Zoe's Dance Recital/Camp Ramah Family Camp

Zoe danced beautifully at her ballet and tap recital.  She looked adorable in her light blue costumes and had a big smile on her face when she performed.  We were very proud of her!

Zoe got beautiful flowers which she requested from her brother -- and she loved the purple flowers.

Mama and Daddy gave big hugs to our adorable ballerina/tapper and she even got a kiss from her brother!

Here is Zoe with her fabulous teacher, Ms. Christine who only had wonderful things to say about Zoe!

Here we are before shabbat at camp Ramah for our family camp weekend 2012.  Camp Ramah was a lot of fun.  The kids got to swim in the lake, play a lot of Gaga, and Zachary even did laser tag.  We had to leave early to make it back for Zoe's recital, but we got a good flavor of what camp would be like. 

Happy Israeli Independence Day 2012

Decked out in blue and white for Yom Ha'atzmaut - wishing Israel a happy 64th birthday!
Love, Zachary and Zoe :-)

Zachary visits the state Capitol for Holocaust Remembrance (Yom Hashoah) Program

Zachary's 2nd grade class as well as the 3rd grade class visited the state Capitol today for a Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) program.  They got a tour of the Capitol and then participated in a program in the Senate chamber.  He and all the kids did great and enjoyed their field trip.  

 Here is Zachary and some of his schoolmates sitting in the CT state House Chamber

 Sitting (and making a wish) in the president of the Senate's seat.  Even Mama made a wish!

 Line leader for snack time outside of the capitol.

 Singing with the 2nd and 3rd graders during the program (except that when I took pictures he smiled instead of sang) and yes he did sing all 3 songs, Mama was very happy!

 I did it - and I am glad it is over - it was very long!

2nd and 3rd grade after the program - they did awesome!

Purim 2012

Kids sat on the bimah for the megillah reading on Purim night ... this was the best picture of both kids together - and as the night went on they looked more and more glassy eyed!  It was a late night and the kids were wiped by the time we left.  On Purim day Mama went to school with the kids so she could hear the Megillah and then they enjoyed all kinds of Purim fun at school.  They even gave out mishlach manot to their classmates and then helped Mama deliver some more mishlach manot around the neighborhood.  We enjoyed a delicious Purim Seudah at the shul.  It was a busy but fun Purim.

Pre-Purim Prep

Getting ready for Purim ... kids tried out their costumes recently, and this is how they looked.  Zachary has other choices (astronaut and Darth Vader) and may wear one costume at night and another one during the day.  Zoe LOVES her blue butterfly and may wear it everyday from now on, so we guess that means she wont be a bride, again.  She has been fluttering around the house quite a bit recently. 

Oh and don't worry, we wont hand-cuff them together on Purim, at least not the whole time.  Happy Purim everyone, stay tuned for more pictures from the actual day.

To prepare we also made adorable mishlach manot with an earth theme.

Boston Feb., 2012

We visited our dear friends, the Mandel's, in Newton, Mass over shabbat and we had a wonderful time.  It was great to catch up with our old friends from New Haven.  The kids all played and enjoyed lots of yummy treats too.  

After shabbat we headed to a hotel in Boston and took a late night swim.  The next morning we were up and out early for a tour of Boston.  

 We took the Old Town Trolley tour so that we could learn about the rich history of Boston.  This was  also a good way for us to learn our way around without having to drive and park throughout Boston.  The tour was especially amusing to Mama and Daddy since we had a very funny trolley driver.

 After the tour we went to the New England Aquarium.  It was PACKED!  Seems like everyone had the same idea we did.  It didn't matter since we still got to see everything.  Here are the kids in the seal tank area.  One of the seal lions was even named Zoe, but we couldn't figure out which one she was.

 After all our site seeing, we wanted to ride the T back to our hotel.  We enjoyed a short T ride, after which we had a long walk back to our hotel.  Once there we went for another swim and then brought in a yummy dinner from Brookline.  It was a great day.

On Monday (President's Day) we took one last swim before heading towards home.  We made some quick stops at the outlets (Mama and Daddy got clothes this time) and also got ice cream.  We had a great visit to Boston and have a list of more things to do there on our next visit.

Zachary's first Aliyah

Zachary had his first individual aliyah at school today (1 day after his half birthday and on sports day of sprit week) and he did GREAT!  It was a double bonus for Mama and Daddy that Zoe's kindergarten class sang Halleluyah on the bimah as part of the Tefillah.  How sweet that they were all holding hands.

 Zoe sang the loudest and knew all the words, she was also GREAT!

 Zachary was so excited to go up for his aliyah, and he smiled a lot as he stood up there.

 His teacher, Morah Jacqui, was right there with him and he made her proud, saying the blessings nicely and then standing respectfully during the torah reading.  After his 'turn' he got a special blessing (Mishabareach) for good health and a happiness.  We are so proud of him and enjoyed watching him experience this milestone of his spiritual growth.  Mazal Tov to Zalman Avraham!