the best thanksgiving staycation that ever happened

This is how it went down...

On Tuesday I prepped, planned, and shopped for the Simple Thanksgiving Feast.

On Wednesday we squealed with gleeeeeee that Mr. FDubs was going to be able to spend most of the weekend with us starting at 5:00pm! We met the handsome husband/father at 79th to experience the madness that is The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Balloon Inflation Celebration. All of the balloons seen in the parade are trapped under nets while being inflated and we got to see them up close, so close we could almost touch them. It was so fun! When Eli saw Spiderman...pure little boy happiness.

On Thursday we thought about going to the parade in our sleep, but we were still snuggled in our warm beds. The best part of holiday weekends = sleeping in. So we woke up late and watch the parade in our jams. This was so the right choice. E&A were more than thrilled with their big snuggles piled high on the couch while watching their friends on TV.
I "slaved" in the kitchen from 1-3 making the greatest French chocolate silk pie, roasted sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and Stove Top stuffing (Forrest's request. heh. i'm cool with easy). We re-heated the rotisserie chicken that was delivered the night before from Malecon (chicken is so much better than turkey...our opinion, especially Malecon rotisserie chicken). The simplicity of the meal was genius. One day I will make a crazy fancy Thanksgiving meal, but that day is not yet. We completed the meal with a cranberry drink that will be a tradition forever - cranberry juice, ginger ale, sparkling water, topped with cranberries. Best.
The table was set up in E&A's room so we could have good lighting and room for everyone at the table.
Pure happiness.
I have a feeling when we have a real dining room we're going to look back at eating in the their room with sweet fondness. Oh, our life was treasured on Thursday. As we expressed gratitude for our blessings, I was weepy with super gratitude for my little family and our adventurous life together. This time is sacred. It is crazy. It is hard. It is soo soo good. I also had a flash-forward to the days when we will have more people around our Thanksgiving table and the joy in our posterity that will make my heart explode. I am blessed to have these three people and the people that will join this table in the next...100 years.

After our meal; I took a nap while Forrest and Eli watched football, we watched a movie and Forrest did all the dishes and cleaned up the table (I love him!).

We were going to make the best of our rare time with Forrest and, friends, I was on my game. A few weeks earlier I got tickets to visit the 9/11 Memorial. So on Friday we went downtown to see the memorial. It was incredible. Reverent and hallowed ground where tragedy was made into a place of reflection and beauty.

When all the WTC buildings are finishing, this place is going to be quite amazing.
After reflecting at the pools, E&A had some fun on the grounds.

And we got the worst family picture of all time. But who cares! Because all FOUR of us are in the picture!! YAY!

We left the memorial and walked passed Zuccotti park to see what was left of Occupy Wall Street. Christmas lights and happy hippie music. I think we missed all the good stuff...

We ate at Financier Patisserie, said "I really love the financial district. Me too." about 500 times, and then headed home so Forrest could go to work (booooo!!!). He had an ER shift from 5pm-midnight. Luckily he got off early and we had a midnight movie night.
(Oh, btw side note, Forrest is done with Neurology and is now on Psychiatry. He liked Neuro - a lot of wicked smart doctors, and he's enjoying Psych. He's starting to feel like a real life doctor. Weird. And guess what's after Psych? NOTHING!!! He's done with the worst year of med school on Dec. 16th!!! Mark your calendars! Then it's time to study for the boards. Whoot whoot!! (a bit of sarcasm) K, side note over. I have a giant crush on my husband.)

While I was on my planning-fun-things-for-my-family game, I got tickets to go see Knuffle Bunny: a Cautionary Musical. It was so fun! It was at the Skirball Theater at NYU. We liked it a whole lot, especially Eli (Forrest would tell you that I was just as delightedly goofy as Eli. Hey, I like to see my kids enjoy stuff). After the musical we went over to Washington Square Park (2nd favorite park in the city) and played for an hour.

haha. i like him.

and her.

THEN!

I called Metta who was visiting the city from NC and we met up for lunch at ...guess...guess...guess... Shake Shack! And then headed to Central Park for some playground fun.
You guys! Metta! Metta! Metta! And Marcos! And Gigi! I love this family so much! Metta and I met while we were in college. She was a bright shiny ball of sunshine then and nothing has changed. She is one of those people who makes you feel so good about yourself when you're with her. She talks and listens and the conversation is just fantastic. Her confidence rubs off on you and you leave feeling enthusiastic about life. And her husband Marcos...let's just say my kids are in love with him. E&A make you work for their affection (sometimes really annoying, actually), but Marcos won them over in an afternoon. And Gigi! Adorable. Want to see pictures of these people? OK!

Bah! I don't have one of Marcos, but this is A.Soleil's face when she saw Marcos's monkey face.
It was so good to see the Prietro family. Come back soon!!!

I have to mention that hanging out with Forrest was the very greatest thing ever! (maybe you got that idea already?) Oh man, I love that man. He should win a medal for serving his little family and having fun with us. I did dishes once.

Happiest reflective sigh ever.

Man, going back to real life is gonna be suckville after all this funtastic-ness.

Oh wait! It's Christmastime!!

Wow. I told you everything. I've been craving an extensive writing/photo session. And I actually had time to edit(ish), upload, and write. High-five, self.

How was your Thanksgiving, my super plus fantastic friends?