Thanksgiving.

We flew to my cousin Shannon's house in Scottsdale, AZ, this year. The whole family, minus only one, showed up, and there was lots of eating, drinking, laughing, eating, talking and eating. A big thank you - again - to Shannon, for taking on such a giant group of guests; you are a better (and more organized) woman than I! And a very gracious hostess.

The warm, sunny weather inspired the group to play a few rounds of bocce ball and soccer at a nearby park, on Friday, and the cool evenings were spent sitting around the fire pit in Shannon's backyard. Hazel and Violet and their four big-girl cousins made sure there were lots of cute photo opportunities, none of which went unphotographed. The girls were very sweet with one another, and it was heartwarming to see them get to know each other, and enjoy their time together. The little girls followed the big girls around, fascinated; the big girls were patient and loving with little ones. Hazel, like her mother before her, was shy and unsure of her place in the hierarchy of girls, so she stayed mostly on the sidelines, watching and listening and taking mental notes.

We flew home on Saturday (no crowds! no lines at security! amazing!) to catch the Dan Zanes and Friends show at Herbst Theatre on Sunday morning. There was some sort of snafu with our tickets, so we ended up wandering down to the pit down in front of the stage, and rocking out down there, mere feet from Dan, Hazel's idol and main squeeze, for the entire set. Haze was absolutely awestruck - she sat in Mike's lap almost the whole time, slack jawed and dazed. I, on the other hand, sang and clapped and danced enough for both of us, with sick little Violet watching everything from inside the sling. Dan's set did not disappoint - he played a lot of our favorites, and encouraged everyone, big and little, to sing and dance and join in the goofy fun. It was awesome.

What a great start to the holiday season. I hope your Thanksgiving was as fun as ours!