A Time To Move

We are on the road to St. Louis, staying over at the Huntington, WV Super 8 Motel, but I thought I'd summarize our trip to Israel with a few stories about my time with our children.

Madeleine is rapidly approaching thirteen, her appetite and wit increasing noticeably. Not only can she eat as much as I can, (which is saying a lot), but she is definitely growing in knowledge, deductive powers, and a desire to contribute to adult conversation. On one particularly scorching day, the five of us were wandering around an unlabeled archeology site, trying to figure out on our own what type of ruins we were stepping on. Attempting to be an active, engaged, home-schooling mother, I was fanning myself in the shade while analyzing the voluminous dried poop pellets scattered at my feet. I thought it surely must be donkey scat because the only vegetation in sight was thistle (out of which the boys were busy constructing shields, spears, and bombs). Elise thought it must be rabbit poop, or maybe seeds? I really thought some smart animal had been enjoying the shade, but told Elise she could try breaking the pellets to find out whether or not they were seeds. Madeleine walked up and immediately pointed out, "Mom, you're standing under an olive tree..." FYI, olive pits look a lot like rabbit poop.

As for Elise, she will attempt to climb anything where she can get three points of contact, whether it's a tree, an aqueduct ruin, or a pole in the airport. Also, she has a natural teaching streak that was very entertaining to observe as she gradually pulled out the stops trying to convince Thomas that he was capable of swimming in the deep end-coaxing, bribing, begging, manipulating, threatening, scolding, even baiting-and-switching.

Like his oldest sister, Paul has been sharpening his powers of observation. Upon encountering a hoopoe, an unusual looking bird with a small, dark "hat," Paul remarked, "I think I just saw a Jewish bird..." A couple of weeks ago, upon our return to the States, listening to me recount the agonies of bargaining in markets where the quoted prices were anything from doubled to quadrupled got the entire family riled up (again). My father and brother tried to comfort us with, "You have to think of it as a game..." Paul's response: "Well, it's not a very fun game. I was standing right behind her the whole time..."

Thomas is definitely the "un-baby" of the family--keeping up on sweaty hikes, sitting through late suppers, snorkeling even after being stung by a sea urchin, climbing through dark places and encountering bats! He did hang back a bit at the pitch black descent down a spiral stone staircase, saying he would go down last with me. I told him this was a good idea since, in case everyone had to turn around and run back up, we would be in front. He gave me the same hesistant look that he had had when we were starting out on an overgrown, shady forest path beside the zoo in Haifa and he asked where we were going (he never has been very gung-ho on hikes through the woods--an unspoken fear of wild animals) . I told him it was where all the animals that had escaped from the zoo lived. He got me back when I asked him what he would like for a souvenir (all the other kids had been asking for stuff throughout the trip and Thomas had yet to ask for much), and he selected an elaborate silver wine service.

In closing, some of the most amazing places we experienced were Masada, the Mount of Olives, Tel Dan, Hezekiah's Tunnel in the City of David, and snorkeling in the Red Sea. Favorite foods--hummus with hyssop and olive oil, schnitzel, falafel, fried cheese sandwiches, and schwarma.

Lastly, to close off our travels I'll ask you this. What would you say if a Tel Aviv airport official attempting to open one of your well-taped boxes before checking it in asked you, "Do you have anything I can use to open this?" I did suppress the urge to smirk, "What? Like a box cutter?" I felt sorry for her as she was trying to cut through the tape with a ballpoint pen and her keys. Apparently, when they tape boxes back up for customers, they use their teeth to cut the tape!

I also want to tell everyone that once you have kids this age traveling with you, you never have to worry about spotting your luggage on the baggage claim carousel again! Thanks so much for reading. We've loved sharing out travels with you and hope you enjoy the photos as well. We'll be posting updates of seminary life from time to time if anyone is interested. Love and misses to all!