November can be tough. Cold and gray and often more winter-like than autumn-like as branches go bare and daylight wanes. This past November bore the extra burden of election anxiety as we watched the Presidential race unfold – that first week was a haze of watching maps go red and blue while 270 hung in the balance. Though I largely tried to put the election coverage away when Juliette was in the room, we did use last month to teach her the value of our vote – she sat with me while I filled out my ballot and we walked to our local ballot box at lunchtime while talking about what makes a person a good leader.
After a handful of restless nights and far too many hours of watching John King wave at his magic map, we awoke on Saturday morning to the news of Biden’s victory. Juliette ran to the computer to drag Pennsylvania’s electoral votes into the NY Times interactive blue bubble, just to be sure, and then called it for herself.
Biden / Harris 2020!
I know this election didn’t go the way that several people close to me wanted it to and so I’ll try not to gush, but I will say that the renewed sense of hope in our household and our city was palpable. We cracked open a bottle of Veuve and a fancy Kombucha on Saturday night and cozied up in front of the TV to watch Joe and Kamala take the stage. I told Juliette it was a big night, so she dressed the part.
It was a moment I won’t forget, watching my daughter watch a woman take the stage as Vice President Elect. It’s about stinking time.
November graced us with a handful of sunny days, which we seized upon as chances to do more wandering through Lincoln Park.
Seriously, November sun in Seattle brings out the giddiness in all of us.
I realized on this walk that there’s actually a good chunk of Lincoln Park I haven’t yet explored. This place is such a gem.
These two…making their own fun wherever they go.
Alki Beach is also beautiful on a sunny late November afternoon if you can bear the wind and the the cold.
Juliette and I spent a half hour drawing in the sand and playing tag before admitting to each other that our fingers and toes were freezing and we couldn’t take it much longer.
(Schnell family portrait!)
We’re loving electric scooter rides along the waterfront on Sunday afternoons.
But again, freezing.
Thanks to the kind folks at Starbucks for warming us up.
We’ve been extra-careful about our interactions these past few weeks as COVID case counts have climbed and so have had to get creative when it comes to socializing in the dark and the cold. This worked!
Also, park dates with friends have been good. We spend a Saturday wandering the trails of Camp Long with the Rusts.
This place is full of places to climb – Juliette got very good at scaling this wall very fast.
Jason lamented a couple of weeks ago that they didn’t have any recent family photos, so I pulled out my camera and grabbed a snapshot of the four of them.
Plus this:
Jason returned the favor.
I can’t believe I didn’t know about this little grove till now! It’s an 8-minute drive from our house and stunning on a sunny fall day.
And…the wide-open lawn. Juliette’s favorite.
A few random snaps from my phone…
West Seattle goodness:
Whipped cream goodness:
Harry Potter board game goodness (we’re obsessed):
Virtual play date goodness (watching girls play Barbies over FaceTime is highly entertaining):
Schmitz Park goodness:
And lazy mornings in bed with books! So, so good:
Now, on to the business of Thanksgiving, which was not at all like we’d planned it to be, but was still full of reasons to be thankful. We had to cancel our long-anticipated trip to Minnesota, so I bought cranberries and potatoes and ham and we settled in at home yet again.
Juliette was on cranberry sauce duty and totally nailed it, orange zest and all.
Also, this girl’s apple pie egg wash is A+.
I set the table with fancy lunchtime snacks and we Zoomed with our dearly missed Schnell and Jarrell fams.
The finishing touches were put on dessert (this cranberry tart was so pretty!) and then there was nothing left to do but pull the ham out of the oven.
Stuffing and mashed potatoes to feed a small army, ham, Brussels sprouts with bacon, cranberry sauce, a little bubbly…LET’S EAT!
We ate and ate and talked about what we’re thankful for and I declared these mashed potatoes the best I’ve ever made.
As Juliette gets older we find we linger at the table longer and longer, sharing stories and jokes. She’s got so much to say these days (ok, she’s always had a lot to say, but the things she’s saying now are next-level!). Sometimes it’s seven year-old quandaries, like who is Princess Leia’s mom?!, but sometimes it’s her showing genuine interest in what’s going on with Shane at work or how Great Grandma Alice is doing in Florida. I love watching her fold into our family in new and grown-up ways.
There’s been plenty to lament in 2020, but in moments like this gratitude comes easy.
We took a short after-dinner walk to make some room in our bellies for dessert and then gathered in the basement for a family viewing of Home Alone. Juliette laughed through the whole thing and I winced in pain as Marv stepped on a nail and then got hit in the face with a paint can. Maybe I’m getting too old for that brand of Three Stooges humor. But no matter, I’ll watch Kevin’s antics a hundred times over just to have my giggling girl close. Happy Thanksgiving, ya filthy animals.
