Learning to Trust and Lean: Thanksgiving in Oman 2.0

I posted about Thanksgiving as it was upcoming, this is the looking back at what we learned post.

On Thanksgiving Day, we did a whole lot of nothing. We relaxed around the house then eventually went to the American Club early to let the boys go swimming. At this point in the year, since the pool is shaded all day, the water is a bit cold. But the boys enjoyed swimming none the less.

The boys just finished with swimming.

We were very much looking forward to a Thanksgiving dinner there. The food was very good. The mashed sweet potatoes were amazing, the stuffing was better than the box version, the spinach casserole (a new item for me) was very good. They had turkey 3 ways: deep fried, smoked, and roasted. E liked the fried version best. Stephen and I liked the smoked turkey best. J liked none of it. He wasn't a fan of the texture of the turkey. They had apple pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate pie for dessert. I had a bite of each, and the pumpkin was the best in my opinion.

Time to eat Thanksgiving meal #1!

Ready to eat in my Thanksgiving shirt.

The down side of eating at the American Club? There were almost no Americans or any of our friends. It was a bit of a let down. I thought I might see more people. One new friend, a Canadian, showed up, but she was the only person I knew. There was also a rude lady who took issue with my kids playing on the playground equipment damp from swimming. She acted like they were dripping all over the place (they weren't). I told her we had no other clothes and that her advice of using a towel wouldn't help my kids with playing, then sat down at the table. I probably should have let my kids keep playing, but I wasn't in the mood for a confrontation. I just wanted a good day, but her attitude has irked me ever since. Sure hope I never run into her again (I probably will).

J playing after eating.

E playing after eating.

After dinner, we walked home to watch an episode of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" on Netflix. If you haven't watched it, you're missing out. If your kids don't read the series, they should give it a try.

Luckily, we had a Thanksgiving meal with friends planned for the very next day. It was much more fun to share food with a group of people we actually like as opposed to strangers. The food was all excellent, though our 11kg turkey was completely unnecessary. There was way too much meat! Seriously, I have turkey galore in my fridge and freezer now. But it was a great night filled with laughter and stories and hugs and friends.