Soreq Cave 8/11/13

Our adventure this week was to the Soreq Stalactite caves.

It is one of the Nature reserve parks that we have a book about and I am determined to see a bunch of these sights before we leave Israel.

The cool lights made it look like a Disney land ride.

The kids and I started to play "I Spy" with the different formations.

See if you can see the Old woman in this formation. 

This was my "I spy".

I love this one it reminds me of the undersides of mushrooms.

This is called the " Disappointed love" a stalactite and stalagmite just about to touch.

Art and Pottery

The kids really love their art class at school. It lets them be very creative.  These are the pieces of art that were in their art show at the AIS school.

This year Jonathan had this elephant on display .

Olivia made a Hamsa with the rest of the 1st grade. 

The Hamsa is an ancient Middle Eastern amulet symbolizing the Hand of God. In all faiths it is a protective sign. It brings it's owner happiness, luck, health, and good fortune.

 Both of these pictures were done with art pastels by Jonathan

This peacock was done with water color by Olivia with some added sequins. 

Rosh Hanikra 8/4/13

We had so much fun today, we drove up to Rosh Hanikra and went to some sea caves. It was up at the tippy top of Israel on the sea, we could see the border to Lebanon. Wish we could have jumped over just to say we have been to that Country. The cliffs at Rosh Hanikra are made of chalk, because of this the waves and rainwater have developed a whole bunch of sea caves (Grottos). You use to only be able to see the caves if you were scuba diving in the sea. Now they have made a cable car that takes you down to the sea level and lets you enter the grottos. It was a lot of fun walking around inside the caves and exploring the fascinating water pools.

Lychee Tree 7/10/13

Our Lychee Tree is bearing fruit. Its fruit is a small walnut sized fruit that is very bumpy. It is ripe when the skins turn dark pink or even red. 

When the thin skin is peeled, there is a white fruit that is the same texture as a peeled grape (Slimy). The fruit is sweet but tangy at the same time. Our kids love them, me.... not so much, I'm a texture person. Inside is a large brown pit that is really smooth and shinny. 

So there is all you need to know about Lychee :)

4th of July Fun

Well the 4th of July is a bit lacking here in Israel. The US Embassy was schmoozing a bunch of Israeli big wigs for the 4th and the American employees were only invited if they wanted to volunteer to help out. 

Luckily we still had a wonderful time. We were invited to a BBQ at our new Branch Presidents house who has a pool. We ate delicious food, spent time with good friends, had a "Are you Patriotic?" test, and splashed in a pool. 

So I have to say even though we didn't see any fireworks, and are missing the land of the free, the 4th was still a lot of fun. 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

Fun time with Grandma and Grandpa!

Apollonia is the first place that we took Donna and Terry to during their stay with us. It is so close but still so fun to see that it makes it perfect for those still suffering from jet lag.  3/27/13

Donna in the synagogue at Capernaum. 3/30/13

Donna wanted to make sure that she had at least put her hand in the Sea of Galilee. Chris made sure that she didn't end up fully clothed in it.

Tristan also wanted to touch the water and Chris thought this was the best way to lower him down....funny.

I took Donna and Terry myself into Bethlehem to the Church of the Nativity. It was an adventure!   4/16/13

A pretty picture out in a pretty garden at the Church of the Nativity.

Nimrods Fortress with Grandma and Grandpa Harding! 3/30/13

We took Donna and Terry to Nimrod's Fortress during there stay here with us. It was a lot of hiking around and wore them right out but I think they enjoyed it.

This is such a lovely view of the fortress with Donna and Terry.

"Man I hope these stairs hold all of us."

Grandma was in love with the Poppies.

We are "Finished"

Grandpa's knees were done for.