בנשמה

One last hurrah before school starts. Today we joined a demonstration for making Italian ice cream in Rechovot. Glida Chooplah does several of these 1.5 hour activities throughout the year. The most ironic discovery was an ice cream flavored named Corona. We thought it would be gross or purposely made that way like Jelly Bellys that are made to taste like snot. But it actually was surprisingly good.  Nothing is planned for tomorrow other than school and figuring out drop offs and pick ups. Hello תשפ"א. Good luck to all!  Orientation for kita aleph was yesterday for which we have a daughter not excited - -" mommy, there are no toys."

The thing about Israel is that it is small. Many families use the last two weeks of August to see relatives, enjoy nature and recharge. Without daycare, you are forced to stay cation or really go somewhere. As you can see, go we did. A few notes. Given the country's size, there really is no reason not to go back home for shabbat. As new olim, ok fine, going on year two, we watched as other families sat with their siblings, parents, grandparents and this made us feel, well, rather alone. For myself at least, no parents and no grandparents at all. The feeling was strange and I ended up missing my parents, a lot. At the playground I asked our son if he knew why we moved here. He looked at me and replied "because saba and savta are here." I asked ok, what else "because it's our homeland."  Bingo. In the constant moving around during the week, we didn't feel lonely at all. Motzei shabbat we learned all the families would return home an

Another fantastic day to end our much needed vacation. We started off at the Ramat Golan Winery in Katzrin. The guide was very patient with children and at the wine tasting, she offered them grape juice in their own fancy wine glasses (that we all got to keep). Shame they didn't sell their branded masks. We would have bought one. Free marketing. Take note to all the tourist attractions! Sad times, but have some fun...  From there we headed to an olive oil Oleah Essence factory in Katzrin that creates fragrances, cosmetics and lotions. The kids were intrigued by the exfoliating mud to wash their hands. We spent maybe 25 minutes there. A movie shared the history and process. I ran after the baby who enjoyed a chocolate ice cream sold by the Drusi market inside the factory. I spoke with her about her love of Israel, how so many in Syria wish to be able to be here (but can't for one reason or another) and some foods she makes.  Tired

We had a fantastic day. As an Israeli would say, mamash eser. First we started off at LOL Art in Ramot Hagolan. The wood painting craft DIY place was well equipped with a variety of choices, a pool table, ball pit, food, drinks, ice cream, outdoor connect four and a stunning view of the Kinneret. Be prepared to spend 3 hours there.  By far Ramot also had the nicest super market or what they call here, tzarcheniya (literally meaning place of needs). We stocked up on water anticipating a hike at Mapal Gamla fresh fruits. Upon arrival to Mapal Gamla we learned it would be a lengthy, hot hike with no promise of entering the water. The park ranger recommended that we go to Maayan Kanaf which proved to be fantastic (beyond amazing).  On the way to that location we stopped at Mapal Eit which was a small waterfall you can look at. This is probably more spectacular in the winter months, though it was nice to see water and greenery. And we saw more

We started off our day driving to Hispin for chocolate making by עדי במטבח. She was incredibly patient, child friendly and had 4 demonstrations such as first making chocolate from a variety of shapes, nugget based popsicles, "coloring" with chocolate and then making chocolate balls. The outting took roughly 2 hours. We drove back to the our lodging in Aloney Habashan to keep the delicacies in our fridge. Following that we drove to Beit Haribot (House of jelly) which was cool, but not an interactive demonstration. Pre corona she would have a tasting table. We found a jam named after Simcha and bought pure honey for Rosh Hashana (and fresh grape jelly, which is super hard to find in Israel - - we have Smuckers from super h in Beit Shemesh, but otherwise we haven't had success finding it at a general grocery chain). I'm not sure why, but Sara the owner does not ship her items throughout Israel.  From there we went to Katzri

Unsure if we'd make it with all the back and forth restrictions of Corona... we were and are blessed to be spending the week in the Golan heights.  Chofesh Hagadol is a challenging time in Israel with limited to no daycare. It essentially forces stay vacations or getting out. When our pessach plans canceled, we saw an ad in one of the Shabbat publications for a village resort in Aloney Habashan. The cottages offer 1 and 2 bedrooms which unlike a hotel, we were very much looking for. A more luxurious option can be found in Merom Golan, but where we are is very child friendly.  The Golan is a huge, vast area of nature with pockets of towns. Upon arrival, the city girl in me wanted to turn around and head back to Beit Shemesh, but what fun would that be? We all decided we would work on ourselves for the week to unwind, not check work emails, work on our manners, cut out lots of TV time and get to know a new, quiet

Woke up this morning to the sound of shofar blasts. Went to the store and honey cake was being sold.  Elul zman.  Nothing like it outside of Israel.  May this year be sweeter than the last, please Gd. 

In 48 hours...