Dad's Visit and Thanksgiving

This year my dad came to visit over the Thanksgiving holiday. This was his second Thanksgiving here, the first being in 2010, and I'm thinking this might become somewhat of a tradition. He came on Monday night and stayed through the following Tuesday morning. We did so much on his last visit that this one ended up being much more low key. And actually, judging by the pictures and my ballooning belly, we spent most of it eating!  Here is how it went down...

TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

Joey and I had to work during the week so my dad had a couple days all to himself. I hitched a ride with my coworker and left him my car so he could relax and explore San Diego - at least that was the plan. Instead he spent a few hours working out at a local gym, washed my car (oops, didn't think to tell him that's prohibited in SD), ran errands (he insisted we needed a garage broom and more pillows), and cleaned our house. I received this text message from him mid-morning on Tuesday. 

But I guess what did I expect? I mean, I've never seen my dad sit down for longer than a show of Jay Leno so I don't know why I thought he'd take it easy! 

After work on Tuesday, my dad and I went to the grocery store to stock up on Thanksgiving supplies and we decided to pick up some "man-sized" steaks for a nice easy dinner at home. He made his "famous" iceberg lettuce salad and Joey grilled up the monster ribeyes. 

On Wednesday, my dad spent the day similar to the first - working out and running errands. At night he made a double batch of jello shots to prepare for the holiday weekend. Honestly I was surprised that he lasted this long before making them. I was also happy that I had an excuse to refuse them all weekend. Jello shots for breakfast just doesn't do it for me. 

Then we went out for pizza at our new favorite pizza place, Pizzeria Luigi, which was featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. OH MAN, is it delicious! Really, SO good. 

We had hoped that my brother Jason would join us for dinner since he was driving down from LA for the holiday, but he got stuck in LA traffic and it ended up taking him over 4 hours to get here - a commute that should be closer to 2.5 hrs. Have I mentioned before that LA is the worst city in the world? Because it really is. 

Finally around 9:30pm he arrived with his girlfriend Candis and we spent the night relaxing a bit and watching some Big Bang Theory. 

THANKSGIVING DAY

The next morning was the big day, and since I insist on making everything from scratch, I had a lot of work ahead of me! I woke up early and went for a little neighborhood walk and then got immediate to work! First, the turkey. I like to use Bobby Flay's Pioneer Style Turkey recipe. It is so simple - no brining or prep work, just an herb butter, frequent basting, and a few hours later it is juicy and delicious! It is a little messy though...herb butter hands, yuck. 

Then I put my family to work! Joey cut up sweet potatoes. 

My dad peeled the regular potatoes, trimmed the green beans, and cut the corn off the cob. 

And Jason and Candis prepped the appetizers and cut bread for the stuffing. 

After all the prep work was complete, I cooked like a master multi-tasker for about 4 hours. Around noon, our friends Jordan and Fabian arrived and everyone was just hanging out watching the football games. 

Many jello shots were had. 

I kept my guests happy with some little apps to hold them over while the smell of turkey was in the air. 

Finally around 3pm, everything was ready! Joey carved the turkey and it was time to eat. Although by this time I was so exhausted that I didn't even want to eat.  All I wanted to do was sit down! Oh well, that's what I get for being an overachiever. And honestly, I'll probably do it again next year unless having a baby changes my perspective, which it easily could. We'll see.

The final spread - Pioneer Woman's creamy mash potatoes, Paula Dean's cranberry sauce, Bobby Flay's sourdough mushroom stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes, sautéed green beans, and corn off the cob - accompanied by store bought rolls from Fabian (I had to draw the line somewhere, but I DID consider making those from scratch also...)

Everything turned out pretty delicious. My gravy was a little too thin and my stuffing could've been more moist, but overall yum! Jordan and Fabian had no complaints - they scarfed it down!

Everyone ate a little too much and crashed after dinner. I love this picture. Haha. 

To work off some of the meal, we headed outside to play in a nearby park. But first, a group picture!

Everyone played frisbee while I sat and watched. Oh man, it was nice to sit down!

After the park we came back to our place and played some board games while Joey tackled the daunting task of the dishes. We played Clue, which was hilarious because it was Fabian's first time and he kept getting excited whenever he would figure something out and would always let it slip. 

Around 7pm, people found a little room for dessert and we had two types of pie - cherry and apple. Not the most traditional Thanksgiving desserts but I let Joey and my dad choose. I guess I'll have to get my pumpkin pie fix next year...

