Thanksgiving Weekend With Family

Thursday, November 22 - Sunday, November 25, 2018

Thanksgiving weekend, a.k.a. Turkey Day, is an especially American holiday that means that it is the for the Four Fs . . .

The Four Fs you ask?

Why yes, it is a day dedicated to all things about Family, Food, Friends and American Football . . .

 . . . but not necessarily in that order

We headed to San Marino to gather at the ancestral Contreras home to be with my Mother, my sisters Marilyn and Linda, our niece, our two sons and their families and a whole bunch of cousins and husbands. 

 Fun in the back yard

A combination Hot Wheels Moto-Cross, Over the Line game and lawn mowing session were going on simultaneously.

You had to be there . . .

Kevin, Leo, Jacob, Max and Mary

playing God only knows what

A quiet moment for a photo op

Max and Leo are my niece Lauren's sons so that makes them Mary, Kevin and Jacob's second cousins.

I think.

Jacob and Kevin

It is so much fun seeing these two cousins get along so extremely well.

Jacob and Uncle Andy

Elbow Bumping

My sister Linda is the prime chef

of every Thanksgiving meal for the last

twenty years

Laurie acts as her sous-chef but the rest of us help her in any way that we can throughout the afternoon and evening.

Ah the cousins, fully sated and

ready to go home

Thanksgiving was wonderful and all Four Fs were addressed and 100% taken care of on this glorious, sunny Southern California day.

On Friday we were off again, this time for an educational field trip to Los Angeles' La Brea Tar Pits Museum where the bones of thousands of Ice Age animals that were trapped in the nearby tar pits died thousand of years ago.

We thirsted for knowledge

They never saw or heard the

bear sneak up behind them

 This must be the place!

 Well, if it was OK for those

Saber Toothed Tigers to rough-house,

so could Kevin and Jacob

 Jacob trying to figure out

where we were in the Museum

Dire Wolf skulls behind Kevin

Thousands of these skulls of these predatory wolves have been found in the tar pits. Experts believe that they opted to prey on large animals stuck in the tar but it only led to their doom as they also became mired in the deadly goop.

 Kevin and Jacob holding up

their Museum guidebooks beneath

a Mammoth's remains

Great simulation

The boys had to pull up on their plungers to try to get them out of the tar below. It showed them how hard it was to get out of the tar pit once you were trapped.

Andy, Mike and I also tried to pull the plungers up, it was hard!

It was now lunch time as we left the Museum, so where to go?

Why not?

Even though Andy, Jenn and Kevin had stopped to eat lunch there on Tuesday on their way to Camarillo from Las Vegas, they wanted to go back.

Who were we to argue with our out of town guests?

French dipped lamb, beef and

turkey sandwiches did the trick!

The lemonade and apple pie were also made to perfection!

An iconic L.A. dining spot and a damn good place to eat.

Kevin and Jacob enjoyed

Philippe's toy train collection

Los Angeles' Union Train Station is only about a block away, hence Philippe's fascination with trains.

On the way home to Camarillo, we stopped at the Underwood Farms in Somis to check out and feed their . . .

. . . GOATS!

Jacob and Kevin also hopped

into the back of the Underwood's

wooden truck

Why was this Stanford American football

equipment truck parked down the

street from us?

Well, the Cardinal (6-4) were playing the UCLA Bruins (3-8) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, so that probably has something to do with it.

Stanford won that contest on Saturday in a defensive 49-42 struggle.

 Friday Night was our BIG GAME . . .

 Washington Huskies (8-3)

at

Washington State Cougars (10-1)

The winner of this annual cross-state brawl would claim the PAC-12's Northern Division crown and get to play Southern Division champion Utah for the PAC-12 title next Friday at the San Francisco 49ers' Levis Stadium in Santa Clara.

Jacob and Kevin were ready

So was Mary sort of . . .

. . . she still thought that painting a

heart on my hand was more important

than the Apple Cup game

Kevin was nervous for the

underdog Huskies

The game started in Pullman just as the snow started to fall.

RB Myles Gaskin scoring for the Huskies

It was 7-0 Washington at the end of the First Quarter.

Chasing down Wazzu's excellent

 QB Gardner Minshew II

At the Half, it was Huskies 14 - Cougars 7, too close to get comfortable.

Gaskin again behind a Husky offensive

line that outweighed the Cougars' defensive front

seven by an average of 50 lbs. per man

At the end of the Third Quarter, the Huskies were still leading 20-15.

  

 Feet before hands PLEASE!

 RB Salvon Ahmed continued the

Huskies' cold weather, ground oriented

offensive assault in the Fourth Quarter

Final Score: Washington 28 - Washington State 15 

Washington Husky Coach  Chris Petersen

hoisting the Apple Cup

The Dawgs have now won the Apple Cup six years in a row.

So the Huskies are indeed going to . . .

. . . the PAC-12 Title Game next Friday

So are Laurie and I to see our 9-3 Huskies in a rematch with the also 9-3 Utah Utes.

We attended the regular season UW at UU game last September in Salt Lake City which the Huskies won with a bit of luck in my opinion, 21-7.

It should be an interesting game with the winner headed to the Rose Bowl.

All of this talk about American football reminds me . . .

. . . the opening of the 2019

Varese Skorpions DII season is

slated for the weekend of February 23-24

The exact schedule will be announced in early January I believe.

On Saturday, after watching Ohio State (11-1) throttle Michigan (10-2) by a score of 62-39, it was time to bid adieu to Andy, Jenn and Kevin who were heading home to Las Vegas, Nevada to beat the Sunday traffic.

We had such a great time with them, we hated to see them leaving.

Jacob and Kevin arm-in-arm

on the way to Kevin's ride

Back Row: Mike, Vanessa,

Andy, Mary and Jenn

Front Row: Kevin and Jacob

Mike had to comfort Jacob for

a bit of time after Kevin's departure

These two cousins really love each other.

On Sunday, Laurie and I decided to drive up to Santa Paula to attend an Agatha Christie mystery play.

It sounded like great fun according

to the rave reviews

The play started at 2:30 p.m. so we opted to have lunch in Santa Paula first.

The Mupu Grill had been open

in Santa Paula forever

It closed about a year ago and re-opened about three months ago as The Draft Sports Bar at the Mupu Grill.

Greg and Katie

Greg is owner of the The Draft and Katie was our server. They were both long time employees at Cronies Sports Grill in Camarillo and Ventura.

The food and ambience at The Draft were both good. If you are in Santa Paula, this is a good place for a solid dining experience.

After dining, we drove over to the Santa Paula Theater Center to buy our ducats for the play only to find out that the performance was SOLD OUT! 

Nuts.

Reading Is FUNdamental!

Another good read in Leon's

Commissario Brunetti Mystery Series

set in Venice, Italy 

I really enjoy the insights that she gives into the Italian cultural psyche.