Q’s Adventures: Thanksgiving in Lancaster

The Thanksgiving Season is over, and we are now barreling full force towards Christmas!  This blog will now embrace the Christmas Spirit, starting with my Christmas kick-off post on Saturday (December 1^st).  However, before we jump into the final holiday season of 2012, I wanted to take one last look at one of my favorite holidays.  So, here is the Q’s Adventures recap of my annual trip to Lancaster!

Wednesday I always take off from work and drive home to Morgan Hill for the evening.  Its usually just a nice, low key night with the parents.  This year we had sushi and watched a movie or something.  It was nice.  Off to bed early, since Thanksgiving morning we wake up early and hit the road.  We tend to leave at 5am, since that is when Starbucks opens…and the parental units need coffee to function!  I grabbed some breakfast there as well, and off we went.  I-5 is pretty crowded on Thursday morning.  Not nearly as bad as Wednesday, but still annoying.  Used to be no one was on the road that early on Thanksgiving, but people are catching up with how wise we are and are joining us on the road.  Anyways, we tend to pull into Lancaster just around kick off of the Lions game.

Thanksgiving in Lancaster is my favorite of traditions.  I spend the morning vegging out in front of the TV watching the poor Lions lose to whoever they happen to be facing this year.  This season they faced the Houston Texans…and probably should have won the game.  The Texans got a free TD on a technicality in a game that went to OT, where the Texans finally prevailed.  Rough.  I think the Lions have now lost 9 straight Thanksgiving games.  Hooray tradition!  I don’t usually end up watching much of the Cowgirls game, since by this point all the cousins and aunts and uncles have arrived at my grandparents’ house, and its time for the annual backyard football game!

The backyard football game has been a tradition for years.  All the uncles and male cousins play…and in some years the female cousins and some aunts have joined in.  For instance, my sister and mom almost always partake…just this year my mom is on IR with a foot injury, and my sister was traded to New Hampshire for future considerations.  Thus, it was just a 4 on 4 game this year.  Which is fine…we’ve all gotten rather big for the small backyard field.  But its still fun.  The over/under for injuries during the game is usually somewhere right around 2.5…and I think we hit the over this year with my dad aggravating his Achilles injury, my Uncle Andy aggravating his planar fasciitis, and my cousin Matt running into the concrete fence and bruising his ribs.  Not a bad total!  Final score of 28-21, with my team falling to defeat.  Sad times.  I did what I could, though, with 1 TD pass and 2 TD catches on offense…although my defense left much to be desired.  Ah well, all in good fun!

After the football game we go clean up and then help set up the house for dinner.  We bring in the big tables, get the plates, silverware, and table cloths out…and then grab our seats for the meal!  I think our record for people around the table for Thanksgiving is somewhere around 26…so this year’s 19 was a little light!  I was seated at the far end of the table with my grandpa, and I snagged this picture of the table just as the food is starting to make the rounds!

Such an awesome group!  Love the big dinner table, with everyone around it.  It’s a true Thanksgiving feast!  The menu was pretty much the same as always…which, of course, meant it was delicious!  I ate way, way too much…but that was the plan!  I was coming off of 3 months of training for, and then running a half marathon.  This weekend was freedom from all diets, exercises, and restrictions!  I plowed through turkey, stuffing, yams, corn, peas, olives, pickles, crescent rolls, and gravy…and then a second helping of turkey, stuffing, and yams!  My oh my was it delicious!  I actually found a new appreciation for stuffing.  It was really, really tasty this year!  I might have to bump it up my list next year!

After dinner, the guys are put in charge of dishes and putting everything away.  I usually get on scrubbing or drying detail…although this year we had more help than needed, so I helped put the tables and chairs away (since I’m probably best equipped to be lugging this stuff around anyways), and then came into the dishes scene late to help put things back on the shelves and in the drawers.  Post dishes, the cousins and I went out and played some backyard capture the flag…a Quinn/Visokey tradition…and then came in for dessert.  I plowed through some pumpkin pie, and my mom’s famous Pumpkin Stuff.  Amazing!  Then off to bed!

Friday is low key.  The girls go off to brave the Black Friday crowds.  No thank you…I stay home and usually throw on some college football.  This year I did some online Black Friday shopping…although I just bought stuff for me, not sure that counts.  That afternoon we went to the movies, per tradition.  This year we saw Lincoln, which was excellent!  As a political science major and total history junky, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie about our country’s greatest President!  After the movie it was pizza night at the house, and then a family game was played.  I think we played Apples to Apples that night.  More dessert meant more Pumpkin Stuff, and then off to bed!

Saturday was more college football, and some shopping with mother, and cousin Jessica’s family birthday party.  That evening was BBQ night, per usual.  I chowed down on some turkey burger, which was tasty.  Also watched Stanford rock UCLA, and Notre Dame take care of USC.  Excellent!  Another game night, and then more Pumpkin Stuff led to bed time.

Sunday we take off pretty early…630ish this time, I believe…and drive home.  I-5, once again, was crowded…but such is life.  Back to Morgan Hill a little before noon…then I jumped in the car and went home to watch football and decorate my room for Christmas…the official start of the Christmas Season for me (and yes, that is Christmas Vacation on the TV...its the first Christmas movie I watch every year)!

So, there you have it…this is the Quinn Family Thanksgiving, about as well as I can put it.  I mean, we do pretty much the same thing every year…and every year I look forward to it.  There’s something to be said for tradition, and family, and a weekend of mostly guilt-free eating!  Helped that this year the weather in Lancaster was incredible.  Mid-70s, and no wind!  I can’t tell you how rare no wind is.  That NEVER happens!

All in all, another very successful Thanksgiving!  Now we change gears and head into the Christmas season.  The holidays are in full swing now!  Hope everyone had as great a Thanksgiving as I did!