Erev Shabbat and Shabbat # 5

August 13-14, 2010

Our last erev shabbat... Its so hard to believe that our whirlwind trip is almost over...

We spent a great day in Raanana with the Raanan's. Once again, the Raanan's were packing for another move, but Sarah took a break to spend a great day with us at their country club. After a yummy falafel lunch on the way, the kids swam, hung out and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Saying goodbye was so hard...we always knew when the next time we would see each other would be...I hate goodbyes...

Shabbat was simple, quiet, and uneventful. We went to the Kotel on Friday night, ate lunch at Savta's house and visited Ephraim Simcha and Orli and Yehuda's cousins Alberto and Esther on Shabbat afternoon. Walking around Jerusalem on Shabbat afternoon we had a weird feeling about going home. 5 shabbatot is a long time...

After shabbat, instead of packing, Yehuda and I walked to Mamila, then walked to town, then walked back, soaking in the beautiful Jerusalem air...

When will we be back again?

Latrun and Tel Aviv

August 12, 2010

This morning we let the kids sleep late and then headed out towards Tel Aviv. We stopped at Latrun on the way and , despite the extreme heat, the boys LOVED climbing on the tanks. Zachary didn't want to leave.

Next we explored Old Yafo a little bit, ate a yummy pizza lunch, and then headed to the beach.

Joshua spent the afternoon snorkeling and Leora caught multiple hermit crabs and collected them in a bottle. Zachary was content digging in the sand, while Benjamin enjoyed looking for fish with his goggles on. All in all a great day!

We returned to Jerusalem, ate dinner at Pizza Hut (pizza twice in one day isn't bad, right?) and went back to the apartment to go to sleep!

Rosh Chodesh, Geula, Tower of David

August 11, 2010

Leora and Yehuda woke up early this morning and went to the Old City for a little father daughter Rosh Chodesh special time. The boys and I slept and slept and slept. Nobody moved until at least 10 AM. I'm not surprised after the last few days :)

At about noon we finally all left and went to run errands and eat lunch in Geula -- don't worry, Yehuda and I were relieved to see separate lines to order pizza in the pizza store. The kids all seemed exhausted and we knew that it was going to be another late night so we went back to the apartment to take a NAP. The kids all rested with ipods in their beds for 2 hours while Yehuda and I slept. So nice...

Then we went to the night Sound and Light show at the Tower of David. It was absolutely incredible! It was probably the nicest thing that we did here. ALL of the kids were mesmerized. It was truly breathtaking.

Then we went to town for a late dinner and, once again, arrived home at 11:30 PM. I think we may need a vacation from our vacation :)

Camel Safari, Timna Park, Glass Bottom Boat and Masada Sound and Light Show

August 10, 2010

I know that this post comes a day late, but read about our day and you'll understand why I was absolutely too exhausted to even think about the blog last night :)

We began our morning bright and early with another delicious Israeli breakfast, checked out of the hotel and were off to Camel Ranch for our first stop of the day. We went on a 1 hour camel safari through the desert and beautiful Eilat mountains. We rode along the path that most scientists agree (although not all) is the dividing line between the Sinai and Negev deserts. The line of the day was about 45 minutes into the ride when Benjamin said, "Next time can we please skip the camels?" He didn't like the bumps. After a snack of Bedouin bread, cheese, and tea, we headed to Timna Park.

Can you say, "HOT HOT HOT"? I don't think we have ever experienced such extreme heat ever. In the middle of the desert with no shade at all, of course our kids wanted to climb up the mountains into the caves to look for the ancient writing. I was so smart by wearing flip flops-- you cannot imagine how the hot sand burned my feet! We watched a great presentation about the Egyptian copper mines, saw a replica of the mishkan, went paddle boating on Timna Lake, and filled bottles with colored sand from the area. It was a lot of fun, but did I mention that it was HOT?!

After a stop at Big Apple Pizza for lunch, next we drove back down to the marina and went on an Eilat Glass Bottom Boat Tour. Other than a few kvetchy children, the scenery was magnificent and the air was even better. We rode along both the Jordanian and Egyptian borders, along Dolphin reef and saw dolphins, and over Coral Beach in the glass bottom boat. Even the kids thought seeing the beautiful coral and fish was cool.

After we got off the boat, we literally sped out of Eilat. The time was 5:50 PM and we were trying to make the 9:00 PM sound and light show on the back side of Masada. The woman at Masada said that we would never make it, but Yehuda was determined. Guess what? We made it with even 20 minutes to spare. Yehuda and I loved the show, but Joshua and Benjamin had no interest and Leora and Zachary were a little bit confused about what was going on. After a LONG drive home, we arrived in our apartment at 2 AM.

Maybe tomorrow should be a more laid back day....

Eilat Underwater Observatory and Snorkeling

August 9, 2010

Another wild and crazy day with the Kohns. We started our day bright and early with a delicious Israeli breakfast at our hotel, the Dan Panorama. Then we headed straight to the aquarium, aka the Underwater Observatory. The kids thought it was funny that the street we had to take to get there was Derech Mitzrayim -- since it ended it Egypt!

The kids loved the underwater viewing area and the coral reefs were gorgeous. They also loved seeing the spectacular view from the top platform. The shark movie was incredible (even for us as adults) and they loved feeding the fish right out of their hands. It was too windy for the glass bottom boat so we traded our tickets for ice cream and drink vouchers, which we thoroughly enjoyed in the 110 degree heat. All in all it was a fantastic morning.

Next we took the kids to the next beach over to go snorkeling. We rented the gear, wet suits and all and headed down to the crystal blue waters of the Red Sea. Joshua, our snorkeling expert couldn't wait to go out with Daddy first. Benjamin, in his wet suit, laid on the beach and played in the rocks and sand...I kept him company. Yehuda took each of the kids one at a time out to see the beautiful coral reefs and fish. The kids had so much fun that they didn't want to leave when it was time to return the "gear" as Benjamin called it.

After a quick stop at Camel Ranch to reserve a Camel Safari through the mountains for tomorrow, we headed back to our hotel and straight to the swimming pool. The kids enjoyed a yummy dinner of hot dogs, hamburgers, schnitzel and french fries at the poolside cafe and then swam and swam and swam until Yehuda and I were too tired to supervise them anymore.

Afters baths and showers (and a movie in bed) the kids were asleep. Yehuda and I went out to this delicious restaurant called "Denis" -- YUM!

Laila tov!