Saturday, March 22, 2008

The Great Purim Easter Egg Hunt

We've been preparing the kids for our Mexican cruise (tons of kids! swimming! fun on the beach! endless activities!) but I was surprised when Elliot's interest spiked about the prospect of eating nightly in a formal dining room, "Mom please, please will you buy me a tuxedo?" I bought Elliot a black suit and when we got home he requested that we stick a white handkerchief in his pocket as well as a carnation. My dapper son.

On Thursday night Dan and Elliot went to temple to hear the reading of the Megillah to celebrate Purim. Elliot wore his new suit and crazy hat (which he later took off even though everyone else was in costume). He had fun running around with the kids from his Hebrew school class. Elliot what is Purim about? "I don't know, I was busy playing with the kids."

On Saturday, we drove by Cowen Park which was blanketed with pastel plastic eggs and flanked by two huge inflatables. When we got home, the boys next door told us they were going to the egg hunt, so we decided to pop over there as well. Of course there were hundreds of children at the egg hunt. The boys shoveled eggs into their Halloween bags without knowing why they were picking up eggs. Asher was shocked when he discovered chocolate in his egg, "Look what I found Mom!" Elliot had collected a pound of candy. When we got home we tossed out half the candy, but let the boys have a sugar orgy anyway.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Family Films

In 1976, my mom took me to see Freaky Friday at the Picwood Theatre (I must have been 5), the mother/daughter storyline thrilled me and I was completely blown away by the big screen / big theater experience. Elliot has seen a few movies in the theater over the past few years, but Asher who could care less about TV (The Wild Thornberrys Movie is his sole exception) had never seen a big screen movie. We took the boys to see Alvin and the Chipmunks in December and the outing was a huge success. Asher sat through the whole movie. Both kids loved the chipmunk music and laughed continuously; my expectations were low, but I actually enjoyed it a little.

We were excited to see the Dr. Seuss movie Horton Hears a Who, which just released this weekend, so we swept the gang over to the theater this rainy afternoon expecting a repeat of the Chipmunks coup. However, Asher was not amused. The animation held little draw for him and he shouted, "When is this movie going to be over?" about ten minutes into the movie. So Danny ended up buying two bags popcorn throughout the movie to entertain Asher and escorted him out of the theater when he forgot his quiet voice. Good times! But Asher was right, the film was awful. The story was hard to follow, it was talky, unfunny and full of smirky pop culture references. It was boring. Even Elliot thought it was dull. Too bad, the story has a good heart, much more integrity than the chipmunks movie.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Spring!

It rained today, but we've had lovely sunny weather for the past week. Elliot decided it was about time to break out his grass green crocs and shorts even though it's rather chilly. Love this photo of Elliot the music man in his frilly spring frock. Seems like a good way to welcome spring in.