Dinner with the Kreitenbergs

Saturday night we went to dinner with Matt's first cousins Melissa, Archie, and their kids Mo and Zoe. They took us to Island's (another chain restaurant that we love to go to that we can now check off on our list for this trip...). We hung out at their house afterwards, had cookies and ice cream for dessert, and let the kids run around until 9:30 pm. Another great night.

Visiting the Katz Cousins

We spent Friday night having a nice Shabbat Dinner with our cousins Heather and Stu, and 2 of their 3 children, Justin and Andrew. The girls had an absolute blast and ran around crazy until we left at 10:30 pm! It was a nice time catching up and letting the kids play and get reacquainted with their cousins.

Sheridan Turns 3

After much preparation and several pre-parties, Sheridan's 3rd birthday has finally arrived. She celebrated her special day by going to "Story Time" at the public library, taking a nice nap, walking the dog to the park, and then having take-out Chinese dinner with Grandma and Poppa, great grandmother Vera, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Sandy and Uncle Geoff. She had a great time opening up a few more gifts - all princess themed of course. She finished off her day with this yummy cake (exactly like the one from last week at Bubbie and Zadie's), and went to bed in a sugar coma.

Israel Reunion Dinner

In 1989 I went with 38 kids from the San Francisco Bay Area on a 6-week trip to Israel organized by the Jewish Federation. We had a fantastic trip and an amazing bonding experience that kept us in touch for the rest of our Junior and Senior years of high school. However, as we got older and time moved on, we all slowly went our separate ways. Within the last few years I began communicating with a few people from the trip, and when we decided to come out to California now for our last R&R, one of the girls suggested we do a mini reunion dinner. One catch was that we didn't have many people's contact information. Through the magic of "friend finder" sites; Classmates.com, Reunion.com, Facebook, Myspace, and of course google, we were able to track several people down.

Last Saturday night we met up in Pleasanton for dinner. While only 6 people (not including significant others) from the trip could make it, we had a great time reminiscing, catching up, and re-bonding. We're going to try to do this again this summer when we're back in town and I'm sure that we'll get many more to come. What fun.

L to R: Sol, Mihal, Michael, Justin, Jennifer, and me

Group with Spouses

The Nutcracker

On Saturday, December 15th, my mom took me and the girls to see an afternoon ballet performance of The Nutcracker at the local Junior College near their home. She bought them new dresses (at Target of course) and they got all dolled up for a day at the ballet. The performance was done by a local troupe, and as it was done by children and teens, the ballet was the perfect length for them to sit through. They had a nice time, and surprisingly, so did I.

Another Blog from the Vomit Files

Last night uncle Randy came down from San Francisco to help celebrate Sheridan's birthday (still not until next week). My mom ordered a special cake and we decided to go to Chevy's for dinner. We called ahead to put our name on the waiting list, and hopped in the mini van at 6:15 pm. We got to the restaurant and had to wait for a few minutes before our table was ready. My dad was holding Sheridan, but she was screaming for me to hold her. Not more than 10 seconds after I grabbed her, she threw up all over my shoulder. We quickly ran outside where she continued to get sick. I signaled for everyone to come out as we weren't going to be staying at the restaurant, and as soon as we were all outside, the hostess came out to tell us our table was ready.

We got into the car, drove home, and ordered take-in from a local Mexican restaurant. While we were waiting for the food, the girls took baths and I did the laundry. We then sang Happy Birthday and the girls ate the cake.

We're Here!

Well we made it to California AND it was almost an enjoyable experience... Except the part about getting up at 2 am, taking 2 airplanes, having a 5 hour layover in Germany, and paying almost 1 Euro for 2 extra ketchup's in MacDonald's.

The girls were amazing - not a single meltdown on the airplane (of course they were pooped and drugged). However, when we got into the terminal in San Francisco, Sheridan let a serious meltdown fly about wanting to pull Riley's bag and something else I can't remember. It was a doozy of a scream fest, but at least it wasn't on the plane.

It wouldn't be a Perlman trip without a little vomit. Right when we got to Ben Gurion airport, Sheridan stuck her finger down her throat a little too much and puked all over herself and the stroller. Thankfully we had our luggage right there and after cleaning her up in the bathroom, we were able to ditch the sweater, clean the stroller and the pants, and throw the stuff in our bags. Of course, it was the only sweater I brought for her...

