Camp Bubbie and Saba 2015

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Optimistically, I thought that on quiet evenings during the summer, I would have time to sit for a few hours after the girls were asleep and catch up on my blogging. In reality, our summer was so full of activity, and we were so anxious to spend every possible minute that we could absorbed with our wonderful granddaughters, that we gave up on the idea of catching up until after the girls left. Instead, we tried to take at least one photo every day to trigger our memories so that none of them would be lost as we reflected on the last two months.

The weather at the end of June was a harbinger of the weather to come in July and August. This past summer was the rainiest ever recorded since records have been kept in Florida. On some of our forays with Ken and Randi, we were in such violent and sudden rainstorms that we sometimes waited for an hour before venturing a mere few dozen feet to get to our car in the parking lot. In the days leading up to the girls arrival, we shopped for provisions, prepared a number of meals for future use, cleaned, dusted, washed and remade bedding, and tried to get as much R and R as we could before the serious running around in the parks began. Before they arrived, Sami and I both baked blueberry pies together via FaceTime because the berries were in such abundance both here, and from the CSA to which they belong in Cherry Hill. I also made the most delectable white nectarine custard pie with a bounty of juicy, perfectly ripe, sweet ones from a case that I bought at Costco. On our Tuesday $6 movie night on June 30, we had our usual half-price fajitas and half price margaritas at San José and saw the Disney movie Inside Out, which I thought was okay, but Saul hated.

The girls arrived with Jessica at Tampa International, as planned, on July 1, and after a failed attempt to have dinner in Tampa, we drove to our nearby Sweet Tomatoes, where they would choose to eat every day, if we acquiesced. We kicked off our summer at Keke’s Café, which became a new favorite place for them. Taking advantage of the annual passes that were purchased for them during Passover with Ari, Jessica took the two older girls for a day at Universal Studios. Yona was happy to hang out with us in the pool and be an “only” for the day. We rejoined in the evening for an incredible meal in the elegant lounge at Blue Zoo in the Dolphin Hotel. The nitrogen mayo sauce on Izzy’s fish dinner was both delicious and memorably presented from a pressurized dispenser. Following that, we crossed the lobby to have ice cream sundaes at The Fountain. Day One of Camp Bubbie and Saba was a huge success! We spent the next day, Friday, preparing a Shabbat dinner, and hanging out in the pool. Ken and Randi joined us for dinner. We had homemade challah, guacamole, deviled eggs, chicken soup, a tray of smoked turkey that had been frozen since Passover, black and white rice, brussels sprouts with chestnuts, pareve sweet potato cake and cupcakes, and leftover homemade sorbets. Yona was so tired from her day in the pool that we had trouble waking her from her nap; she missed most of dinner, ate a little bit, and then promptly fell asleep curled up on a nearby lounge chair. We tucked her back in bed with uncharacteristically little protest. Day Two was also a big success! We attended services on Shabbat. Later, we all had nitrogen ice cream at Abracadabra. As Shabbat ended on July 4, we delivered Jessica to Tampa for her flight home. We were planning to see the Magic Kingdom Wishes fireworks from the Grand Floridian terrace, but it was raining quite hard. Having arrived back home late, we found that we had actually timed things very well because we were able to have a great view of both the regular and special fireworks from our car as we were stuck in slow and stopped traffic as we approached the hotel. That made it easy to continue traveling the short distance to Hollywood Studios. The rain subsided, and after parking, we still had time to view the Epcot IllumiNations fireworks behind us across the lagoon, from our park bench, and then turn around to watch the special July 4 fireworks over Hollywood Studios—another great day logged in at Camp Bubbie and Saba! The girls chose to spend the next day at Hollywood Studios where pin trading for this summer really began in earnest and most of the special Frozen events took place. Sami became an expert at booking fast passes for us and took over the decision-making process of where we would go, based on which passes were available and at what times on any given day. Jessica and Alex left for their RCI vacation in Williamsburg, VA.

Having exhausted ourselves the previous day, the girls spent several hours of quiet time sorting and organizing their pin and Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom card collections. Additionally, Sami sorted through a number of my old collection of recipe books and ran across a hand-written recipe for schnecken that was given to me by Saul’s mom many years ago. She used to make them in vast quantities for Alex and our friend Larry, but I had never made them myself. The girls were intrigued and decided to make them that morning. The results were very successful! In the evening, we had a light dinner on the terrace outside the Gasparilla Island Grille at the Grand Floridian, and watched the Wishes fireworks over the Magic Kingdom from there. Since Sami was able to book us some good Fast Passes, we spent the next day at the Magic Kingdom. Again, after that, we needed a day off, and the girls used my sizable collection of frozen egg whites to bake a Yona Rae three-layer coconut cake. We prepared a pasta dinner and spent the afternoon and evening with friends Carly, and Peter, and their children Ella, Harrison, Henderson, and Emma. Unfortunately for us, they were due to leave in a few days for their new jobs in Port Deposit, New York.

The girls settled into our summer routine so easily, that shortly, it felt like they had always been here. Izzy arose almost every morning before sunrise and later took breakfast orders. She and Yona would be amusing themselves with iPad games and children’s television while Saul and I were able to take our time rising, getting ready for the day’s activities, augmenting Izzy’s excellent breakfasts, and tidying up. Frequently, Sami would be up early, too, making pancake batter, or laying out the table for breakfast. She and Saul organized, and packed into our backpacks, the supplies needed for our days in the park. She also learned how to do some unique braiding styles on her sisters’ hair. I regret that I never seemed to have the time to learn to braid hers. On Friday, July 10, we made an elaborate Shabbat dinner and were joined by not only Ken and Randi, but Jamie, Andy, Presley, and Evan. We went to services with the girls on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Ken and Randi hosted a breakfast in their home for all of us, including Carly and Peter and the kids. Before Jamie and Andy flew home after a few days here, we all had a beautiful and memorable dinner together in a private room at Johnny’s Hideaway. For a few days, we helped Ken and Randi care for Presley and Evan, and visited the parks together, before the four of them flew back north together. Ken and Randi were beginning their six weeks of revisiting their friends and family up north this summer. Before they left, Saul and I took advantage of their babysitting services so that we could finally meet the new internist we had chosen for our checkups at nearby Celebration Hospital. It had taken us a few months to get an appointment with the actual doctor as opposed to a nurse/practitioner.

While Saul and I dropped off Ken and Randi, Presley and Evan at Orlando International, the girls stayed home and began preparing our Shabbat dinner, Ma Po Tofu with black and white rice. After services on Saturday, Izzy and Yona decided to produce a play for us and spent a few hours arranging costumes and makeup. We especially liked the stripe of white tissue incorporated into Yona’s braid so that she could emulate Princess Anna from Frozen. On Sunday, July 19, we spent the day at Hollywood Studios beginning with an early morning dash to the most popular Toy Story Midway Mania ride for which we can rarely get Fast Passes. We still waited almost an hour for the ride. We happened to be there on the day that Bill Cosby’s bust was removed from its pedestal. A few days later, it was replaced with a bust of Bob Newhart. The next day, we did a monorail hop with the girls so that they could check out and photograph many of the various pin boards that Sami had read about online. We parked at Epcot, used our early morning Fast Passes, took the monorail to the Transportation Center, switched trains for the resorts monorail, and stopped at many of the resorts to check out their pin boards, including The Grand Floridian, The Polynesian, The Contemporary, and Bay Lake Tower (to which none of us had ever been before). Surprisingly, we were all up to our adventures the next day at The Magic Kingdom and even had enough energy left over for a night swim in our pool.

On July 22, Jessica arrived in London to begin her three-week vacation/adventure with Ari in honor of her 40th birthday this year. In addition to staying with Ari in London and walking miles and miles touring the city while Ari was at work, the two of them traveled around London on the weekends, and then had an amazing time together on a one-week-long trip to Barcelona that Ari had arranged. Izzy began a concerted effort to improve her roller skating skills by skating around the neighborhood each day with Saul in tow. We also took them to a special Yelp!-promoted event that was a hands-on art event with artists displays and craft activities using cardboard.

While going through recipes and cooking equipment, the girls ran across a taiyaki pan that I had never used, and would not leave us alone until we had purchased everything they needed to make the taiyaki at First Oriental Supermarket. Except for starting a fire on the stove (no permanent damage) in our initial attempts, because of over-greasing the pans with butter, the taiyaki were a huge success. Sami, with Izzy’s help, made them many times over the summer, experimenting with various fillings, after the first flush of success with the traditional sweetened red bean paste filling. She filled them with cream cheese, peanut butter and bananas, pumpkin butter, and strawberries.

