Good Times

As much as I enjoyed "Good Times," this post isn't about the Norman Lear-produced sitcom (which often, as I like to say, took the "com" out of sitcom).

No, this is about having fun over Thanksgiving with my immediate and extended family. Beth and I traveled south with the kids Thursday morning, hitting quite a bit of traffic, but still arriving at my parents' house in Windsor in plenty of time before dinner. My sister was there, as were my brother and his two kids, Grace and Isaiah.

My mother and sister prepared all the great food: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, salad and gravy. We brought bread, pies and beer. After stuffing our faces, some of us went for the requisite post-meal walk around my parents' neighborhood. The weather was oddly warm (as it has been a lot this month), which was nice. Unlike much of America, we eschewed (I love that word) football, in favor of just hanging out, playing games and listening to my mom play the piano. Hearing her play a few Christmas carols and some ragtime numbers was a treat, as my mom doesn't tickle the ivories as much as she used to.

That night, we slept at my sister's house in West Hartford, with the kids going to bed close to 10:00. The next morning, we all walked to breakfast. We wanted to go to this place, the Quaker Diner:



Unfortunately, this snug little joint was a little too busy to wait with two hungry kids. I do love diners, so we'll have to get there a bit earlier next time.

We ended up, instead, at A.C. Petersen Farms, the remaining restaurant in what was once a small and very popular chain run congruently with four farms.



After breakfast we went back to my parents' house for a while. After a few hours, we headed back to West Hartford to visit my friend Gary and his wife, Rebecca, and kids, Evan and Olivia. While the kids played amazingly well together, the four adults had some drinks and just chewed the fat. As we did with everyone else we saw that weekend, we heard from Gary and Rebecca about what they went through during the loooooooong power outage that much of Connecticut suffered through earlier this month.

I was amazed at all the tree branches still stacked in front of so many houses, awaiting pick up by city and town trucks. I was impressed with how well all my friends and relatives did during the Dark Days.

After our visit, we went back to my sister's place, where my brother and his kids, as well as my parents, were joined by all six of my Brigham cousins and most of their family members. Here are my cousins (l to r) Lynne, John, Amy, Joy (hidden) and Ann:



Here's my cousin Sue (r) with my mom:



Here, my dad entertains my cousins Lynne and Ann, and my mom:



Because it's rare that my brother, sister and I get together with all six of our cousins, there of course had to be pictures:



Thanks to my cousin John's son, Matt, for snapping this great picture.

I took some pictures of the next generation of cousins:



(left to right: Sequoya, Owen, Grace, Lindsay, Isaiah (on Lindsay's lap), Sam, Amelia and Matt)

It was a really fun night.

The next day we trekked back up to my parents' house to say goodbye to my brother and his kids. Then we went out to brunch with my sister and my parents at the Whistle Stop Cafe. The restaurant moved from a smaller location around the corner earlier this year into a space that's pretty huge. The food and service were good, and I like the fact that they feature entertainment on weekends and have a nice little bar tucked into the corner. I wish them well.

Traffic on the way home on Saturday was non-existent, which made for a relaxing trip. Good times, indeed.