Camping, attempt 1

To round out Liam's Spring Break, we decided to go camping in the Negev Desert with our good friends, the Baltzes.  We left Friday morning and had a beautiful drive down...that is until Liam reminded us rather forcefully that he still suffers from carsickness.  Because it had not happened since the winding, mountainous roads of Bosnia, we simply forgot about him getting carsick.  We had to stop to change every item of his clothing, wipe down his booster seat and seatbelt, and attempt to save the iPad (which we did, we simply threw the cover away).

After the incident, we told him to hold this bag, just in case.

He decided to loop it over his ears, feedbag style.

After Liam and the car were cleaned up, we continued on to our campsite at the Ramon Crater, where we were in for a bit of a surprise.  Half of Israel decided to come camping too!  So the men rushed to find two camping spots together, as well as a piece of steel for our campfire.  We had to set up our tents in pretty fierce wind gusts, and once the sun started to set, we had to dig out winter hats!

 Howards on the left, Baltzes on the right

The camp site--see?  Half of Israel

Then it came time to build our fire and start dinner.  We were having "hobo dinners", a recipe I learned while working the Outdoors program at Camp Winnataska nigh on 20 years ago now.  Traditionally, they consist of seasoned hamburger patties, potatoes, carrots, and onions wrapped in tinfoil and placed on smoldering coals to cook.  Only Geoff forgot to buy potatoes, Liam doesn't eat carrots, and we didn't have Dale's sauce...so my desire for Camp nostalgia was denied, but we enjoyed dinner regardless.

As it came time for Sam to go to bed, I took him into our fabulous tent (2 compartments inside!) and tried to put him in his pack 'n play.  He would have NONE of it and cried and cried any time I tried to leave.  So I snuggled with him in my sleeping bag, trying to get him drowsy enough to ignore the noise outside.  It finally worked about 9 p.m., but by then I was too warm and sleepy to get out of my sleeping bag, so I missed out on the campfire and Liam's excitement about roasting a marshmallow and then his refusal to eat it.

After a cold night next to musical, talkative neighbors, the boys woke up at first light, happy and ready to go.  Once our friends woke up, we got the camp stove ready and made coffee (which we all very badly needed), bacon, eggs, and pancakes.  Then half of Israel left since their workweek starts on Sunday, and we headed out for a hike.  It started out well, and the kids did great climbing up some steep rockface.  When we got to the top, we had a great view, so we sat to enjoy a little snack before heading back down.

 The whole crew

 About to tackle the mountain

 Almost to the top

At the summit!

Little did we know that was the last of our happiness for a while.  Sam cried almost the entire way back to the camp.  At least Geoff was able to snap two scenic photos.

 Rock cairns

Desert scenery

Once we got back and were somewhat sheltered from the relentless winds, the parents had a pow-wow and decided to throw in the towel due to the weather predictions of below freezing temps and possible rain.  We hit a McDonald's for dinner on our way out, and the boys slept the entire 3 hour drive home.  We put them straight to bed before we showered away the desert dust until the water ran red, and we hit the sack by 10 p.m.  Everyone slept until after 7 a.m., which is unheard of in our house.  It was the best sleep I've had in months!

Then came the mountain of laundry.  I had to wash EVERYTHING, even though we only stayed one night.  The dust was embedded.   It took me 2 1/2 days.

Guess which pillowcase accompanied us?

So, this trip was rough, but we are not deterred.  We want our boys to love the outdoors as much as we do.  We'll just pay better attention to local holidays and wind predictions next time!  Because it really was a lovely place, see?

Growing like weeds

I am once again skipping a post (last weekend's camping trip), so I can wait on some photos from our friends.  This post is all about the boys and how quickly they're growing.

We've recently enjoyed some good weather (followed immediately by "unseasonable", "very unusual" bad weather which we enjoyed experienced while camping), and we have taken advantage by heading outdoors.

 Both guys LOVE the swings.

And Sam just adores walking to Big Brother.

And that is one of our big news items...SAM IS WALKING!  It took him longer than the average baby, but he is loving his new found ability.  Check him out in action.


The other big news item?  LIAM IS READING! In truth, he has been reading for some time now, but I finally was able to get him on video, reading one of his homework assignments.  Check him out in action.


We are so proud of our boys!  What a joy they are!

Passover (and more Easter)

Easter addendum: I forgot to add the Consulate's Easter party to my previous post.  Liam and Sam enjoyed hunting for eggs, and Liam even got his face painted.  He asked to be a "fearless Auburn Tiger."  Mommy is so proud.

