Nautilus

Our Thanksgiving was so nice and normal and lovely. Before I was married and had a child, I used to dream of holidays with a full house; recreating family traditions that I grew up with; making my own family traditions.

One of our favorite new Thanksgiving traditions is going camping. Last year we missed our annual trip because our sweet hero dog, Beau, was so sick and dying. This year, with Jack's impending Antarctica departure looming, we decided to do a simple trip to Plantersville for the Renaissance Faire (more on that in my next post). We also took a wonderful family hike on Thanksgiving day, right here in our own neighborhood.

We live in the BEST neighborhood. I just can't possibly explain how wonderful Brentwood is and how grateful I am to live here. Running right down the middle of it is the "Arroyo Seco." It's a big ditch that runs the length of our part of the neighborhood and it is an endless source of fun and discovery. We headed out with dogs and wings. We made a marvelous discovery: a really big nautilus fossil! Austin is limestone city and we've got amazing fossils everywhere. Speaking of nautilus - we also rode a great ride at the Rennaisance Faire called the Nautilus Swing. I really love that - when a word that we don't usually come in contact with finds us twice in a weekend.

I'm so grateful that we're all here, happy and healthy, through another Thanksgiving. I wish we could all be together next year. I always really miss my mom and brother on holidays, even though I'm cool with us all doing our own thing. Life goes on and times change, but my heart is still a little bit empty without them.

Stop on by and we'll go take you to the ditch.

Love,

Michele, Jack and Finnigan the Curious

PS Photo of Jackholt by Finny