Hanukkah is my favorite holiday, and I thought I'll share with you my favorite Hanukkah gifts and decoration :)

HANUKKAH DECORATIONS

• Make your own Hanukkah banner! This kit includes precut stickers and shapes to make your own banner.
• This activity kit includes foam shapes, paper stickers, glitter foam stickers, double sided foam stickers, self adhesive wiggle eyes and more to make your own banner, centerpieces and more.
• Hanukkah Ball Lantern Decoration - We have a similar set for 3 years now. It is gentle, but if you'll store it flat, it will be great for years to come.  
• This Hologram Light Set is so much fun. We have the blue and white version of it, but I like this colorful one, too. 
• This banner is not from paper, so it is perfect to be hanged outside. We will hang it and the lights today!
• Target have som fun Hanukkah things, too. We hanged this banner and bought this tablecloth. 

HANUKKAH GIFTS FOR KIDS

• Rite Lite Beeswax Candles - I LOVE anything DIY for kids, and what's better then rolling your own Menorah candles? I must say, it may be a little too fun, because I did half of the candles myself and had to buy another package. haha.
• RIte Lite Design Your Own Dreidel - 2 big (about 3" tall) dreidels to paint. The kit is really nice, we enjoyed painting the dreidels and decorating with the glitter glue, and plan to play with them throughout Hanukkah.
• If you want to decorate a dreidel with your family, but prefer not to deal with paint, check out this set which includes a large dreidel and stickers. We don't have this one, so I'm not sure about the quality, but it looks fun.
• KidKraft Wooden Hanukkah Set - Wooden Menorah and candles, dreidel, coins, spatula, pan, latkes and more in a convenient cute storage bag. Looks like a very good quality and durable. We started playing it before Hanukkah and started talking about the Holiday with our 3 year old, so much fun!
• Hanukkah Children's Melamine Set - This 3 piece set is very cute and it would be the second year we're using it. We bought it for over $16 and now it's for about $8, so it is a great deal, too!
• Stickers!! We love stickers, it makes a great quiet time activity. I found out my son's favorite are the foam stickers, but check out the glitter stickers, 3D stickers, and this awesome sticker book too.
• With this Melissa & Doug Mess-Free kit you can make your own 3D Glitter Menorah and Dreidel.  
• This Latke Bingo is going to be so much fun to play! We bought it, but keeping it for the holiday, so we didn't play it just yet, but it looks pretty good! 

HANUKKAH BOOKS
There are many books for Hanukkah for kids. We like the Night Before Hanukkah and The Story Of Hanukkah. We also love our books from PJ Library. If you're not registered yet - do it today! It's free and your child will get a new book every month.

Hanukkah 2016 Planner

December 1
Hanukkah @ Hicklebee's
Get Hanukkah Happy - ready to celebrate light, freedom and pride. Hear PJ Library Hanukkah stories in preparation for the holiday. Have fun with holiday-themed songs, finger play, and stories with friends.


December 4^th 

Menorahs and Miracles at the Children's Discovery Museum
Museum visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of Hanukkah activities, hosted by the Addison-Penzak JCC. 12noon-4pm, regular museum admission fees apply.

Hanukkah Party at the JCL in San Francisco
Party for families, with stories, crafts, donuts and more (in Hebrew)

 

December 11^th

Hanukkah Festival – Congregation Beth Jacob Redwood City
Featuring Andy Z
11am-2pm, free.

Latkepalooza - Peninsula JCC (Foster City)
Annual community-wide Hanukkah celebration with live music, crafts and games for children and families, candle lighting ceremony and lots of Latkes.
1-3:30pm, free.
Family Hanukah Party on the Peninsula! Congregation Kol Emeth
Come sing songs, play dreidel, light the menorah, make Hanukkah crafts, and eat sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts). The Jewish Baby Network, InterfaithFamily, and PJ Library®  are coming together to get ready for the holiday! This event is for families with babies and toddlers along with everyone else in the family. Bring your own menorah and candles with you for our lighting ceremony. Congregation Kol Emeth is kindly hosting this event, but you do not need to be a member of Kol Emeth or any synagogue to attend. This event is free, and no RSVP is required.

 

December 13^th
Family Pre-Hanukkah Celebration at Congregation Kol Emeth
Join Congregation Kol Emeth and the Religious School for the annual Hanukkah festivities. Details will be announced soon!

