Irrelevance Glorified

Last Thanksgiving, I decided not to go back to Chicago, mostly because flying back to the Midwest is a pain in the butt and sorta expensive as well. I like to travel within the time zone, to minimize those hassles. So when Bruce and Tina extended an invitation to me to visit for Thanksgiving, I accepted it before they could explain that it was mostly sarcasm.

Visiting them is “interesting”, mostly due to their two young boys, Nile (20 months when I visited) and Cyrus (3 months), who are slowly draining their parents’ sanity. This was actually my first time meeting Cyrus. He was still blob-like at this age, but I liked Cyrus; he did not fuss when I held him, and we had some good conversations during tummy time. Nile was a bit suspicious of me, but allowed me to read some books to him. He’s pretty verbal at this age, although Tina is much more skilled at comprehending him than I am.

We were pretty ambitious for this Thanksgiving meal; I convinced Tina to try out the Good Eats Brined Turkey recipe, which makes for a deliciously moist turkey. It turned out well overall, although we were hampered by not having a true probe thermometer. I also made a slow-cooker cabbage dish that turned out pretty well, and a sausage stuffing that was delicious, although I should have chopped the walnuts within it a bit finer.

Overall, though, this was just an excuse to visit Bruce & Tina, two of my favorite people.

Anyways, here are some pictures of my visit, which will probably be used as evidence someday by Child Protective Services.

Flickr Set Here.
Slideshow Below.
Pictures And Descriptions After the Break.

 

During one of Cyrus’ naps, it was time for some quality time with Nile. Luckily, he can be easily amused. For instance, this sheeting stuff will do it.

 

Nile loves the vacuum, which worries Bruce in general, not that there’s anything wrong with that. That’s what he’s pretending to do here. The toy lawnmower is the vacuum, and the spoon is the hose attachment. At the end of this vacuuming segment, Nile goes ahead and does something much more in line with other boys his age — make as much noise as possible.

 

Nile likes to take everything out of the kitchen drawers, and spread it all out on the floor. You know, so it can be easily accessed by Mommy.

 

I don’t know if Nile is on X or something, but he likes to be rubbed. Even it’s by a flying child.

 

This video shows a number of lessons. For one, never do anything enjoyable for a small child, or else they’ll just want you to repeat it ad infinitum. Secondly, it’s not the tickling that’s awesome, it’s the anticipation of the upcoming tickle.

 

I think running backs in the NFL should try this. Run with one hand holding a football, and one hand holding a small child. It would probably confuse the defenses.

 

Children are stupid. This is Nile playing hide and seek. One of the requirements of having a happy Nile is some sort of outdoor activity. Bruce and I went out to play some catch with the football, and brought Nile along to play in the dirt.

 

We had a recipe for a cranberry-based dipping sauce that we wanted to try out, so here are a bunch of frozen cranberries simmering in a sugary fluid.

 

When Nile wants to be Dad, he jumps up on the couch, gets under the covers, and pretends to control the television with the remote. This says all sorts of great things about Bruce’s fatherly persona.

 

Stuffing, cabbage, baked sweet potatoes, turkey, corn, and some wine. A fantastic Thanksgiving meal.

 

I don’t quite remember all that he is doing here, but I think he might be shaving while he’s on the phone while he’s vacuuming.

 

I like Cyrus. At this age, he’s like a sack of potatoes. In a good way.

 

I like this picture because of Nile’s orientation, and the fact that even though his contortions, he is still looking at the camera.

 

There is a 50% chance that ball came whizzing at my head after this picture.

 

After coming home from work and dealing with a cold, Bruce was pretty tired. This didn’t really stop Nile from climbing all over him, though.

 

Nile’s parents got him this real awesome toy vacuum cleaner that he absolutely loves.

 

This night, Bruce took over parenting duties so Tina and I could go get some dessert at the Colville St. Patisserie. It was difficult to decide on what to get, but I decided on this cinnamony appley thing. It was delicious, although i don’t quite remember what it was.

 

This is what Tina got. I don’t quite remember what it was, but that looks raspberryish.

 

Apparently, this is the typical aftermath of a meal with Nile.

 

Tina took me wine tasting and chocolate-having the day after Thanksgiving. I don’t have any pictures of the wine tasting, but here is a picture of chocolate. With a design on it. I forget what the flavor was, but I’m pretty sure I asked for it based on the design. Update: Tina reminds me this is an Earl Grey Truffle, and I did a bit of searching to remind myself that this was from Bright’s Candies.

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