Partying With Pilgrims - Part 1

Technically, Colonial Williamsburg isn't a pilgrim settlement, but I just put the title as it is because Alex once told me to "have fun partying with pilgrims" (or something along those lines), so I just decided to call these posts that ;)

So that we get our history clear, the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, in 1621.

Williamsburg was founded in 1699, and was not a pilgrim settlement.

Anyways, on day one we didn't really do anything. Basically we:

• Drove
• Took a nap
• Ate dinner at this wonderful Italian restaurant ('Sal's' I think it was called) where I forgot to bring my camera!!!
• Attempted to sleep, but couldn't because my siblings snore and my brother kept trying to cuddle with me (no, that's not cute! He kept kneeing me in the back!)

And that was all that happened on Day 1.

Big Rocks

We were just going for a walk, and all of a sudden we found this huge deposite of gigantic quartz rocks! Out of the blue! It was way cool...=D

Lily and her awesome sunglasses
Just to give you some scale

Big rocks!

Celebrating Eight Crazy Nights

My dad's side of the family is Jewish. So, in addition to Christmas, we also celebrate Hanukkah. Here is the story:

In ancient times, the Greeks and the Israelis used to live happily side by side. But one day, there was a new king of the Greeks, who took over the land of Israel and forced all its people to follow his own customs. Some people were fine with this new way of life, but others couldn't stand it! One such person was Judah the Macabee, and he led a revolt against the Greek army. Though the Greeks were much stronger, the Israelites still managed to defeat them.

However, this wasn't the end of it. The Greek army had all but destroyed the capital city, Jerusalem, including the temple. In the temple, there was a special candle holder called a menorah, and the flame in it was supposed to burn forever. But, the during the war, the flame had gone out, and only enough oil was left to keep the flame burning for one day. This was a problem, because it took a total of eight days to make more oil! Yet, after eight days, the flame was still burning. So, we celebrate Hanukkah to celebrate the miracle of the oil.

Busy at work in the kitchen...
...making latkes! (potato pancakes, a traditional dish of this holiday)

Didn't I mention these were crazy nights?

The chef with his latkes

Our dinner: latkes with applesauce and sour cream, steak and mustard, green beans

Before we eat, we have to light the menorah. Each night, we add another candle. This is our menorah on the last night of Hanukkah.

Only one candle is lit with the match: the Shamas. This candle is higher up than all the other candles, and is used to light the other candles.

As we light the candles, we recite three prayers.

Our menorah is of nine of the cynagues in the world. I've only been to two.

I just thought this was a cool angle :)

Pretty Sidewalks, Dressed in Holiday Style

Every year, our neighborhood holds a sort of candle-fest, where on the winter solstice (at least, that's when it was held this year), everybody puts out paper bags with a lighted candle in each along the sidewalk. It's just a beautiful thing to do :)

Lighting the candles
If you look closely, you can see Venus, first 'star' to show itself at night

Candles down the street
We decided to take a walk to see the neighborhood and the candles

Some people are really enthusiastic with their decorations!

Cute! :)

Alyssum Way

Nice tree!

Our street

Our tree :)

The Adventure of the Travelling Glove

My dad and I went for a walk, and when we came back, my sister came running to us. We thought she was excited that we were finally back! Boy, were we wrong...for some strange reason, she and my brother had been playing with Nate's glove, and somehow, it had gotten stuck in the the tree.
Daddy to the rescue!
And so the glove came down and we were all happy.
That is all.

Effects of Global Warming

This was November, and technically it wasn't supposed to snow. But it did anyways. Quite a few times, actually. But it didn't stick. Except this time. But then it melted the next day, as the weather had suddenly turned to warm, spring-type temperatures. Oh well. That's global warming for you....
Our back porch, lightly dusted with snowy powder.

Our neighbor's house across the street

The flower bed. Or ivy bed.

Untitled

After Thanksgiving Break, my grandpa had a conference in DC, so we drove him and my grandma up.

On the way, we stopped to see a special exhibition of South American artists. Why see it, you ask? Well, my aunt's boyfriend, Chalo, had the above piece in it, so we went to see that, and my whole family are art lovers anyways ;) This piece is a rider on his horse.

Afterwards, we went to some train station...really big...blanking out on the name....
Anyways, the outside had huge, gorgeous wreaths up, but it was raining so I didn't get a pic. Inside, we saw statues of Roman soldiers. Apparently, some of them we carved naked, so shields were installed to preserve the virginity of the eyes of our little children.

We ate at the station, and unfortunately I can't remember what the restaurant was called! I know it was Mexican food...
Also, I'm blanking out on what the above dish was! Whatever the food, however, it was really tasty! (sweetened torilla with honey and ice cream..yum!)

I was trying to capture the scale of this building, but unfortunately failed. Seriously, though, this place was enormous!

And I have no idea why the room appears green....but I was too lazy to edit it! O:)