Thursday, June 24, 2010
Zoo
On our last visit to the zoo we met Eyran (one of the zoo keepers - he is in charge of all the snakes and the lizards) and he let us touch one of his snakes...
I didn't even have the courage to touch it... maybe next time... or not..
Michelle is four
Wanted to post the pictures from Michelle's party:
Our birthday girl! (she is so grown, ... a little princes, we are so happy to be her parents (even though sometimes it is not easy))
Opening presents - excitement in the air
The cake - she told me exactly what she wanted - all those candies!
The cake turned out good
at least Michelle loved it (and isn't it the most important thing on one's b-day?!)
Little Yuval (welcome!)
Didi (you are huge now!)
Lili (how could I not take a picture? She is lovely!)
Reading together...
Thank you all for coming and spending the time with us! Michelle loved the party (and all the presents, of course!)
Our birthday girl! (she is so grown, ... a little princes, we are so happy to be her parents (even though sometimes it is not easy))
The cake - she told me exactly what she wanted - all those candies!
Thank you all for coming and spending the time with us! Michelle loved the party (and all the presents, of course!)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Eilat
As some of you may know, Sasha started to work for Fattal Hotels and so he had to go to Eilat, we went along and spent almost a week at Eilat in one of the fatal hotels.
We were told that the road to Eilat is not easy - and it was not. It was long and kids took turns sleeping, so we were left entertaining at least one of them the whole road... it was hard. I took a notebook computer for our way - to show a movie, but Michelle was not interested, all she wanted were books. Five hours of books - it was hard.
When we got to the hotel we realized we were not the only people on vocation in Eilat, in fact it seemed like the whole Israel was there, taking a break, relaxing ... it meant crowds of people on the streets at night, packed pool in the hotel (all hotels in Eilat are full... can you imagine? and that's with everybody complaining about our financial situation... ), not enough tours on the glass bottom boat.
It took me about two days to relax - I was always stressed, stressed about the cleaning (it is a hotel and a huge one, no one cares how well the rooms are cleaned or what's going on in the kitchen - it all has to look good and clean and nice, but it is like everything commercial - nice on the outside and kinda rotten on the inside. In a house that has Bed and Breakfast I would feel much more relieved (although maybe it is just an illusion)because it seems to me that the work is more personal and when you have five rooms to look over and not 700 you pay attention to all the little details.
Never mind all this silly talk - all I really wanted to say is that Eilat is not my type of vacation (wasn't it nice that we got it for free?!).
The first day I and the kids went to the marine park - the underwater observatory. The sea is just gorgeous!!! I have never seen anything like this before.
I think I could spend the whole day at the observatory, but kids were tired and hot and so around four we went back to the hotel - to the pool.
I should write about heat. It is hot in Israel. In Haifa I find the heat bearable. It is hot (about 30-35 degrees Celsius), it is humid, but there is wind... the movement of air makes the whole difference. In Rehovot the heat is the same and it is very humid, but there is no wind.. the air is stable and I feel like I'm suffocating. In Eilat it's different. In the sea I didn't feel hot at all, but the minute you move away, you find yourself on a frying pan. The sun burns your skin and the air is like fire.
I am not a very enthusiastic user of sun block, but there I felt like without it I would literally burn... so we were all soaked in sun block and covered with clothes at all times.
Day 1 - The underwater observatory:
It is an amazing place and I think it is well worth the money. We went there in the morning (about nine) and came back at four (only because kids were exhausted) - I was actually told that the ticket is good for three consecutive days so I could of went back, but there were other things I wanted to do.
We saw sharks and it was a major attraction for the kids. We watched how a diver fed the sharks while explaining to the audience what he is doing and why.
In the same tank with the sharks are the stingrays. They usually hide in the sand on the bottom of the tank or they "fly" about.
After the sharks we decided that we needed some air conditioning and so we went to the actual observatory.
What is so cool about this place is that you see the actual sea and the fish are free to come and go - what an amazing variety of fish! I could stand there for a long time and watch them swim about with all those colors and shapes...
but we went to
eat ice cream (of course).
