Gymboree

Today instead of sending Dani to the Gan, him and me met Jana & Anita in the Jamboree in Raanana. Jana and Dani played so nicely together, even though they don't meet every week. We stayed much longer than we ever used to stay when we where there with the Baby Group. (OK, the kids are much older now.)

Dani and me haven't been to that place for more than a year. But Dani every now and then asked to go there. So it must have been a double special treat: Not only could he spend more than 4 hours in the Jamboree but also with his best friend Jana. Once at lunchtime we made a break and went to McDonald's upstairs. Which was a treat for both of them as well. Anita, thanks for inviting us! - Next time it's our turn. Dani counted all the 9 ketchup's he had. If you'd ask him - he would tell you he had Ketchup with French Fries ;-) ... And if he'd eat breakfast, he'd have for for all 3 meals Ketchup. I think we go through a big bottle a week.

We really liked our day out. Not only did we both meet our best friends, but most of all I had a great time with my son. I love you so much, Daniel! Each day that passes I feel stronger connected to you. You wouldn't think that love still can grow more.

Operation Dessert Storm

you can see by the yellowish color of the picture how "dusty" it is... this is one of the aqueducts - this picture shows the beautiful arches, that are mostly still below the sand

Since yesterday is such a dessert wind - in Hebrew "Sharav", that you almost can't see. Today they said that the dust particles in the air are 20 times higher than the maximum allowed. That's why they advise that pregnant women, Babies, old people and people with asthma should stay at home. By the way, I am suffering for the last few weeks of horrible asthma cough. I am even taking an inhalator to help me cope with it.

Even so, we made a great trip yesterday with our "Buffalo". Not too far, just around Ceasarea. Daniel asked to go also to the "snow": One of the two aqueducts is partly covered with very fine sand, which goes down very steep like a snow slope. This is really fun for kids to play with. They can climb it and roll down, jump down - without the fear of getting hurt.

On weekends when we are quite lazy we have such an advantage here, that we live so close to nature. Then we don't have to drive for hours to have some fun. The sand dunes, the sea and the archaeological sites (which are mostly undiscovered) are just within minutes reach. Where I come from people can only dream of living in such a wild, romantic spot. There might be also nice scenery in Austria, but certainly not exactly where I used to live. Or at least I didn't enjoy that place at all.... Now I can say that I am truly happy and fulfilled. All my life I wanted to live near the sea. Now I can just grab my surfboard and head out by foot to the ocean and its rough waves.

an Arab fishing village just at the edge of Ceasarea

in all its beauty you have to forget all the dirt that is lying around ...

Aba and Ima on their Morning Out

After we brought Dani to the Gan in the morning and did some grocery shopping we decided to go to the old city in Caesarea. We anyway still had a coupon for a free breakfast. We almost never go out - so this was quite nice.

The breakfast was quite a lot: Freshly squeezed orange juice, a big salad and about 8 different spreads like avocado with onion, eggplant with creme fresh, 2 pieces of smoke salmon, techina, tuna salad, some pickled gamba spread, quinces jam, cream cheese with dill. Each one could choose what kind of eggs you wanted. (Two per person) And nice fresh dark bread.

Sorry, but no pictures. I only thought about the camera after we were just finished. We left some nice tip because we anyway didn't have to pay.

Then we had still another hour to pass until we could pick up Dani from the Gan. So we strolled down to the sea where we never had been before. That was so nice - to enjoy it together (only the two of us.... you know what I mean ;-) .

you can see the walls of the city have fallen over the centuries into the sea

the Romans built a big port - the biggest one in that time in the Mediterranean

more walls that fell into the sea

how beautiful and clear the sea is ...

Tapsani

Dani got from the Gan on Tu Bishvat (holiday - the day of the Tree) a little plant. On the same day we planted it in a big pot in our garden. Then a few weeks passed until yesterday.

I looked at the flower and saw that the whole pot was covered with small red ants. So I took a shovel and dug out the plant. Meanwhile Dani also came over and saw what I was doing. He told me that he gave the plant the name Tapsani and even kissed it. When I got it out of the earth I saw that the roots of the plant where like a nest of crawling ants. A few days more in the pot and they would have for sure eaten it alive... The only chance the plant had was to wash of all the original earth it came with to wash off all the ants. I know that normally you should not do it, but that was the only thing I could do to save Dani's plant Tapsani.

We then took a clean pot with clean earth, replanted and re watered it. Only time will tell if we could save it. Will keep you update ...

Dani with his "Tapsani"

The Snake in the Kindergarten

Yesterday when Dani came home from the gan (hebrew for Kindergarten), he told us that there was a snake in the garden of the gan. And Dovi said that a snake catcher was giving out cards at the door.

We asked him to explain exactly if someone brought a snake for demonstration or if there was a snake in the garden and the teacher brought someone to catch it. He insisted on his story that they found a snake in the garden. But only a small one - that's what he said!

You know that poisonous vipers have already at birth enough poison to kill - especially a child. A few times we had poisonous vipers in the garden of our old house. Most of them grown out ones. That's quite scary.
Probably the most scary moment I had with a snake was when I was 9 months pregnant with Daniel: Dov was already sleeping at night, and suddenly Shed our dog started barking in the garden. Barefoot I went out into the dark - you could barely see anything - when I saw Shed about a meter away from a big snake barking at it. Without even thinking (like automatically) I ran to Shed and screamed for him to go away. These few moments took like forever. Shed even went closer to the snakes head and barked more. (He always in all kinds of situations feels more confident when one of us is nearby...) I just grabbed him (don't forget that I was pregnant..) and dragged him with me. By then Dovi also woke up and came out. But in those few seconds that I explained what just had happened, we lost track of the snake and it disappeared. Thanks G-d that we were all safe. And the next morning a snake catcher came and searched our garden for a few hours until he found two snakes: the one poisonous we met the night before and a long black non poisonous snake. He took them both with him and I think released them somewhere safe where nobody gets harmed.