On Friday, July 31, a whole crowd arrived. Erica and Ava were picked up early at the airport by a surprise guest, Brenna’s Uncle Ed, Aunt Beth’s ex-husband, whose parents live down the street from Larry and Adele in The Villages. The girls had made a special breakfast, which included taiyaki, and held much of it in readiness until they arrived. Brenna had been staying with Adele and Larry for a week, and later on, they all joined us. Ed drove back and forth each evening for two days to stay with his parents. The rest, except for Larry, who also drove back, stayed with us. Having prepared most of dinner the day before, we were able to have a late lunch of ice cream at Abracadabra. We had a smoked turkey Shabbat dinner that Saul and I prepared and froze before the summer began, and the girls made chicken soup, pareve carob cake brownies and pareve jumbo oatmeal peanut butter raisin cookies. Over the weekend, we spent a soggy day in Animal Kingdom together and Ed spent a day alone with Brenna at Hollywood Studios, mostly riding the Rockin’ Roller Coaster and The Tower of Terror many, many times. In the next few days, we went to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot together. Erica spent a day with Brenna at Universal Studios. Before she left, she taught the girls to make pretzels. The girls also made ice cream sandwiches with the peanut butter chip cookies they had made. All this baking proved very useful when we needed snacks for the parks.

Izzy developed an ear infection and, after Saul took her to Urgent Care, she was banished from the pool for a few days. The prescription ear drops cleared it up very nicely, but we insisted that they wear ear plugs after that. Friday, August 7, was Sami’s actual birthday, and we planned a special meal and celebration for that evening. The day before, we went to Animal Kingdom and when we returned, Sami, with some help from the others, made a cake topper with Color Flow icing for her birthday cake.  Larry joined us for breakfast at Keke’s on Friday morning. The day was spent with all of us preparing Sami’s birthday Shabbat dinner which included rainbow challah, vegetable sushi, warm spinach salad, seared sesame-crusted tuna, tortellini, and a sour cream pound cake birthday cake. Larry and Adele drove home after dinner. Erica and Ava flew out early the following day, leaving us with Brenna for a week. We all accompanied Erica and Ava to the airport, and then went to services. Saturday evening, we parked at the Boardwalk and took the Friendship Cruiser around to first see the IllumiNations fireworks at Epcot, and then the Frozen fireworks at Hollywood Studios. We spent the next day at The Magic Kingdom. We had some anxious moments when Yona got lost. We split up in a gift shop near Cinderella’s castle and Saul took Brenna to play her game of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, while I took Sami and Izzy to play their game. I thought Saul had taken Yona, and he thought she had stayed with me. When we met up 15 minutes later, we freaked out to find that she was with neither of us. We ran back to the gift shop where we had last seen her and she had done just the right thing that she had been taught. She calmly went to an employee of the shop and told her we had disappeared. They told her to wait with them and when we breathlessly returned, we were relieved to find her basking in all the attention. She even got a sprinkling of fairy dust (glitter applied with a star-shaped wand) in her hair, which made us worry that she might decide to get lost again! That evening, she was delighted to receive a new doll which was included in part of a package of lotions and soaps that Uncle Larry had won at an activity in The Villages.

We had a shopping excursion to the nearby outlet mall on one of our iffy rain days, as Izzy had completely worn out her walking shoes in the parks, and Sami wanted some dress shoes for synagogue mornings. Sami also got some pretty skirts and tops. We followed up with dinner at Bahama Breeze and ice cream later at The Fountain in the Dolphin Hotel while we waited to view the fireworks at Epcot. On August 12, we had a very special lunch at Sanaa in Kidani Village in Animal Kingdom Lodge. Until then, the girls had only been to Jambo House there. We saw some exceptional animals (including rare tortoises) as we happened to be there while a group of new Disney employees was being shown around. Following a yummy Indian-style lunch in the elegant and unique restaurant, we spent the day at Animal Kingdom. While we were at Rafiki’s Planet Watch, Yona was chosen by one of the science lab employees to go behind a “cast members only” door into their glass-windowed work area to learn about different types of animal poop. She was so excited to be there and given so much attention! Eventually, she went to fetch her sister, Izzy, who was not quite as excited about the poop, but also enjoyed the attention. They were both given special plastic cases that were a type used in experiments to test animal urine and feces. We spent the next day at Hollywood Studios. The following day at Epcot, Saul took Brenna to get a henna tattoo at Morocco while Sami and Izzy watched, and Yona had a chance to meet Tinker Bell with me at the International Gate. Cruella Deville was also signing autographs, but no one, especially Yona, seemed to want to meet her. Returning home early to prepare Shabbat dinner, we made an incredible meal in a very short time thanks to our very organized and well-skilled granddaughters. We made rainbow challahs, vegetarian French onion soup, caprese salad, tortellini, and salmon burgers. We still had plenty of home-made cookies, and desserts left in the freezer. Brenna flew home very early on Saturday, August 15. I waited with her until she boarded the plane. Saul and I called the girls and asked if they wanted to attend synagogue that morning. They said “yes” and they were ready and waiting when we returned to pick them up. At the end of Shabbat, we took them for dinner at Ay Jalisco! in Clermont. The restaurant has a great selection of delicious vegetarian Mexican food. The girls really like it! Much later that evening, after the girls were already asleep, we picked up Saul’s cousin, Adi, at Orlando International. Adi spent the next four days with us prior to returning home to Netanya, Israel, after her year of service working at a school in Fort Lauderdale. Adi had only been to Animal Kingdom with her friends, so we spent the next three days, trying to get her to all the great attractions at the other three parks. We spent all day Sunday at Hollywood Studios, all day Monday at Magic Kingdom, and all day Tuesday at Epcot. According to Saul’s FitBit, we averaged about 8 miles of walking each day. The temperatures were hovering around 95°F. for much of it, and we only survived by knowing the parks so well that we moved from air-conditioned attraction to air-conditioned attraction with the least amount of steps. We ate glatt kosher meals at the specified restaurants in each of the parks.

Our foray into Epcot with Adi was marked by a harrowing and unusual accident with Yona. Yona insisted on buckling her own seatbelt on Soarin’ for which we had Fast Passes. In the process, she managed to lock her index finger underneath the T-shaped clip. The seatbelt cannot be released, except by the employee at the front, once it has been snapped into place. Yona’s finger was so compressed that we could not extricate it and while she was shrieking in pain and terror, it seemed to take forever for that man to release the locks. At that point, all six of us sprang from our seats, which, luckily, were in the first row right in front of him, and ran with her out of the ride, answering the man that, yes, he should call for medical assistance. We were all the way to the desk at the entrance to Soarin’ before anyone was notified. Once the guy at the desk called it in, help was there within a couple of minutes. Izzy quickly got a cupful of ice from the adjacent restaurant, and by the time professional help arrived, Yona’s finger was already in the ice and we had determined that she could wiggle it a bit. Our first-responder, Anna-Marie, helped us to decide that it did not look like a 911 emergency and cancelled the call. As Yona had calmed down, and we examined her finger more closely, we decided it did not require a visit to a medical facility on the premises either. Ice seemed to be all that was needed. After a few minutes had passed and we collectively breathed a sigh of relief, Anna-Marie asked if we would like to go back on the ride. Surprisingly, Yona said she would. Anna-Marie took us down the wide alley behind the tourist areas at Soarin’ to what she told us was a special V.I.P. door where celebrities are ushered in at the front of the line when they visit Disney. We were met there by a technician whose job it was to find out exactly how the mishap had occurred so that it would, hopefully, never be repeated. Apparently, it had never happened before, as Soarin’ was considered one of the most accident-free rides in all of Disney. This time, Izzy carefully buckled Yona into her seat. Anna-Marie was waiting for us as we left the ride and presented Saul with vouchers for all of us to have ice cream. It was the first time any of us had tasted the kosher Mickey Mouse-shaped ice-cream bars, and they were delicious. Izzy and Yona, allergic to chocolate, were thrilled with their Olaf rainbow sorbet pops. On the following day, we dropped off Adi at Orlando International Airport. We completely vegged out by the pool for the next two days trying to recuperate from too many consecutive days in the parks while we tried to accommodate our various sets of guests. We loved doing it, but exhausted ourselves in the process.