Outside there are different tanks with huge turtles, different fish, even animals from the Amazon ...
We took some classy tourist pictures (the kids insisted on that!)
We ate lunch there (I had to let go of the food issue...I eventually did)
And after lunch - dinner it was too much for us - all of the sudden too hot and too tired.... so I took the kids and we ran - to the pool (to cool down!)
Day 2 - Trip on the boat:
At the observatory I promised the kids to take them on the boat and so we went the next day. Five hours in the sea with a tiny pool on one of the decks - it was wonderful....
The kids splashed in the pool and I enjoyed the breeze. I was even lucky to go swimming from the boat. Eshel fell asleep and I gave Michelle the camera and jumped in the water - what a blast!
Just starting the journey - no one's happy...
splashing with new friends
I did it!
a wonderful day!!!
Day 3 - Dolphin Reef:
This was the best day of all - I completely relaxed and finally stopped minding all the people around me. I didn't care how many ice creams we ate or what we ate (I think Michelle didn't eat much except for ice creams, but I realized that I am just too stressed about it - it doesn't help anyone ... )
This place is magical... The dolphins swimming, the sea, ... the ice cream...
You can visit the place's web site - they have a nice story about each dolphin ... a passionate place (everywhere I go nowadays I wonder what I would do if I were to live there ... I would definitely come here at least once a week)
We went back and forth - to the beach to swim and back to watch the dolphins - it was a lot of fun!
The road home was hard - it was dark and we both felt like we needed some rest - we came to my parent's house and spend some time with them.... and then home sweet home! (finally, my rice with salads and lots of fruit!!!)
We were told that the road to Eilat is not easy - and it was not. It was long and kids took turns sleeping, so we were left entertaining at least one of them the whole road... it was hard. I took a notebook computer for our way - to show a movie, but Michelle was not interested, all she wanted were books. Five hours of books - it was hard.
When we got to the hotel we realized we were not the only people on vocation in Eilat, in fact it seemed like the whole Israel was there, taking a break, relaxing ... it meant crowds of people on the streets at night, packed pool in the hotel (all hotels in Eilat are full... can you imagine? and that's with everybody complaining about our financial situation... ), not enough tours on the glass bottom boat.
It took me about two days to relax - I was always stressed, stressed about the cleaning (it is a hotel and a huge one, no one cares how well the rooms are cleaned or what's going on in the kitchen - it all has to look good and clean and nice, but it is like everything commercial - nice on the outside and kinda rotten on the inside. In a house that has Bed and Breakfast I would feel much more relieved (although maybe it is just an illusion)because it seems to me that the work is more personal and when you have five rooms to look over and not 700 you pay attention to all the little details.
Never mind all this silly talk - all I really wanted to say is that Eilat is not my type of vacation (wasn't it nice that we got it for free?!).
The first day I and the kids went to the marine park - the underwater observatory. The sea is just gorgeous!!! I have never seen anything like this before.
I think I could spend the whole day at the observatory, but kids were tired and hot and so around four we went back to the hotel - to the pool.
I should write about heat. It is hot in Israel. In Haifa I find the heat bearable. It is hot (about 30-35 degrees Celsius), it is humid, but there is wind... the movement of air makes the whole difference. In Rehovot the heat is the same and it is very humid, but there is no wind.. the air is stable and I feel like I'm suffocating. In Eilat it's different. In the sea I didn't feel hot at all, but the minute you move away, you find yourself on a frying pan. The sun burns your skin and the air is like fire.
I am not a very enthusiastic user of sun block, but there I felt like without it I would literally burn... so we were all soaked in sun block and covered with clothes at all times.
Day 1 - The underwater observatory:
It is an amazing place and I think it is well worth the money. We went there in the morning (about nine) and came back at four (only because kids were exhausted) - I was actually told that the ticket is good for three consecutive days so I could of went back, but there were other things I wanted to do.
We saw sharks and it was a major attraction for the kids. We watched how a diver fed the sharks while explaining to the audience what he is doing and why.
In the same tank with the sharks are the stingrays. They usually hide in the sand on the bottom of the tank or they "fly" about.
