A Very Wenzel Thanksgiving

Once upon a time, my best friend Hannah said to me, "You have to come to my house for Thanksgiving someday." Well, more than a decade later, we made it happen. It was everything I always imagined a Wenzel family Thanksgiving could be, and so much more. (For example, I never imagined that we would get to go on a garbage truck hunt--twice--through Hannah's neighborhood, or that said garbage truck would be "an AUTOMATIC SIDE LOADER, Mom, with a ROBOT ARM!" That was Cody. Cordelia said, "Garbage truck! Robot! CHASE IT!")

Cody made enough memories to last a lifetime. Here are some of the highlights:

Upon exploring (of course) the various closets on the first floor, Cody made an exciting discovery: "Grandma Robbie! YOU HAVE A DYSON!?!?!" Hannah, his kindred spirit, proceeded to teach him how to use it, concentrating on the finer points like aiming for the furniture without actually hitting it. You never saw a happier boy.

He vacuumed the whole downstairs. Some parts of it twice. He concentrated fiercely and passed more than a half hour, working hard on every surface.

Each morning, Grandma Robbie let Cody sit on the counter and help her make protein smoothies. Cody offered one (or two, or three) to everyone in the house, and learned the sequence of blender buttons immediately.

One of the funniest moments was when Robbie--who had been in Cody/Cordelia communication mode--turned to Hannah as she put marshmallows on the sweet potatoes and said, "Hannah, be careful! Ovens are very hot and can be dangerous!" I will never forget the incredulous look on Hannah's face. Robbie heard herself a second later and died laughing.


We all enjoyed copious amounts of Derek's homemade wine (and I learned the word scuppernong!). (Cordelia was transfixed by Derek, calling him "Derek! Buddy!" but burying her head in my chest or howling "MOM!" in alarm when he got too close. She loved the idea of him. We think it was the facial hair that freaked her out.) Anyway, Cody must have felt left out as we were drinking, because after awhile, he walked into the kitchen and announced, "Mommy? I think that I am old enough for wine now." I started to say no, but Grandma Robbie said, "Oh, Cody, that is wonderful. I happen to have some wine just your size!" She pulled out a little glass jar of apple juice (just the color of scuppernong!) and let Cody choose a real wineglass. He was delighted. Much clinking of glasses ensued.

Cordelia joined the fun too: "Cin cin!"

Cody and Grandma Robbie did some seriously awesome bonding.

Best of all, for the kids, was spending time in Grandma Robbie's new sewing room (which Hannah and I renamed "The Devil's Workshop"). Behold the buddies.


Grandma Robbie explained that Cody would be old enough to use the machine when he was nine years old. But in the meantime, she taught him some hand-sewing.

He was fascinated by every single item in the sewing room, examining every object and testing each spool of threat. ("Ribbons!" exclaimed Cordelia. "Throw them!") Some (I, for example) might say they trashed the room, but Grandma Robbie said it was all part of exploring, and that putting things away would be as much fun for her as it was for them to take them out. She sounded very convincing.

This was my favorite: "Grandma Robbie? What is this thing?"

"Oh Cody! Oh goodness. Well, that is called a pincushion. Let's put it over here, up high!"

I'm not sure if the Wenzels/Kriegers will ever recover from Hurricane Last, but we had one of the most wonderful, memorable Thanksgivings ever. Cordelia has been moping for "Grandma Tom--miss it!" since we got back. Cody has been dreaming of Dyson vacuuming with Aunt Hannah. The drives were long (really, really, really long). The sleeping was iffy. The sicknesses were irritating. But in spite of all the Last family challenges, it was a wonderful, warm, welcoming and truly happy Thanksgiving. People often say that friends are "like family." But they don't necessarily mean it. In this case, we are so blessed that we truly are family to each other. And that, even after three days of all of us, they still seem to want to keep us. We couldn't ask for better surrogate parents/grandparents and we only hope to be able to repay their kindness and generosity someday! Everything was amazing--the food, the company, the wine, the conversation.

But for me, this was the best of the best: just being in the same cozy kitchen as my Hannahbell.

I can hardly wait for our next adventure! Witch Doctor 2012!