At the spur of the moment, our friend Larry, decided to drive his second car down to Florida as the home he had purchased was not rented for the last week of August. He wanted to have a new porcelain tile floor installed before arriving at the end of September to move in permanently. Equally last minute, Jess found a cheap flight from Orlando to Philadelphia and decided to help him with the drive down. Together, they spent all day driving on Thursday, August 20, and arrived here about 2:00 a.m. Friday. Larry went to his new home, just over a mile away, to sleep for the first time. The girls made a wonderful breakfast and helped prepare a fantastic Shabbat dinner once again while they waited patiently for their mom to awaken. We had chicken soup with dumplings that the girls made, home-made challah, warm spinach salad, maple-glazed Brussels sprouts with chestnuts, black and white rice, and chicken paprikash. The girls made a fresh batch of jumbo oatmeal peanut butter raisin cookies and Sami made pareve carob brownies. With Jessica, we attended Shabbat services. The last weekend that the girls were here, we were finally able to get together with Jelly and her daughter, Olivia, our friends from last summer. Jelly had been our favorite waitress at Sweet Tomatoes a few years ago, and we formed a friendship outside of that last summer. We met on Saturday night at The Fountain at the Dolphin Hotel for a light dinner and ice cream sundaes. Because Sami wore her birthday Disney badge, we were not charged for her sundae. The intention was to watch the fireworks over Epcot, as we had done in the past, and then take the Friendship Cruiser over to Hollywood Studios to catch the Frozen fireworks. Unfortunately, that night, the schedule had been changed to a half-hour earlier and we only got to see the tail end of them from the ferry boat as it docked, so we just stayed on the boat and sailed back to the Boardwalk where we had all parked. No one was terribly disappointed, however, because we all had a wonderful time together at The Fountain, and we did, after all, get to see some spectacular fireworks. Sunday morning, the girls made breakfast and Sami made taiyaki. Larry and Jess had never had them before.

Sami had remembered her special birthday dinner last year at Artist Point in Wilderness Lodge, and wanted to do the same this year. We had managed to snag a reservation for a while after her birthday had passed, and we were luckily able to add Jess and Larry to it. On our last Sunday, we had a phenomenal elegant dinner in the gorgeous Craftsman-style setting and celebrated Sami’s birthday. On Monday, Jess and the two older girls spent the day at Universal Studios, taking advantage of the annual passes they had bought while Ari was here during Passover. Yona was again delighted to spend the day as an “only” with us and after a morning in Larry’s pool and spa, we took her to Abracadabra for nitrogen ice cream. We ordered pizza and had a movie and story night when Jess and the girls returned. Tuesday morning was rainy, and Jess decided that we should check out the Crayola Experience that had debuted a few months earlier at the Florida Mall. We weren’t expecting much having been to the Crayola Factory in Easton several times, but were we surprised! Arriving early, on a weekday when school was already in session in Florida, we had immediate access to anything we wanted in the vast, imaginative and high-tech facility. In the end, we wound up buying annual memberships, which were not very expensive and which allow us unlimited access to all the Crayola facilities in the country. After spending a few delightful hours, we headed out for a last lunch for them at our local Sweet Tomatoes. We had been trying all summer to get a dinner reservation at The California Grill at the top of The Contemporary Hotel. The girls had never been there, and we were wowed by the experience in April for Ken’s birthday. Because of our previous experience in April, Saul had a direct phone number and a name so that he was able to book a reservation for five, even though the regular channels showed that no reservations were available. This was to be our last hurrah before the girls flew home on Friday morning, August 28. Luckily, after much pleading, he was again able to increase our reservation to seven people. The timing was perfect, and we were able to view the Magic Kingdom Wishes fireworks from the floor to ceiling windows by our table as well as from the outdoor observation deck just as we finished dessert on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, Jess was able to get a swim in with the girls before we drove her to catch her cheap flight home from Orlando International. From the airport, we drove to Downtown Disney, now known as Disney Springs, so that the girls could see all the new construction and each buy a souvenir to remember Camp Bubbie and Saba 2015. Yona chose a miniature set of princess dolls, but the others didn’t find something that day. We spent several hours wandering among the shops, ducking in and out as the rain came intermittently.

Our last full day, Thursday, August 27, we told the girls they could choose to do whatever they wished in the parks. We started out at Epcot because Izzy wanted to do “The Sum of All Thrills” one more time and had talked Yona into doing it with her, but Yona was very disappointed after she was psyched up for it when we discovered that she was too little to even wait in line with Izzy. To distract her from her disappointment, I took her to a nearby installation that had to do with weather emergencies and that was more age-appropriate. She was excited when she was given a sticker and set of special cards for completing a puzzle there. Meanwhile, Saul took Sami to the pin trading stations to trade with the adults. Together we went to Mouse Gear where Sami chose a deck of Disney playing cards as her souvenir and Izzy chose another fleece Disney blanket so that she could have two at home, one to hold, and one with which to wrap herself. Coming out of Mouse Gear, we bumped into Anna-Marie, who was delighted to see us because she had missed getting certain information that she needed from us. She offered to take us through the V.I.P. door to Soarin’ again, but this time, Yona said no, and the other girls were anxious to get on with the day. Even though the weather looked threatening, we decided to take the monorail from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom so that they could complete their level of the Sorcerers game. As we trekked through the gift shops along Main Street, Yona became chilled and was trembling, and I was afraid she had begun to run a fever. I told Saul I would meet him under cover on the second floor of the train station as it was also beginning to drizzle. The girls were able to complete their game before the rain became really heavy and they all got quite wet on their way back to the entrance of the park to meet us. As they arrived, the skies opened up with one of the most violent electrical thunderstorms we had ever seen. I refused to leave until the storm subsided somewhat. Yona was shivering by then and Izzy was kind enough to offer her her new blanket. I wrapped Yona in it and she slept for much of the storm on a bench inside the train station. The Festival of Fantasy Parade was cancelled because of the violence of the storm. When it finally began to subside, after about one-and-a-half hours, we quickly headed to the monorail to get back to our car that was parked at Epcot. After sleeping, Yona felt somewhat better and we pulled into the parking lot to have lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, but then she changed her mind, and we headed back home for lunch. Saul went out to get some children’s ibuprofen after we spoke with Jess and told her that Yona had a 101 fever. We worried about her taking a turn for the worse on her early morning flight home the next day. Luckily, the medication did the trick, helped by a long nap and a good night’s sleep. She seemed fine the next morning. Sami was wonderful in getting everything organized and packed for the flight home. Since she had turned 15, the other two were permitted to fly under her care. Everyone awakened before dawn on Friday morning, dressed, had a quick breakfast and we drove out to the airport. I went through the gates with them and we passed through without incident. I waited with them at the gate until they boarded the plane. The flight home was fine and never were two grandparents more relieved than when we knew they were safely at home with their parents. We thank God that we both had the fortitude and ability to create yet another wonderful, memorable summer of Camp Bubbie and Saba. May God give us the ability to do the same for many more years. It has been such a privilege to be able to spend such quality time with our wonderful grandchildren each summer. We are very, very lucky people!

Springing into Summer

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After our exhilarating, but exhausting weekend in Cleveland for Meredith’s wedding, we still managed to do our three-mile walk around Epcot on Sunday evening, and catch The Little River Band’s performance at the American Gardens Theater, there. The band’s performance was worth the extra push, and we had the added satisfaction of appearing on their Facebook page in three of the photos that the band took of the audience. We had so much fun, and were so happy to be in the land of magic and palm trees again that the next night we chose to walk at Hollywood Studios where we observed the changes made to the area where the Sorcerer’s Hat was removed and a Star Wars set had been constructed. We were excited to find that the Toy Story Ride was open to us without a wait a little after hours. This is one ride that we love for which we can never get Fast Passes. They are always sold out. Usually, if we really want to do it, we have to wait in line for at least an hour. The next few days, we finally spent sleeping late and chilling out by the pool. We had an afternoon visit at home from two of Saul’s former students from Chestnut Hill College, Jessica and Chris. He was very gratified to find that he was a great influence for good on some of his students and that they still care enough about him to pay us a visit while in our area. When we were feeling more ambitious, we picked up some fresh supplies at Costco, including a case of surprisingly delicious, KSA pareve, shelf-stable, organic tofu which we used to make another comforting batch of Ma Po Tofu. For Shabbat dinner the following Friday, I managed to make a macaroni and cheese casserole that was pretty tasty even though it was made with gluten-free quinoa pasta, gluten-free flour, and gluten-free matzoh crumbs for the topping. Randi was pretty happy. We also had homemade challah, deviled eggs, seared sesame-crusted tuna, caesar salad, and Israeli salad. For dessert, we are still working on finishing the frozen carob crepes and chocolate hazelnut bars from Passover. On Saturday night, Saul and I went to see the final Garden Rocks concert—Herman’s Hermits, while Ken and Randi went to pick up friends Barbara and Norman from Orlando airport.