December 14^th

Make a holiday Mobile - Sunnyvale
Make a Christmas, Hanukkah or winter themed decorative mobile (Free). 
Hunukkah Maccabee celebration in Los Gatos
Explore Hanukkah with the brave Maccabees! Find out what being a Maccabee Hero is all about in a fun afternoon of music, stories, crafts, treasure hunting and much more!
Tickets are $6 per child. Adults free. (Children must be accompanied by an adult). Children are welcome to dress up as Maccabees!

December 15^th

Drinks & Dreidels - Chabad Fremont
Alcoholic Drinks, Latkes, Doughnuts, appetizers and desserts! Paint a beautiful ceramic Shalom sign for your home and participate in White Elephant gift exchange.

December 16^th

A Happy Hanukkah Happening - Congregation Beth David Saratoga
Kick back at this relaxing Kabbalat Shabbat experience. It will be an easy going evening of socializing, singing, good food and a happy, upbeat, Kabbalat Shabbat service.  ALL AGES are welcome to share an enjoyable Pre-Hanukkah experience. RSVP required. 

December 18^th

Hazak Hanukkah Extravaganza - Congregation Beth David Saratoga
A delightful forshpeiz of the approaching Festival of Lights. New York Deli Supper, Latkes & Dessert Enjoy the company of your friends, Chanukah Bingo and the intimate music of the Jerry Jay Quartet. RSVP required.
5-9pm, free.

Menorah Workshop - Palo Alto

Home Depot + Menorah's what could be better? Build your own menorah, Music & Hanukkah refreshments, Activities, Free worker’s apron, Dreidels & Hanukkah Gelt.
All children must be accompanied by an adult. FREE, RSVP required.

Menorah Workshop - Fremont

Home Depot + Menorah's what could be better? Build your own menorah, Music & Hanukkah refreshments, Activities, Free worker’s apron, Dreidels & Hanukkah Gelt.
All children must be accompanied by an adult. FREE, RSVP required.

Menorah Workshop - San Carlos

Home Depot + Menorah's what could be better? Build your own menorah, Music & Hanukkah refreshments, Activities, Free worker’s apron, Dreidels & Hanukkah Gelt.
All children must be accompanied by an adult. FREE, RSVP required.

Hanukkah On Ice - Palo Alto 

Ice skating, crafts, olive oil pressing and more.

December 19th

Hanukkah Latke Cooking Competition in Los Altos 

Watch 4 culinary teams race against the clock to create the tastiest, most original potato latkes and earn the title “Top Latke Chef.” 

December 23
Chanukah Tot Shabbat Sha-Boogie - Congregation Beth Am
Join your friends at Beth Am for a rockin’ high-energy, Chanukah-themed Shabbat service. This festive and joyous Chanukah service will be perfect for all ages, from ages 0 through 5th grade and their families! Mike Mason, along with Rabbi Heath Watenmaker, will lead a Kabbalat Shabbat service with stories, songs and much more! After the service, join the Beth Am community to light the chanukiyah and then enjoy a delicious family Shabbat dinner (latkes included!). RSVP online by Tuesday, December 20. Suggested donation is $20 per family.

December 24 – 1^st candle

December 25 – 2^nd candle

Community Mega Menorah Lighting in Palo Alto

Etch on your own messages of light as the Menorah shines bright! Live Music, Latkes, Doughnuts and dancing! Meet Judah the Macabbee and Pika"jew". Delicious Dairy Buffet, Dreidel Bike selfies, Crafts and a grand raffle!

Annual Menorah Lighting in Los Altos

Featuring Chinese Appetizers and Wonton Soup, Latkes and Doughnuts, Live Klezmer Music by "Hot Kugel", Fun Crafts and Activities for Kids.

Hanukkah Flametacular – Congregation Etz Chaim Palo Alto

 

December 26 – 3^rd candle

Drop-In Art Studio – Contemporary Jewish Museum San Francisco
Create art that shimmers, reflects, and glows, in celebration of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
Free with Museum admission; youth 18 and under always free.

December 27 - 4^th candle

Drop-In Art Studio – Contemporary Jewish Museum San Francisco
Create art that shimmers, reflects, and glows, in celebration of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
Free with Museum admission; youth 18 and under always free.

Annual Hannukah Festival in Redwood City
Create a Unity Menorah, entertainment, music, latkes and donuts.

4th Annual Hanukkah Lighting in Fremont

It's back and it's bigger and better than ever! Selfies with Silicon Valley Selfie, Jelly Donuts & Matzoh Balls Face Painting, Starbucks Hot Coffee & Cocoa, Giant Menorah Lighting, Cotton Candy, Raffle Prizes and gift baskets and more! 
Chanukah Celebration on Burlingame Avenue
Ice-sculpture Menorah, Jewish Blues musician Saul Kaye live in concert, the Dreidel Mascot, hot Latkes, Sufganiot, and more! Kids: bring your boots and gloves to frolic in the (imported) snow!)

