thanksgiving weekend

man, was it great seeing ashbloem over thanksgiving! it felt like old times, except this time in the midwest, in the 'burbs, and oh yeah - with rock band.







four of hours of rocking and what got stuck in our heads? the rolling stones "gimme shelter" and in particular the portion of the song that goes "rape... murder..."  how's that for a cheery thankgiving tune?

and no day holiday in my family is complete without tons of food.

being the guest in the house, ashbloem had endure the pressure my family can apply to the sport of eating.  to them us, it's a sport alright.  all weekend, we had to face the mountain of traditional thanksgiving and filipino fare.  from turkey and stuffing to pancit and balut, it was a marathon of eating.  with only one minor catastrophe...

brother-in-law had a standoff with a hot burner. 


we did manage sneak away from the dinner table on occasion. one night, we caught a polka band at a local bar and did some goofy dancing with beers in hand.  the polish santa sax player was kind enough to pose for a picture.



we went on a tour of the anheuser-busch- and now, inbev brewery, where we learned how they make the stuff and then patiently waited for our final stop in the hospitality room.



the true highlight of the tour is the stables in my opinion.



at this time of year, the place and the horses are decked out in holiday decorations.  we were lucky and got a glimpse of mickey, the clydesdales' dalmation sidekick, who had decided to park it in a stable and chew on a bone. so cute.



more pics from the weekend:



i just love this shot of ashbloem in front of the arch.


the stupid photo booth wouldn't accept our crumpled up dollar bills, so we just took our own picture. i think it turned out pretty nice.