Thanksgiving in Solvang

This year we went to Solvang to Auntie Anne's and Uncle Val's to celebrate Thanksgiving. My cousin Jake---two weeks older than me---and his wife and son also ascended to the southern portion of the Central Coast for the days, as did some more-removed family units from further afield. Katia and her brother Benny live San Diego way, they joined us with Benny's girlfriend Caspar. Kat and Benny are in the same generation as Cass, Camille, and Jackson (Jake's son), but are under 30, and their great-grandmother was the first cousin of my---and Jake's---grandmother.

Anne and Val know them quite well, dating back to when they were kids in New Jersey.

Anywho, I cooked the meal, and while we had a smattering of vegetarians and a vegan, I think there was enough food for everyone. I do think I overcooked the turkey, but that's me being hard on myself. Uncle Val showed Cass how to play Call of Duty, and Cass's FPS sills are pretty damn good.

I crashed pretty hard after finishing dinner on Thursday, and needed to rest, having fended off sickness for two weeks by then. But as I chilled in the recliner, as Cass and Camille and Jackson settled in, Uncle Val put on the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones movie. I missed a fair amount of it, but now I'd like to put eyes on it again. It wasn't so terrible!

I really only got pictures of the rad sky over the Central Coast.

The storm never hit us, but the sky looked very interesting.

Cass made quick friends with Anne and Val's new puppy, Logan:

And Camille liked being silly for the camera (as is the case most always):

It was a grand time with family, and while Anne and Val don't have kids of their own, they got to play grandma and grandpa for a few days, and that's always fun.