It's now 5:30 and the kids are just winding down from our mammoth day out!!
We were picked up at 8:30 this morning and driven to the tour headquarters where our jeeps awaited us.

I was slightly concerned to learn that James would be driving our jeep the entire time, but I have to say he was an excellent driver (and he has the BEST time!)

Our guide was Big Pappa & he kept us entertained with his constant commentary - even when we were all in our separate jeeps, we had a one way communication system with him. This was a good thing as this way, Big Pappa wasnt subjected to the various screaming matches that enevitably ensued from the back of our jeep :)

The tour lasted for around 3 hours and took us around various sites of Aruba. It really was the best way of seeing the island....

All in all, I think we passed shabbat in a hotel pretty well. We played games, james davened, we even had a little kiddish here (though not sure how it compares to Keter Torah) We let millie splash in the pool, and then she played for ages in the play ground.
We had a pretty good lunch, and then the kids played while we napped (we bribed them with ice cream at 4pm!)
Aftre they had ice cream they chased some iguanas, played Bingo & finally 30 rounds of a quiz game until shabbat went out just after 7:30.
After we made havdala, we all got changed for night swimming. The pool was so warm, it was fantastic!
The kids watched 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles' & went to bed, ready for their big outing in the morning....

Friday July 25th

We spent the day on the beach until 3:30 today. Had a great time snorkeling with the kids (forgot how salty the sea is!) The weather is so perfect that it always keeps the sea at a warm temperature so I swam in the for the first time in about 15 years!
Elinoa found a star fish (Clementine), Millie had such fun building castles, digging holes and aso swam in the sea. She was far more fearless in the sea than in the pool, go figure.
James hired a kayak, and took the kids out in it one at a time. Yoav built a fantastic crocodile sand castle (photos on underwater camera) They could have stayed there for many more hours...
Back at the hotel, the kids watched a movie while we got ready for shabbat. I managed to pull the kids out one by one and convince them that they had to come and have photos taken by the yellow wall where the light was hitting it in such a beautiful way. You can see that Yoav came first and he got the light at just the right time before it started fading.

The kids got in to the whole 'chilling out on vacation and enjoying the simple pleausres' idea today - they chased birds & lizards and gathered up baby coconuts & flowers.
We had a great friday night dinner, even managed chicken soup & kneidlach and then lay in bed reading until we fell asleep at 9:30!

Today was spent trying to convince the kids that a day spent in the water can be so much fun and that we dont have to spend money to have a good time!
The morning was spent at the pool and then after lunch we took the shuttle to the beach. Elinoa got her hair 'braided' (so much for not spending money! $2 a plait!) - fabulous hey?!

The kids had a great time looking for shells & even got in the mood for having some pictures taken....

In the evening, we took the kids to 'downtown' Aruba where there was a live band playing and some shops still open. The kids had a great time in the gift shop and then finished off the evening at Haagen Dazs (photos on Yoav's camera!)
Elinoa has got really in to reading now and is devouring books faster than I can buy them. We spent the rest of the evening by the pool playing games while Elinoa read Jaqueline Wilson....

Wednesday July 23rd


we started today with a trip to the beach on the beach shuttle.
Without doubt, paradise beach is the most beautiful beach i have ever seen. All that hype about the white sands & clear turquiose waters - all true.
The kids had a fantastic time - James, Elinoa & Yoav swam out to a big wooden diving platform and had great fun jumping in (apart from the bit where Elinoa slipped and cut her lip..). Millie & I stayed a bit closer to shore, searching for fish and making sandcastles.
We headed back to the hotel for lunch (very odd - tuna, chinese noodles, sweetcorn, and ketchup of course) and then hit the local supermarket looking for some much needed fruit & veg.
Well, after having packed & schlepped a huge suitcase full of all the OU products people told me I wouldnt be able to find here, I was kind of dissapointed but also slightly pleased to find that the supermarket was just like Pathmark (/Tescos) without the kosher meat & cheese section!!
In the afternoon, we went on a 2 hour horse ride. James & Millie rode 'Hillary' together, Yoav rode 'Barney', Elinoa got 'Madonna' and lucky me, I was landed with 'Yasser'. I tried not to hold it against him, but I do have to say, I felt a little animosity towards my horse.
After an hour, we reached the beach & those who were daring enough, went for a quick gallop along the sand. I stayed with Millie, watching her take random photos of her feet & other members of the group, while James, Elinoa & Yoav went for their 5 minute gallop. After that, we head back for our hour's ride back to the ranch. On the way back, Millie did her magic trick of falling asleep on a horse again. For some reason, i really enjoyed that feeling of being covered in dust on top of sunscreen, thinking about how nice it would be to get in to a shower.
Everyone was pretty sore & it took us a while to be able to walk again, but all in all it was a great adventure.
At dinner time, we sat round the table talking about the best part of the day & the worst part of the day. Everyone's wost parts were obviously their aches & pains, and the best parts were the horse ride, except for Millie, who said it was "the taxi ride"....

Tuesday July 22nd
So, here we are in the airport, waiting to board with a half an hour delay. The kids have eaten most of their food already and in true Raanan organised fashion, we have forgotten to order kosher meals for the flight.
The trip to the airport was fun, with the 5 of us squashed in with 6 pieces of luggage, 5 pieces of hand luggage and a buggy. Millie entertained us with her pesach songs and some interesting version of 'adon olam'.
The tv in the lounge here is showing a news report of another bullldozer attack in Israel. Yoav said "I didn't know israel was on American news". I explained how that's only when bad things happen there.
Our flight was due to take off at 8:30am but we didnt actually leave the ground until 10am. The kids were really well behaved & patient, and (gd bless America for this) they got to eat the breakfast being served as it all had 'OU' hechsers!
Our transportation from Aruba airport to the hotel was less than smooth - we had about an hour's wait outside in line until the bus came. Again, the kids were really patient.
After we arrived & unpacked, we hit the pool, and of course the gift shop!
Supper was..interesting. Having not yet koshered the hobs, i had to figure out how to make hot dogs & baked beans in the microwave with no microwavable dishes!
The kids had great fun in the whirlpool bath which is actually IN their room! its very odd, but they love it!

