First, weird days

Weird because we're really jetlagged and so basically nocturnal. Actually, we've been getting up in the afternoon and staying up through the wee hours, every day getting up a little bit earlier.
On our first day (Thursday) we got up at 3 pm, got our luggage at 5, and went to Tiberias at 6 in a failed attempt to open a bank account. Arriving so close to closing (more than 1/2 hour?) made it impossible to complete the loads of paperwork apparently required. We did get our inaugural falafel in Tiberias, though.


Note the sweatiness. It is SO HOT here. Tiberias was horrible, even in the evening. We attempted to entertain Lilah in the shuk (market) and on the waterfront, but she just wanted to eat these disgusting, brightly-colored snowball-like slushy drinks that come out of giant vats.
Friday was better, as we woke up in time to get some food for lunch and then get to the pool. Lilah tried to fight the sun with her umbrella.


The kiddie pool here is amazing - shallow, covered, and teeming with kids and their grandparents. It is the only respite in this heat. Talia found us there and befriended Lilah pretty quickly.

Then we went back to Safta's house in preparation for exciting shabbat dinner in the dining room.

we're here but our luggage is not

The trip was fairly brutal, but we arrived. One of us (not me) slept the entire first leg from DC to London, and was awake for nearly all of our 10-hour layover in Heathrow. We managed to span time taking the free shuttle buses from terminal to terminal, checking out good spots to see planes take off, eating of course and shopping. We were all awake for the second flight from London to Tel Aviv, but it was less than 5 hours so it wasn't too bad. If we had carried our camera on, we would have taken pictures of Lilah sitting on two El Al pillows on her seat so she would be high enough to view Peter Pan 2 times on the screen in the seatback in front of her. The headphones were too small so we attempted to make them fit by stuffing the complimentary bag of Nishnushim (little crackers) between her head and the headphones, which worked pretty well.

The flights were actually ok, but the arrival sucked as our bags didn't arrive (somehow the car seat did, though) and the car rental place was an ordeal as usual. By the time we hit the road it was 7:30 am and we were stuck in stop-and-go traffic between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for what seemed like forever. And then we got here and had to confront the reality of the Jordan Valley weather - it's night here now and it's still registering 90 degrees outside. We crashed this afternoon and ran around outside this evening when it was a bit 'cooler.' Lilah is really excited to be here. She and Safta are watching Lady and the Tramp right now. Hopefully El Al will find our bags tomorrow or soon after so we have clean clothes, presents, camera, all of my handwritten Hazor ground stone notes from years past (yikes), etc.

Uncle Todd's special day

GrandDad's house is way out in the country. There is no cell reception, but there is a Christian rodeo just up the road. Here are some scenes from Uncle Todd's birthday party last Saturday out at GrandDad's house, including some new outside kittens, chickens, and a scary lawn gnome that Ashly made.

Despite the easy instructions, I'm still obviously struggling with the formatting here ...

Crabby

Every state has its local cuisine (I guess the Hoosier state - at least the southwestern portion - is known for its mysterious burgoo and brain sandwiches) and Maryland is for crabs. Will probably get crab cakes on Saturday, but until then we eat crab chips.

On the move

There are two good things about the popularity of Cinderella lately:

1. less Mary Poppins

2. cleaning the floor

Last weekend we left Evansville and headed east. We spent the first night in Louisville with Valerie and Tom, which was lovely. We proceeded to Oxford, OH, where we spent part of a sunny day in their little town square/park observing cannons (she thought it was a telescope) and climbing animal sculptures.

Her first ring pop (cotton candy flavor).

Since arriving in Maryland we've been mostly hanging out with the fam. Today we went to Westminster pond - where I used to go as a kid - and fed the geese a loaf of bread. Yesterday was so exhausting (not that we did much) that someone crashed on a chair at 6:00 while the rest of us ate dinner.

a playdate scene

Last Wednesday we hosted playdate at our house for the last time for months, sadly. Here are some highlights:

brownies

Abba made brownies last week and the BFFs enjoyed every last bit.

and more Mary Poppins ...

Many umbrellas

Recently we have had a lot of Mary Poppins photos taken in and around the house. Since the small Dora umbrella was destroyed, we have had to resort to regular umbrellas. Here, a recent one with a new leotard (thanks Meg!):

Some outdoor pictures - in the rain! - with makeshift dress and bag:


And today, a double whammy: a Princess umbrella from Walmart is on sale and GrandDad's WOW box arrives. It contains among other things a carpet bag made by Aunt Peggy, pretend birds (like in A Spoonful of Sugar), and Spiderman underoos!:

This is a bonus family portrait. Clockwise from top: Momma, L and Abba.