We said good night to our guests and then spent the rest of the night playing a few more games with the fam and just hanging out. 

Pass the pigs anyone? That's a snouter!

Overall, a great holiday!

FRIDAY AT THE BEACH

My brother had to leave early Friday morning to get back to LA so it was just us and my dad for the weekend. On Friday we decided to spend the day at the beach. But first, I made this delicious leftover turkey sandwich. Yum...

We went to South Mission Beach - and it was freezing of course.  I swear over half of my beach pictures show me all wrapped up. San Diego is not as warm and sunny as you might think! We hung out for about an hour until we (ok, I) couldn't take the wind anymore. 

Then my dad and Joey played a little one on one volleyball...

And we headed over to the boardwalk to my dad's favorite place, the Wave House. The Wave House is a restaurant on the boardwalk that has an artificial wave where you can watch surfers do crazy tricks. Some of the guys are AMAZING and can do double backflips off the waves and all sorts of wakeboard-esque moves. 

After the Wave House, we walked through the little amusement park area and my dad couldn't resist playing a carnie game. He wanted to win his grandson his first toy. I can already tell that our little guy is going to be spoiled by his grandparents!

My dad and Joey split the throws and knocked 6 out of 10 down. Not bad!

So now our little guy has his first toys - a frog and two stuffed bananas. Haha.

After the beach, we went home to shower and relax a bit before heading back out for a little night time entertainment. We went to a local comedy place and met up with Fab and Jordan again. Unfortunately, the comedians weren't very funny - but it's hit or miss at those places.

FOOTBALL SATURDAY

Saturday meant football, football, football, so we just lounged around the house for most of the day. I made my version of a Waffle House breakfast - with hashbrowns scattered and covered - while Joey and my dad watched Georgia Tech get its tail kicked by Georgia. Boooo.

Several hours of football later, we ventured out of the house to a sports bar downtown called Bub's to watch more football. Yay. At least this was the Notre Dame game and they won - which made Joey very happy. 

After the game we walked around downtown a bit to give my dad a feel for the nightlife. He was really enjoying hanging out with Fabian - two bachelors. Haha. 

We went to Double Deuce, a country themed bar with a mechanical bull. We stayed for a bit but this pregnant lady had no interest in making a night out of it, so we left fairly early. On the way out, someone made a comment about there being "a pregnant chick at the bar" - and I knew it was definitely time to leave. Also, I was secretly excited that it was obvious that I was pregnant :). 

SUNDAY IN CORONADO

On Sunday, we woke up early and headed to the Waterfront, another local sports bar, to watch the Falcon's game. My dad was very excited to get one of their famous burgers and challenge Joey to a game of pool. 

Then we went over to Coronado island to rent some bikes. We did this earlier this year with Joey's parents and we loved it. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating with us this time and it was a little cloudy and gray. 

Still, Coronado is beautiful, and we had a great time. 

Halfway through we stopped at the famous Hotel Del - a common tourist attraction. We were surprised to see that they had an ice skating rink set up, right along the beach. The ice was melting like crazy but I guess San Diegans gotta take what they can get when it comes to winter activities. 

The Hotel was all decorated for Christmas and it was beautiful. I loved the blue ocean themed tree. 

Overall, a nice afternoon!

LAST NIGHT

Before we knew it, Monday was here and we had to go back to work. My dad spent some more time exercising, hanging at the Wave House, and treated himself to a little massage. That night I wanted to go out somewhere decent for dinner (since we had spent the last few days eating bar food) and I asked my dad what he was in the mood for. He said Red Lobster or Outback.....that wasn't exactly what I had in mind but I have been having nostalgic cravings lately so I said what the heck. 

We settled on Outback and got the sinful blooming onion. I'm so ashamed...but it was delicious. 

After dinner we went back to our place to spend some quality time on our last night together. 

My dad had certainly been wearing me out but I was sad that he was leaving the next morning. We took a few pictures together and said our goodbyes. I'm just glad that it won't be too long before our next visit - Christmas in Atlanta is only a few weeks away. 

So that does it. Not as eventful as his last visit but it was nice to spend the time together. Tonight we are off to Seattle to spend the weekend with Tim and Lauren and their new little baby Robert and then we'll be in Atlanta for Christmas before we know it. 

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and I hope to see everyone soon!!!