vineyard

    The long weekend wouldn’t be complete without some good family pictures

    • Mom and Dad’s Christmas card picture this year
    The cousins, all grown up!
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    We headed down to Charlottesville for Thanksgiving again this year. We left late Tuesday night and stayed until Saturday afternoon. It was a chilly weekend but really nice – not all of the leaves have fallen from the trees down there.

    As always, it was a crowd with my parents house packed. Lina also came down with us and got to experience a Coughlin Thanksgiving in all its cramped glory. She slept on an air mattress in the playroom.

    We did the traditional seafood boil on Wednesday night, which is always a fan favorite (at least for me).

    Doug and Dave with the seafood bounty.

    On Thanksgiving morning there is a mini Turkey Trot in the neighborhood. There were about 15 people who did it this year. The winner was a 4th grader, which Dave and I close behind him. The biggest difference between this neighborhood Turkey Trot and the big one at Boar’s Head is that Dave and I at least have a chance to place 😉

    The Turkey Trot crew and helpers.

    Dave did the cooking again, with some help from Nana this year on the stuffing.

     

    The cooking fairy and his unicorn side kick.

    The obligatory turning into the pot picture – of course I’m missing the most important person – Doug who has perfected the lowering after all of these years.

    The girls put together a costume parade pre-dinner so that we were all in the right festive mood.

    Here’s the group post-parade. It was truly magical.

    The Thanksgiving table. Aleen and her mom, Yvonne, came over for dinner as well. You can see Lauren in the back holding up her turkey leg, which has become her favorite part of the meal.

    Me and Becky. And the cousins. Lauren was given this pair of costume glasses and she wore them straight for about a week.

    The day after Thanksgiving we did a long hike on the Monticello Trail and then his Pippin Hill vineyard that afternoon. It was an excellent few days.

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    We headed down to Charlottesville for Thanksgiving again this year. We got there late Tuesday night and stayed until Saturday. That gave us lots of time to visit with friends while we were there. I met up with Jenny, Samantha, and all of their kids for lunch on Wednesday. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them and all of the kids are so big! They all got along really well. I helped that we ate at a restaurant with an arcade 😉

    The kid crew: Lauren, Darby, Bracey, Sophie, Mary, Kaylee, and Parker in the back. 
    And then I went and saw Sarah and her kids, who were in a new house in Holly Meade. Sophie and Lexi had a lot of fun playing together, and also playing sardines with Kali and Luke (what good sports those older kids are!). 

    Lexi and Sophie. These two have known each other for a long time! 
    We had the usual Thanksgiving crew, including Dick and Suzy. We all stayed at Mom and Dad’s house. It was pretty tight, but we made it work.
    Here’s Nana (who turned 92 in October) showing off her new iPhone. Finally, she’s made it to the modern age. Carley even signed her up for Instagram! 

    Bestie cousins, Ari and Lauren. 

    As we’ve done for the last few years, we deep fried the turkeys (2 of them). Doug was the fry master. He’s perfected the rub and dropping of the turkey in hot oil. 
    The Thanksgiving crew! 
    The day after Thanksgiving Dave took Lauren hiking up to the top of Humpback Rock. She was a trooper and walked the whole thing herself. Here she is taking in the amazing view. 
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    We headed down to my parent’s house in Virginia for Thanksgiving this year. We had the usual group of folks: Doug, Vicky, Carley (no Quinn b/c she’s still on her gap year), Nana, Becky, James, and Ariana. We were also joined by Tom and Ginger this year. Dave cooked the bulk of the dinner – as he always does – and it was delicious! 

     Mom and Dad also took the opportunity to snap their Christmas Car pictures with their three grandkids
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    We were down in Virginia this year for Thanksgiving. It was a big crew, as usual. Doug, Vickie, Quinn, Carley, Nana, our friends Carl, Amanda, Gianna, and Ella from North Carolina, and Aleen and Yvonne were all there.

    We deep fried the turkey again this year. It think it might be the 5th or 6th year we’ve done that. It’s always delicious. Doug was the turkey master again. I think he waits all year for this. He was out there for hours getting the oil and the turkey just right. But time worth spent because it was super tasty.

    Doug lowering the turkey

    The weather was amazing and we got to spend a lot of time outside. We took a few hikes and just enjoyed my parent’s amazing property. It was also an opportunity to try and get a cousin picture. Alas, more failed attempts… Why they can’t all smile and look at the camera at once is beyond me.

    Ariana is highly skeptical of her cousins. 
    Lauren has clearly had enough. 

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    We headed down to Virginia again this year for Thanksgiving. We had a big crew at my parent’s house. Dave cooked the entire dinner for 15 (well… I made a cake and Doug was the one who actually did the turkey frying). It was a great few days, filled with leaf luging, hiking, visits with friends and of course lots and lots of eating.

    Our friends Carl, Amanda and their daughter Gianna came up from North Carolina. Sophie was in heaven hanging out with Gianna. Here they are getting ready to luge down the hill in front of the house. Who needs snow when you have leaves!

    Doug brought the deep fryer and did the turkey in the driveway. It was cooked to perfection, of course. 

    The men and the grill. 

     The whole crew (almost) at the Thanksgiving table. It was a feast! 

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