December 28 – 5^th candle

December 29 – 6^th candle

HanukkahTrain Santa Cruz - Gather at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on the 5th night of Hanukkah for the lighting of the menorah at 6:15 pm, and then set off on an incredible 1-hour train ride on Roaring Camp’s vintage excursion cars adorned with thousands of shining lights and Hanukkah decorations.
Sharing in Hanukkah traditions and ride the train through the streets of Santa Cruz listening to Hanukkah stories, playing dreidel and enjoying kosher refreshments provided by Chabad by the Sea.
Adult - $31, Children - $25, 2 and under - free.

Drop-In Art Studio – Contemporary Jewish Museum San Francisco
Create art that shimmers, reflects, and glows, in celebration of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
Free with Museum admission; youth 18 and under always free.

Hanukkah Celebration at Stanford Shopping Center 

Hanukkah winter extravaganza. Celebrate the Jewish holiday with musical performances, arts and crafts for the kids, face painting, dreidel games, candle lighting and a special Hanukkah puppet show and sing-along. 
Bounce! Light! Snack! with PJ Library in Los Gatos
Join PJ Library families for the Annual Bounce House Party. BRING YOUR OWN menorah and candles (7) for the 6th night. Light snacks will be provided. And, of course, stories will be read. 
Santa Clara Grand Chanukah Lighting
This year the light of Chanukah will shine publicly for the first time in Santa Clara History at Celebrating the triumph of light over darkness! Gigantic 10 ft. Menorah Lighting, Live Violinist, Delicious Latkes, Fire Dancing Performance by Rabbi Yigal.

December 30 – 7^th candle

Drop-In Art Studio – Contemporary Jewish Museum San Francisco
Create art that shimmers, reflects, and glows, in celebration of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
Free with Museum admission; youth 18 and under always free.

December 31 – 8^th candle
Chanukah Parade  with Chabad Palo Alto 
Watch/Join the parade of cars sporting Menorahs on top as we drive through Palo Alto spreading the Holiday light and joy!
Heading out from Chabad, 3070 Louis Rd.

January 1
Naama and the Hanukkah Miracle (in Hebrew)

All Aboard the Birthday Express

Our little train lover just turned three, so we had no doubt about what the birthday party theme should be. Although Daniel really does love Thomas the Train, we felt like it would be a little too much, and with his (current) favorite color in mind, we created a great celebration! Daniel was thrilled, and it made us very happy, too.

Décor and Signage

For the colors – we used yellow, grey and dark grey. Once figuring out how to use the tables, I created the signage and most decorations with my Cricut Explore Air. I choose an engine silhouette I liked and used it for most decorations, including the birthday boy’s shirt.

The yellow banners are from target and Amazon, and I used black vinyl cut outs for the letters.

We used table number holders for the signs, and on every table we had Track Crossing sign with flashing lights and sounds - my son's favorite!!

The Birthday Boy shirt was made with Iron On material.

Kids Activities – Engineer’s Workshop and more

Since Daniel love crafts, I knew we’ll have at least two different craft projects for the kids. Each kid got a Melissa and Doug woodentrain decoration kit and a small train bank to paint (got it from the dollar store, sorry - no link). We also had lots of coloring pages, stamps, stickers and crayons.

On another station we had homemade cookie decoration. Using too much sprinkles and icing, the kids decorate really cute cookies! Check out this adorable cookie cutter.

We also had tattoos and a big train bounce house, which the kids likes.

Favors – Baggage Claim

I ordered these paper bags and decorated with vinyl cutouts. Each gift bag included engineer’s hat, bandana and whistle. Daniel helped with the favor bags, and when we talked about how we will give it to his friends, he asked that we’ll make one to our friends’ dog, Lana, so we went to Petco and he choose a few doggy treats. He was so happy about it. I can’t believe how amazing he is.

Food and Drinks – Dining Car and Coffee Station

Since we held the party at 10:30am, I knew we should include something nice for the parents to nosh while the kids are playing. We got Starbucks coffee, hot tea and hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, I baked Turkish delight cookies and chocolate snowball cookies and all adults were very happy.

Lunch was no brainer. I would never order pizzas, so I ordered from our favorite BBQ. We had mini sliders with chicken, turkey and beef brisket, fixings (lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions and green onions), potato salad, coleslaw and chips.