Sunday, we sprang right back into our delightful and somewhat athletic retirement routine. As we were breakfasting on Sunday morning, we were visited by our favorite Florida avians, a family of sandhill cranes. We joined Barbara and Norman along with Ken and Randi so that we all could experience the last day of the flower and garden event at Epcot. We saw the special previews of Tomorrowland, rode Planet Earth and Soarin’, marveled at the variety of butterflies displayed at the special butterfly exhibit, got great seats at the packed last performances of Herman’s Hermits, had dinner together at Chefs de France in the World Showcase, and watched the incredible IllumiNations fireworks over the Epcot lagoon. The weather has been unusually hot, even for Florida, this spring. We had a great time, anyway!

Barbara and Norman were able to purchase very discounted 4-day passes for Disney, because of Norman’s military service, by purchasing the tickets at Shades of Green. They took a day to recharge on Monday, but after that, in order to take advantage of the passes, we spent a lot of time in the parks for the next few days. We all recharged on Monday. I had everyone over for a late brunch. We hung out in the pool for a few hours. Then, after Saul and I napped, we met them in Celebration for the Monday, free “Jazz Meets Motown” night at the Bohemian Hotel, where we lounged on the veranda, and had drinks and appetizers. Tuesday was spent at Animal Kingdom, where we saw The Festival of the Lion King (which I could do every day!), and had great seats for the bird show, “Flights of Wonder.” Saul and I left them at the entrance to “It’s Tough to be a Bug.” We took a well-needed siesta, and then later met them at Ay! Jalisco for Mexican food (which Norman loves), and pitchers of frozen margaritas.

Wednesday, we had been hoping to spend a day together in Clearwater at the beach, and the weather had been a bit iffy, but by noon, it appeared to be clearing, so we packed the Pilot with our gear and headed out. Because of the late hour, and all the construction along the public beaches, we could not find parking. Saul and I had an early breakfast, so we pulled into an ice cream shop where Saul ran in and got me a delicious black and white milkshake. We spend a few hours lounging on Bellaire Beach, on Sand Key where there is always parking. The water was warm and so calm that even Ken could enjoy it and Randi came in up to her waist. For dinner, we found parking at Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill on the Beach where the staff was very accommodating and we had yummy grouper and two orders of their special fries.

The others spent time at Hollywood Studios and The Magic Kingdom, and Saul and I did not want to spend a lot of time in the hot sun, so we met them for various intervals in those parks. Towards evening, we met to attend a performance of Fantasmic, but the weather was so hot and humid, that we were all melting even after the sun went down. We also had a delightful evening at the lounge at Blue Zoo in the Dolphin Hotel, and dinner together at The Grand Floridian Hotel, where afterward, we watched the fireworks over The Magic Kingdom from the terrace there alongside the Seven Seas Lagoon.

In the intervals leading up to Shavuot, which began Saturday evening this year, May 23, Saul and I prepared a quantity of cheese blintzes together, some of which we froze for future use. We attended the tikun leyl Shavuot at SOJC, where we participated in a Torah quiz, heard an invited speaker who had as her topic, admirable female Jewish role models, and later studied and discussed the ramifications of some interesting quotations that appear in our liturgy. Saul and I spent the next two days observing Shavuot.

The following Monday evening, we met Ken and Randi at Abracadabra (which, btw, comes from the Hebrew words  אדברה קדברה which loosely translates as, “It will happen as I say”). A parking valet at The Beach Club Resort had told us about this unique nitrogen ice cream place, and it was even better than our expectations! It took us a while to get there, but it is now a must-do for anyone that comes to visit in the future. Describing it in words, just does not do the experience justice. The ice cream itself is incredible, much more dense than the usual, available in a cornucopia of customized flavors and textures, delicious, plentiful, and inexpensive. That evening, Saul and I drove straight to Epcot to walk off our calories!

During the month of May, Ari got the opportunity to go to Israel on business again and we had a blast for an hour or two experiencing the vicarious thrill of walking the labyrinthine streets of the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem with him on FaceTime. Towards the end of the month, he took a trip to Oxford and we enjoyed that as well.

On May 31 and June 1, Saul and Randi, who like that sort of thing, volunteered to help out at the huge, worldwide gathering of travel agents that takes place in Orlando every five years, called the International Pow Wow (IPW). They had spent a few hours at an orientation in preparation, earlier. Over 6,500 representatives from countries all over the world converge here to learn about travel opportunities in the U.S. The group is so influential that Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, and Sea World each shut down to the general public early on different nights so that they can host this group exclusively. Sheerly by luck, Saul and Randi were assigned to the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress the first day, which housed the Israeli, and U.K. contingents. After the second session, where they were assigned to the Convention Center, Ken and I met them at nearby Johnny’s Hideaway for a delicious sunset dinner on their outdoor patio. On the way there, we stopped to photograph a family of sandhill cranes meandering down the middle of the street. Finally, the weather was spring-like and temperate, although we were able to watch dark clouds gathering with flashes of lightening off in the far distance.

Tuesday, June 2, Saul and I left for Baltimore, starting our journey with a hearty breakfast at Nico’s Egg City. Jessica, who has taken over my desktop publishing business in my retirement, has expanded it to include party planning. This is not such a stretch, as preparing printed materials and graphics for an event is preliminary to her additional professional experience of planning events for organizations and seeing to all the details that allow the event to flow smoothly. Jessica had been hired professionally by good friends to plan and coordinate every detail of what turned out to be a three-day, three-location venue for several hundred guests that was the bat mitzvah for their youngest daughter. Saul and I, with our catering background, were her professional staff. We stopped in Florence, SC, on our trip north at our usual Comfort Inn Suites, and, if anything, found it even better than before with the addition of incredibly comfortable new mattresses and bed linens. We had some interesting travel experiences using Yelp to suss out exceptional restaurants on our journey. In Manning, SC, we happened upon a place (D & H Barbecue) where practically the whole town arrives for the dinner buffet on Tuesdays. Luckily, we were there early. We met Jessica on Wednesday afternoon in Baltimore after checking into the Pikesville, Hilton. We spent the entire afternoon and well into the evening on Wednesday, setting up for the Saturday night event at Har Sinai, a truly exceptional venue. After picking up some last minute items, we dined together at a popular Mexican restaurant in Pikesville, Mezcal, before crashing back at the Hilton in preparation for our long and strenuous day on Thursday.

Between Wednesday, and the beginning of the first festivities on Friday evening (at which Jess, Alex, our three granddaughters, and us were all invited guests, as well) these are some of the things we did: We moved around tables. Wired the tables underneath with blinking fairy lights. Put on tablecloths adding unique hand-made lace and bamboo center fabrics. Alphabetized two sets of place cards, and set up a unique place card frame that Jessica had designed and built. The place cards, which Jess had printed with a unique logo designed just for Danielle, were attached to the ribboned frame with mini wooden clothespins. Jess also used the logo as part of an infinity symbol printed on tee-shirts that were given out as party favors. On Saturday afternoon, the place cards were held by full-size clothespins. Folded and sealed with ribbon almost 150 cloth napkins. Assembled the centerpieces, which involved filling large, tall glass jars with gravel, anchoring large manzanita branches in them using sections of pool noodles, hanging the branches with clear, wired, glass, globe-shaped tea light holders. Arranged the napkins on the tables based on the number of chairs at each table for which Jess had a schematic. Moved a heavy door on a stand to its location at the entryway which had a giraffe painted on it. For a few generations, everyone who dined with the host family was measured for height and received a mark next to the giraffe. Jessica covered the mostly-filled-in door with a layer of clear plastic and provided sharpies so that the guests would be able to create a unique sign-in board. Also at the entry were a unique receptacle for receiving envelopes, signs that Jess made to direct adults and kids into different places for the cocktail hour, and a display that illustrated the mitzvah project Danielle had done for Ronald McDonald House. We moved large artificial trees onto the corners of the dance floor, strung them with fairy lights, and connected them at the tops with strings of star-shaped, color-changing solar lights. Saul got on the internet to figure out how to change up-lights that Jess had rented for the walls from colors to white. (Remember from science class that white light is the result of combining all the colors?) Saul and I made 34 brown paper cylinders wrapped in elaborate wire-edged ribbon to house the lush flowered plants that Jess had purchased as centerpieces for the venue at Chizuk Emuno on Friday evening, and Saturday afternoon. Created an amenity basket for the ladies room that thoughtfully included ear plugs for the loud music which were appreciated by many of the guests, including some of the teenagers. Prepared a basket to hold brightly-printed cotton socks for the kids. Created a lit path to highlight the proper entryway into the building by wrapping a bannister with fairy lights. Wrapped 13 multi-wicked, beeswax havdallah candles with foil holders so that hot wax would not injure anyone during the intimate havdallah service on Saturday. Before the party on Saturday evening, Saul and I lit and placed all the tea lights, electric tea lights, and firefly jars, and Izzy turned on all the under-tablecloth fairy lights. The DJ had lights as well that kept the ceiling over the dance floor twinkling all evening.

