Hollywood Sign - Up Close and Personal

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Both Ed's and my offices are closed the week between Christmas and New Year's. It's been nice to have the entire week off and just relax at home. On our first day off we dropped the kids off at daycare and decided to hike up to the Hollywood sign. We started the hike around 3:30pm, which was just perfect to see the city at the top of the mountain in daylight and walk down during the sunset.





Views of downtown LA and Griffith Park Observatory from the base of the Hollywood sign.





It was hazy out, but you could still see the ocean and Catalina.




On the other side of the hill is the skyline view of Burbank and Glendale.





Looking over LA just above the Hollywood sign was amazing. I inadvertently took shots of the city not aware that my house was visible in the shot. Enlarge the picture below and look for the arrow.




When I realized this, I took a close-up of (the backside of) our house.


The sun was setting and the sky was like an orange and yellow Big Stick (speaking of which, do they not exist anymore???).

Merry Christmukkah

We celebrated Christmas and Hanukkah (we lit the menorah - next year we'll go big) at our house. Our house is finally done, but sadly I still have some things packed away in boxes. But I did manage to find most of my Christmas stuff.

I didn't realize how our couch makes people slouch so much. (This is not an exaggeration).





At 31, I still think farts are funny. We had fun with Jack's new book.




Everyone received some pretty great gifts. Isabella got a Dora tent from Auntie Ann.




Ethan got another great outfit and beanie from Auntie Merah.



Ed bought me a new camera!!! I love it. My old had seen better days. Here's a few pics and movies with my new camera.

On Christmas Eve, we hooked up Merah's karaoke machine and sang into the wee hours of the morning. I also busted out a few costumes to give it a more authentic flair. Those pictures of are Merah's camera. We should always have a full set of costumes on hand whenever we bust out the karaoke machine.

Halloween

This is super late, but I wanted to post the pictures of Isabella dressed up as a ladybug.





We went to a nearby neighborhood's annual Halloween Walk where they close the streets for the neighborhood kids to trick or treat. The streets are still pretty hilly and a little spread out so we got to about 10 houses before we called it quits. Isabella had fun and finally got to enjoy a piece of chocolate, which ended up more in her hands then in her mouth.

Family Reunion

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The last few months have been all about the family. In October, my sister and her family flew in from MA for a family visit. It was great to get the two toddlers together again.

And sometimes the toddlers got along and sometimes they didn't.






Jack was really good about spending time with both cousins so neither felt left out.




We went to the LA Zoo and visited the Gorillas.

Then we went out to eat without the kids.




And we went to Jack's soccer game.




It was a fun week.