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Quiet First Passover Seder 2012

Posted on April 7, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

This year, we had a quiet first Seder. It was just the four of us, plus Nana and Papa came to join us. I love Passover and being with lots of family, but it was nice to be silly, and get done a bit earlier. We kept things very, very, very simple. Nothing but our “finest china” would do. We also made sure that JSL’s Passover projects from school were ready to go.

At first, everyone followed along in the Haggadah. NHL, you sang the four questions to us in Hebrew. You did a great job. It also impressed me that your little brother was able to sing along after learning the song in nursery school.

Then things got a bit off track once Daddy went to hide the Afikomen. Yes, we had to get our Seder Sillies out.

Friday was a busy day getting ready for everything. Today, it will be nice to spend a more quiet day together while getting ready for our second Seder that will no doubt have more memories made.

Love,

Mommy

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Dear Kid Saturday family food glorious food holidays jsl nhl photos

Preschool Seder Time

Posted on April 5, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up, I still remember Passover Seders at nursery school. When I went to NHL’s during preschool, it brought back amazing memories. Last year, I went with JSL to his first one during his three day a week program. This week, we had another preschool community Seder with JSL’s school. Please join me for a tour of their beautiful event.

When you walked into the room, there were place cards to see which table your family would be sitting at. Then, each of the small round tables was set up for kids and adults to be together. I love that they stack two chairs together to make sure that the kids are able to participate and see everything.

If you take a closer look, there was a Seder plate at the center of each table. Along with this there were platters of matzah, fruit, eggs, carrots, kuggel, tuna, and underneath foil desserts. Each of the kids had their own little setting by them to participate. There were also Haggadahs for everyone to read the Passover story.

When the classes arrived, all of the kids went to find their families at the table. JSL came to sit down and we opened up our Haggadah to get ready.

The kids were active participants. They helped to tell the story, sing songs, and more. JSL had his frog puppet ready when it was time to talk about the plagues.

The kids were not the only ones involved with retelling the Passover story. Some special people showed up as well.

This was a great surprise and so much fun to watch the kids interact with everyone. These will definitely be memories that JSL and I will always remember. Of course, the videos I took will also help with that department. Thank you to everyone at nursery school for making this such a wonderful experience.

It's Me

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food glorious food holidays jsl photos school yummy

Favorite Disney World Resorts

Posted on March 19, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Over the years, I have stayed at a lot of the resorts at Walt Disney World. This Spring, we will be adding two more to my list. Growing up, I stayed at The Contemporary Resort (multiple times), Dixie Landings (multiple times and now called Port Orleans Riverside), and Caribbean Beach (multiple times). Since I have been married, we have stayed at The Beach Club Resort, Pop Century (three times), The Polynesian, and The Grand Floridian. Thanks to Disney dining, we have also visited Port Orleans French Quarter, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Boardwalk, Wilderness Lodge, and Fort Wilderness campground.

Deluxe Hotels:

I don’t think I could just pick one of the deluxe hotels. If money were no option, it would be tough to select which one. There’s monorail convenience, great overall location, and never stayed there before dream.

If I had to pick a resort on the monorail, I would immediately pick the Contemporary. I love that you can simply go down to the ground floor and walk to the Magic Kingdom along a palm tree lined walkway. It isn’t usually crowded, plus you always have the monorail to jump on and get back with relative ease. In addition to this, The Contemporary has Chef Mickey, The Wave, and The California Grill (never been there yet).

After staying at the Beach Club Resort on our honeymoon, I fell in love with the location. Not only is it simply gorgeous with an amazing pool, you can walk or take a boat to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. TechyDad and I often walked into Epcot for dinner, or over to the Boardwalk for a snack or another meal.

A deluxe hotel that I have not stayed at, but visited many time to dine there is the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I would adore waking up one morning and opening my door to view animals like giraffes while sipping my cup of coffee. Another perk would be having Boma and the other great restaurants located steps from our room.

Moderate Resorts:

Looking back I loved the quaint, quiet feel of Dixie Landings. We stayed in the mansions there twice and it was fun to bike, boat, and walk around the resort. Since our stay there, the name has changed. I know the the kids would also adore Port Orleans (either section), but would probably prefer a stay at the newer Pirate Themed rooms at the Caribbean Beach Resort.

Value Resorts:

We adore Pop Century as a fun filled value resort at Walt Disney World. We have never stayed at any of the other value resorts to date. Our last three visits have included nights at this destination.

