Packaging Purim!

One of the reasons we went to Florida in the first place was - you know to see Nana and Pop - but also because we wanted to get some help some making our annual Purim packages (or shalach manot as they are called in Hebrew).  Almost every year since I spent my junior year (1991) in Israel I have been baking hamantaschen for Purim (the triangle shaped cookies).  When I went to law school I started sending out the little packages - with a poem and a "theme" - that would be since 1995... Since we had Jonah (2009), I added a picture of Jonah dressed up in an appropriate costume that matched the aforementioned theme...  I have about 40 or people on my list to send these packages - the list is now closed as it was getting to big, so in 2010 I deemed the list officially closed...  It is a big project to have the theme, get the kids dressed, take the picture of the kids, write the poem, figure out the right kosher candy to go with the cookies, get the boxes, address the boxes, stamp the boxes and send them... so I figured it would be fun and much easier to do it with Nana and Pop!!!

This year our theme was "Coffee & Cake!"  Before we went to Florida, I dressed the kids up as coffee cups and we created a big piece of "cake" out of a cardboard box.  Then I gave the kids real mini cupcakes and we went out back and had a photo shoot!  It was hilarious and a bright sunny day.  I put together a photo montage card of the pictures and had them printed out and took them to Florida with me.  I also had decided that in the box with the cookies we planned to make in Florida would be a single piece of individually wrapped Entemanns pound cake, Nips Coffee flavored hard candies and chocolate hugs and kisses... not sure if anyone gets the theme - but it was in honor of GG (my grandmother) she loved coffee and cake!

We got to Florida and well, you know how that turned out... in the end we did not bake the usual 12 dozen hamantaschen... but it was still going to be Purim and I had all the stuff but the cookies so we put together the packages and sent them out "sans" hamantaschen.  Nana assembled the little candy bags - all 50 of them and Pop folded all of the little priority mail boxes - all 50 of them - twice - because the first time I ordered the wrong boxes!!!!  I could not have gotten it all together without Nana and Pop!  Thank you!

Jonah and Vera got in on the action too!  Jonah helped me fill all the boxes and Vera was very excited about going to the post office to mail them all!  It was a total group effort - as they say  IT TAKES A VILLAGE.  Below is the poem I wrote for the packages, the photos from the photo shoot and some from our assembling day in Florida!  It was a weird strange trip that we had in Florida but there were many sparkly and wonderful moments - this was one of them!

It seems fitting to post this today as today would have been GG's 96th birthday.  I hope wherever she is she is enjoying lots of coffee and cake with people she loves!

COFFEE & CAKE!

Here is your 2013 Purim package - it is not the usual poem or the usual fare…

Can you believe there are no home baked Hamantaschen – what a scare!

Of course there is a theme, and a whole story about such news this year too-

Not much of it is Purim themed – but we are still wishing a Chag Sameach to all of you

First some news, GG, Grandma, Beulah, or Blossom – as she was called by some

She passed in late January, her time had come

GG loved Purim – because, you know, it involved lots of love and special yummy treats

She helped me so many years, bake and assemble the packages – and the best part - to eat!

She loved some things so very much – her family and “COFFEE & CAKE!”

She especially loved eating all those hamantaschen we did bake

But alas, this year, there is no GG here to enjoy

And my shalach manot have no hamantaschen – oh boy!

The story goes like this: I decided to bring Jonah & Vera to Florida to visit Nana and Pop for Valentine’s Day!

To stay on, enjoy some sun, swim and bake hamantaschen – hip hip hooray

Turns out Florida started off wet and cold – totally not sunny

We arrived with running noses and got Nana and Pop sick – totally not funny…

It has warmed up a bit, we managed to swim in the pool

Vera’s got an ear infection not sure if we can take the plane home – that’s not so cool!

But the Purim is coming – the show (story) but must go on- the packages (without hamantaschen) must be sent

Nana & Pop pulled through – helping with EVERYTHING – while Jonah, Vera and I – to the hotel we went…

This will be a memorable Purim for years and years

One we think back on with some tears and hopefully lots of cheers

Have a great Purim – eat, drink and be merry for the day

GG was good at all of that – and she could spell any word that you could say

We’ll miss her and those home baked hamantaschen this time

But remember it is love that matters and not the treats or the rhyme

Happy Purim to all and to all a good night

It is way too late – it is time to shut off my light

Your 2013 Purim package includes:

1 slice of Entenman’s Pound CAKE (GG’s favorite cake)

Some COFFEE Nips

Lots of chocolate HUGS & KISSES (GG loved giving everyone lots of hugs and kisses!)

