Happy "Almost" Birthday Sheridan!

Can you believe that my little peanut is almost 3 years old? While next Thursday is her actual birthday, we had her party at school today. I got to sit through her birthday circle where we sang songs, her teacher read a birthday book, and she received a small gift and card from her class. We then went outside for a small snack - I made pink cupcakes, specifically requested by my munchkin. As you can see she was the belle of the ball and had a great day!

Cinderella

Last night we took the girls to see a live performance of Cinderella at the Tel Aviv Community Theatre. We went with our friends John and Christine and their daughter Kit (Gabby was home sick). The girls got dressed in their snappiest outfits and took naps during the day so they could stay awake for the 7:30 pm show.

The show was performed by a local British Comedic acting troupe, with humor along the lines as Monty Python. The show was great - very funny, though not entirely geared towards young kids. The stepmother and stepsisters were played by BIG burly men, while the role of Prince Charming was played by a female. At the end of the show they were able to take photos with the cast. We were quick to get them to pose with Cinderella and Prince Charming, although they cried when we tried to get them take a picture with the ugly stepsisters.

The girls really enjoyed the show and managed to stay up until they got back into the car at 10:30 pm. Then they crashed...and Sheridan woke up early, while Riley slept until almost 9am.

Happy Hanukkah!

Here are the girls lighting their menorah's on the first night of Hanukkah. Happy Holidays!

Is Ballet Really Her Sport?

Here we are with another installment of the ballet files. It's a good thing we didn't name her Riley Grace Perlman... Too bad we'll be missing 3 lessons while we're in California. We sure could have used them! Enjoy the video as much as we did.

The Passport

What is a Passport? Wikipedia describes it as a travel document issued by a national government that identifies the bearer as a national of the issuing state and requests that the bearer be permitted to enter and pass through other countries.

When do you need a Passport? Wikipedia states that it is usually required for international travel (except in the EU).

What is usually the first thing, besides the airline ticket, that one would put in their bag on the day they travel? Hmmmmm.... do I really need to continue looking at Wikipedia for the answers? It's a freakin' Passport!!

Clearly my brother Randy forgot all this as I took him to the airport on his return flight back to California at 5:45 am. About 5 minutes away from the airport he suddenly panicked when he realized that the passport, which he thought he had in his jacket pocket, was not there.

A phone call to Matt (who was already in the shower getting ready for work) confirmed this. Randy left his passport in the bag he took to Jerusalem - and we had to return back to the house to get it.

The silence in the car on the twenty minute drive back to the house to get the passport and additional 25 minutes back to the airport was deafening. We were both nervous that he'd miss his flight. However, he checked in for his flight with 1 hour and 15 minutes to spare and was able to get coffee and a little breakfast before boarding. I, on the other hand spent the next 50 minutes in traffic getting home. What sisterly love.

Masada and Ein Gedi

On Randy's last day in Israel we hiked Masada and watched Randy float in the Dead Sea. We left our house around 9 am and got to Masada by 11:30 am. It took us awhile to gather our stuff together, but we were ready to hike the mountain by noon. We climbed the mountain in 1 hour 28 minutes ~ with all 5 of us hiking. While we took the backpack for Sheridan, she ended up walking the whole way! She complained a bit about being too tired, but she was a real trooper and continued to climb. While Randy took an audio tour at the top, we took a few photos of the girls, and then we all headed down the mountain.

Our next stop was the Dead Sea. We found a small beach area where Randy was able to strip down and float for a few. He said he could have stayed there for several more hours.

On our trip back home we stopped in Jerusalem to have dinner with our cousin Katie. She wasn't able to break away for Thanksgiving, so we had to fit in a quick visit with Randy before he left. We ate dinner at her Kibbutz and spent an hour + with her, though we were all so crocked from the day that I'm not sure anything we said was coherent.

We just got back and are preparing for Randy's departure EARLY tomorrow morning. He crammed a heck of a lot into his 10 day trip and I think it was very successful. Lucky for us, we'll see him again when we head out to California in two short weeks.