Sheridan woke up this morning at 4:30 am, Riley woke up at 5 am, and I finally got up at 5:15 am. I think we're all a little pooped. I've already had a Starbucks coffee, been to Target, had Mexican for lunch, and am about to head out to Old Navy. What a great first day!

A Side Note

Hey Randy - I'm starting to pack my things, and guess what I already put aside? My tickets... AND... you finish the sentence!

Happy "Almost" Birthday Sheridan!

Can you believe that my little peanut is almost 3 years old? While next Thursday is her actual birthday, we had her party at school today. I got to sit through her birthday circle where we sang songs, her teacher read a birthday book, and she received a small gift and card from her class. We then went outside for a small snack - I made pink cupcakes, specifically requested by my munchkin. As you can see she was the belle of the ball and had a great day!

Cinderella

Last night we took the girls to see a live performance of Cinderella at the Tel Aviv Community Theatre. We went with our friends John and Christine and their daughter Kit (Gabby was home sick). The girls got dressed in their snappiest outfits and took naps during the day so they could stay awake for the 7:30 pm show.

The show was performed by a local British Comedic acting troupe, with humor along the lines as Monty Python. The show was great - very funny, though not entirely geared towards young kids. The stepmother and stepsisters were played by BIG burly men, while the role of Prince Charming was played by a female. At the end of the show they were able to take photos with the cast. We were quick to get them to pose with Cinderella and Prince Charming, although they cried when we tried to get them take a picture with the ugly stepsisters.

The girls really enjoyed the show and managed to stay up until they got back into the car at 10:30 pm. Then they crashed...and Sheridan woke up early, while Riley slept until almost 9am.

Happy Hanukkah!

Here are the girls lighting their menorah's on the first night of Hanukkah. Happy Holidays!

Is Ballet Really Her Sport?

Here we are with another installment of the ballet files. It's a good thing we didn't name her Riley Grace Perlman... Too bad we'll be missing 3 lessons while we're in California. We sure could have used them! Enjoy the video as much as we did.

The Passport

What is a Passport? Wikipedia describes it as a travel document issued by a national government that identifies the bearer as a national of the issuing state and requests that the bearer be permitted to enter and pass through other countries.

When do you need a Passport? Wikipedia states that it is usually required for international travel (except in the EU).

What is usually the first thing, besides the airline ticket, that one would put in their bag on the day they travel? Hmmmmm.... do I really need to continue looking at Wikipedia for the answers? It's a freakin' Passport!!

Clearly my brother Randy forgot all this as I took him to the airport on his return flight back to California at 5:45 am. About 5 minutes away from the airport he suddenly panicked when he realized that the passport, which he thought he had in his jacket pocket, was not there.

A phone call to Matt (who was already in the shower getting ready for work) confirmed this. Randy left his passport in the bag he took to Jerusalem - and we had to return back to the house to get it.

The silence in the car on the twenty minute drive back to the house to get the passport and additional 25 minutes back to the airport was deafening. We were both nervous that he'd miss his flight. However, he checked in for his flight with 1 hour and 15 minutes to spare and was able to get coffee and a little breakfast before boarding. I, on the other hand spent the next 50 minutes in traffic getting home. What sisterly love.

Masada and Ein Gedi

On Randy's last day in Israel we hiked Masada and watched Randy float in the Dead Sea. We left our house around 9 am and got to Masada by 11:30 am. It took us awhile to gather our stuff together, but we were ready to hike the mountain by noon. We climbed the mountain in 1 hour 28 minutes ~ with all 5 of us hiking. While we took the backpack for Sheridan, she ended up walking the whole way! She complained a bit about being too tired, but she was a real trooper and continued to climb. While Randy took an audio tour at the top, we took a few photos of the girls, and then we all headed down the mountain.

Our next stop was the Dead Sea. We found a small beach area where Randy was able to strip down and float for a few. He said he could have stayed there for several more hours.

On our trip back home we stopped in Jerusalem to have dinner with our cousin Katie. She wasn't able to break away for Thanksgiving, so we had to fit in a quick visit with Randy before he left. We ate dinner at her Kibbutz and spent an hour + with her, though we were all so crocked from the day that I'm not sure anything we said was coherent.

