ISRAEL 2011: Part II

Finally, I have gotten around to posting part II of our Israel trip. It has taken me a while because we have had a really busy summer AND we have been without internet for about a week. I am so behind on blogging and everything else around me... I haven't had time to put these pictures in a very good chronological order or give better explanations. So please forgive me!

At the port in Tel Aviv (Namal). I found a blog that has some great pictures posted here.



above and below: at the Sea of Galilee. We ate at an amazing dive restaurant called Decks. I am standing on the back patio of the restaurant and the pic below is some of the food served. AMAZING!


above: at a little Yemenite flatbread stand in Zfat.


above and below: the caverns in Rosh Hanikra, right up against the border with Lebanon. These are absolutely gorgeous tunnels and caves caused by rain and waves crashing into the rock. It looks like something out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Go here to see more.


Rosh Hanikra




above: Akko- we ate at a great restaurant in this town called Uri Buri -also amazing! The chef and owner was a fisherman and later opened his own restaurant. He now has his own cookbook which I bought and got him to sign it for me! go here to see more
below: Moises talking to Asher over the phone while we were in Haifa

above and below: the beaches of Cesaria



above: this is the grave site of Moises' great-grandfather



below: the Arab market in Jerusalem

above: I love Middle Eastern spices. Whenever I travel I like to buy their typical spices to take home with me.

below: my mom in the streets of Jerusalem
below: Moises wandering through the markets of Jerusalem

above: my mom looking at the Kotel Wall
below: I took this picture of the Kotel from the women's section

above: two little boys playing in their neighborhood streets of the old city in Jerusalem
below: my mom and I in Jerusalem
below: the Arab market in Jerusalem, on the way up to the Holy Sepulchre

ISRAEL 2011: Part I

Last Friday morning we got back from a three-week trip to Israel. It was an amazing time and we loved spending time with Moises' parents. We would have loved to stay another month if it weren't for obligations back home. Moises' sister, Becky (Tia Bebe) had spent most of Spring there and fortunately we were able to catch her at the tail-end of her trip. For the second half, my parents came which I will post about later in part II.




We have some good friends from the Quad Cities move to Israel last year who we were able to meet for lunch one afternoon. We stopped by their house and Asher couldn't get over their "pony-size" dog!


After leaving the tank truck museum, we wanted to get Asher's picture with one of the soldiers. It was the funniest thing because Asher would not for the life of him give us a normal smile for the camera; instead it was this silly little squint.







Almost every night Zeide would sit down here with the kids and review all of that days photos and videos of their adventures!









Elie and Borja (Becky's chihuahua) really hit it off. They wrestled, shared food, and toys together. One of Elie's first words was "sit".



We took a trip to the Tel Aviv zoo. It's really cool because it has two parts: the regular zoo that you walk around the animals enclosed and the safari part where you drive your car with the animals (zebras, giraffes, hippos and even lions) roaming free around you!

The zebras taken from our car

In the pond you'll see the backs of hippos that look like rocks in the water.

Tia Bebe







Last time we were in Israel, which was two years ago, we ate at a restaurant where Asher fell in love with the waitress. This trip, we revisited this same restaurant and sure enough, the same girl was there! We got her picture with him again... maybe we will start a tradition! Click here to see our blog post from two years ago.











Asher and Babi had a bedtime ritual by reading stories to each other.