Thanksgiving and After

I'm ba-a-a-ck!  Had great fun on the Thanksgiving holiday and after.  Arrived up north about 3:00, other company came later and we had as sumptuous feast, of course, and I slept over.
Left early the next day for the real north, upstate Pennsy.  Several inches of snow on the ground but luckily, none on sidewalks or streets.  Checked into the motel and went to see the boys, who have yet another dog, this one a little black, curly one.  Mom stayed home while Dad and the rest of us went to "the Grand Canyon of the east," a stunningly beautiful area high up in the mountains.  Wonderful views and vantage points.  I had never been there before and gasped at the splendor of it.
That evening, we celebrated R.'s seventh birthday with presents and cake.  The other guests were friends of the host and hostess with their five children; yes, there were nine kids and three dogs rampaging--apt word--through the house.  They played Twister and generally turned the place upside down, but it was a lot of fun.
The next day, we gathered at the pool and had a lot of fun.  It was too cold for me, but I went in the hot tub happily.  We then lunched at a local place with peculiar pudding (inside joke).  Later, Dad was called back in to work and Mom was already at her job, so we cooked up a chicken dinner, had a nice meal, and after, play Uno Spin with the boys.  They were finally--finally!--told to quiet down and settle down and went in their rooms to watch T.V.  We stayed until Mom came home a bit after ten, then went back to the motel to fall (in my case, anyway) gratefully into bed.
Said goodbye this morning, left about 9:30, got home in good time, I packed up my things, said goodbye again and got in at 3:00.  What a great holiday and now I'm ready to collapse.