The rooms are smaller and you do not have a sit down restaurant, but it’s extremely fun, kid friendly, and they a great food court that includes the infamous Tie Dye Cheesecake. We have adjusted to the value resorts by saving money on the room to use for our dining plans and to extend out stays.

So where do you love to stay or dream of calling your home while at Walt Disney World? There are a lot of Disney posts on my blog from trips during the last few years, so check them out if you are interested.

P.S. A huge thank you to Mariana from The Domestic Buzz for creating this magical Blog Hop! The link will be within this post the day after it is published.

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Disney Dining Memories

Posted on March 12, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I love Walt Disney World and have since I was a very young child. During one of our vacations, my relationship with the Walt Disney World Resort changed. We were introduced to the new Food and Fun plan. We had vouchers to do things like parasailing, renting boats, and bike riding. In addition to this, gourmet meals beyond my wildest imagination were included. Walt Disney World suddenly became a dining destination that was not simply for Mickey Ice Cream bars and Dole Whips – it was a lot more.

One of our family meals during that trip was in Epcot. We had reservations at The Coral Reef. Back during this time it was in The Living Seas Pavilion (before Nemo took over). With the dining plan back in the day, we were able to get an appetizer, meal, drink, and dessert. For a small price extra, you could upgrade and order the full lobster dinner. My younger brother was intrigued with this, but had no clue how to attack his meal when it arrived. I still remember the amazing waiter, he pulled up his sleeves, stood behind my brother and guided him on how to get meat out of the places within his lobster dinner.

The Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue also has memories that still bring laughter to our family. My mother had gotten us a table up front. My father had his new camera with us. He was so excited to take photos of the show. Well, at one point the entire group was on the stage and paused since they saw my father was ready. Then, one of them quickly noted “Hey it may help to take off the lens cap!” Remember, this show is a musical comedy and now my father was part of the act. For the rest of the show, they kept picking on him and reminding him about the lens cap.

On our honeymoon, TechyDad and I had another package that included a dining plan. We tried foods from lands and places that we will always remember. We fell in love with Spoodles (now where Kouzina is located on the Boardwalk) and Le Cellier in Canada at Epcot. This was almost 11 years ago when you could actually walk up to Le Cellier and get a table without one of the highly desired ADR.

When we took the kids back for their first trip, we knew that character meals had to be in the mix. The night that we arrived I made reservations for our first sit down meal at Chef Mickey. What I did not expect was both of my children to cry, hide under the table, and be mortified of the characters. The people at Chef Mickey were great and made sure to warn the characters. One of the sweetest memories I have is Chef Mickey standing over a sleeping JSL reminding us to be quiet. When Mickey saw that he was asleep, he came over to get a photo even though it was not our turn.

Over the years, we have tried a lot of restaurants and each has a special memory associated with it. So many of those have been captured here on my blog and I know many more will come in the future.

Do you have a most memorable Disney food or dining experience? Please share them below or let me know if you have written about them so I can stop by. If you want some great information about specific Disney Dining topics also check out The Disney Food Blog.

P.S. A huge thank you to Mariana from The Domestic Buzz for creating this magical Blog Hop! The link will be within this post the day after it is published.

Categories:
Disney family food glorious food jsl looking back me moments nhl TechyDad travel vacation yummy

Purim Parties Galore

Posted on March 11, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Holidays come and holidays go. For some reason, Purim seems to stick around longer and longer each year. I love the holiday and the fun associated with it. However, getting kids dressed up so many times, heading to events, and everything else can get rough after a week.

Still, looking at the fun that the kids had makes it all well worth it.

Tomorrow, we will finally be able to put another Purim “season” behind us and move on. This bring me to the other reason Purim may have a sore spot with me. This fun holiday reminds me that Passover is just around the corner. We need to weed out our cabinets of non-Passover food and start thinking about our Seders. I think I am still in denial about all that goes with shopping and planning.

For now, I will remember the Purim celebration at JSL’s school that included a concert from Andy the Music Man. It was so much fun watching the kids parade around in costumes, sing, and dance with Andy. He was full of energy, funny, and so patient with the kids (and adults too). I know we will be looking to see where he will be performing in the weeks ahead to catch another show. Capital District readers, if you have a chance to see Andy – do not miss it!

I recorded a video of the Purim parade that was so adorable. I will share it with family members privately since I do not have permission from all of the parents to post it on YouTube.

Did you celebrate Purim? I would love to hear how you kept the fun times going with your family.

It's Me