On the last day of Hanukkah, Avery and her classmates headed to the Contemporary Jewish Museum downtown to put on a little holiday concert; it was the first time the chorus had performed there. I wasn’t there to see it, but I’m told they sang a new take on the “Dreidel Song” called “Spin a Little Dreidel,” as well as a four-part harmony of “Candlelight Canon” and “Sevivon.”

-M

…from this witch and cowgirl.

-M

Everyone is all better (thank goodness) – and just in time for Purim.

-M

One of my new favorite shots of the girls, taken in my parents’ backyard…

-M

At one of our Half Moon Bay stops over the weekend we spotted a pony grazing near where we parked. Q took Avery over to take a closer look and, after catching the smell of manure, I heard her call out with displeasure, “Yuck. I’m a city girl.”

-M

The drive to Anaheim is a long one, but Zoe and Avery were total troupers. There was little fussing or whining during our drives (except, of course, from me during traffic jams), and the girls practically had as much fun during our first stop as they did at Disneyland!

-M

Not quite ready to say a final good-bye to Disney, we headed to Downtown Disney on Wed. morning. A pretty, outdoor shopping area attached to the park, it was the perfect place for us to pose for photos, shop, and run around and burn off some steam before making the long drive home.

-M

Almost 16 million people visit Disneyland each year – and this year, we were four of them! I’ve been to Disney World before – but never Disneyland – and Q and I were probably just as excited as the girls when we headed there on Tuesday morning!

The park was extremely crowded (as should be expected this time of year), but it helped that we met up with friends who were familiar with the layout and could guide us to the best spots and quickest lines. We couldn’t possibly hit all (or even close to all) the rides, but among the ones we got on were Autopia, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (a roller coaster, and one of my favorite rides in the park), It’s a Small World (of course!), Pirates of the Caribbean (another classic), Space Mountain (Zoe’s favorite of the day), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Captain EO and Toy Story Mania. Zoe also saw a show and got a dance lesson from Snow White and several others during the Disney Princess Fantasy Faire, and she spent much of the day meeting and getting autographs of various characters (including the Evil Queen, one of the few not pictured below).

We’ve taken Zoe to a lot of amusement parks, and I half-wondered before our trip if Disneyland would still feel special to her. Turns out I needn’t have worried: Disney may be an amusement park, but it is much, much more than that – and as cliched as it sounds, it really does feel magical. (And, at least for me, some of the magical feeling stemmed from being able to share with my kids something that was so special to me as a kid. When I heard the refrain of “It’s a Small World” and watched the girls’ eyes light up as they soaked everything up – well, it doesn’t get much better than that.)

-M

Greeting Minnie:

Zooming through Autotopia:

Waiting patiently:

Meeting with Mickey:

Smiling with Alice and Mad Hatter:

Entering It’s a Small World:

“It’s a world of laughter, it’s a world of tears…”

Taking it all in:

Dancing with princesses:

Watching Snow White:

Goofing around with Tigger:

Moping with Eeyore:

Posing with Pooh:

Heading home:

We surprised the girls by driving down to Anaheim and taking them to Disneyland yesterday. (The visit was in honor of Zoe’s recent birthday; thank you, Safta and PopPop, for the tickets!) It was an amazing whirlwind of a trip – and one that our little “Minnies” won’t soon forget!

(More pics soon.)

-M

In honor of the last night of Hanukkah…

-M

When I was putting Zoe to bed the other night, she said she wanted to say a prayer.  I suggested that she thank God for the fun day she had just had, but she took it a step further. “Thank you for my fun day today,” she said. “Thank you for making me and my family and my sister. Thank you, God, for everything.”

-M

Not being with my parents and Sandy today feels weird (Merry Christmas, you guys), but we’re still having fun here at home. Yesterday, for example, we got in the holiday spirit by going to Union Square to watch the shoppers and ice-skaters and to check out the giant tree and menorah.

And what’s the best thing about being in San Francisco at Christmastime – aside from the weather? So few people are here, and parking spots are a-plenty! I had to chuckle in agreement when I came across this quote in the New York Times from someone who lives here:

I love to park and unpark hundreds of times in the Mission District. Nothing is more fun than driving down the street parking — and unparking — in the thousands of open parking spots. I marvel at it every year, as in no one is ‘from’ San Francisco, and all the hipsters empty out to visit family in Cleveland.

-M

A few days before Avery got sick, the two of us went down to Burlingame for a playdate with her friend Natalia. Here are a few pictures from their morning together.

-M

Avery is sick again: She developed a fever Wed. afternoon, and a semi-frantic trip to the doctor late yesterday confirmed an ear infection. I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, either, and there was a rough moment in the afternoon where Avery was crying, Zoe (who was in a bit of a defiant mood) was refusing to stop playing the harmonica, and I was feeling sorry for myself (this is my vacation!) and just wanting to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head. Ah, I thought, so this is what drives parents to drink.

Alas, things are better today. The meds kicked in for Avery, my cold improved, and Zoe and I spent the afternoon at the Stanford Shopping Center, happily running around and making holiday purchases under a blue winter sky. Talk about the ups and downs of life with kids!

-M

Zoe has been counting the days to Hanukkah, and it finally arrived on Tues. evening. Here are a few pics from the girls’ first night.

-M