Saturday morning my wife and I met her sister, her sister's husband, and our niece (age 9) and our nephew (age 6) at the Kansas City Zoo. We walked, tram rode, and sky rode there for three hours. The weather was nearly warm. I liked the sea lions, the penguins, the young zebra and the oryx. As always at zoos, I liked best the animals in open spaces suited to their species, and disliked the areas with inadequate spaces.
A "show" in which Santa did a scuba dive in the penguin area sounded a lot better as imagined than the actuality proved to be. We enjoyed spending time with our relatives,and the kids in particular were well-behaved and interested in what they saw.
We all had lunch together at Michael Forbes, a place in Brookside where I got a good bowl of beef stew. Then my wife and I headed over near the Plaza to the residential high-rise where my wife's aunt of very advanced age lives. We were delighted to spend an hour with her.She told us of hot-air balloon rides in Africa and the closing of her successful career as a real estate agent.
At dinner, my wife and I lined up with her other sister, our other niece on that side, age 18, and our niece's boyfriend. We went to the Bristol Restaurant on Nall. I had crab spring rolls and grilled chicken. We all had a good visit. Then my wife and I headed home and had a last visit with my wife's father and his wife.
We woke at 6 this morning and headed to the airport. The weather was very cold when I put gas in the rental car. We flew to Dallas Love Field,where the temperature was over 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
I drove home and took Beatrice for a walk. Then I went to Weight Watchers. I lost for pounds during Thanksgiving week. I credit the exercise at the zoo, moderation during the meals, and partaking of a few well-chosen desserts.
Then I drove to Whichwhich and had a sandwich. I went to Limestone Quarry Park and walked in the very warm weather for eighty minutes. I saw lots of birds, particularly during one section of the walk in which blue jays and other birds cried out warnings about a nearby hawk. I barely got a glimpse of the hawk.
We had a fine Thanksgiving weekend, but it is good to be home.