We were very busy, but incredibly pleased with the results of our labors. Saul and I were extremely impressed with Jessica’s creativity and preparedness for this marathon weekend. From our point of view as guests, we loved all the other arrangements that had been made. Friday evening began with services, outdoors in Chizuk Amuno’s atrium, led by a young and charming a cappella group accompanied on this occasion by guitar and keyboard. The small Shabbat dinner was intimate and all the dishes at the buffet which included fish, fowl and vegetarian entrees, prepared by the in-house caterer, were delicious. The service on Saturday morning contained many poignant moments for the family as Danielle chanted her Torah and Haftarah portions flawlessly. Saul and I also were delighted to be in the company of our family once more for this occasion. The luncheon buffet for almost 250 people, was, again, beautiful and delicious. The caterer was masterful in keeping the easily accessible buffet stations around the room looking meticulous and being supplied constantly with items that were appropriately hot or cold throughout the serving period. Even the bagels were warm on the buffet after an hour had passed. One of the desserts was hand-scooped ice-cream sandwiched between chocolate chip cookies. The potential was there for a melted mess, but with the efficiency of the caterer, this never happened. The a cappella group provided music during the luncheon, and charmingly went from table to table (a la gypsy violinists or Mariachi bands), taking requests. At the end of the luncheon, Jessica recruited us to deliver some of the floral centerpieces to the golf club where a Sunday morning brunch was scheduled for the family. By Saturday evening, after resting for a very short period, most of the work was done except for lighting everything. The food at the gala event was exceptional. Among other hors d’oeuvres, Saul and I practically gorged on mini Peking duck crepes and not-so-mini herb-crusted lamb chops. Izzy came over from the kids’ buffet to sit with us and check out what the adults were eating. Her curiosity and tastes in food are way beyond the usual teenager. Fifty teens and children were present, mostly seated at the head table that ran practically the length of the large room. The dance floor was hopping at all times. Almost all (including some of the adults) took advantage of a professionally-run photo booth activity next to the dance floor.

My girls all looked beautiful and we had a great time. We tried to linger to help Jessica break down and pack up some of the paraphernalia. Alex left right after dessert with Sami and Yona (who was already asleep). He was leaving early on Sunday morning with Sami and Yona so that he could attend a ball game while Sami babysat. Izzy came back to the hotel with us when Jess sent us off. Jess stayed until about 1:00 a.m. and, along with the staff, was able to do most of the packing. Although we had been planning to leave really early on Sunday morning to drive back to Florida, we stayed, at her request, to clean up the final packing business, until 10:30 a.m. At that point, we began our drive back to Florida, and she and Izzy went off to the brunch at the golf club.

Although we were tired, we both felt great about the weekend and physically good. We decided to drive as far as we could and stop only if we felt it would be a hardship to continue, or bad weather intervened. Because it was relatively early on a Sunday, the DC traffic was creeping instead of at a standstill, and I located a really great restaurant in Fredericksburg, as we were getting really hungry and we were past the bulk of the traffic. We thought we were going for dim sum, but Peter Chang’s turned out to be a truly different Szechuan restaurant with dishes we had never seen before. We were incredibly impressed with the dishes that we ordered and are sorry that it is so far away. We would go out of our way to eat there again, but not 850 miles! Thus fortified, we were able to drive the entire way home with just the snacks we carried in the car and a quick late night breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Pooler, Georgia, arriving home about 2:30 a.m. The thought of sleeping in our own bed after a week of motel mattresses spurred us on. Our friend Larry, had set out for our house the day before so that he could be present for the settlement on his new home nearby on Tuesday. He arrived a few hours before us and was asleep when we came in. He left his cute, little, red, two-seater convertible in our garage to await the time he will actually be moving in, probably September or October.

On Monday, we did a walk-through of the house, and attended the first of Epcot’s Tribute Band Summer Concert Series—“Sounds Like Summer.” The name of the band was DSB, and it was a tribute to “Journey.” They were actually quite good, and on a Monday evening, it was like having a live band personally performing for you. The next morning, the three of us had breakfast together at Keke’s Café in Clermont. Larry couldn’t wait to eat at this exclusively-Florida chain again. We finished about 45-minutes early, so we dropped Larry at the title company, just a minutes away, and Saul and I spent a few minutes returning some clothing I had bought to nearby BJs. By the time we got to the settlement on time, Larry and the agent had almost finished all the paperwork early. When the realtor arrived on time, there was perhaps another 5 minutes to totally finish up. The whole process went without a hitch. Ken and Randi came over to swim in the afternoon and we made a reservation to have dinner at The Grand Floridian Café and hopefully watch The Magic Kingdom fireworks from the terrace by the lagoon. Larry had never been to The Grand Floridian. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we left as a giant thunderstorm seemed to be moving in our direction. Although the settlement went without a hitch, taking care of details like meeting Verizon for internet service and the alarm company to transfer service, Comcast service and postal service, and photographing the contents of the house, ate up most of Larry’s time on Wednesday. On our way back from the post office for Polk County, we stopped into a relatively new restaurant near our house, Ovations, which was highly rated on Yelp. We were lucky enough to be there on “Wine Wednesday.” A free bottle of Sycamore Lane wine in a choice of merlot, cabernet, pinot noire, chardonnay, etc. came with the purchase of two entrees. The waitress brought us four sample glasses and we chose the cab, which was quite good. Our food was wonderful as well, and beautifully presented. It was good enough that we would go back again, even without the free bottle of wine. That same Wednesday, Ari was in Copenhagen for business, just for the day! Even with his limited time, he was able to take some amazing photos around the city.

On Thursday, before Larry flew home from Orlando Airport, we all went to see some magnificent samples of homes that are being constructed nearby in a large development called Windsor at Westside. From the airport, Saul and I drove to Costco to get some provisions for Friday night and the weekend. Friday, Saul and I took the long drive to the Davenport Post Office again to check into some missing checks that we discovered had been written, but not cashed. We had no luck tracing them. We stopped at a farm stand on the way back and picked up a tremendously sweet large seedless watermelon, corn-on-the-cob, and some other produce for Shabbat dinner. We went to Hollywood Studios on Saturday night to catch some of the last of the five weekends of “Star Wars.” We were hoping to catch the presentation with Frank Oz, but it was so hot and the waiting line so overcrowded, that when we were told we would probably not get in, we gave up and went home. We came back a little later to view the show and fireworks, and were so impressed that we returned for the last performance the following evening.

Lauren, a colleague of Saul’s who had been here a few months ago, and was traveling to Disney’s Fort Wilderness to vacation with her husband, four children, and two dogs with a pop-up camper in tow, texted to say that they had had a blowout on the road, but all were safe. The experience, along with a heat stroke episode with her youngest son, delayed their arrival and put a damper on much of the rest of their trip. We did, however, manage to spend a few wonderful evenings with them. We had dinner together at Sweet Tomatoes, drove to Disney’s Boardwalk, where we watched a street performer, toured some of the Boardwalk resorts, watched the fireworks over Epcot, and in the same evening took the boat ride to Hollywood Studios where the “Frozen” fireworks had begun. We discovered a comfy bench outside the park where the view of the fireworks was spectacular. On another evening, we met them at Animal Kingdom Lodge, where they enjoyed watching the wildlife on display and seeing the two magnificent resorts there, Kidani Village and Jambo House. From there, we all crammed into our Pilot and surprised them with the nitrogen ice cream at Abracadabra. The kids loved it, even though the weather was very rainy and they were not able to bounce in the multiple amusements that reside in the back. Viewing a gorgeous sunset as the rain began to subside, we picked up their van back at Animal Kingdom Lodge and Lauren followed us to The Grand Floridian. We shared light sandwiches at Gasparilla Grill at outdoor tables on the terrace and watched the Magic Kingdom “Wishes” fireworks together. The family was able to get the necessary repairs made on their camper during the week, so their trip back home the next day, went relatively smoothly.

