Thanks Giving with Dave and Kathy and family

Throughout the week I'd been pretty well briefed on Thanks Giving by Dave and Scott. The idea is to eat and chill out (and take a moment to be generally thankful). I must say I liked the idea of it very much, and the reality of it too - I think this is a holiday we should adopt in England too. People here get the last Thursday and Friday of November off, though they must spend some hours cooking, some moments being thankful and then the rest of 4 days chilling out (often watching sport, sometimes shopping; likely a male/female split on that one).

I arrived a bit late, around 3pm and the bird had already left the oven. Wow, a big bird too but that's because Dave and Kathy have hundreds of children. A very friendly bunch too and very enjoyable to join the family for the occasion.

Aside from the excellent food there were some great stories from kids (well adults really) telling of their not inconsiderable misdeeds from the past; and adults striving to counter with embarrassing stories about the kids. I'm not sure who came out worst but I think the parents won, they at least won some sympathy from me for some of the horrific stories (they ultimately resorted to old photo albums to ensure they won the day). Certainly the stories seemed to validate the idea of spending a moment giving thanks!

Great toys too. Mike showed me his new 60Gb iPod, really impressive, I didn't know you could play whole movies on them! Dave insisted I try the 'automatic massage chair' which inflicted pain for what felt like more than the programmed 8 minutes - clever thing though. Also interesting to see a fascinating electronic piano which has a tutorial mode where the keys light up to teach you how to play and show you where to put your hands. Very clever. All this stuff I have never seen on my home planet.

Great to spend my first ever thanks giving with such a friendly and talented bunch.