Thanksgiving 2021 - At Home with Grandma Alice and Grandpa Rick

 

Thanksgiving this year wasn't according to plan, but the weather was absolutely beautiful and we had a great day. Grandma and Grandpa came over around noon and we warmed up our Thanksgiving feast and ate it in the early afternoon. We'd been planning to go to Palmetto Bluff and Grandma and Grandpa had a cruise they were booked on, but that was all canceled with my health scare. Since we had to cancel our plans last minute, there were not many options for Thanksgiving Day in town. We knew we wanted some turkey, but were pretty flexible otherwise. Andrea found that Mojo's (a BBQ place) had some great takeout options and she picked up our food on Wednesday. We heated everything up on Thursday and Grandma Alice brought over a green bean casserole as well. For our meal we had smoked turkey, chopped beef brisket, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, baked beans, coleslaw, sweet tea from Chick-Fil-A, and a veggie platter. For dessert we got two big honking pies from Costco. Andrea and I had been shopping a few days before and they were giving out samples of each and we were blown away by how good they were, but also the size (huge) and the cost ($10 for the apple pie and $6 for the pumpkin). 

During dinner, I had everyone go around the table to rank their favorite foods and I recorded the answers. After dessert I had to revise slightly since the pies made it on some of the lists.

Connor:

1. Mashed Potatoes
2. Sweet tea
3. Green Bean Casserole

Paige: 

1. Mashed Potatoes
2. Apple pie
3. Green bean casserole 

Andrea

1. Pumpkin pie
2. BBQ sandwich 
3. Green bean casserole 

Mom

1. Mashed Potatoes 
2. BBQ
3. Green bean casserole
4. Apple pie

Dad

1. Turkey & brisket together 
2. Mashed potatoes 
3. Fresh veggies with ranch dip

Shawn

1. Mashed Potatoes
2. Apple pie
3. BBQ
4. Green Bean Casserole

After dinner we had a pretty chill day. We watched the Lions play the Bears, watched the dog show, I fell asleep for a bit on the couch, and in the evening we took a walk with Millie on golf course. After our walk we decided to have Paige drive Grandma, Grandpa, and myself in the golf cart to one of the houses in the North Island that are under construction. I knew there wouldn't be workers on Thanksgiving, so before we ran out of daylight we explored the house to check on the progress and to show Grandma and Grandpa. 

Grandma and Grandpa had to go home once it got dark so they could let their dogs out. I'm thankful for our day and that everyone was healthy and able to be together. 

Chris and Alex in Jacksonville

Chris came in to town on November 17th and Alex came in town shortly after to help with everything following my hospitalization. I'm blown away that they both dropped everything and flew across the country to help with everything. It was a difficult time in our life and having such supportive brothers made it so much easier. Andrea, Grandpa Rick and Grandma Alice definitely had their hands full and took care of me a lot before they arrived, so it was definitely welcome to have them with us.

We had some really fun times while they were in town. Of course we played a variety of games together, including "Pegs and Jokers". Paige loved playing restaurant upstairs and printed all new menus and setup a fancy table for everyone. Chris and Alex helped me to put together a new computer while I was staying with my parents. We went on some walks, watched some movies, and I worked to get well again. 

I may have been a bit annoying with how many times I've already thanked them, but I am truly thankful for their help and for the help they provided Andrea and our parents. Alex stayed until November 21st and Chris was planning to leave that day as well but he stayed a bit longer and left on Wednesday November 24th, the day before Thanksgiving. Love you guys!

Shawn's Health Issues

 

Not going to give details, but I was ill and had to be briefly hospitalized. Quite the traumatic experience, but personal and we won't be discussing further. Just thought I'd post it here so we could reference this in the future.

Chill weekend at home

It was a pretty chill weekend at home this past weekend, not a lot interesting going on. The weather got pretty cold (by our Florida standards) and a big storm rolled through and it rained a lot over the weekend. We didn't do much on Saturday, mostly just relaxed. Andrea got her CEU's (Continuing Education Units) and did a bunch of online classes to keep her Speech Pathologist license current. I did a little work around the house, and the kids goofed off. Andrea took the kids shopping and got them some new clothes and we ate at Cheesecake Factory for lunch.

On Sunday morning the rain slowly left the area, but I wasn't able to play tennis as the PVIC courts were too wet. The kids were able to have their tennis lessons, and I took them over to Bolles and ran with Milie Mae while they played tennis. 

In the afternoon we watched some football and Paige gave Millie a bath. Andrea took a picture of Connor, Millie Mae and me chilling and watching football in the evening. That's pretty much the only pic for the week!

Halloween 2021

 

Halloween this year was quite the change for us. Halloween was on a Sunday and Connor had spent the night at his friend's house and had considered going trick-or-treating with his friends although they didn't want to dress up. They almost went without costumes but ended up just hanging out at Robert's.

Paige had big plans for the day. She'd been coordinating with some of her friends to dress up together and they were planning to go trick-or-treating on their own. Paige went over to a friend's house early in the day and then I picked up the girls and brought them to our street for a Halloween block party. Millie Mae put on her costume and we all went down the street to celebrate Halloween with our neighbors.

After the block party, the girls went to Paige's friend's house and changed in to their costumes. The girls claimed they wanted to go trick-or-treating on their own, and Andrea and I decided to take the golf cart down to see them off and maybe drive along and keep an eye on them. When we arrived we took some pics of them and then were surprised when they all piled in to our golf cart. Our poor cart is only really designed for 2-4 people and after having some close friends that got injured falling off a golf cart on a previous Halloween, we drove very very slowly with the seven of us (plus Millie Mae). 

We drove down a few streets and then went to the "Trunk or Treat" event at our neighborhood clubhouse. The girls ran through the haunted house and then we grabbed a few refreshments before heading back out for some more serious trick-or-treating. 

Paige had a fun night with friends and eventually Andrea took the girls home in the SUV. We missed hanging out with Connor, but I guess he's a high schooler now so we get it. 

Chill weekend with the kids and friends

 

This past weekend, Connor spent the night at his friend Robert's house and Paige hung out with her friends quite a bit. Paige and her friend Yasmine rode bikes around the neighborhood and went out to eat with us. The weather is finally nice and cool so we've been enjoying being outside.

Final PV Home Football Game of the Season

 

Friday, October 29th 2021, was the last home football game of the season. It was senior night and it was the most crowded game since the first one. Connor hung out with the other Freshman at the top of the student section and Paige sat with us along with her friend Maddie. The last game was exciting and the team had definitely improved over the season, as did the marching band and the cheerleaders and dancers. I think Andrea and I enjoyed just watching the spectacle of the whole thing and it was a night cool Fall night.