We just got back and are preparing for Randy's departure EARLY tomorrow morning. He crammed a heck of a lot into his 10 day trip and I think it was very successful. Lucky for us, we'll see him again when we head out to California in two short weeks.

Trip to the Galilee

On Friday morning we left with Randy for a quick overnight, windshield trip of the Galilee. We drove up the coast and made a quick stop in Haifa to check out the Baha'i Gardens (actually, we only stopped for a photo). We then hopped back on the road and continued our way up to our favorite little horse farm in the Golan, Vered Hagalil. We checked into our room around 4 pm and after settling in, took a leisurely tour of the property. The girls played on the playground for an hour, worked up their appetites, and then ate a fabulous dinner at the restaurant a few hours later. After the girls went to bed, the three of us played a few exciting games of Scrabble.

Today after breakfast, Riley went on a pony ride around the grounds of the farm. She was on cloud 29. We checked out of our room, and by 11 am were on the road exploring southern Golan. Our first stop was at Mt. Bental where we saw the Israeli bunkers overlooking the Syrian border, and where we took new photos in front of our favorite sign. Our next stop was lunch at McDonald's where Matt and Randy ordered the largest burgers on the menu, the McRoyal, and ate their body weight in meat... and then picked at Riley and Sheridan's meals as they didn't finish theirs.

It was off to the tanks and a drive partly around the Sea of Galilee. What fun would a Perlman road trip be without a little vomit? Not long after we got back into the car Sheridan decided to indoctrinate uncle Randy into the Perlman family tradition, which is also known as the Katz family tradition, of puking everywhere while you're at least 2 hours away from home. Amazingly, Randy proved how grown he is by cleaning her up.

We're home now, recuperating from a long day in the car, and getting ready for our trip to Masada and the Dead Sea tomorrow. Stay tuned for more photos from Randy's last day in Israel.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had our annual Thanksgiving dinner at our house tonight and hosted 20 people. Each family brought 3 dishes, while I cooked the turkey. The evening was made even more enjoyable because my maid and her husband watched the kids, fed the kids, and then cleaned up the kitchen. It was another wonderful holiday shared with family and friends.

Riley the Dancer

Here's the last video of Riley's ballet class. I missed the beginning few seconds as I was rushing to find a spot to get a good view of her in the small room.

Randy in Jerusalem

My brother Randy is in town from San Francisco for his first visit to the Holy land. He arrived on Saturday evening and was warmly welcomed by his nieces. We went to Tel Aviv and Jaffa yesterday, and today made the trek into Jerusalem. We spent most of our day in the Old City walking through the different sections. Here are a few photos in front of the Western Wall.

School Photos

Here are the girls school photos that were taken last Wednesday. I didn't take them this year, but I helped organize the kids for their individual and class photos, and stood behind the photographer making silly faces so the kids would smile.

Riley's Duvet

I finally finished Riley's duvet. She actually picked out the colors and helped me organize the order of the fabrics. It came out even better than I had anticipated. She loves it and so do I.

A Budding Baryshnikov??

Here's Riley at her 4th ballet lesson yesterday. She claims she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. I'm thinking she needs years and years (and years) of lessons....

Sheridan's Swimming Lesson

Here is a video from Sheridan's swimming lesson last Thursday. I was testing out the video feature on my new ultra compact digital camera. Enjoy!

Excuse the Delay...

Matt was out of town for a week for the Secretary of State's 8th visit of the year to Israel, and thus I've been a smidgen absent from writing any updates.

Let's see... since our last posting:

• Riley has only had 2 accidents at night - Hooray!
  
• The preschool held a yard sale fundraiser last Saturday that made over $1100 - Yay!!
• Sheridan is now wearing pull-ups and very slowly on her way to potty training - Oye vay!

We also had our first parent/teacher conferences at the preschool with the girls teacher's yesterday which were very enlightening. We didn't learn anything new about either of the girls, but rather received confirmation from both their teachers stating that the girls are polar opposites in their personalities. Riley's teacher told us that she's a very kind child, always wanting to please and do the "right" thing. Sheridan's teacher told us that we have a very "spicy" little girl. She's a very bright child, a master manipulator who knows right from wrong, but inevitably always chooses wrong. We couldn't help but laugh, and left the school knowing that we have a Pleaser and a Dis-Pleaser.