Happy Purim!

Love,

Jonah & Vera

(With way too much help from Nana & Pop – We love you Nana & Pop and THANK YOU!)

 

Fixing Some More Florida Fun

Happy Monday Everyone...

We still have a few a more Florida posts left - if you can believe it?

In light of the springing ahead this weekend (and yes, we totally forgot to turn our clocks ahead on Sunday... thank god for cell phones and the automatic time switching they do...) and the 60 degree weather expected today, we figured we continue with our Florida fable...

Towards the end of our Florida week we managed to do three very different but equally entertaining (for lack of a better word) "activities" - ha!

(1) Return visit to the Doctor:  I gathered Vera and Jonah and returned to the urgent care doctor to check Vera's ears... you know since she had an ear infection and she was on steroids and antibiotics and we needed to get an all clear to fly... NOT!  She still had the ear infection on Thursday and we would not be flying home on Friday.  That's the way we roll over here. No problem universe... just kaleidoscope up some of the chaos.  Pop helped us figure out a plan to get home.  No worries - we eventually made it. Future blog post on that one...

(2) Breakfast/Lunch at what used to be called the 19th Hole (new name, new owners but I don't know what it is):  We had a number of meals at the little place in the condo complex with Nana and Pop.  They make great breakfasts and lunches.  We colored, played with the sugar packets and the jellies while waiting for the food...  silly and yummy...

(3) Playing outside the restaurant:  There is this big space outside the restaurant and near the golf course where Jonah & Vera LOVE running around... especially with Pop! Last time the kids where there they run around with their cousins too!  I finally showed pop how to make up a game so that he could sit and they could run... moms are good at making up these kinds of games - Jonah & Vera just LOVE TO RUN!!!!  It is a pure delight to watch them sprinting around and laughing the whole time. Good stuff!

(4) Swimming with Pop:  Unfortunately Vera didn't get to take a dip in the pool (you know because she had that crazy ear infection and all), but one sunny afternoon while Vera and Nana were taking their naps, Jonah, Pop and I went to the pool for an afternoon dip in the pool.  Jonah loves swimming with pop!  One of Pop's friends even went and got Jonah a noodle to swim with.  It was great to get Jonah back in the pool and swimming.  Weirdly enough, Jonah has this habit of drinking the pool water - which led to a huge burp and spit up in the pool at the end of our swim... yes, we are working on it.  Overall a good pool outing, minus the strange spit up incident...

Have a good day everyone!

Doctor's Office

Lunch Time!

Play Time!

Swim Time!

Butterflies Abound...

Butterfly World has been right down to the block from my grandmother's condo since 1988... yet I never went.  Probably because I was too busy hanging with my cousins and swimming the pool to be bothered with e butterflies and by then I was sorta old (like 18)... so when I visited for spring break or New Year's I wanted to head to the Ft Lauderdale "strip" (who remembers that?!?!) and not the butterflies...

Alas... things are different now.  We did a get few sunny days in Florida. One morning Jonah,Vera and I got up and went on a butterfly adventure!  We first hung out a the very fun playground right next door to Butterfly World in the Tradewinds Park.  After, we took a deep breath and entered butterfly nirvana!  It was awesome  We have been to a number of these butterfly places - Brookside Gardens, Smithsonian Natural History and even the Houston Science Museum - but this was a different deal!  It was huge.  It was outside enclosed by screens and I have never seen so many butterflies in my life!!!!!

Jonah & Vera were in butterfly heaven!  The butterflies were gorgeous.  And if that isn't enough you can also walk around the botanical gardens - which we did and they have lots of birds, frogs, lizards, etc... OFcourse, we ended up at the little cafe for snacks and then went to have lunch with Nana and Pop at the condo.

It was really a wonderful adventure!

Shabbot Shalom everyone!



surrounded and in awe of the butterflies at butterfly world... even if you can't see them in the photo they are everwhere!!!!