While we were entertaining Lauren’s family, another family was being hosted by Ken and Randi. Rich and Sandy were kind enough to lend us (and Ari) the use of their two-bedroom condo near Universal Studios, for two weeks, two years ago when we were meeting with contractors in advance of moving into our home. Originally, we met them through Ken and Randi, who, over many years, as neighbors and business associates, had developed a very close and personal relationship with them and their two daughters. Rich had made the arrangements from Kuwait for us to use their condo, as he was spending extended periods there and in other countries abroad on business. In my last conversation with him from there, he told me how excited he was to be coming home soon, as his daughter was about ready to deliver his first grandson and he planned to spend more time in the States from now on so that he could spend time getting to know him. Shockingly, right after he returned, but shortly before his daughter gave birth, he had a heart attack. At the hospital, they thought they had repaired whatever damage had occurred, but apparently they missed some bleeding in the heart behind where they had repaired it and he died suddenly. Needless to say, the family was completely devastated, as were Ken and Randi, and all the rest of us who knew them. As Father’s Day approached, Sandy’s girls, Cheryl and Karen, arranged a girls’ getaway vacation in the condo so that their mom would not be alone and they could have some fun together. This past weekend, Saul and I met them, along with Ken and Randi (who had dinner with them the previous evening at Blue Zoo) on Saturday evening, after they had spent the day at Epcot. The “U2” tribute band was performing their last set of concerts Saturday evening. We only caught a few minutes of their concert because the sporadic rain and thunderstorms had caused a delay, and we decided to have dinner nearby in the Wine Bar in “Italy.” Afterward, we watched the fireworks over Epcot from the boat at the International Gate as we chugged over to Hollywood Studios to our now favorite bench to watch the Frozen fireworks. It was, again, a delightful and spectacular evening that we all spent together.

I used the occasion to invite everyone to have Sunday brunch with us and spend the afternoon in the pool, before they were departing. Saul and I awoke early, went to the nearby Publix to pick up extra provisions, and came home to prepare everything. Ken and Randi came over a bit later to help get the brunch ready, and the timing worked out beautifully. The weather cooperated and we had a relaxing afternoon schmoozing in the pool together while sipping Champagne cocktails that Randi prepared. Eventually, Karen and Sandy drove themselves to Orlando airport for their flight home, amid promises that they would come and visit again soon. The rest of us had a hasty Father’s Day dinner with Cheryl at Johnny’s Hideaway on the way to drop her at Orlando airport for her flight back to Chicago. From there, we decided to stop at Ken and Randi’s before heading off to Epcot for the first Billy Joel tribute band concert, but we all ran out of steam by that point. Ken was unwilling to give up the idea of ice cream at Abracadabra, however, so we all headed off there for a Father’s Day treat on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice.

One week from tomorrow, our girls are due to arrive to begin our summer of Camp Bubbie and Saba. The photos we have been receiving of their end-of-school-year activities leave us feeling very far away. We can’t wait to see them in person! Jessica is flying in with them on July 1. She is leaving on July 4, after which she and Alex will be vacationing together for a week at an RCI resort in Williamsburg, VA. After that, she managed to find a reasonable flight to London. In honor of her 40th birthday, which took place at the end of March, she will join her brother for a three-week vacation in London, and together, they are hoping spend a few days visiting Paris, and perhaps Santorini. Also during the summer, Erica has plans to come for a visit with us. Brenna and Ava will be staying with us, too, at that time, and we will be sending Brenna back by plane a week after Erica leaves. In the meantime, I keep wandering into the girls rooms (which are usually closed off) in great anticipation of the coming summer!

I Wish, I May

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The fantasy land in which I live has been wonderful for lifting the spirits, encouraging physical activity, sowing good karma among strangers, and in general, keeping me out of the blue funk to which I had been prone for many years. Our walks, several times a week, in the Disney parks where the mantra is that wishes can come true, where families are enjoying their time together and letting the “magic” wash over them in the acres of magnificent settings that have been created, are especially exciting in the spring when everything begins to flower anew and we are looking forward to a new summer of “Camp Bubbie and Saba.”

Sami has been apprenticing with a lovely lady named Michele Haines, who retired and turned her French restaurant, The Spring Mill Café, in Conshohocken, PA, over to her son a few years back. In a strange twist of fate, Saul and I met Michele many years ago when we won an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris by winning first prize in the Mann Music Center picnic contest. Part of the prize was brunch at the Café, where we introduced ourselves to Michele and she wrote a note for us to introduce us to her friend in Paris who owned Le Grenouille (where we had an incredible free meal and indelibly memorable evening) on the Left Bank across from Sacre Coeur. We delayed the trip to Paris for a year, so I carried Michele’s note in my wallet for a long time. By coincidence, Jess met her at an event that Jess had planned and lamented the fact that Sami was losing her French from the Wellwood International School in Baltimore where she spent half of her days learning her subjects in the language for a couple of years. In recent weeks, Michele and Sami have been cooking together on the weekends while conversing in French. Together, they have made a Passover orange/almond/date/cranberry torte, brioche, daffodil cake, vegetable tart, etc.

This was the first year that Saul and I missed Yona and Izzy’s birthday parties. It is also the first time I was unable to make their cakes myself. Sami and Jessica, however, have stepped up to the plate (literally) and have done a masterful job based on what I have taught them. This makes me very proud! Both Izzy and Yona’s cakes were three-dimensional. Izzy had a rock climbing wall cake, and Yona’s was Olaf the snowman from the movie “Frozen.”

Our friend, Larry, stayed on for another few days until the middle of April, after everyone else went home following Passover. Evidently, the magic and the fantasy (plus the thought of spending another terrible winter up north) was enough to spur him to look at some properties in the area. As it turned out, within ten days of returning home, he reached an agreement with the seller on the first property he viewed. He really loved it and so did we. An added benefit is that it is 1.1 miles from our door to his. If all goes well, settlement is due to take place on June 9, and he is planning to move in sometime after the holidays at the end of September. We are very excited at the prospect of having another friend nearby!

Jamie’s in-laws, Cindy and John were here in Florida at the end of April. They stayed with Adele and Larry for a few days, then in the parks with Andy’s sister’s family and their children, and then for a few days with Ken and Randi. We joined them on many of their activities while they were with Ken and Randi. We spent a wonderful, but iffy weather day at Clearwater Beach, checking out a number of beaches in various locations on the Gulf side of the island. We had a congenial and delicious lunch of grouper at Frenchy’s together there. The next day, we toured some of the various Disney resorts. At Animal Kingdom Villas—Kidani Village, we were again wowed by the proximity and variety of the wild animals on view in natural settings. We had lunch together at Sanaa, an African/Indian-themed restaurant with unique decor and a view of the animals, on our level, right outside of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Some of them seemed to be more interested in looking in at us than some of the diners were in looking out. The view of giraffes, wildebeest, zebras, and an array of exotic birds, among others wandering by, made it almost impossible to concentrate on our food or our conversation. From there, we drove around to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a view of the magnificent architecture and decor as well as another magnificent view of wild animals. After chatting with the docents for a little while, we continued on to Wilderness Lodge, my favorite of all the Disney resorts that I have seen so far (I still have a few more to check out even after two years here). Cindy seemed to be as taken with Wilderness Lodge as we are. Randi, Cindy and I wandered the grounds for a while and I was able to see parts of the Lodge that I had never seen before, including the fishing boat docks. After our afternoon of touring, we went home to rest and freshen up to prepare for our dinner reservations at Grand Floridian Café that evening. After a wonderful dinner with our very congenial waiter, Ralph (he referred to himself as “Wreck It Ralph”), who gave us some great tips about dining around the area, we viewed the spectacular “Wishes” fireworks over the Magic Kingdom from the terrace, outside, overlooking the Seven Seas Lagoon.

