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December 05, 2009
A little bit of morning dress up. Fireman Max
And later that day, Monkey Max came for a visit
A little play time with Katherine and Jeff
December 06, 2009
Can't beat a Sunday moring jam session with your friends.
Daddy broke out the Christmas Tree!
Batman and Spiderman to the resuce!
December 11, 2009
The first night of Hanukkah. Mommy lights the shamash...
and Ethan lights the rest. Maybe Max can help next year.
And the presents begin.
The kids got to do a holiday art project. Lots of stickers.
December 12, 2009
Hanukkah, day 2: Ethan perfects his candle lighting techniques
New Star Wars figures for Ethan and a British mini Cooper for Max
December 13, 2009
A genius at work
The kids had so much fun withe the gingerbread house in Arizona, we decided to do one at home with Katherine. Before:
During:
And after:
Katherine feel right at home in Ethan and Max's kitchen
Time to light the candles!
Bugs and a new Lego watch
Watch out Witchie-poo, we're gonna eat your house!
after the storm ... the vultures continues to work on the remains of the house
December 15, 2009
Ori and his family came to have a Hanukkah dinner with us. His brothers really loved Beatles Rock Band.
December 16, 2009
Holiday Party 2009 with the All Star III Room. The kids did a little performance, wrapped up as presents for their parents.
Then off to celebrate with the Penguins
Lighting the Hannukah candles with Karrie (movies)
December 17, 2009
Hanukkah with the All Star IIIs. First the story of Hanukkah
The chocolate dipped donuts! Yummy!
Everyone say Latke!
December 19, 2009
Our big holiday trip this winter. First stop, Grampa Arthurand Suzanne for lunch before we head up to Orlando. Grampa found Marc Kravets' old legos. What fun!
Suzanne read Max's new book about Alaskan Animals
While Ethan showed grampa his new Where's Waldo book.
We arrived at The Wilderness Lodge in Disneyworld and were promptly greeted by Mickey and Minnie in their holiday finest! The first of many character pictures.
hugs for everyone
What a cool totem pole!
And a great big christmas tree in the lobby.
Back at the room ... home base for the next two days of mickey exploration
On our way to dinner at the Grand Floridian, there was a wonderful group singing Christmas carols.
Max danced for the audience, while Ethan got comfortable and watched.
The goofieness began at dinner.
On our way out, we found a lifesize gingerbread house. Too bad Elspeth, Adwen and Katherine aren't here to help us eat it!
This tree had some cool ornaments
Outside, the boys found an old style car. Beep! Beep!
December 20, 2009
First stop, Main Street Disney, where we found Pinocchio!
Sooo much to see
Pluto, here we come!
The weather was cool, but Main Street was packed
We didn't get very close, but there was a show going on at Cinderella's Castle
Theicon of the Magic Kingdon
Our first ride, The Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Max was a little skeptical, but Ethan got right into the spinning.
Next stop, Donald Duck
Max perked up when he found the marching band. Between the music, the dancing and the sunshine, he finally got into the Disney spirit.
March, march, march ... (movie)
The Hundred Acre Woods
And of course, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!
Showing off their NY pride in Florida!
After a long line, we all got to go on the Dumbo ride
A Stationary Dumbo for a nice photo op
Our wild animals ... don't let them out!
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
And then off to It's a Small World
There's Holland!
Max took a nap and Ethan got to watch the Holiday Parade. Daddy found a great viewing spot
Pluto and Goofy showed up at our hotel.
Max was still a little scared
But he got his autograph
Grampa and Suzanna showed up just in time for a nice picture
Ethan's turn
Happy Birthday Grampa!
Painting chocolate puzzles for dessert!
Remeber, don't clean your paintbrushes at home like this!
December 21, 2009
Disney Day 2: First stop an autograph from Daisy
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Let's get Zurg!
Oh no! He got Max and Mommy!
The Astro Orbiter
After braving the The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm, Ethan climbed around on Donald's Boat
While Max took a Nap, Ethan and Mommy went on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.
