2021 Life Logs, Day 332: Happy Hanukkah
Date: Sunday, November 28, 2021
Weather: Overcast, Snow Sprinkles; High Temp 38, Low Temp 33 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This is the fifth day that Justin and family have been here and today was set aside for a walk to downtown Falmouth and then a celebration of the first night of Hanukkah. 
We lit the first night candle at sundown and then the kids started playing the dreidel game. They had a sizable ‘pot’ of gelt (gold and silver wrapped chocolate coins) with which to play the game and eat a few along the way.
Heather started frying the latkes and as soon as she had a full tray, we served them while she fried more. They were gobbled up so fast that we decided to bring in the reinforcements to keep frying.
Jed and Sam helped out and then Sam braised the steak. We grazed our way through dinner, eating the latkes while they were warm and adding prosciutto wrapped asparagus, a salad, and braised sirloin steak slices. The food was all delicious and everyone really enjoyed playing the dreidel game. I gave each of the grandchildren a book. Jonah and Ziggy got a book called RESIST that tells the story of people throughout history that rose us to resist tyranny and injustice. Sam got STAMPED: A Book About Racism, Antiracism, and You. And Ollie and Coco got a book called A BOOK ABOUT WHITENESS: Not My Idea. “An honest explanation about how power and privilege factor into the lives of white children, at the expense of other groups, and how they can help seek justice. —THE NEW YORK TIMES 
Each of the kids immediately began reading their books and the evening took a more serious turn with some indepth discussions on the many issues we are facing in lives today.
Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco came home with me tonight and will stay here tomorrow night as well. They fly home on late on Tuesday, so we have two more days together. As soon as we arrived at my house tonight, the first thing Justin did was put up my Christmas tree that I bought this morning. We went from Hanukkah to Christmas in short time, but Ziggy had really expressed an interest in decorating my tree while they are here. That will be one of tomorrow’s activities.
JJZ&C have really enjoyed their stay at Heather and Jed’s, but it is great to have them here now. We have invited Heather and family here for dinner tomorrow when they will have to say their farewells. But we are planning a family trip to Puerto Rico during the April school vacation which we are already looking forward to.
