Our New Chevy Volt

A casual comment turned into tickets to the LA auto show which turned into a few test drives which turned into buying a new Chevy Volt.

This is Scott who was our car salesman and the nicest man.  Car salesmen sure have changed but the paperwork did not, it was still an all day process. 

Jacob has the car figured out already.  If he could reach the pedals I think he would drive it.

Showing our neighbor the new toy with promise of a car ride later.

Happy New Year!

Downtown LA

On the 6th night of Hanukkah, we went to downtown LA for a night of fun. 

We ate dinner at the Original Pantry Cafe which none of us had been to before.  We enjoyed the big food dinner.

I bought tickets for Disney on Ice and we all enjoyed the show.

Downtown was very sparkly this time of year.

We all had a good time.  Jacob was thrilled to be out on a school night.  

Holiday Sing 2012

The holiday sing is still my favorite school activity.  This year the kids sang "One Candle" and "December in America".  Jacob is not an enthusiastic performer but I am just glad he is comfortable in front of a crowd.  Enjoy.

Winter Break

On this 6th night of Hanukkah, Jacob received his first sleeping bag.  He has a 4th grade science camp that he will be attending in the spring, so we were planning ahead.  Today was also the last day of school for the winter break.  One of Jacob's goals was to stay up late, well he almost made it to 9:30 PM.

Jacob's Point of View

On a recent weekend Jacob complained of nothing to do while riding in my car.  I gave him my camera, and this is what he saw.

Hope you enjoyed Jacob's trip around town.

Hanukkah 2012

Playing FlashPad 2.0.  Big kids and little liked this game.  Favorite game so far is Chase Me.  

Contraptions construction set: no glue, no connectors just simple stacking.  I think my  little engineer will make many creations with this one.  

Mensch of the Month

Jacob started Hebrew school this year and for the month of November he was chosen as Mensch of the Month for his 4th grade class.  All the students were recognized and given certificates at Friday's service.  Jacob was compliant with a couple of pictures which we are always grateful.

Let the Holiday Baking Begin

I needed to make something for a work party so I chose to make a new cookie recipe.  These are Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies.  They were a big hit at home and at work. Jacob especially liked the crushed candy canes on top.  Would definitely make these again.  http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/12/double_chocolate_peppermint_crunch_cookies

Lego Time

On a lazy holiday weekend, Jacob and Michael decided to make a video of playing Lego.  Enjoy.

Night Out on the Town

Michael and I went to see Iris on Saturday night and had a really good time.  It was a great show.

We went out for dinner first at Rolling Stone, yes the famed magazine runs a restaurant.  I don't normally take pictures of my food at restaurants but I thought it was such a pretty dish.  I had acorn squash tortellini with balsamic brown butter and pumpkin seeds which was fabulous.

We shared some onion rings.  Michael had a turkey sandwich with melted brie and fig marmalade on walnut bread.  It was also delicious.

Since this was a night out on the town we saved room for dessert.  I picked the funnel cake with ice cream and melted Nutella.  Who doesn't love Nutella?

After the show we became tourists and strolled the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theater.  I figured Michael Jackson's star and Julie Andrews hand prints were good photo -op mementos.

We celebrated an early Thanksgiving on Tuesday with Howard who was in town for the holiday. We went out for non-turkey fixings at Lucille's.  Thank goodness for iPhones when you forget a camera.  A nice picture of 3 generations of Zwangs.  

Happy Halloween

Jacob decided this year he wanted to be R2D2.  This costume turned into quite the month long project for Michael.

It turned out great given that most of it was made of paper.  Steps and visibility were a bit of an issue but not enough to stop trick-or-treating.

We went to our neighborhood Halloween party and luckily Princess Leia and Darth Vader showed up.  

Hank and Berta came to the party and trick-or-treating too.

Happy Halloween!

October Baking Adventures

New season, new foods.  

S'more cupcakes.  I can't believe it has been a year since I made these last.  I blogged about these last October.  Just as good as ever.  Also made them for some friends that came into town.  A crowd pleasing dessert.

Chocolate for breakfast?  Chocolate chip scones.  Jacob discovered chocolate chip scones while we were on vacation.  Micheal doesn't like chocolate for breakfast, so I made these for Jacob and I when he was out of town.

I wanted to make these owl cookies last year but I didn't get around to it so I was determined to make them this year.  Cut out cookies are a messy job especially when you have junior help.  Jacob did do a great job decorating them.  http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/owl-cookies-10000001110264/

Cranberry orange cornmeal cake has become a new favorite in our house.  I have had this recipe for 4 years and I can't believe I waited this long to try it!  It reminds me of Thanksgiving and I can't wait to make it again.  http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fo-sos29-2008oct29,0,2405072.story

Tadpole Memories

The Hoff family was down visiting from Washington and we were lucky enough to all get together.  A big thank you to JT for organizing us all.   For those of you that were not here can you recognize all these kids?  My how they have grown.  

We still look the same, right?

A trip down memory lane.  This one is from Zoe's visit in 2008. 

But we still look the same, right?  Near or far we fondly remember our Tadpole days.