So to clear the situation with Dani and the gan, Dovi asked in the morning the teacher what really had happened. It turns out, Dani just had to much imagination. They had just a demonstration from a snake catcher with a small snake (the one thing he was right) and a frog. That's why Dani got that card from the snake catcher, like an advertisement.

It shows that a 4 year old sometimes mixes up reality and imagination. But that's just normal.

Dani and the Dog Bite

Already a few times we told our neighbours to take better care of their dogs. Both of them are always on the street and even dirtying our lawn we have in front of the house.

But yesterday everything took a turn for the worst:
Daniel and Dov were outside playing with the tracktoron. Daniel then wanted to knock on the neighbours door to play with their daughter. (That is another kind of story! ) Before somebody opened their male dog came from somewhere at the street and bit Daniel in the upper arm. Dov and Daniel immediately rushed home and washed the wound. It was not that bad, but even so one tooth punctured his skin. Poor Daniel was crying out of shock and pain.

Dovi then called the municipality about that incident. Their vet advised us to wash the would every two hours or so until Dani would go to bed. And, that today somebody will come to take their dog for 10 days or so into detention. They will probably also have to pay a fine and also for the stay of their dog in that facility.

But all of that was so easy to avoid: When these people took that dog a few months ago from an animal shelter, they knew that he was abused earlier in his life. But instead of giving that dog a stable and save (both for people and the dog) environment - after all, it's not the dogs fault, they let him roam around the streets. And I saw a few times, whenever somebody came close, the dog showed strong signs of dislike. These neighbors should have been more responsible to ensure everybody will be safe.
Also think now of the dog. If they will not bail him out after his 10 days of mandatory detention, they will put down the dog. First of all I feel for my son, but I also think about the dog. Only people created that dangerous situation. (People that abused him in the first place, the neighbours not taking care enough)

We also have a dog. But he is never on the street without us and a leash. He runs freely in the house and the garden, but all his life we always took care not to endanger other people, him or other dog. Most of the time in this case when we go for walks with him other dogs come and start a fight. A few times we even had to go to the vet for treatment. But this is another story anyway....


this picture was taken just moments before the dog bit Dani


our driveway and our car

Update:
On the next day we filed a report with the Health Ministry (which is compulsory). Apparently they soon after contacted the neighbours to take their dog. So in the afternoon the neighbour calls us and talks to Dovi. He asks us (not too politely anyway) to take back the report, because he feels so sorry for his dog being locked up in a kennel. (How sorry did he feel for our Dani when their dog bit him????) When Dovi said that we won't take back our complaint he threatened us to say that our dog bit his daughter so they take also our dog away. What criminals these people are. We take so much care of our dog. When kids come over we look him even in another room so not to bother. How can you deal with people like that? Dov called afterwards the municipality so they know whats going on - and he will not be able to blackmail us.

Weekend in the Sun

We had a really beautiful weekend. It was so sunny and hot outside that I spent all day outside in the garden. It gives you so much more energy and makes you soo happy, when you are outside.

The solar cooker and the pan with the food.

Dovi got a solar cooker out of the basement. His father actually bought it about 10 years ago for quite a lot of money - but we never tried it out. ---> It works great. We brought water to boil in a cattle, made pan fried sausages and eggs. It makes you feel so independent and adventurous.

Dani enjoying french fries - these we made on the stove in the kitchen...

This solar cooker comes folded up in a little suitcase and is quite lightweight. Then you build it into a shape like a satellite dish. It works more or less on the same principles to bring the rays into the center - that's where you put the pan or pot. And surprisingly it goes quite quickly. The only thing is, you have to adjust the dish every 15 minutes or so to the sun and focus it again. But it's much better than a barbecue, because you don't need coal or any other material for it. Yeah, except you need the sun. But we are quite lucky where we live, there is almost every day sun! - Even in the winter!!!

Dani with his "new" Pooh and Pooh Gadol

A few months ago, after we realized how quite shabby his beloved bear looks, we bought Daniel a new Pooh. But obviously he rejected him immediately. So we said we will keep and hopefully give it one day to the baby we are wishing for.

Well, but this morning Daniel saw him in our closet and adopted him as well - in addition to the old one. We'll see how he will be able to sleep on both Poohs at the same time. ;-)

Jom Ha Mishpacha - Family Day

Today is Family Day, so already 2 days ago Dovi and Dani made a beautiful heart-shaped chocolate cake. By this morning (the actual day) there was that left of it:

Dani couldn't wait already yesterday to taste it - so obviously we all had to "try" it. That's way there was more or less only half a heart remaining. But nevertheless very yummy! Have a look how nice and rich it looks:

And by the way by this morning Dani had satisfied his cake craving - that's why he had that for breakfast:

That's what was left of it after he had another one of his tantrums:

Dani, we love you no matter what! Even if you get angry and start throwing things around. Let me remind you, that we don't like you throwing down your shoes from the 1st floor onto the aquarium. ----> ;-)

Thank you G-d for bringing us all together. I love my family.

Dani's Creation

Hi Dani, now you can see yourself in the internet!

Kisses, Ima.