Now onto Passover.  I am getting a real education.  I don't consider myself willfully ignorant.  In fact, before moving here, I would even have described myself as pretty knowledgeable about religious stuff--Judaism included.  However, there are two things I did not know.  1) Passover is celebrated for an entire week.  I thought it was just one night because the actual passing over happened in one night.  Passover (or Pesach in Hebrew) actually celebrates the emancipation of the Israelites from Egypt, which includes the passing over.  Read more here.

There's a lot to do for those who observe a traditional Pesach.  They must clean their home, cars, and any other personal spaces.  And I mean REALLY clean.  They must not only rid the home of any leavened product (bread, cereal, pasta, crackers, etc.), there must also not be one crumb of leavened ANYTHING in these spaces.  People use TOOTHBRUSHES or FEATHERS to scrub in order to make sure there isn't any chametz left behind.  But, for those too busy to do this kind of cleaning, there are loopholes. In fact, the state of Israel sells all of its chametz (in prisons, schools, etc.) to an Islamic man every year in order to get out of the cleaning/burning process.

The day that Passover begins (at sunset, remember?), people burn leftover chametz before noon.  We even saw a couple of bread fires on our way to the zoo on my birthday, even though we don't live in an ultra religious neighborhood.  

And once Passover starts, anything not labeled Kosher for Passover cannot be sold.  And here is the second thing I did not know...that there is a difference between Kosher and Kosher for Passover.   During Passover, not only do the normal Kosher laws apply, but there is the added piece of no leavening allowed.   From the website linked above (click the word Pesach):

Chametz means leavened grain—any food or drink that contains even a trace of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt or their derivatives, and which wasn’t guarded from leavening or fermentation. This includes bread, cake, cookies, cereal, pasta and most alcoholic beverages. Moreover, almost any processed food or drink can be assumed to be chametz unless certified otherwise.

So if you are no Jewish and you have kids whose favorite foods include various breads and crackers, you have to plan ahead or shop in East Jerusalem.  Otherwise you get this site while grocery shopping.   Anything covered up is considered chametz and cannot be sold.  Luckily for us, we have just a few days left before life returns to normal! 

Easter

Our first Easter task was dyeing the eggs.  So one morning during Sam's nap, Liam and I got to work.

We must have had the most fragile eggs on the planet, as I lost two during the boiling process, and then we lost both yellow ones trying to put stickers on them!  So what do you do with broken Easter eggs?  Have them for snack! (Sam was NOT a fan).

Easter morning, Geoff and I were awakened by a sweet little voice whispering "Happy Easter"...before sunrise at 6 am.  What else can you do but say it back and get up to see if the Easter bunny came?

 Liam discovered a new Elephant and Piggie book, Boulder the Rescue Bot, 

some stickers, and some candy.

 Sam seemed to know it was a special day.

 He discovered a life-the-flap book, some crayons and a coloring book, and a bath toy.

Later on, we headed to brunch with friends, bringing Memaw's deviled Easter eggs, about which several people asked, "Did you find that on Pinterest?" And I gladly got to explain that my grandmother had been doing this for as long as I could remember, well before the internet.  

Then later on that afternoon, we headed to our favorite park for an afternoon picnic and egg hunt with more friends.

 The kids at the starting line

 On the hunt

 Checking out the loot

 Our picnic spot

Playtime pile up

After our picnic, we headed home for Easter ribs.

 Sam enjoyed gnawing on the bones.

And Liam enjoyed it all!

Palm Sunday in the Old City

I'm going to skip an entry.  Geoff hiked a bit of the Jesus Trail with some friends last weekend, so I am going to let him do that blog post.  The pictures look great!

Last weekend after Geoff got back from his hike, he and I left the boys with Miss Maia (our wonderful babysitter from Boston here on a dance fellowship) and headed into the Old City to see what we could see of the Palm Sunday celebrations.

First, we stopped into our fabric shop to view our new couch pillows.  Shopping here is a different experience, especially if you shop in Arabic shops.  The owners will greet you warmly and immediately offer you a place to sit and ask if you would like tea or coffee.  I always get the tea--it is served scalding hot and sweet with plenty of mint, and it is delicious.  Then you chat a bit.  Not about your wares, but about weather, family history, whether business is good, and sometimes American politics (why aren't we in Syria?).  Then you can move on to your business.  I usually go in dreading "wasting" my time, but I always end up leaving with new perspectives, and in this case, a VERY STRONG INCLINATION to go back and purchase some silk damask from a now-bombed factory in Syria (damask originally = fabric from Damascus).  That fabric is the last of its kind!.

