Once again, a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families. I had such a busy weekend, with no time to update the blog, but I hope to make up for it with today’s post!
Robin, the girls Head Counselor or my fiancee (whichever you prefer), flew in Thursday morning to spend some time with my family for the holiday. We went to my cousins house in NJ for the day and had a blast! My cousin is a pilot for Jet Blue, so I love talking about airplanes with him, while his wife did an amazing job cooking and preparing a feast for 25. For a change this year, the meal started out with lasagna, and it was the best I have ever tasted- good job Kelly! Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner followed with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc. but the best part was the dessert (DUH!). My cousins and my mom both had cakes that said Congratulations to me and Robin, which was really nice. But the highlight were the CRUMBS cupcakes that my cousin Lindsay brought in from Hoboken! The favorites were the Dutch Apple Pie, Reese’s, Red Velvet, and Carrot Cake. We cut them all into quarters and I must have had 8 quarters (so that means 2 huge cupcakes- AAHHH!). The whole family had an awesome time and there were some little kids around which kept us all occupied and playing games- invisible ink, my little pony, spongebob stuff, etc.
Friday morning was “Meet the Parents” Forti style at the Forti household! My mom invited Robin’s immediate and extended family over to meet my family. Our parents had already met at camp (many of you will recall that), but now the extended family’s had the opportunity to meet. My mom cooked tons of things- my favorite spinach quiche, french toast, blintze souffle, etc. It was all delicious and yes again there was dessert with yummy things. The highlight today was “David’s Cookies”. If you recall, these are the cookies we have at camp sometimes (Chocolate Chunk) when the baker is on a day off (Open House comes to mind). Anyway, it was all delicious.
Friday afternoon/evening was devoted to SHOPPING with the moms. Robin, myself, and the moms spent over 4 hours at Bed, Bath, and Beyond scanning things, deleting things, adding them back on to the registry, etc. All I can say is GRRRR. Shopping with ladies is hard enough, but on Black Friday…not an easy task. In the end, I was told that I am a good fiance and did a good job keeping cool (for the most part) and allowing Robin to choose what she wanted. Yes, there were a few items I put my foot down on (like the 48 everyday drinking glasses she wanted to order), but in the end we agreed on everything!
Our new flatware- exciting isn't it? HAHA
Saturday morning was spent at temple in honor of Lauren Gadol’s Bat Mitzvah. Mazel Tov Lauren! You did a wonderful job reading from the Torah and your always present huge smile was great up on the Bimah! The luncheon Kiddush following the services was wonderful (and yes there were desserts there too- see the theme of the weekend?)
Saturday afternoon Robin and I went to Macy’s to continue on our Registry Shopping saga. We picked out a few “must-haves” including a waffle maker, George Foreman Grill, and “pretty” (or not so pretty to a guy) vases.
Saturday night was our second Bat Mitzvah of the weekend- Alix Steerman. Alix looked so beautiful and we had such a fun time. The food was amazing (the Kung Pao chicken bites during the cocktail hour, Pad Thai, etc.) and the band was so lively and entertaining. It was so awesome to see so many of the girls and a few boys from camp. Everyone looked like they were having a blast and I even used the excuse of “checking on the campers” to eat some of the food from the kids station! Here are a few pics from the Bat Mitzvah.
The boys and Alix Steerman at her Bat Mitzvah!
Robin and Jess
Robin and I with Allie Ernst
My favorite picture of the night...Neil Sukonik and me!
Sunday was a final registry stop at Crate & Barrel and then a quick drive to Atlantic City Airport to drop Robin off for her flight home to Ft. Lauderdale.
Sunday night, I spoke to Alex Dean on skype. The good news- Alex will be returning for his 3rd summer working in our Hondas department! He is up in Canada working on landscaping and he decided that how could he miss camp this summer (especially compared to landscaping!). Alex, we are really excited that you will be back.
Alex Dean on Skype from Canada!
As you can see, a very busy weekend for us but it was a blast and thanks again to all of the Canadensis campers we saw at the Bat Mitzvahs- we had such a fun time!