One last ride in the Magic Kingdom: the Jungle Cruise
Max was still entranced by the marching band (movie)
Then a ride on the monorail to Epcot Center. On to The Seas with Nemo and Friends
Ahhh! Bruce, don't eat mommy and Max!
Journey into Imagination with Figment
ImageWorks - The Kodak "What If" Labs
The Big Tree at Epcot
Some night shots from across the lake
Goodnight Max!
Dinner in "Japan"! What cool monorail plates. And kids chopsticks make this easy.
December 22, 2009
For our last moring at Disney, we had a special Character Breakfast at the Beach Club Resort: Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast. First Donald stopped by.
Then Goofy
And of course Minnie!
On last visit from Goofy ...
And a hug from Donald .. and Bye bye Disney World!
There's only one place better than Disney ... The Kennedy Space Center, with astronauts and space shuttles. A dream day for little and big kids alike.
The new launch pads .. though alas, the project has been scrubbed.
Inside, we found out all about the missing to the moon and saw the original mission control equipment
The building was big enough to house an entire Saturn rocket, suspended from the ceiling!
The mock-up showed where the astronauts and the moon lander sat
The real moon lander and moon buggy
Our future astronaut?
A real space shuttle. The Explorer
The underbelly
Those fuel tanks are HUGE!
Say "the moon is made of green ... cheese!"
Inside the IMAX 3-D theater. We saw a cool movie about the internation space station.
December 24, 2009
After a travel day ... and mommy's birthday ... we made it to the beach. Breakfast on the balcony.
The boys finally got to meet their cousing Jake!
Sand castles and shells all around.
Warming up after a swim
December 25, 2009
Meryy Christmas! Santa left a pile of presents for Ethan and Max.
Lots of good stuff, but the big hits wew Buzz Lightyear and Penguin Bolwing!
The family exchanged a few presents too.
Then it was off to the beach
More presents!
Let's play the new game: Green Eggs and Ham
Some family time and family pictures
Christmas Buffet at the hotel
Max discovered the chocolate fountain
Showing off my new coloring books
Bounce ... bounce ...bounce
December 26, 2009
Back to the beach .. our morning ritual
Jake showed up for a little sun therapy
Melissa helped with the sand castles
Daddy ... come play with me
Jake needs sunglasses :)
Beach bunnies?
Hi daddy, I'm back ...
We need water for our sand castles
Swap: Marc can have Jake and Susie can have Melissa!
Gramdma entertained two of her grandsons.
Ok, how does this Green Eggs and Ham game work? First someone puts on the chef's hat ...
And the game is on!
Everyone had fun
Goonight Max!
December 27, 2009
swimming, swimming, in the swimming pool ...
December 28, 2009
Naples Zoo
Watch out Mr. Turtle
On a boat ride to the Monkey Islands
Our monkeys
My cool new toy. Thanks Elijah!
An early birthday dinner for Grandma Joyce. Happy 70th!
The kids go a hold of the cameras again ...
Dessert! Dig in!
December 29, 2009
Morning beachcombing ...
The next tennis stars!
Time to say good-bye to Susie, Marc and Jake! But first a few group pictures. First the kids ...
Now Grandma!
Ahhh, a nice evening on the beach.
Goodnight Marc!
December 30, 2009
Happy Birthday Jan. Your present: A boat ride to Shell Island!
Our first dolphin sighting
Let's go find some shells!
Look what I found!
Back on the boat, the dolphins came back and played in our wake
The birds posed too!
Just for Jan, we had the most beautiful sunset.
December 31, 2009
One more day in Florida. Beach ...
Pool ...
And a beautiful sunset on the beach. A wonderful end to a wonderful trip.
Let's dig a hole ...
Jump in Max!
Siblings ...
Robin and the Kooper Boys
And the Kravets Clan
The light was so wonderful, we couldn't stop taking pictures ....