We left the fabric store after viewing our pillows and a promise to collect them on our way out, and headed toward the other edge of the city to watch the Palm Sunday pilgrimage.  Christians gather at the Mount of Olives to walk the probable route of Jesus's triumphant entry into the city all those years ago.  (We opted not to participate due to the crowds and needing to be home at a decent hour for Maia's sake.)  We watched them for a while from an old Ottoman cemetery, and then we decided to do our own walk up the Via Dolorosa.

It was a bit surreal for me.  I know I say this every time I write about the Jesus sites--that the chances these are THE sites are slim, but that does not bother me...blah, blah, blah.  I still enjoy being in the vicinity of amazing things.  Somewhere in that countlessly sacked and rebuilt city, Jesus carried a cross from his prison to Golgotha.  Somewhere in there, he fell several times, a woman wiped his face, he addressed some grieving women.  Somewhere near where we were walking.  And that is enough for us.

 Our view of the Mount of Olives and Gethsemane from the cemetery

 A school group marched in to St. Anne's Monastery 

(I wanted to go in the church. I'm told it has amazing acoustics, 

but it was closed to visitors.  Harumph.)

 The start of the Via Dolorosa

 Station III--where Jesus fell the first time

Station V--where Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry the cross

Field Trip

Last week, Liam took his first field trip.  The preschool class visited the central fire station in Jerusalem and learned about fire safety.  The kids also got to get inside a fire truck, put on a fireman's helmet, and shoot the water hose.  Liam had a blast and came home full of information he was eager to share with us all.

 Trying not to smile since fighting fires is serious business

Aqaba

After much debate, I decided to brave the long drive to Aqaba (and an international border crossing) with the kids so we could join the others for the weekend.  My friend, Lesley, and I decided to carpool together Friday morning instead of joining the rest of the mommy caravan, which was leaving right after school on Thursday.  Our first hurdle was getting out of Jerusalem, because the day we left was also the day of the Jerusalem Marathon, so most major roads were closed.  We had to take a long, roundabout route, which added a good 45 minutes to our already long drive.

Once we hit the highway, it was pretty smooth sailing until we needed to stop for a restroom.  There just aren't that many choices for pit stops.  Gas stations are few and far between, and rest areas like we have on US interstates are non-existent.  We ended up stopping at a national park (Masada), which turned out nice and clean and was about halfway through the trip.

Once we got to the border crossing, we were joyous, as Aqaba is right on the other side.  We were almost there!!!  Everyone told us how easy this border crossing was compared to Allenby (the nearest one to us), so we were pumped...until we were both told by the Israelis we could not take our cars into Jordan.  You see, both our vehicles are registered in our husbands' names only, and the customs folks wanted power of attorney to prove we could take the cars.  I was mad.  Geoff' name is in all three of our diplomatic passports, listing us as dependents of his, but that wasn't good enough.  I had to call Geoff, who in turn sweet talked the folks at customs into accepting a faxed copy of his passport instead of power of attorney.  All in all, we spent a good two hours at the border crossing, waiting for this to sort itself out, and then on the Jordanian side where we had to get currency, buy temporary insurance and registration, etc.

But once we were through---WE MADE IT!  We found the hotel on our first try, and Geoff had a beer waiting for me.  Good man!  And after that 7 hour trip (which should have taken 5), it was nice to be in the warm sunshine at the sea.

 We woke up to this lovely view.

 And this cutie too!

 The kids enjoyed the hot tub,

 but the highlight of our weekend was the "three hour tour" on the boat!

 See those hills?  That's Egypt.

 Basking in the sun on the Gulf of Aqaba

Saudi Arabia is off to the left, Egypt and Israel to the right

(click here for map)

 A glance of the reef through the glass

Excited boys looking at the fish

 My boys

 Liam wanted to try snorkeling.

 But when he climbed down the ladder and felt the water, he changed his mind.

 Geoff braved the cold though!

And after a nice grilled meal, the kids got to take turns steering us back to the shore.

Captain Liam loved it!

With Geoff with us on the way back, the border crossing was extremely easy, and Sam even napped some this time!  We'll be back, if for no other reason than to eat all the seafood we possibly can.  MAN do we miss shrimp!