We just got back from having a nice Thanksgiving in


I took Wednesday off work and we left for Toledo first thing in the morning. This worked out great because we missed the very heavy Chicago traffic that you get the evening before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Day. We did not get any stop-and-go traffic the entire trip. Excellent.

We got to Toledo about 2 PM. We hung out at Mom and Dad's house for a few hours, talked and played with Shawn. When we got word that Tim and Lisa were leaving work we got in the car and met them for dinner at "2 Toots Whistlestop Grill". This is one of those kid restaurants where the food is delivered to your table on a model train that comes from the kitchen and circles the restaurant. Shawn was unbelievably excited to go. The burgers were surprisingly very good.











We spent Thanksgiving Day at Tim and Lisa's house and enjoyed Tim's annual deep fried turkey.





I made my homemade dough in Chicago a couple days in advance and then froze it. On Thanksgiving Day I thawed it, formed it into rolls and baked them.



Tim carving up the turkey.



The spread.



When we were cleaning up after dinner we experienced a major catastrophe. The plate that had ALL of the turkey broke as Tim was carrying it across the kitchen!





Tim felt so bad that we could not enjoy the beloved leftovers the next day that he fried another turkey on Friday night after work! What a guy.

After dinner Shawn and I went outside and I followed behind him as he rode his bike around the neighborhood. I ate too much and just needed to walk a bit.



Friday Mom, Dad, Sheri, Shawn and I did a little shopping. We did not get up for the door buster specials though. The highlights: a 24" x 36" picture frame, an electric throw blanket, some toys for Mitch, and a few other things I think I am forgetting.

We had lunch at



I had their famous (and huge) cod sandwich and Sheri had a vegi omelet and fries.

Dad pulling a salt shaker from Shawn's ear during a coffee break.



Shawn explaining the finer points of the Titanic (or the Hindenburg, Bismarck or Pearl Harbor) to a patient Sears sales clerk.



Saturday we got up and Mom and Dad had already left to run a couple errands. We packed things up, and then soon after they returned we went out to lunch (Mom, Dad, Sheri, Shawn and me) to a place called The Star Diner. It is kind of like Hooters, but they serve breakfast, do not serve alcohol, and are only open for breakfast and lunch. Sheri thought the "uniforms" they wear were much more flattering than the Hooter's ones. The waitresses were all very attractive, and the food was very good too. I had the cobb salad. Good except for two things: 1. The onion was a yellow cooking onion and very harsh and was cut into very large strips. I like raw onion but it was too much for me and I had to pick it out. 2. There were several chunks of the dense yellow core part of the head of lettuce. I picked those out as well. Everything else was fantastic. Sheri had the Buffalo chicken breast sandwich and fries. Very good. Dad had a Rueben sandwich which he said was excellent. Mom and Shawn had breakfast items which they seemed to enjoy.

After that we went back home, finished loading up the car and hit the road by 2 PM.
We got back to Chicago at 6 PM on the dot. Driving back on Saturday rather than Sunday was much better because we missed a lot of heavy holiday traffic.

As soon as we got home Sheri jumped back into work and has been on a bridge call ever since. It is midnight now and it sounds like she has to do something at 3 AM.