Thanksgiving is coming, in case you weren’t already aware. We’ll be joining my in-laws again this year, as we have for all but one of the last 10 years. I haven’t enjoyed Thanksgiving with my own parents and siblings in over a decade, and some of my memories are beginning to fade a bit. I remember loving the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, which made for perfect entertainment while I helped my mom stuff the celery or devil the eggs or chop the apples for the delicious dressing. We ate on her china and the crocheted tablecloth, homemade jam bejeweled her great grandmothers crystal dish, there were individual salt and pepper shakers at each place setting. My mother and brother argued about who sat on which side of whom and banged elbows all during the meal. Grandma made pies, usually including a chocolate cream pie just for me.
After our big meal we enjoyed games. When I was little, we stuck to Candyland and Uno, which evolved into Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit and Boggle as I got a bit older. Sometimes we went to a movie, but rarely. I’m really hoping I can persuade Mr. J’s family to bust out some board games over the holiday weekend, to balance to the usual arsenal of PlayStation and NFL. Some good ones for our our crowd might include:
Kimberly
...by day, making a home where the buffalo roam. By night, pretty much the same thing, punctuated by the occasional fantasies of sunny beaches, italian movies and sparkling lemonade.
I LOVE LOVE games. Anytime I can get family to play – we are there. Dome fun ones to try – Snorta, Backseat drawing, guesstures… to name a few.
We usually break out a large puzzle sometime before Thanksgiving as all the family starts to migrate towards my parents house, and we work on it on and off before, during, and following Thanksgiving day. It's pretty fun. :)
Puzzles. Like big, huge 2000 piece puzzles that take days and days to put together on a separate card table.
And we always used to have a game of football out in the front yard while my mom was putting the finishing touches on the dinner.
I adore Thanksgiving.
I just bought my kids Twister for Christmas. I can't wait to watch them play, they're going to love it!
My mom's side of the family has always been huge on games both on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day after dinner. Favorites include Catch Phrase, Whoonu, and Apples to Apples. Fun times! :)
After the Great Outburst of 1992, I am no longer allowed to play Taboo with family. Let's just say there was accusations of cheating and ended with doors slamming and stomping out of the house. What can I say, I'm competitive.
We now stick to puzzles or laying on the ground ignoring our kids and gossiping. I should rephrase that to say that the kids all go off to play together and we spend time visiting with our siblings. That sounds much better.