Thanksgiving in Plymoth! Almost...Gretta visited Boston the weekend of November 21. The highlight of the trip was the 1627 Harvest Dinner at Plymouth plantation, but there were many other fun adventures, too. While the big kids were in school on Friday, Camille and Gretta hiked the African-American Heritage Trail with Ezra.
The trail led through upscale Beacon Hill, with its brownstones, window boxes, and cute dogs in sweaters. We also stopped at the Old Schoolhouse, where African children went to school in the early 1800s. A court decision in 1855 integrated Massachussetts schools. There were pictures on the walls of early heros like Frederick Douglas, born into slavery in the South, who taught himself to read and became a great author and orator. Jonny studied Frederick Douglas' books in college last year.
We spent Friday evening at the Science Museum. Highlights included checking out the microscopes and the exhibit on Legends and Myths. The kids chose their favorite mythical beasts (stuffed versions) at the gift shop. Annie chose a unicorn and Gretta and Jono both chose dragons.
The trail led through upscale Beacon Hill, with its brownstones, window boxes, and cute dogs in sweaters. We also stopped at the Old Schoolhouse, where African children went to school in the early 1800s. A court decision in 1855 integrated Massachussetts schools. There were pictures on the walls of early heros like Frederick Douglas, born into slavery in the South, who taught himself to read and became a great author and orator. Jonny studied Frederick Douglas' books in college last year.
We spent Friday evening at the Science Museum. Highlights included checking out the microscopes and the exhibit on Legends and Myths. The kids chose their favorite mythical beasts (stuffed versions) at the gift shop. Annie chose a unicorn and Gretta and Jono both chose dragons. 
Gretta was badly tempted to add one more red dragon to her collection of table decorations for Chinese dinners.
We started our 1627 Harvest dinner with a visit to the Mayflower II, a reproduction of the ship on which Dave's ancestor, John Alden, had traveled from England.
We climbed down into the cramped sleeping quarters where the Aldens would have been allotted one bed, which would have lurched with every wave.
The settlers carried cannons with them, to protect themselves from unknown enemies in the New World.
Next stop was Plimoth Plantation, for our dinner.
All the recipes were adapted from dishes from the 1600s--lots of meat and fish, and big dishes of cabbage and mashed pumpkin, followed by real Holland cheese (the Separatists, or Pilgrims, spent a decade in Leyden, Holland, before traveling to America). Our favorite part of the evening was the entertainment--colonists wandering the dining room, telling us about their lives, and warning us about the loose-morals of the "minstrels" who sang 17th century love songs.
And no trip to Boston would be complete without enjoying the many moods (and clothing changes) of cute Ezra.
We found a pumpkin and chrysanthemums for Annelise to pose with, and we took the kids on a lobster boat, where they all got to handle lobsters and crabs dredged from the deep.
We even gave the kids a chance to follow in Grandpa David's footsteps as star stone-skippers.
And we got better acquainted with Ezra, who is now steady on two feet and in constant motion.
Back in Boston, the girls posed in their pink, light-filled bedroom, and Jono starred in a semi-private piano recital held in his living room. That's Jono's proud dad with the flash!
The next weekend, Jared Christopher, Dave's childhood friend, visited us from Baltimore. We had several family parties, since Jonny, Jenny, and Michael were all anxious to spend time with Jared. Jonny is cooking Southern fried chicken tonight, which Jared taught him to make when Jonny and Jenny visited Jared while they lived in Washington, D.C.
Another October event--Jenny presented a program on India, complete with power point maps and photos, to the teenagers she teaches at Church. The over-60 crowd heard about it and wanted their own show. Jonny and Jenny both spoke, wearing a saree (Jenny) and an Indian shirt (Jonny). Grandma was surrounded, at the program, with her good friends, including Judy Jardine.
Gretta and Dave spent a quiet weekend, over October 25-26, enjoying northern Utah, including hiking around and skipping stones in Mirror Lake.
Last weekend was not so carefree. Dave rented a bright yellow SUV to drive to St. George in, and we then headed offroad, towards the ledge of the Grand Canyon. 
The tire was ruined and Dave couldn't find a replacement on a late Saturday afernoon. "I've never gotten a flat on the road to Salt Lake," Dave said, so we headed home Sunday morning without a spare. We suffered Flat #2 just outside Fillmore, and had to be towed.