Plates and napkins – all matching the yellow and grey, with chevron and polka dot pattern.

Desserts and Sweets

Cake – I really wanted to make it myself, but since we had only 5 days from the moment we decided to celebrate, and a lot to do, we ended up ordering a cake from my friend. It was AMAZING! The look on Daniel’s face was worth it!

Day Trip to Pacifica

Pacifica is famous for its beautiful coastline and breathtaking vistas and fall is its season to shine! It often gets foggy, but now is actually a great time to visit.

We started our day at the Pacifica Municipal Pier. This is an active fishing pier, and at the right season you could see the migrating whales, but even just standing above the crushing waves is quite amazing. The only problem is that even my tall toddler could not see anything and had to be held all the time. Our visit was short, but fun. 

We continued to Mori Point. Most trails are short, flat and toddler and stroller friendly. Dogs are allowed, so you could make lots of furry friends along the trails.
We took the Old Mori Trail (1 mile round trip) and continues to the Coastal Trail (0.4 miles). Once we got to the coast we went down to Sharp Park Beach, got soaked, and headed back. Daniel was tired by now, so the way back was challenging, but he walked all the way back to our car! Whoohoo!
While on trail, keep your eyes open – we spotted 2 cute Brush Rabbits, lots of birds, and frogs in the ponds along the trail.

Lunch time! Gorilla BBQ, just a few minutes from Mori Point, offers a takeout barbeque from their converted rail car. Smokey meats and combo plates were great. The only con – nowhere to sit and dine! Our little one loved the brisket.

Last stop - Frontierland Park. Hidden in the mountains, this park offer lots of fun for the kids. With one of the nicest play structures, it is a great stop before heading back home.

A Perfect Day in Pescadero

Pescadero is a charming little town just off hwy 1,15 miles south of Half Moon Bay, and is a great family day trip destination thanks to many natural attractions and a wonderful downtown.

We started our day at Arcangeli Market. They are famous for their amazing olallieberry jam and the oh-so-delicious artichoke bread, but the chocolate croissant was pretty good, too. You can also buy the artichoke bread half baked to bring back and make yourself at home, and I am so sorry we didn't get another one. or two. Don't make the same mistake. 

Right next to Arcangeli Market, don't miss the Pescadero Flowery.
The Pescadero Flowery grows 75 varieties of dahlias using organic practices. Visit the farm through October 23rd to pick your own. You do no need to bring anything, as they provide everything, Dahlias are $2 each, and it is great for kids.

From Downtown Pescadero, we continued to Bean Hollow State Beach. We explored crabs, sea snails and sea anemone in the tide pools and some really cool rock formations. We found a big crab shell we used it to dig and play in the sand, and we enjoyed chasing waves. 

 

No sand toys? No problem!

Fall Crafts For Kids

The colors of the trees are changing and fall is finally here. This is the time to gather friends at a local park, pick leaves and other nature treasures, and do some fall crafts!

In the next month or so, I'll be sharing simple but beautiful fall crafts ideas for you and your little ones to try. Happy fall everyone! 
 

Paper Plate Fall Tree
Paper plates are a great craft supply, so much you could do with it! This time we created a fall tree, and we incooperated a simple hand print into the craft, so it’s an awesome keepsake too!
Guide your child to glue yellow, red, brown and green pre-cut tissue paper to the plate (You can also use real or fake leaves).
Then, trace the child's hand to brown cardstock, cut and glue on to the paper plate. As simple as that :)

Fall Wreath
Whether you use real leaves or the fake stuff, stickers or paper cut outs, this kid friendly craft will look great on your door!

There are no rules, just cut a circle from cardstock or cut out the center of a paper plate, and prepare glue, stickers and leaves for the kids to decorate with. 

We used foam leaves stickers from Target, but we found a few cool options on Amazon, too: Foam stickers, glitter stickers, fake leaves and even stamps!

 

2016 Bay Area Pumpkin Patch Guide

Its fall, ya’ll!

After counting the days to our favorite season, and with Halloween right around the corner, we’ve compiled a list of Bay Area pumpkin patches.

With 30+ options to choose from, a visit to a local pumpkin patch is the best fall family outing. Gather the kids, pick your pumpkins and enjoy the fall festivals.

Follow the links, or visit our map here.

Pumpkin Patches in the South Bay

Pumpkin Patches in the Peninsula

Pumpkin Patches in the East Bay

Pumpkin Patches in San Francisco