Hi Everyone!
It really has been so long since I sent out one of these. With the end of year approaching, I was surprised that my last blog post was in May! Where has the year gone? First, I want to say that Josh, Wally and I are doing ok in the US. Things may seem a little scary to everyone back home in Australia but we generally stick to ourselves and don’t socialise much. Both Josh and I have to go to the office everyday and Wally goes to daycare as well. Since we have a number of people in our “work” bubble, we are focusing on keeping our “social” bubbles small. Anyway, to get into the spirit of celebrating the end of 2020 (thank god!), I thought smashing out a few little posts would be just the thing. So, first up?
Thanksgiving Day
Since it was just our little family for Thanksgiving this year, Josh got the smallest turkey he could find which was about 10 pounds. And he decided to be a little adventurous by “dry brining” the turkey. That’s when you rub the turkey with a huge amount of salt and let it sit for two days. Check out the before and after pictures!
At the start of dry brining 
After two days of dry brining
Of course, during Josh’s cook up, Wally tried to be as (un)helpful as possible:
After about 3 hours though, the turkey was finally done and it was glorious:
And when Josh plated up the turkey with all the side dishes, he made it look like art:
Family pics anyone?
Josh, Wally and I all made an effort to wear some thanksgiving (“fall”) jumpers and so clearly we needed some nice family pictures. It was easy to get some good ones with either myself or Josh:
And eventually we got a kind of nice family picture:
However, there were a LOT of duds trying to get that family photo:
Putting up our Christmas Decs
In my desperation to bring forward the end of the year, I decided to put up all our Christmas decorations. I know, really early but as I sit here typing, it was definitely the right decision. I am loving looking around and seeing everything Christmassy:
The beach during winter
In the US, Thanksgiving weekend is a 4-day weekend. And with so many days off, we decided to spend a morning at the beach having recently discovered one only 10 mins from home. This would be the first time Wally went to beach since Barbados (which reminder, HE HATED IT). The weather was absolutely gorgeous:
And the beach we chose gave us a great view of San Francisoc:
But, most importantly we finally got Wally to enjoy his time on the sand. The secret: putting his favourite toy (stacking cups) on the sand forcing him to get used to the feel of sand.
And that’s it, our Thanksgiving weekend for 2020. Waaay different than we could have ever imagined it but what we needed to do right now to stay safe.
Stay tuned for a few more updates!
Sim, Josh & Wally
8 Comments
Add Yours →Lovely to see you are all doing ok. Can’t believe how gorgeous and big Wally is now. Sending love 💕
Hi Simren. Good to see (and read) that you are all doing well, all things considered. Wally is super cute btw.
Hope to see you in Oz sometime soon.
Keep well
Alex
Always thinking of you all in that crazy part of the world in these strange times. You all look fabulous but gorgeous Wally takes the cake. Sending love for a fabulous Christmas and stay safe.
Love Jan and Graeme xx
Your blogs always make me smile. Once again, love the photos, Wally is adorable. Stay safe.
Love the feast all laid out for Wally! Glad to hear you guys are doing well. I had to laugh when you said Wally’s favorite toy was stacking cups. That’s exactly the same as Alexander – that’s all he ever wanted to do for about 12 months.
Love the family photos and description of Wally “helping”. Looks like he is a very happy little man 🙂
Great to hear how you guys are doing and that you’re all happy and healthy, Nikki x
<3 just checking in. We're the same as you – social bubble is non-existent – but the end is in sight. Looking forward to getting these bubs together in happier times xx