Carousel at Tilden Park, CA Holiday Time

Here are a few more pictures from our day at Tilden Park near the Carosel!

Global Winter Wonderland, 2012 - Chinese Lanterns

Last night my son and I went to Global Winter Wonderland which is at Great America in Santa Clara, CA.  The best part of this festival is the Peking Opera which is playing "Monkey King," directly from P.R. China.  This Peking Opera is on a U.S. 2012 tour and is Presented by China Performing Arts Agency and International Culture Exchange Group, Performed by Peking Opera Theater of Hebei, China.  Also, there were 60 gorgeous, gigantic Chinese lanterns depicting both holiday traditions and global icons.

Fun facts about the Chinese lanterns at the Global Winter Wonderland, 2012:
-Millions of LED light bulbs
-100 tons of various steels
-10 CBM of wood
-85,302 of electrical cables
-200,000 feet of silk materials
-35,000 pieces of recycled small glass bottles
-2,000 pieces of ceramic dining ware

This festival is great for families, as children are enthralled by the lights!  My son did not go on a single ride, though you can purchase a ride ticket for $10.00.   I got him one toy bubble gun which entertained him for 2 hours!  When it broke, we went back to the stand and he was given another one with a smile!  My son and I both enjoyed the Peking opera.  We had a snack and water at Biryani Bowl.

Resources:

Global Winter Wonderland, 2012
www.GlobalWonderland.org
facebook.com/Global.Winter.Wonderland
twitter.com/globalwonderlnd

Dining
Biryani Bowl
www.Biryanibowl.com
510-453-1521

Monkey King - A Peking Opera
Location:  Great America Theatre
Monkey King is about Sunwukong, a magically powerful but extremely mischievous "superhero."  Peking Opera encapsulates Chinese culture, history, literature, music, dance, acrobatics, stage fighting, and acting with the specialty arts of face painting and elaborate costumery.
My four year old son and I both loved it.  The words were spoken in Mandarin with subtitles in English easily seen on the side.  My son enjoyed it without hearing the subtitles.  This also inspired my son to start taking Mandarin classes in the fall!

Bubble Gun
No.0319A
No.0319B
Made in China

Holiday Strawberry Smoothie - This Is Yummy!

My son and I made this yummy smoothie this morning, here is the recipe!

2 cups of plain or vanilla organic yogurt
1 bag of cascadian farm organic strawberries (or any frozen strawberries)
2 Tablespoons of fresh orange juice
1 Tablespoon of agave nectar or honey (I used  cadia organic agave amber nectar)

1.  In blender, place all ingredients.  Cover; blend on medium speed until smooth.
2.  Pour into glasses, serve immediately

Resources:

Cascadian Farm Organic strawberries, 10 oz.
Cadia organic agave amber nectar
Straus Family Creamery European Style organic vanilla nonfat yogurt

Tilden Park Carousel, Berkeley, CA - Local Treasure!

The Tilden Park Carousel was built in 1911.  It originally opened in a trolley park in Urbita Springs,  then moved to San Diego, and on to Los Angeles.  Finally, in 1948 it found its current home in Berkeley, California's Tilden Park.  The East Bay Park District took over the ownership of the carousel in 1978, and at that time it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Tilden Park Merry Go Round "Christmas Fantasy in the Woods" ran from November 25th to December 23rd from 5:30PM to 8:30PM.  The carousel is also open this weekend during the day, but not the evening.

My son and I went there during the day today.  Most of the displays and ornaments are still up, but the lights are off during daylight.

Here are a few pictures:

Resources:

Tilden Park Merry Go Round
Berkeley, CA
Wildcat Canyon Rd.
Berkeley, CA
(510) 524- 6773

Tilden Park Merry Go Round "Christmas Fantasy in the Woods"
Ran from November 25- to December 23rd from 5:30PM - 8:30PM
www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden#merry
Also open this weekend, December 28th, 29th, and 30th during the day until 5:00PM.

http://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden
http://www.tildenmgr.com/history.html
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6nA1FKWtP8
www.carouselnews.com

The Great Christmas Tree Disaster of 2012

It is the first time in my history that I do not have a Christmas tree through the New Year.  As we explained in an earlier post, my son had a horrible allergy attack to our tree on Christmas so we had to take it out in the evening.  It is now sitting on our deck and I plan on putting lights on it so we can look at it while we eat dinner.

LED Lighted Branches - So Festive!

After the great Christmas tree disaster of 2012 I felt so sad.  I found these lighted LED branches and they lit created a festive mood in our living room.

Resources:

Everlasting Glow
battery operated
LED Lighted Branches
with timer feature
(timer option can turn branch lights on for 6 hours daily.)
Natural Willow
5, 39 inch Branches
50 LED lights
The Gerson Company
Olathe, KS  66061
(SKU 5980610)
(Needs 3 AA batteries)

Missing Santa

We miss Santa already.  Here is a picture of the table we set up for Santa with cookies, milk, and crackers.