Thanksgiving at Grandma Boo's

Stomping in the Rain

Dada spent her first Thanksgiving at Julie's mother's house. We tried to get Dada to call her "Po Po" (mother's mother in Mandarin (we think)) but it came out "Boo" so now she is "Grandma Boo".

This picture is of Dada stomping around in the rain we had on Friday in her oh-so-cute rubber boots and rain jacket. We couldn't interest her in actually stomping through the puddles, although she and I ended up doing that the next day in our bare feet, when the sun had come out but the puddles were still there. Go figure.

We had a nice time at Grandma's although there were a few issues with the dogs, such as Lucy eating the wonderful pecan cheese ball Julie's brother Tom had just made. We had failed to warn him about Lucy's ability to get things from tables and he had innocently put he cheese ball out of the way on the dining room table. Oops. Let's just say it gave a new meaning to the term "pecan log". Julie went out and got more ingredients so Tom could make another one, but it just wasn't the same. Lucy also got the remainder of the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. So I made another one on Friday.

We took Dada to the Houston aquarium, which she seemed to enjoy--she's facinated by fish. They have some rides there too: a Ferris wheel, a carousel, and a little train that takes you through the shark tank. Dada loved all the rides and made us ride the Ferris wheel three times and the carousel twice. (We didn't ride the train a second time because we couldn't bear the thought of enduring the shark tank speach and the cheesy giant shark attack a second time). We totally forgot to take a camera so the only picture we have is the one we had taken at the white tiger exhibit--I'll have to scan it in at some point.

On Saturday we went to the Galleria to visit the shoe department at Nordstroms and see the ice skaters. Dada had fun running around and going up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs, although it was a struggle to keep her from darting into the crowds.

Dada spent a lot of her time on this stool in the kitchen, rummaging in the drawer and playing with the things she found (it was a typical kitchen junk drawer with years of accumulated random things in it). She was there pretty much constantly during the Thanksgiving dinner preparations and clean up.

On Sunday we went out for Dim Sum at this huge place (the Ocean Palace) in south west Houston. Had a great meal and a nice change from Turkey sandwitches. Dada ate quite a bit and asked for more chili oil after I put a tiny drop on her plate for her to taste. She seems to be developing a taste for spicy stuff--I carefully warn her that it is spicy and then let her take a very small taste, small enough that I know it won't hurt her. She gives sort of a "hey that's hot" look and I say "spicy" (or sometimes "picante") and then she asks for more. So I'm pretty sure she knows what she's doing. But she was just as interested in running around so we spent a good bit of time going up and down the stairs (the Dim Sum room is on the second floor).

Next year we expect to host Thanksgiving in our new house with its ample guest space and a kitchen big enough for two people to cook at the same time.