Fun in Israel

it's time for our annual visit to Israel, and this time we decided to make it a family vacation instead of the usual "we're here for work" visit. (of course we'll do *some* work while we're here, cause we can't help it, but we're not going to the office!)

the date for the vacation was chosen well to hit the hottest part of the year in israel (we actually missed the hottest days by a week, phew).
not really.
we just had to bracket Ella's daycare's summer vacation.


it's the last time we can get by without buying three airline tickets, and we braved the looooong flight with minor incidents (ahm ahm) with a 30-pound baby on our laps. it was an adventure, but after having put ourselves in the right state-of-mind for the job it was manageable. Ella was a good girl, considering! (not that i'm looking forward to the trip back)

we were greeted at the airport by a very excited family and a thousand degrees +100% humidity. we were sweating before we even walked out of the terminal.

i'm not going to write about every single day we've been here, a lot is happening and it's all fun: we spend a lot of time with the family, cool off at the new pool in the back yard, we were delighted to meet the newest addition to the Sharonim clan, and even went to the beach. if i have the energy i might write more about those fun times when i download pictures... until then, know we're relaxing, having fun, and hoping this vacation never ends!

(also: Ella's up to lots and lots of new things. she's saying more words than i can count, she repeats words when we ask her, she remembers people's names and uses them, she knows what all the animals say, she walks, runs, dances, spins, climbs stairs, stands on one foot, helps us in getting her dressed, opens bottles, makes beautiful pictures with her crayons, and the highlight of the week - she actually told me "i pooped" a few times right after she did. i swear she's only 15.5 months old).