Thanksgiving

We have had a nice Thanksgiving weekend.  When I was in Chicago a few weeks ago, i convinced my dad to come out and join us.   It was un to have our two families join for the holiday--most of my last ten Thanksgivings or so have been with the Greenberg, so my dad got a taste of the last 10 years! It was nice to have the families together.

Jason's parents did the cooking, and they made quite a spread.  My dad was amused by the boisterous nature of a Greenberg family gathering.  Pri also got to join for her first American Thanksgiving.  

My dad stayed for the remainder of the weekend, and although Jason and I were both on call on Saturday and Sunday, work was pretty quiet so we were able to spend a lot of time together.   I am happy he was able to make the trek!

Soccer State Cup Weekend

Well, this weekend marked the end of Ethan's soccer season.
Ethan has has a better season this year, compared to last.   He certainly is not the star, but he has earned a place in the starting line up, which is certainly an improvement.
Yesterday, they played the semifinals, and Ethan even scored one of the two goals.
Today was the finals.   It actually was a pretty exciting game, as the teams were very evenly matched, and at the end of regulation they were tied 2-2.   It went into a 10 minute overtime, and was still tied!  

Then the shoot out began.
I wa surprised that they did this at the U-9 level.  Anyhow, at the end of 5 shots for each team the score was still tied!

Sudden death then began, and by the skin of their teeth, Ethan's team won.
So they were first place in their division (of which there are too many to count) but he is certainly excited, and I am proud of how he is progressing as a player.

Chicago Visit

Last weekend I had a work conference in Chicago.  This conference is annual, and they recently have decided to hold it in Chicago each year.   Score for me!   So, I took advantage of the trip by going a day early and leaving a day late so I could visit family.   Chicago was in the 40s and raining, but pretty typical for November, I guess.

The day bedroom the conference, my dad and I went to Milwaukee and saw my grandma, and had lunch with her, my Aunt Judith, and my dad's cousins.  It was a nice visit.  

We also had dinner with my brother and nephew Zachary--who is super cute!

The conference was somewhat uneventful.   On Saturday afternoon I went our for a walk and walked right into a huge Trump rally (both pro- and anti-) and I thankfully avoided any confrontation....The police were certainly out in force.

Meanwhile, Jason held down the fort at home.   Unfortunately for him, my weekend away correlated with Ethan's soccer state cup--so it was a soccer filled weekend.  

Happy Halloween

 Our family had a great Halloween celebration last week.   We were lucky to have great weather, especially compared to last year.    I took the day off of work, and went to my last preschool Halloween parade (sniff sniff), where I am proud to say that Alaina did not cry (first time ever).   The preschool’s theme for the homemade costumes was “songs”, and Alaina’s class, the Llamas, chose the song “Miss Mary Mack”.   A bit of an odd choice, but that is how democracy works sometimes, I guess.

Anyhow, they divided the class up into the different characters—some kids were Miss Mary Mack, of course, but also Mary's mother, 50 cents, elephants, the fence, and the fourth of July.   Alaina lucked out and was chosen to be an elephant, which was not only the cutest, but also the most recognizable costume.   I enjoyed walking through Laurel Heights with her, reminiscing about my first parade with Ethan 7 years ago, when he was a “leaf”.   Time flies.

Although I missed Ethan’s Halloween parade and party, I did spend an hour in the afternoon volunteering in his art class, where they were finishing up a project involving electrical circuits.

After school, I made dinner, and our friends, the Marcus family joined us to eat before trick or treating.    This year, Alaina dressed up as a cat, and Ethan was a ninja.   Alaina was thrilled with her cat costume, but Ethan was a bit reticent.  He really wanted to be a Warriors player, mostly because that would mean that we would have to buy him and official licensed Warriors jersey, but I nixed that idea pretty quickly, and I don’t think that he ever recovered.

Trick or treating was warm and dry, and the kids took in a pretty good candy haul.   Pri also got to experience this very American holiday, and she was, I think, fascinated by the sheer commercialized extravagance of it all.