Getting our GLOE on!

The holiday season has officially begun!  Whoop Whoop!  (I think?!?!)

We did phase one of Chanukah decorating last weekend, but I must confess I am anxious about it this year - and my kaleidoscope is of no use in these matters.

For 12 years I (and later we) decorated the old house.  I had it down to a science.  I knew where everything went and how to hang every strand of lights. I could do it in my sleep... I had a system.  I have accumulated the said decorations for about 20 years... I have 5 big bins of them.  This year there is whole new canvass... our new house.  Our first Chanukah in the new house - what a world of opportunities!  I believe change is great - it is what keeps s alive - but this change- this change has taken me off guard... I hadn't really processed the whole "I have no idea how to use my enormous amount of decorations in the new house" experience... so I am just in denial.

It will have to happen this weekend. And there may even be a blog post about it.

Don't even get me started on our holiday cards... seriously... I have yet to be inspired yet so they have not been done yet... but maybe tonight... I might have had a bit of inspiration in CVS yesterday.

Oiy Vey - the holidays!  So much joy and cheer and good will to men!  Did I mention I LOVE THEM!!!  Oh yeah, I mention it all the time, in like every blog post, about how much I love life and love holidays.... how could I forget...

So this Wednesday evening, we started our holiday events!  The Gay and Lesbian Outreach and Enrichment (GLOE) group from the Washington DC Jewish Community Center (WDCJCC) hosted their second annual "All Fired Up! for Chanukah!" event at a local pottery painting place.

We went last year and it was fun.  A group of gay Jewish families hanging out with their kids and each other, painting dreidels and menorahs and eating fruit, jelly donuts, and chocolate gelt.

The advertisement for the event came through on email this year and guess what?  We made the advertisement!!  Yep there was a cute picture of Jonah and me with some of our best buddies at last year's event!  Kick it up for us!

So I was excited to go this year.

We got there about 6:30.  Last year there was a good crowd.  This year not so much.  We were there and two other families with babies and one little girl.  My kids were a lot more mobile this year and I was with them without Jocelyn.  And we were in an entire store of breakable objects... really what was I thinking?!?!  One of the other moms, actually voiced that sentiment as she was with one child that was in her arms...  I am a thrill seeker I replied

But there was a secret weapon - CHOCOLATE GELT!

When we discussed going to event on the way there - Jonah remembered - it is quite amazing what that kid remembers.. 

"Mommy, will the chocolate treasure be there? and can we eat it?"

Yep, only if you behave, stay in your seat and do what I say?!?!

And that is how it went.  They were really really really good for the beginning.  They were both so busy eating all of the gelt and painting their dreidels.  Then I tried to have them paint a plate with hand prints to mark the occasion - very Martha Stewartesque... that so didn't turn out like I planned.  I was stalling hoping our buddies would show up...

Then the sugar high kicked in.  Jonah grabbed my camera took some pictures, dropped my camera in the bowl of brush cleaning water, ran around a bit, knocked something over that I believe broke (but I kinda stayed out of that) and then it was clearly time to go home. 

We got our Chanukah Gloe on - with a little help from copious amounts of chocolate gelt.  It was fun and we have 2 weird colored dreidels and a random painted plate to show for it!  I will pick them up next week.

Let the holidays begin!  And a big Shabbot Shalom to all!

 2011 PICTURE FROM ADVERTISEMENT

2012 PICTURES

2012 PICTURE TAKEN BY JONAH

Chugging through the years at the Gardens!

I first found out about this whole model trains in the botanical gardens thing when we lived in Chicagoland.  We went to Trains, Tricks or Treats at Halloween and then returned for the Wonderland Express exhibit - they were both at the Chicago Botanic Gardens and Jonah loved it!  It was just Jonah and me back then. 

Then last year, around this time, I heard about the model train exhibit at our botanical gardens right here in DC (US Botanical Gardens)!  I was psyched!  I packed the kids up one cold December weekend and went early in the morning - but alas - we still had to wait on a pretty big line.  We made it in after shivering a bit and then had to wait once we were in to get to see the the trains... at some point on the line outside the exhibit Jonah started screaming his head off - somehow he had glimpsed the sight of Thomas through the glass and was screaming - "Thomas, wait for me please!  I am coming to see you!   I love you so much Thomas the Train!"  Seriously, he screamed this numerous times at the top of his lungs... and by the way, he was sitting on my shoulders as he was screaming this...  We made it into the exhibit and both kids loved it - I loved it - and we moved slowly through.  As we exited, Jonah started throwing a temper tantrum that he did not want to leave... I had to carry him in one arm, push the stroller with the other, through the botanical gardens and then of course I could not figure out how to get out... finally we were out -  Jonah still having a melt down - he laid on the floor kicking and screaming while I sat on a bench and gave Vera some snack... Passers by either gave me a sympathetic knowing look (those who had recently been somehow responsible for 2 year old train obsessed boys) and others looked at me as if I was committing child abuse, ignoring my little 2 yr old on the floor in hysterics in the freezing cold. 

