End of Summer Recap

With the kids going back to school today the summer is officially over. Shlomo and Hoodie went to Keytana (day camp), 2 weeks and 3 weeks at their respective schools. 

Peri and I also took a very different approach to the summer. We decided that one day a week we would go on tiyul. The criteria were: not local and different from the usual. Sometimes we did stuff as a family, sometimes with friends, sometimes with the kids, sometimes just the two of us. The end result was a fantastic summer visiting different places and spending quality time with people we don't always get to spend a lot of time with. 

Our summer tiyulim included: Akko (boat ride), Tnuvot (IEHL Game), Tel Aviv (Sonoma Market), Netanya/Hadera, Modiin (Jeeping), Teveria (Jungle Keif), Beit Shemesh (Police Museum), Yarka (Amusement Park/Ice Skating).

Akko - Anything touristy to do in Akko is located in the old city. There is a large parking lot at the entrance to the old city. On a really hot day, with little kids there are not a lot of cost effective things to do. We headed to the port and took a boat ride. The whole family had a really nice time on the boat. 

Tnuvot -  While Tnuvot isn't technically a new place, as I play hockey there most weeks of the year. The IEHL is a league that plays a short season at the beginning of the summer. It was the first time Peri had been to the rink in Tnuvot. It was the first time I watched live competitive hockey since I played in the hockey tournament 6 years ago. It was a great date night for Peri and I. 

Tel Aviv -  Located somewhere in the middle of the bustling city is a beautiful green space, including a sensory park for kids. Sonoma Market contains a lot of restaurants and food related shops, many of them kosher. It was also an opportunity to visit a friend that I don't get to see enough.

Netanya/Hadera - Uncle Jesse was on his first ever trip to Israel. We were not going to pass up the opportunity to visit him. It was great getting to know him as the adult he is becoming as opposed to the little boy I remember. Shlomo and Hoodie really took a liking to him to the point the Shlomo still enjoys talking about him. On the way home, we got stuck in super heavy traffic, leaving us arriving home after bedtime. We took a detour into Hadera and found a restaurant for dinner. The food and customer service were excellent.

Modiin - Peri had never been jeeping before. She called up to get a quote on the price. When the price was too high, the owner quickly dropped the price to something extremely affordable. Peri and I got to do all of the driving while we followed our guide through the Ben Shemen forest as he drove an SUV. The hour and a half of driving made for an incredibly fun day. We spent the afternoon/evening with friends in Modiin. It was definitely one of the highlights of the summer. 

Teveria - A friend joined us to travel 14 km South of Tiveria to a kibbutz with an exotic animal park called Jungle Keif. They had all kinds of exotic animals including: monkeys, snakes, lizards, camels, ducks, swans, turtles (lots of turtles) and everything in between. There were ducks running around lose and all kinds of animals all over the place. It was very Israeli in term of the layout being smallish and a bit chaotic. It was very well shaded and they had water mist spraying through parts of the park, allowing you to forget the extremely hot day. There were a ton of animals. You could even buy a cup of food to feed the various animals. There was a lot of food in the cup to the point we had leftovers as the time to go home was approaching.

The plan was to go from there to the beach in Teveria. Being ben hazmanim, the streets and beaches were more of a zoo than the animal enclosure we just came from. In the end we went home, got changed and went to spend the late afternoon on the local beach.

Beit Shemesh - We took Shlomo and Hoodie to the Police Museum. We took the tour, which included 2 short movies. Some exhibits had some special effects. Outside they had a display of old police cars. They had kids size police uniforms that kids could try on. It was a cute little museum, if you are looking for something to do for an hour to hour and a half. The rest of the day consisted of meeting up with some friends and a stop to the cemetery.

Yarka - With a couple of days left til the start of the school year we went with 2 families up to MyBaby. MyBaby is a giant toy store that also has an amusement park, skating rink, bowling alley, restaurants (none kosher) and more. The 3 families pooled our money together to buy a card that covered the cost of skating. The end result was a huge bonus on the purchase that left us with enough money for everyone to enjoy the amusement park rides and activities. 

It was the first time Shlomo ever went ice skating. (Me carrying him on the ice at Channah's Bat Mitzvah when he was 1 doesn't count). We had a great time on the ice. It was interesting that he had no idea to expect the ice to be so slippery and cold. By the time the 40 minutes on the ice was done, had improved significantly. We had a great time together. 

The combination of activities were not only fun but they provided a nice breakdown to the week, where the kids could entertain themselves allowing us to have time to work. 

Living so close to the water I find myself at the beach regularly.  Sometimes on a bike ride or when Peri and I just need a short break from a hectic day. Usually we stay on the tayelet (boardwalk). I have rediscovered the joy of spending time on the beach and how much I love spending time in the water. 

It has been a great summer. Hopefully it will lead into a great school year and with Rosh HaShannah on the horizon a great up and coming year.

 

Home Swimming Pool

Sonoma Market

Uncle Jesse

Jeeping

Jungle Keif

 

MyBaby

11 Years Ago - Gabi's Yahrziet

Over that last little while, Each time I have been thinking of Gabi, I have come to two new realizations. Very few people that have come into my life since leaving Beit Shemesh know about Gabi. Gabi would be 11 years old. 

As we move through different stages through our lives, people come to be part of that journey. As we have moved on to other stages, some people exit stage left and are not there to continue the journey. Some play a bigger role in some sections and smaller roles in others. Some people we care about, no matter how disconnected we may have become, while others relationships we simply move on. 

Gabi never had a chance to be part of my life journey after she was born. Her memory carries on in my heart and I still have the same love for her as I have for all of her siblings. We moved away from Beit Shemesh for a new start. I wanted to go back to being known for me as opposed to being known for what I have been through. It took me years of hard work to have a semblance of having some idea of who I am and who I want to be. Gabi did have a significant role to play in that journey of discovery. However her role was as my baby girl, not the little girl she could have become.

 It was a shock to think of her as an eleven year old because I don't think of her that way. There are so many questions that I never had the chance to learn the answer to. What would her personality be like? What would her likes and dislikes be? What would she be interested in? What would she look like? What challenges would she face? How would she overcome them. Any answers I could pretend to have to those questions would be pure fantasy. I simply cannot imagine her as an 11 year old. I can only picture her warm body in my arms, imagining what her life would of, could of been like.

I remember having a conversation with a friend about how their family would mark their grandmother's yahrziet with a 'Bubbie Shabbos'. The entire family would get together and mark the occasion with food that they associated with her, either through her cooking or food they enjoyed. Over time 'Bubbie Shabbos' started to include food 'Bubbie would have liked' if she had still been alive. It has been many years, since this conversation and I have no idea what is done today. 

Part of Gabi's loss is I don't even have a base to consider what she 'would have been like.' Occasionally with Channah, Shlomo and especially Hoodie when I have an interaction with them, I wonder to myself if Gabi would have been similar or completely different. 

As I mark Gabi's Yahrtziet, I am left wondering what would it be like to have an 11 year old. I am left thinking of the words I posted on the day she was born/died. 

'For most of us it takes a life time, our Gabi was able to fulfill her purpose in life before she was born. She has been a source of love and inspiration. She taught us that even the impossible can come true, for both good and bad.'

She has taught me many life lessons. That includes a lesson that fortunately most people don't have to learn. I know that it is possible to love somebody, simply for the fact that she is my daughter.  How much more so should we seek to show our love with those we have or want to have an active relationship with.