While John and Cindy headed for home the next day, Saul and I spent the afternoon at what should become Larry’s new home, with the home inspector, who pronounced the place a “creampuff” when he was done inspecting. The place is completely furnished as it is frequently a vacation rental. The furniture is beautiful and everything is in place right down to the linens and table settings. That evening we chose to do our walking at Hollywood Studios where we were able to enjoy the Toy Story ride with only a ten-minute wait and still see the Fantasmic show before heading for home. I finally got to see Cinderella’s golden coach in person. I had been shopping with Ari and Beth at the outlet malls when the rest of the family spent the afternoon there.

We finally had a chance to visit the new Trader Joe’s that opened nearer to us and we found some great items that are unique to them, such as red heirloom spinach, rainbow-colored carrots and multi-colored chard. When we arrived home, I finished making homemade challah, black and brown basmati rice, Israeli salad, heirloom cherry tomato and mozzarella pearl caprese salad, masala aloo dosas, and Ma Po Tofu for Shabbat dinner. Ken and Randi joined us for dinner late after attending a wine and cheese reception at their clubhouse. We had enough leftovers to last the whole week, with lots of variety so we wouldn’t get bored. After services on Saturday, we spent the afternoon in our pool. In a long FaceTime conversation with Ari, who was on a long bank holiday weekend, we first got to see Windsor Castle as he wandered through, and then, the next day, the white cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle. The Garden Rocks concert on Sunday evening featured Taylor Dayne. We attended with Ken and Randi.

Saul and I spent the beginning of the week cooking, making one of my “clear-the-refrigerator-of-leftovers” vegetable soups, felafel mixture, and Israeli salad, frying the felafel balls the following morning. That afternoon, we joined Ken and Randi, along with her sister Lori and her husband Jules (who drove in from Boca Raton) at San Angel Inn Restaurante inside “Mexico” at Epcot to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a tradition that Jules and Lori have been practicing for many years. While we waited for a table, Saul, Randi, Lori and I had a pre-dinner snack and cocktail at La Cava Del Tequila just a few steps away. Jules and Ken waited on the comfy leather sofa at the entrance to the restaurant as they switched from lunch to dinner service. There was a special Cinco de Mayo prix fixe, three-course meal that was pretty authentic to the food truly served in the city of Puebla in Mexico where the actual celebration is centered. After dinner, Jules and Lori, and Ken and Randi drove to the Polynesian Village Resort where Randi and Lori’s niece and her family were dining at ’Ohana to visit with them. Saul and I hopped the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom, where we picked up a set of Sorceror’s cards for the girls, rode the train to see Buzz Lightyear, and then watched the Electric Parade and Wishes fireworks from the train station platform. Ken drove home from the Polynesian, and the rest of the family joined up with us as the fireworks began. The five of us left the park together. It was late and we had missed the last monorail, so Randi rode the bus with us back to Epcot, where we picked up our parked car and drove her home.

Having exhausted ourselves the previous day, Saul and I hung out by our pool, enjoying the benefits of our shopping trip and home-cooked meals. The next day, refreshed, we met Randi’s niece and family at Animal Kingdom and caught the Festival of the Lion King with them. They continued on to various other activities at the park, and we went to Bahama Breeze with Ken and Randi for a late lunch. Saul and I spent the rest of the afternoon by our pool. In a lengthy conversation with Ari from London that afternoon, he requested that we suggest a recipe for a dessert that he could make easily with limited equipment to take into work on Friday. The lemon bars that he made on Thursday evening were a great success.

Then we began a real whirlwind of a weekend. We had a very early, light dinner at Bonefish Grill, packed our suitcases, and left very early the next morning to catch our flight from Orlando International on Frontier Airlines to Cleveland for our niece, Meredith’s wedding. We parked our car at the airport, as we did not want to interfere with Ken and Randi’s plans to visit with her sister and family for Mothers Day, and Haley, who was on a business trip in southern Florida for a few days. Our two-hour flight to Cleveland was on  time, very smooth, and we had good weather. Our rental car pickup went smoothly and without incident so that we were able to check into our hotel, drop off our luggage, say hi to a few people, and return to the airport about a half hour away to pick up Jess. Luckily, her flight was only delayed 15 minutes, so we all had enough time to return to the hotel, dress in our wedding duds, and get to the wedding venue, about a half hour in the other direction, with a few minutes to spare. The wedding took place at a very picturesque farm setting that had previously been a golf course. The heavy rain which was expected in the late afternoon never really materialized. Meredith, her groom, Michael, and Saul’s sister Rifka and her husband, Paul, all looked absolutely wonderful and happy. Michael’s family and their friends were all welcoming and friendly. The delicious meal was augmented by a gorgeous array of pastries and desserts prepared by the groom’s mother and grandmother. It was a great pleasure to watch everyone dancing away the evening. Meredith and Michael are fantastic dancers as are many of their friends. When we returned to our hotel, I crashed immediately, but Saul and Jess still had enough energy left to attend the after-party hosted by Michael’s family in a room at the same hotel. Saul, Jess and I had to be up by 6:00 a.m. to be at the airport in time for our flights back home. Since Jess’s flight was a little bit later than ours, she dropped us off at the airport, returned our rental car, and caught the shuttle to the airport herself. We all had great flights, had a great time at the wedding, and Saul and I were back home the next morning in time for breakfast. Who could wish for more?

It’s All About Passover, April 2015

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Passover fell right at the beginning of April this year, and much of our activities during the month of March were devoted to hunting, gathering, and preparing all the diverse items that are needed to pull off two relatively large kosher seders and a week’s worth of three-plus-meals-a-day for the nine-plus people staying with us for the week. In the “wilds” of Orlando, that was no easy feat, but it all worked out beautifully. Because Izzy had been rehearsing for a musical at school which took place the evening before the first seder, the kids were not able to help out at all with the prep this year. They got in their packed car immediately after the show, stopped in DC to drop off Alex’s mom, Elaine, at his sister Naomi’s house, and drove here straight through the night, arriving at about 1:00 p.m. a few hours before the seder. Also, Ari and Beth did not arrive until the Thursday evening before the first seder. We picked up Ari at Orlando International Airport just in time for him to have his fill of Southern barbecue at Fat Boys in Kissimmee. Did I mention that the seders were on Shabbat this year, making it necessary to have all the cooking preparations for both seders done ahead of time?

Helping through all this, was our friend, Larry, who came the week before and spent three weeks with us. Ken and Randi were a big help also this year, a luxury we did not have last year before they moved down here. I was hindered by a nasty cold and cough, which I caught right as the preparations began, but I am proud to say that I was so fanatic about not spreading it that no one else, including Saul, caught it even though it hung on for about 10 days. Our efforts were aided this year by not having to order online from a very expensive kosher supplier. During Purim services and the following Shabbat, our Rabbi, Hillel Skolnik, mentioned that the Winn-Dixie near our synagogue was stocking a large variety of glatt kosher meats, dairy products, wines, and grocery items to accommodate the Jewish community of Orlando (thankfully too, kosher for Passover pareve margarine for my baking needs). While we were delighted to be able to stock up on the needed provisions because of their interest, we had a situation with our turkey that soured our experience. They ordered a particularly large turkey at our request. When we came to pick it up, we were told the price was $4.89 per lb. making the turkey over $85. When Saul noticed and pointed out to the manager that the other smaller kosher turkeys in the case were $2.79 per pound, he immediately called someone over to remove them all from the case to mark them up to $4.89 also. We put back the large turkey and took two smaller ones before they removed them to mark them up. Later, we had the reverse situation at the Publix near Orange Lake. They had a 21-lb. frozen turkey in the case that was marked $4.29 per pound next to their sign advertising kosher turkeys at $2.79 per pound. When Saul pointed out the discrepancy to the manager, he immediately took the 21-lb. turkey and marked it down for us, saving us almost $40. We appreciated the interest of the Winn-Dixie, but guess where I will be shopping for everything other than kosher esoterica?