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Millie made friends with some Cockerpoos at the airport...

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One-legged-pirate-baby bath bomb

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Elinoa's "babies"

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You'll just have to turn your head to the side for all those other pics...

Am sending them straight from my phone, its sophisticated but I don't get to rotate the pics as far as I can see! Anyway, ending off the afternoon with some water bombs (or 'babies" as they call them)
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Millie's revenge...

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Yoav steps up the action..

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And Yoav joined too!

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Millie getting ready for tonight's bath....

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On Sunday, we spent the day mainly trying to tie up a few loose ends for holiday arrangements and just taking it easy, playing a few wii competitions. Millie has an awful habit of smacking Yoav with the wii controller when he doesnt let her win. He is so nice to her, he never smacks her back.
In the afternoon, I wanted to make something nice for breaking the fast, but had almost nothing to eat in the fridge. i found some left over chicken and decided to make a chicken pie using grandma alma's parstry recipe from her cheese & onion pie.
Yoav & Millie helped out with the pastry making....




I spotted a RACCOON in our back graden while all this was going on, digging in our dustbins for food (this is very exciting to anyone who isnt from America and totally used to seeing Raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, deer, turkeys, fireflies and those gorgeous looking red birds with the mohican hairdo!...)

Millie at summer camp

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Me + Lauren at Bon Jovi last night

What a night! It was totally amazing!!! Thank you so much Lauren for taking me!!!
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Yoav's hat for silly hat day

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Silly hat day at camp - els

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Millie got an ice cream treat for getting 10 'I stayed in my bed' stickers

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And this is where Millie will be taking her baths for the next few weeks...

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This is what our bathroom looks like at the moment...

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Yoav's steroids have finally started showing some results (photo to follow tomorrow) and he feels 100 times better!...
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"I'm the princess of America's birthday"

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Our Poor Baby

So, almost a week since Yoav came home with a poison ivy reaction. He had a miserable shabbat and spent motzei shabbat in the ER until 2am. He started steriods on Sunday and by Wednesday he was just worse. His dosage has now been doubled and we just have to wait and see if it improves.
Meanwhile, he is home with me, so I am suspending work for the moment and spoiling him (if I cant cure him, i can at least try & make him feel better with ice cream, bisli, arts & crafts, movies on demand and games!...I HATE playing games!!)
Watch this space....

Yoav + poison ivy do not go well together..

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Yoav's teeth brushing face...

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Elinoa is ready for swimming today...

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Smarter than the average bear

So, in the car on the way to camp this morning, millie asked me where her friend Nate would be going next year. I explained that because he is a year older, he will be going to a different school, Yeshivat Noam. Millie said "right, when I'm bigger I'll go to Yeshivat Noam too". I explained that when she is bigger like Nate, we will be moving back to Israel.
I didn't really expect Millie to understand this at all, so I was amazed when she said "right, we are moving to Israel and then we are getting a dog. But not a baby, right? Only a dog, we can only have one thing at a time"
"Right Millie, that's right!"
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Millie at the dentist...
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More delights from my camera phone...

Friday's picture...
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Thursday's outing

Thursday morning we picked up our buddies again and headed for Ceramics by Design. I have been eyeing this place up for over a year now and what an Aladdin's cave it is!! I had to hold myself back + remember that this trip was for the kids...
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Keeping the kids busy until camp starts..

The kids finished school on Tuesday June 17th (isn't that really early!!?)
On Wednesday, I took them out with their friends for a breakfast picnic (took this photo with my phone) and some kite flying....
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Millie the Brave

Millie came home from school yesterday full of beans and singing songs about Israel's birthday. I told her we were going down to the basement together to do some laundry + she happily agreed.
As Millie started off down the flight of 12 steps, her foot caught a broom hanging on the wall + she fell. She tumbled down the first few steps + then as she gained momentum she actually took off from the steps + flew through the air, landing on her back on the bottom of the steps.
Why is it that when it is so important for us to move, we are frozen to the spot? And why does it all seem to happen in slow motion, but yet so fast that you can barely remember details?
Millie was so brave you just couldn't imagine. I did all the wrong things for this kind of situation (having refreshed my first aid + CPR every year since she was born!) and moved her to the couch without a second thought as to whether there may be some injury that I was making worse. After no more than 2 minutes of tears, all Millie wanted to do was watch 'The Mr Men'!
We took a trip to the doctor and thank GD everything is fine apart from some bruises + grazes.
On the way home, we drove via Baskin Robins where she got to pick her 2 favourite flavours at the drive thru ice cream store.
So, what is the funny part of this story? What bothered Millie the most in this whole ordeal?
In the car on the way home, Millie said
"Mummy, you need to say sorry to me"
"Why Millie?" I said, "what did mummy do?"
"You screamed at me when I fell down the stairs"
"No darling" I said "mummy screamed, but not at you! Mummy got a big fright"
Millie thought about it and then she said
"Right some times grown ups get a fright?"
"That's right" I said
"Thank you mummy for looking after me + saying I'm brave. I love you mummy"
At which point, I melted into the floor!.....
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