03 Jan 2007 01:56 PM

Winter break 2006/New Year's 2007

Maor had winter vacation December 21 - January 1. Originally I was going to drive down to Los Angeles with her for the week (about a 5 hour drive) and Arthur was going to fly down for Shabbat and we would drive back together. Arthur really did not want me to drive down alone so in the end Maor and I flew to LA on Christmas morning - our flight was delayed for an hour due to bay area fog and came back to San Jose for Shabbat.

We stayed with my friend Jo who I haven't seen in over a year. Although Jo has a very small apartment, a husband, 2 adorable babies, and more toys than Toys R Us, she graciously hosted us. (thank you Jo. and to the rest of you, see, be nice to me and you too can be mentioned in my blog!)

Monday afternoon after arriving and picking up our rental car (God bless GPS navigation systems) we went out to eat in one of LA's numerous kosher restaurants. We then drove to Hollywood and walked around a bit, seeing Mann's Chinese Theater (http://www.manntheatres.com/chinese/index.php ) and many colorful street performers.

On Tuesday Maor and I went to Universal Studios (http://themeparks.universalstudios.com/hollywood/website/ ). We went on the studio tour and saw how movies are made. We saw a fun Shrek 4-D show and sat next to someone from Beerot Yitzchak (small world). Since I am a big chicken and hate scary rides Maor went on the Jurassic park ride with a  treacherous plunge straight down an 84 foot vertical drop waterfall by herself. We also saw a show about special effects and fire which Maor deemed scary.

That night the GPS broke leaving me extremely upset and nervous about driving to Disneyland in Anaheim the next day. Spin me around 3 times and I'm lost. But remarkably Mapquest to the rescue and we did okay.

Wednesday morning we drove to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth (http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage ). It's a lot happier there if you don't go during peak season when the park is SOOOOO crowded that the shortest line was 45 minutes! We still managed to have a good time even though it was very tough for Maor to wait patiently for so long. We had a lot of fun on Buzz Lightyear's astro blasters (3 times) and enjoyed the Star Tours attraction. We got Fastpass tickets for Indiana Jones Adventure and even though I thought I'd chicken out, I didn't and it was also a lot of fun. We didn't do any roller coasters or very scary rides since we are both scaredy cats. We got the requisite picture with Mickey Mouse as well as some other characters. We were going to stay late but Maor's sneaker fell apart and we left after the parade to buy her shoes and get some less expensive Disney mementoes at the Disney Character Warehouse before checking into our hotel.

Thursday morning we headed back to Disneyland and rode some of the rides we missed the day before. Maor wanted to do the Indiana Jones ride again but we messed up by not getting a fastpass right away and by the time we went back the lines were a 75 minute wait and passes available for 23:15-12:00. One thing I learned about doing Disney is that when we eventually go to Disneyworld in Florida, we will go off season and not during school vacation when the entire world goes. We got a picture with Minnie Mouse, saw a few 3-D shows in California Adventure, and headed back to LA.

We went out to eat with Jo and her daughter Emmette in an Israeli type restaurant called "On Fire" - al haesh, get it. As Maor said, it's not Achla but it was still enjoyable. There are no kosher restaurants in San Jose.

Friday morning we woke up very early and flew back to San Jose. We met Arthur at the airport (he came back from Texas for work) and went home and cooked like crazy for Shabbat.

On Sunday we were originally go see a musical of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat until I looked at the calendar and saw that it was Asara B'Tevet. So instead we went to the Chabot Space and Science Center (http://www.chabotspace.org/ ) and even though Maor keeps saying how much she hates museums I think she had a good time. (She is at t hat age where she will not readilly admit to enjoying anything we plan) They have scales there that tell you how much you weigh on all the planets and let me tell you, Pluto is the place to be!

We then drove to San Francisco and since everything kosher was closed (Asara b'Tevet) we went to a supermarket and bought some stuff for supper, then headed to our hotel in Sausalito, over the Golden Gate bridge.

The next day we drove to Fisherman's Wharf  and walked around. We went to the aquarium of the bay (http://www.aquariumofthebay.com/ ) where we all touched a leopard shark (http://www.aquariumofthebay.com/fish.asp?fishID=163 ).  Maor also touched a batray.

We then went on board the USS Pampanito, a world war 2 submarine (http://www.maritime.org/pamphome.htm ). We listened to an audio tour and heard all about life on a sub during WWII. It was very interesting. You definitely don't want to serve on a submarine if you're claustrophobic (see picture of sleeping quarters). We then went to eat in a kosher restaurant, Sabra which was ok but again, not as good as Achla. We then drove back to San Jose.

Maor went back to school on January 2nd. I started taking ice skating lessons on Tuesday nights and I am looking into horse riding lessons for Maor. I start school on January 24th.

Signing off for now.

Chasida (Fern)

"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."  Walt Disney

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