Saul and I had some fun together before the whole prep thing started. We, again, attended the huge, state-fair-like Strawberry Festival in Plant City, FL, where we walked for hours on a very hot day and sampled some of the street food available from the dozens of vendors there. We really lucked out by finding a legal parking spot just a few blocks from the entrance in front of the elementary school. On my birthday, one of Saul’s former colleagues, Lauren B. was in Orlando for a conference. We picked her up at her hotel, spent a few hours schmoozing at our home, and then dined together at the wonderful Grand Floridian Café. After dinner, we grabbed the Disney monorail at the hotel and made a circuit around the parks. We wound up viewing the Magic Kingdom fireworks from just outside the gate, a good area to view them, while Lauren struck up a conversation with an Orlando police officer assigned as a Disney security person about the prison systems in the Orlando environs, her area of expertise. Afterward, we hopped the Resort Launch back to the hotel, and we were able to view the entire Electric Water Pageant on the way. Saul and I had never before seen the whole flotilla. We also had a few days to enjoy the opening of Disney’s annual Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot with its accompanying weekend concerts and international kiosks offering small bites and libations from around the world. Saul had deferred his jury duty until March 9, and we were nervous about whether he would be placed on a long-term case. He really lucked out in that the circumstances were such that he only spent two days at the courthouse in Bartow. He was selected for a jury on the one day, and the case was settled by 3:00 p.m. on the second day. One of his fellow jurors recommended a solar electric company, and we interviewed two different companies about installing both solar water heating for the pool, and also photovoltaic systems for the whole house. Both were extremely expensive and we fear the technology will soon be changing dramatically, so we nixed both ideas. We did, however, decide to switch our chlorine-based pool to a salt-water pool. If we had known how easily, reasonably, and quickly this was accomplished, we would have done it as soon as we moved in. Swimming in a salt water pool is so much better on so many levels—hair, skin, and eyes are happier, the pool water seems much more sparkling and clean, it is more buoyant, and the awful chlorine smell is gone.

Ken and Randi, their new friends Meta and Mario, and Saul and I had the brilliant idea of going to Devenney’s, a nearby Irish pub for dinner on St. Patrick’s Day, but (surprise!) found it so crowded and serving only drinks and bar food, that we looked for another alternative, which turned out to be Ay Jalisco. So on St. Patrick’s day, we had very good Mexican food in an uncrowded setting. Perhaps we should consider revisiting Devenney’s on Cinco de Mayo! :o) Also with Ken and Randi, after an evening walk around Epcot, we revisited the lounge at Blue Zoo for late night snacks. That Friday night, for Shabbat dinner, I baked my last set of challahs before Passover, and made kasha and bowties in advance of our friend Larry coming to stay for a few weeks. On Saturday, after services and a quick lunch at home, we hied over to the Magic Kingdom to watch my cousin Alan’s daughter, Emily, march down Main Street, as the cymbalist with her high school band in advance of the Festival of Fantasy Parade. Each time we are in the Magic Kingdom, Saul and I collect a free set of sorceror’s cards for the girls so that they can activate higher levels of the game each time they play. We had parked at the Grand Floridian that day and when we returned to pick up our car, we viewed the exquisite collection of giant edible Easter eggs on display there.

On March 24, we picked up our friend, Larry, at Tampa airport. We think he finally had enough Southern barbecue because he suggested that we have dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, a desire we were happy to indulge. We spent a day or two in the parks with Larry before Saul and Larry spent a day being soaked by a driving Florida rain at the Phillies vs. Yankees Spring Training game in Clearwater. The Phillies lost, badly. I was very happy to stay at home! We began the arduous task of kashering the kitchen for Passover on Saturday night after Shabbat HaGadol. By Sunday evening, the kitchen was ready for the serious cooking to begin. We were having 13 guests the first night, and 11 the second. This year, our guests were Larry and Adele, Beth, Ari, Ken and Randi, Jess, Alex, Sami, Izzy, and Yona. Adele and Larry did not join us the second night, as usual. Since we had a full house sleeping in, Beth roomed with Ken and Randi this year. I had developed a daily schedule for completing all the dishes I wanted to make for the seders and beyond, and happily, despite my miserable cold, everything was delicious and went almost according to schedule. We ate out a lot during that week while we prepared for Passover. The asparagus in Florida was skinny and tough-looking this year, so we steamed the beautiful Brussels sprouts we get in Florida to replace them. This made certain of our guests very happy. (You know who you are!) We actually used two of the frozen turkeys I had bought during the holiday. Jess and Alex came loaded with Passover provisions for the week that we could not find here, in addition to various types of produce leftover from their C.S.A.

Considering the logistics involved and the last-minute nature of everyone’s arrival from all over the globe, it all came together beautifully. The seders themselves were stress-free, beautiful, delicious, and enjoyable beyond all expectation. We will never forget Izzy eyeing the salami hanging to dry and exclaiming, “You love me!” In the week that followed, the weather was gorgeous every day. We visited the parks during Chol HaMoed, and swam in our new salt water pool almost daily. The girl’s set up their new pin collection board, and continued their game with their sorceror’s cards at the Magic Kingdom.  While Ari and I shopped at the nearby outlet malls, the rest of the family went to see Cinderella’s golden coach featured in the new live-action movie at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. At Ari’s request, we all prepared and tried a new breakfast dish for us—shakshuka. It was a triumph! One evening, with prep from Alex, Ari took over the grill and prepared amazing tuna steaks. In an effort to get rid of some leftovers, mini hot dogs and matzoh ball dough, we invented a new hors d’oeuvre which we dubbed “Matzohball Park Franks”—a Pesach version of “pigs in the blanket.”  Towards the end, Ari and Jessica took Sami and Izzy for a day at Universal Studios and wound up getting annual passes for the four of them. They especially enjoyed the Harry Potter areas of Universal. Beth, unfortunately, could only stay for a few days, and went home on Tuesday. Towards the end of the week, Haley arrived to stay with Ken and Randi, and Randi’s sister, Lori, came with her two girls so they could all visit for a few days. The only down side was that Saul developed an ear infection the last few days that required a hospital visit to the emergency room at Celebration Hospital, and Haley caught a bad cold and sinus infection. Both were fine within a few days and after much chicken soup. On Saturday afternoon, as the holiday ended, everyone pitched in to put the kitchen back in order and pack away the Pesach things until next year. After sunset, we dropped Ari at the airport for his flight back to London, and had dinner with Jess, Alex and the girls at Sweet Tomatoes before they got on the road for the long drive home. They arrived there on Sunday afternoon around noon.

Larry was here for an additional week and we finally got to try Keke’s Breakfast Café (so good that we ate there three times, twice before, and once after the holidays) and Sundays, a nearby British pub, where the double chocolate stout and fish and chips were incredible. On the day that we returned Larry to Tampa airport, we arranged to have lunch at the 110-year-old restaurant, Columbia, in Ybor City. The menu and service were like the branch we love in Celebration, but the building, and how it has evolved, were really something to see. After dropping him at the airport, Saul and I continued on to Clearwater for a leisurely stroll down the beach. There is so much construction going on along the beach that it has completely swallowed up two of the public parking lots, so we were very happy to find our secret beach on Sand Key as accessible as ever. Just as we had received an invitation to view the previews of Cinderella, we received an invitation to view a preview of the new Disney movie coming soon—Tomorrowland. We went with Ken and Randi to see it at Epcot, in the venue where Captain Eo used to play, and we were very pleased to all receive special Tomorrowland pins for attending. Looks like it will be fun to watch!

For Ken’s birthday, we finally managed to bag reservations at California Grill at the top of the Contemporary Resort in the Magic Kingdom, by stopping in at the hotel while we were riding the monorail, and begging for them from a receptionist from the restaurant. She managed to squeeze us in at the proper time and date so that we could watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the special viewing deck outside on the roof. While the food on the menu seemed fairly ordinary, the actual dishes were exceptional both in flavor and presentation. The restaurant itself is truly gorgeous and sophisticated in design, with magnificent panoramic views from the floor-to-ceiling windows. In true Disney spirit, we had a “magical” evening there celebrating his birthday. The next night, we had another wonderful meal, watching sundown over our lakeside, outdoor table on the deck at Johnny’s Hideaway. All our fun has been augmented by the concert series at Epcot on the weekends. So far, we have seen, Gin Blossoms, Pablo Cruise, En Vogue, Starship, The Orchestra starring former members of ELO, The Village People (who taught us the proper way to form the letter “M” in YMCA) and The Guess Who. We have also taken advantage of $6 movies on Tuesdays at the Epic Theater in Clermont to see Cinderella (good), Divergent (awful), Woman in Gold (fantastic), and Home (terrible). We received promotional materials to see a sneak preview of The Age of Adaline for free at an AMC in Kissimmee. Saul liked it, but I was so-so.

Even though we had a great time leading up to Passover, and a great time afterward, it is difficult to see March and April as anything but the prelude and epilogue of an epic and amazing family gathering and feast.