The Macy's Parade

We were sitting about 1 1/2 blocks from the Empire State Building - perfect location!

Here's Miley Cyrus promoting the movie "Bolt." We also got to see James Taylor on a float.

This parade is possibly one of my favorite events of the year. Every Thanksgiving morning that I can remember, I've woken up and watched this parade in my PJ's while my mother got the turkey started and my siblings slowly arose from bed. This event officially ushers in the Holiday Season, and it signifies a great American tradition for generations past. No matter what era children have lived within, the looming and brightly colored massive balloons, the shiny tubas and the clanging cymbals of the marching bands, and the grand finale - Santa on his slay - have continued to thrill and excite children again and again. And there is something sociologically enchanting about this event - people from all over America join together in excitement and anticipation and sheer silliness to watch the Macy's parade. This may sound cheesy or trite to some, but I think that there is significance in traditions like these...there is something completely humane in the unity these events bring about.

I've also watched the movie "Miracle on 34th St" every single Thanksgiving weekend for as long as I can remember. This movie features prominently the Macy's parade, and it has always been a dream of mine to attend the parade live some year. Now that James and I live only 1 hour from the city, we had to make it up to the parade at least once.

So this was the year! James was a very good sport (although there were a few grumbles prior to the event), but we both had a fantastic time. Most of our friends told us we were crazy for wanting to go stand amongst huge crowds in the freezing cold, but it was completely worth it. We actually got very lucky with our seating because a man gave us free tickets when we got up there to sit in the special grandstand bleachers right in front of the Macy's store. So our view was perfect, we got to sit down the whole time, and the temperature was really quite pleasant - around 45 degrees and mostly sunny. So here's to the Holiday Season!

Hail to the Dutch

It's been a good run for us. Yes, it's been brutal. Two weeks ago James suffered a minor concussion and we spent 3.5 hours in the ER. Yesterday at practice I took a nose-dive into a teammate's forehead and now have a swollen nose. And there have been other injuries for other team-mates along the way.

But the Dutch is proud. We officially finished our season today in the quarter-finals, but it was a good game. We played hard and most of all had fun. It's been wonderful to be a part of a team that is simultaneously competitive and organized yet friendly and fun. And I think we all hoped we could remain the standing champions this year. At the end of the day, however, it's all about a good time for the Dutch Uncle crew.

I learned more about football this fall than I ever have before; I became part of a great defensive team and learned much of the strategy involved with defense. James played a lot of offense and some defense, and he consistently caught those long passes into the end zone (it helps a lot to be 6' 4" with long legs and arms!). With the exception of one other person, all the Dutch players are graduating this year and so it remains to be seen what will become of the Dutch. But as of right now James and I are officially free agents...who wants to draft us? It's sure to be a fierce competition!

In the pic below James is on the far right and ends up catching a touchdown pass in the left-hand size of the end zone.















Here's the post-touchdown huddle.

And here they are lining up for the extra point - James also caught this pass. (yes, I'm proud of my hubby!)

And here below is my defensive team waiting to jump out on the field. Our defensive team had perhaps its best game today...felt really good!

Autumnal Backyard

Alright, so we don't actually have a backyard, per se, but these are the trees that we can see from our bedroom window. The trees on the golf course have been ripe with color, and the trees all along the canal path have reached their peak in these pictures. The last few days have been quite rainy and blustery, so the leaves are near gone at this point. But I do savor these few weeks of brilliant autumnal color. And James does as well - I've caught him multiple times recently just sitting on our bed staring out the window in silence. The colorful changes of fall certainly lead one to peaceful introspection.

Now I guess we brace ourselves for the dead and gray branches of winter....

Pumpkin Bounty Hunter

There is a local farm not far from where we live called Terhune Orchards, and they grow all sorts of fruits and veggies throughout the year. I went here a few times this summer to pick berries, and not long before Halloween James and I scoped the place out for some pumpkins. We looked for quite awhile to find just the right shapes for our carving visions, and then when we went to weigh them we realized they would cost $25.00 - yikes! Maybe it's just been awhile since I've purchased pumpkins, but I wasn't about to drop $25.00 bones on these squashes as beautiful as they may be. So we decided to buy some apple cider cake doughnuts instead - they were very well worth the investment. And we purchased some raspberry rhubarb jam - love the mix of these two flavors.

The Pie Bake-off...

Yes - Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Apples. And Pumpkin, molasses, and cream. We had a pie bake-off a few weeks ago that involved all things sweet and autumnal. We had a great turn-out, a whole lot of good food, and some very stuffed bellies. Amongst the goods were a pumpkin cheesecake, apple crisp with a few special twists, a blackberry swirl pie, pumpkin molasses pie, an apple and berry pie, homemade applesauce, homemade eggnog, and cupcakes that Balem picked up from the best cupcake joint in NYC (don't remember the name of the place, though).

I originally had planned on getting a big blue ribbon for the winner, but I couldn't think of a good way to develop a proper voting system. And I didn't want to deal with any hanging chad issues or recounts, so a few of us decided to give each pie it's own unique award. We're all about positive affirmation in the Rienstra household.

Here's the majority of the goods.















Alison, Adam, and Chris chillin out.















Sara, Becca, and Alison.















The Grand Scene.















Here is Ben's eggnog - Yes, he went all out. He used the finest of ingredients, even down to the gourmet chocolate shavings you see on the top of the nog. James was in heaven.















Ben here showcasing his goods.















Marc, James, and Chris - for some reason this pic cracks me up...I'm really not sure what is going on here but Marc looks very mischievous.

Meet the New Boss...

America has elected a new president, which is fortunate because apparently the Who recently began a reunion tour. I bet they could find time to play a gig at the inaugural ball in January: