So our seder was short and to the point. DH went to shul early Friday evening and we got the seder underway at the earliest permitted time (7:23 in Rehovot). We were done by 10 pm.
Friday morning I started the cooking around 7:30 and was done by 1:30 and since we only had one guest (my Mom) huge quantities of each dish weren't necessary so I was more able to enjoy what I was doing - even though cooking isn't my "thing" - rather than kill myself cooking right up to candle lighting. It really was in the realm of enjoyable and manageable.
My Mom hadn't been well and wasn't sure until the last minute whether she'd feel up to coming but she did. She was our only guest which also helped us keep it short and sweet. The more people, the more chaotic it tends to be. Y and E were good but I spent a lot of time in the living room just listening to DH read from the Haggadah while playing with E. You know 3 year olds and attention spans......Both kids were awake until the end. In fact, E had napped so he was bouncing around LONG after we'd finished and washed up the dishes. He didn't go down until 11:30 pm!
After we'd finished, we all were recalling many a seder we'd attended before moving to Israel and wondering HOW on EARTH families managed to schlepp out the story telling until 2, 3 and even 4 a.m. HOW is it possible? That is just pure torture, IMO. A read of the Haggadah really doesn't take THAT long. <head shaking> Not only that, those who don't live here have to conduct TWO seders one night after the next. Reason #3, 756, 872 to move to Israel, if you ask me.
The next day after going to shul in the morning and a quick, light lunch, I took the kids to a nice park a 5 minute walk from us for a couple of hours so DH could nap. My Mom came with. She and I sat on a bench on the side and read while the kids amused themselves on the equipment and in the sand. Y ended up getting her foot bitten by some microscopic creature of some sort in the sand. We never saw what it was and there was no bite or sting mark but it was painful and her foot swelled up and was red and hot for the next three days and very very itchy. Just like when she gets a mosquito bite. That kinda ended the stint in the park so we packed up and went home.
DH then took over with the kids and had them back out in the park next to our building for the rest of the afternoon while I napped. This way we keep E going all day and don't allow him to nap so by evening he's exhausted and we don't have any battles over bedtime.
Sunday I worked a full day.
Monday I took the kids and popped into the bead store in Rishon to get some beads for a bracelet I want to make. Then I took them to see the movie The Lorax. Excellent movie! I like the ecological message of it. We have and love the book as well. The kids were good through the movie. We came home after the movie to pick up DH and went off to the Passover festival on Rabbi Carlebach's moshav. Some friends of mine had gone in previous years and somehow I'd always missed the boat so I wanted to go check it out this year. I am so in love with this moshav. I have been there on quite a few other occasions and every time I go I never want to leave. I love the setting (it's very rural), I love how laid back the people are - lots of tofu and brown rice eating, organic eating, tree hugging ex-hippies - I love that everyone there speaks English, I love that their shul is a gigantic army tent, I love the earthy smell of the place. (I grew up a 30 minute drive from Santa Cruz, CA in the 1970s. Nuff said. That should tell you why this place feels so much like I've come home.)
They had activities for the kids (helium balloons, face painting, hair braiding, etc.), they had a whole line-up of different bands, they had food for sale, they had various artists selling their wares (clothing, ceramics, jewelry, aromatherapy oils, etc.). Something for everyone. There were a lot of people there of all ages and it was nice to see such a variety of religious types. My friend, Pesha, was there with her family and we bumped into a mutual friend with her husband and we saw a few other Rehovot families that we know less well but we connected with them too.
Yesterday we got a late start but around 11:30 I took the kids to a place called Chava's Farm. It's about a 30 minute drive south of us. I'd heard a few people recommend it and it wasn't hugely expensive. The kids and I had a blast. So nice to be somewhere so low-tech. It's like a kiddie zoo - gazelles and ostriches and a bull and donkey rides for the kids and a petting corner with baby chicks and ducks and mice and hamsters and guinea pigs and turtles and inflatable trampolines and a goat milking demonstration and monkeys and giant tortoises and a tractor ride to visit the nearby kibbutz's cow shed, etc. It was truly a place to spend the day. People in the know bring blankets and a picnic lunch and make a day of it. They had huge grassy expanses with covered picnic areas with chairs and tables. Really nice. We were there until 5 pm. As soon as we got in the car to go home, E yawned and told me he was tired and CRASHED. If he'd have been standing, you'd have heard him fall flat on his face. As soon as we got home I dumped him in bed and he slept through the night!!
Today I'm at work for the whole day and - as you can see - getting SO much work done. LOL. There are only about 4 other employees here today. Not sure if I'm going to have the car tonight or what to do with the kids after work if I do. I had wanted to get to the beach but ran out of time.
And tomorrow's erev chag and since we're having only a gazillion guests (mil and DH's two married kids and 2 grandkids), the madness will begin once again tomorrow morning with THE COOKING. O joy!
I have lots of pics to post from the past 2 days but put my camera's battery in to charge last night and of course forgot it at home this morning so....pics to follow.
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