Since Thanksgiving is obviously not a holiday celebrated by the Spanish, the celebrations here on base are whatever we Americans make of them. Sophie attends a Spanish Immersion school on base, run by Spanish teachers, so I didn't expect them to do much for the holiday. But the entire CDC had a Fall Festival a few days before Thanksgiving. The teachers designed costumes for each classroom centered on fall themes or books they had been reading. Sophie's class was the Hungry Caterpillar. :-) Other classrooms were Stone Soup, pumpkins, or fall leaves.
The classes paraded around the CDC courtyard. Sophie had a great time! She had an ice cream hat, and face paint, and loved waving to us while they walked. Afterwards, all the parents were invited to a Thanksgiving feast in their child's classroom. I was curious what the Spanish interpretation of a Thanksgiving dinner would be. It was actually pretty good: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and pumpkin pie! The kids enjoyed eating their picnic and playing on the playground.
Wednesday, we enjoyed a dinner with all the families from Dan's work. It was nice to sit down together and enjoy everyone's homemade contributions. The kids made little hand turkey crafts, and afterwards they tossed some footballs around outside. It was the first time Dan and Danny had ever played football together, and it warmed my heart watching my 2-year-old learn how to catch. :-)
On Thanksgiving Day, we spent the morning at some stores out in town getting fresh ingredients like chorizo, bread, cheese, and wine for our feast. Then the kids took naps while we cooked! When they woke up, it was time to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. We decorated some turkey cookies, watched the parade, and waited for our guests to arrive.
Once our friends came over, we ate so much good food! The kids stayed up for dessert and went down for their normal bedtimes. Then we got to spend an exciting evening playing games, laughing, and enjoying our company. We had so much fun, and can't wait to hang out again!
We have gotten used to celebrating Thanksgiving without our larger families, but this year it was great just to be together as our own little family. Dan was gone for the entire holiday season last year, so we have definitely learned to treasure any time we have together. We had considered doing some local day trips this weekend, but I have been really sick, so it has been nice to spend a weekend at home to just rest and recover. I don't know where we will celebrate Thanksgiving next year, or who it will be with, but as long as we are together I know we will all have fun.
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