Is China Disney open yet?

Vacation week continues. Dim sum for lunch? Sure, Ellen. And you want to wear your bridal Mickey Mouse ears? Why not?

As Seen on TV

And let the games begin! For today's entertainment-during-winter-break, I was desperate enough to get out of the rain and go to Chuck E. Cheese. Yes, I did this by choice.

Teppanyucky

Ellen and I are both on winter break this week, so I have to keep her entertained! Today, I took her to the local mediocre teppanyaki joint, with the usual showmanship with knives and fire. Ellen was fascinated but afraid of the fire. Of course, later, she wanted to drag us here every chance she could.

Downpour -- trust me on this

OK, so it's hard to tell from the image, but it was pouring and pouring at the time. December is the rainy season for SoCal, what passes for winter here. After months of dryness, we got barrels of rain, almost every day. I was glad to not own a floodable basement, for once.

The show must go on

Rachel's a capella group performs at a nursing home (a big part of their fan base). Many of the members of the group may be checking out the homes for their own relocation.

Pageantry

Ellen's first school show. We had to wait a long, long time for the kindergarten class to perform. Ellen stood in the front row in her construction paper tree costume and forgot to sing her songs. We were very proud, of course.

Winter wonderland

Snow? What's that? Something up in the mountains?

The local mall dumps a few tons of snow on its plaza for a lark. Look, you can wear mittens and throw snowballs and pretend you're freezing to death -- just like up north!