After the sharks we decided that we needed some air conditioning and so we went to the actual observatory.
What is so cool about this place is that you see the actual sea and the fish are free to come and go - what an amazing variety of fish! I could stand there for a long time and watch them swim about with all those colors and shapes...
but we went to
Day 2 - Trip on the boat:
At the observatory I promised the kids to take them on the boat and so we went the next day. Five hours in the sea with a tiny pool on one of the decks - it was wonderful....
The kids splashed in the pool and I enjoyed the breeze. I was even lucky to go swimming from the boat. Eshel fell asleep and I gave Michelle the camera and jumped in the water - what a blast!
splashing with new friends
I did it!
a wonderful day!!!
Day 3 - Dolphin Reef:
This was the best day of all - I completely relaxed and finally stopped minding all the people around me. I didn't care how many ice creams we ate or what we ate (I think Michelle didn't eat much except for ice creams, but I realized that I am just too stressed about it - it doesn't help anyone ... )
This place is magical... The dolphins swimming, the sea, ... the ice cream...
We went back and forth - to the beach to swim and back to watch the dolphins - it was a lot of fun!
The road home was hard - it was dark and we both felt like we needed some rest - we came to my parent's house and spend some time with them.... and then home sweet home! (finally, my rice with salads and lots of fruit!!!)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Singing morning
This morning was a singing morning - both Michelle and Eshel were singing... it was so nice to hear them!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The paradox of natural mothering
I started reading The Paradox of Natural Mothering by Christina Bobel and it is a great book to be read by all "natural" mothers (and others as well). I feel that this book helps me to reflect on my identity and helps me understand a little more why I make the choices that I do - a great study (when I read books like these I always feel a little sad that I am not in academia and can't have my own research - on the other hand why not? Do I really need to be somewhere to do research?) and a great read.
"Natural" mothers, as defined by the author, are mothers who birthed at home, practice co-sleeping, nurse for long periods of time (years), usually homeschooled ... they are concerned about food choices and environmental impact of the family. As a young mother Christina Bobel decided to homebirth and through that she met the "natural" mothers. In the book Bobel describes the lives of these mothers, how they are different from the "mainstream" and what unites them despite their differences. One of the main arguments of the book is that women who choose "natural" parenting enjoy circumstances that allow them to make those choices. It is not only the choices that these women are making (even though the choices are very "strange" considering the women's background, education, life philosophies) but also life circumstances play a big role (usually "natural mothers" are middle class, Caucasian women). The socio-economic status is very important because then, mothering "naturally" becomes a choice and not a necessity and from the first glance it seems that it's a choice that takes these women backwards (in time, education, status), but, the author argues, it's the future motherhood - the motherhood that changes the world toward more good, and that is the goal for all of the women in this study.
"Natural" mothers, as defined by the author, are mothers who birthed at home, practice co-sleeping, nurse for long periods of time (years), usually homeschooled ... they are concerned about food choices and environmental impact of the family. As a young mother Christina Bobel decided to homebirth and through that she met the "natural" mothers. In the book Bobel describes the lives of these mothers, how they are different from the "mainstream" and what unites them despite their differences. One of the main arguments of the book is that women who choose "natural" parenting enjoy circumstances that allow them to make those choices. It is not only the choices that these women are making (even though the choices are very "strange" considering the women's background, education, life philosophies) but also life circumstances play a big role (usually "natural mothers" are middle class, Caucasian women). The socio-economic status is very important because then, mothering "naturally" becomes a choice and not a necessity and from the first glance it seems that it's a choice that takes these women backwards (in time, education, status), but, the author argues, it's the future motherhood - the motherhood that changes the world toward more good, and that is the goal for all of the women in this study.
Volunteering in the zoo
This week we helped the zookeepers cut two huge buckets of salad for monkeys. The kids were enjoying the fruits and we were told that we are good helpers.I left my camera at my parent's house so there are no pictures, but we are hoping to continue with the tradition. We hope to be able to come at least once a week to the zoo to help cut salads and (maybe when we are better friends) clean up the cages.
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