This year I thought about it - should we go again?  I discussed it with my kaleidoscope - we decided we would go early in the season, on a weekday and in the afternoon!  I was a mom of two with a plan!  We went this past Monday at 2pm.

We had a really good time.  But.... there is always a but isn't there...

The "Seasons Greetings" exhibit (as it is called) was basically empty.  No line to get in.  No line once we got in.  It sort took a bit of the excitement away from the whole experience, for me... is that weird?

Then when we got in, it was sort of small?!?!  It is one room and it is a big room and has lots to see and tons of small details but it isn't half as big as I remembered it being.  I am sure it had to do with the long line last time.  But Jonah & Vera LOVED it!  First, we checked out the the model DC buildings in the courtyards (Jonah & Vera both knew who lived in the White House replica-they answered OBAMA - confidently!) Then we entered the room with the trains!  Jonah and Vera kept running around and looking at the all of the trains.  They made some little friends and then all of them were obsessed with watching Thomas (yes, he was there this year too!) make his loop on the tracks and go through the tunnel!  They really loved it.  We hung out in the train exhibit for at least 30 minutes watching Thomas most of the time. Then we left without much to do - how about that for progress and maturity!  Good job Jonah & Vera!!!!  Then we took a nice little stroll through the jungle and desert gardens - and yes I sort of got lost again - clearly I didn't get any more experienced or mature in the past year. Finally we found our way out and took the path through the outside gardens to the car.

We were home by 4pm for snacks!

It was the perfect Monday afternoon train adventure. (although for me sort of anticlimactic - this I am learning is a good thing!)

It is funny to think back over our past train exhibit voyages in various botanical gardens.  We keep chugging along at our own pace.  We are getting older and wiser and "making tracks" as we go. We even picked up another passenger along the way.  I am sure we have many many more train adventures to come and my crew & I are ready for whatever is next!  Each time we learn something new and experience something fun - and Sir Topham Hat would be proud of us!  En route to the next station, we are trying to cause much less "confusion and delay" -- I hope we are learning to be "really useful engines" on that railway they call life! 

Chugga Chugga Choooo Chooo!

CHICAGOLAND HALLOWEEN 2010

 

 

 

 CHICAGOLAND WINTER 2010

 

 

WASHINGTON DC 2011

 

 

WASHINGTON DC 2012

Finding Nemo!

This past Sunday afternoon as we were coming back from the Thanksgiving grateful and food coma - my kaleidoscope thought we should go in search of Nemo... makes all the sense in the world!

So we packed ourselves up and Jonah, Vera and I took a quick trip downtown to visit the DC National Aquarium.  It has been on our "to do" list forever and it seemed like a fun thing to do.

It was not very crowded.  This is always a good thing.  And despite the fact we had to pay to get in (I know we are spoiled because we live in Washington DC and there is so much for free here!), we embarked on our mission to find Nemo!  Now, I had no idea if Nemo actually existed in this aquarium but it made for a fun game (and I figured if he wasn't there we would just watch him on TV later...).  It was dark - at first Jonah was terrified there would be scary monsters... but then we got ourselves together and calmed down.  Turns out it is not very big, this aquarium and it sort of looks like an eccentric family member's basement filled with fish tanks - but Jonah & Vera Loved it! 

Right away we found an alligator.  This was perfect since Jonah & Vera are obsessed with alligators and crocodiles (Thank you Peter Pan and Jake and the Neverland Pirates - I know I know, we watch a lot of TV... maybe too much TV).  Jonah and Vera even have a little alligator/crocodile song... they move their hands in a chomping way and sing, "chomp, chomp, chippy, chippy chomp..." and chomp their hands - BOTH of them do this and then they laugh!  It turns out I believe this little performance is actually courtesy of Yo Gabba Gabba (yes another TV show) - as they have a little dancey dancy segment in which they teach this little dance.  So be it - it is really cute.  And yes, they were doing it at the aquarium (see the picture below).

We made our way through the aquarium and finally, there they were... NEMO and DORI!!!

Jonah & Vera were ecstatic! Jonah started talking to him about who knows what.  Vera started screaming, "HUGS HUGS!" and then started hugging the glass window. (see picture below)  Then Jonah started screaming, "KISS" - and yes, both my kids started actually kissing the glass window?!?!!

I "quietly" asked them to stop such public displays of attention.

After our Nemo encounter, we were sort of done with the aquarium. 

We managed a quick trip through the gift shop in which we purchased a small family of four - they were sharks and only $6.95,  We also bought Mama a shark poster - sharks are her favorite thing... Jonah insisted we get it for her.

Quick fun easy local trip to a little aquarium with admission fee - Success!  Thank you kaleidoscope!

Bottom line:  NEMO FOUND!