It was warmer there. No snow.
What a beautiful plot of land my parents have. And they have lots of trees! We had the privilege of learning how to harvest the olives, out in the rain. You put a net under an olive tree, comb the branches with little hand rakes, olives fall down into the net, carefully empty net into a bucket. So cool! Then Pace, Chase, & Casey took the goods to the olive press to be made into oil. You could say that this year we earned our Terribilini EVOO. And learned something new!
Sumptuous feast below whipped up by my mother, with a little bit of assistance by the rest of us (including the men, who could have been slumped on the couch, watching football! Winners, in my book!!). A neighbor came and joined in on the feast as well. I’ve always been impressed by my parents noticing someone (or a few) who might be lonely on Thanksgiving and inviting them to join us for dinner.
Pretty ladies! (My sister Rachel and our Grandma T.)
Lots of sitting around, eating, and hanging out – gotta love it!
(Perhaps my Mom, Jess & I got up at 3:30 a.m. Black Friday and joined in the madness at Target and a few other places. Perhaps we scored some sweet deals and decided that it was just a little too crazy.)
Annnnnd the Jelly Belly Factory tour! Some of us went and saw how the machines work. It’s the same as I remember from back in 1st grade when we went there on a field trip. Of course, Chase was in heaven! It was almost as much fun for him as playing with his California friends, Michael & Ben (which he was able to do twice).
I had to include these two “amazing” Jelly Belly photos for posterity…
We enjoy looking into the sunlight.
A few of us also tried to go to Mrs. Grossman’s sticker factory, but it was closed, so we went through Petaluma and stumbled upon a See’s Discount store! Sweet– Literally!! My mom got the jackpot (her favorite, limited-time only, dark chocolate truffles). Then we stopped and got some donkey food for Pepper at the stinky large animal store. Chase liked that. And we got to have our teeth cleaned at Grandpa’s office. No cavities!
Mom showed me how to make her divine cinnamon rolls, and Rachel taught me how to curl my hair. I will have to do it again sometime soon, when I want to spend an hour doing my hair….
Thanks so much, fam and especially my parents!