Trip to the Galilee

On Friday morning we left with Randy for a quick overnight, windshield trip of the Galilee. We drove up the coast and made a quick stop in Haifa to check out the Baha'i Gardens (actually, we only stopped for a photo). We then hopped back on the road and continued our way up to our favorite little horse farm in the Golan, Vered Hagalil. We checked into our room around 4 pm and after settling in, took a leisurely tour of the property. The girls played on the playground for an hour, worked up their appetites, and then ate a fabulous dinner at the restaurant a few hours later. After the girls went to bed, the three of us played a few exciting games of Scrabble.

Today after breakfast, Riley went on a pony ride around the grounds of the farm. She was on cloud 29. We checked out of our room, and by 11 am were on the road exploring southern Golan. Our first stop was at Mt. Bental where we saw the Israeli bunkers overlooking the Syrian border, and where we took new photos in front of our favorite sign. Our next stop was lunch at McDonald's where Matt and Randy ordered the largest burgers on the menu, the McRoyal, and ate their body weight in meat... and then picked at Riley and Sheridan's meals as they didn't finish theirs.

It was off to the tanks and a drive partly around the Sea of Galilee. What fun would a Perlman road trip be without a little vomit? Not long after we got back into the car Sheridan decided to indoctrinate uncle Randy into the Perlman family tradition, which is also known as the Katz family tradition, of puking everywhere while you're at least 2 hours away from home. Amazingly, Randy proved how grown he is by cleaning her up.

We're home now, recuperating from a long day in the car, and getting ready for our trip to Masada and the Dead Sea tomorrow. Stay tuned for more photos from Randy's last day in Israel.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had our annual Thanksgiving dinner at our house tonight and hosted 20 people. Each family brought 3 dishes, while I cooked the turkey. The evening was made even more enjoyable because my maid and her husband watched the kids, fed the kids, and then cleaned up the kitchen. It was another wonderful holiday shared with family and friends.

Riley the Dancer

Here's the last video of Riley's ballet class. I missed the beginning few seconds as I was rushing to find a spot to get a good view of her in the small room.

Randy in Jerusalem

My brother Randy is in town from San Francisco for his first visit to the Holy land. He arrived on Saturday evening and was warmly welcomed by his nieces. We went to Tel Aviv and Jaffa yesterday, and today made the trek into Jerusalem. We spent most of our day in the Old City walking through the different sections. Here are a few photos in front of the Western Wall.

School Photos

Here are the girls school photos that were taken last Wednesday. I didn't take them this year, but I helped organize the kids for their individual and class photos, and stood behind the photographer making silly faces so the kids would smile.

Riley's Duvet

I finally finished Riley's duvet. She actually picked out the colors and helped me organize the order of the fabrics. It came out even better than I had anticipated. She loves it and so do I.

A Budding Baryshnikov??

Here's Riley at her 4th ballet lesson yesterday. She claims she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. I'm thinking she needs years and years (and years) of lessons....

Sheridan's Swimming Lesson

Here is a video from Sheridan's swimming lesson last Thursday. I was testing out the video feature on my new ultra compact digital camera. Enjoy!

Excuse the Delay...

Matt was out of town for a week for the Secretary of State's 8th visit of the year to Israel, and thus I've been a smidgen absent from writing any updates.

Let's see... since our last posting:

• Riley has only had 2 accidents at night - Hooray!
  
• The preschool held a yard sale fundraiser last Saturday that made over $1100 - Yay!!
• Sheridan is now wearing pull-ups and very slowly on her way to potty training - Oye vay!

We also had our first parent/teacher conferences at the preschool with the girls teacher's yesterday which were very enlightening. We didn't learn anything new about either of the girls, but rather received confirmation from both their teachers stating that the girls are polar opposites in their personalities. Riley's teacher told us that she's a very kind child, always wanting to please and do the "right" thing. Sheridan's teacher told us that we have a very "spicy" little girl. She's a very bright child, a master manipulator who knows right from wrong, but inevitably always chooses wrong. We couldn't help but laugh, and left the school knowing that we have a Pleaser and a Dis-Pleaser.

The Bid List Is Turned In...

On August 20th it was revealed and on October 30th it was sealed...

Who shall go domestic and who international

Who flies in business and who in economy

Who to Chicago and who to D.C.

Who to Shanghai and who to Lisbon

Who to Kabul and who to Kathmandu

Who even knows where the hell Nouakchott, Mbabane, Ouagadougou, and Peshawar are located on a map.

On August 20th it was revealed and on October 30 it was sealed... let's just wait and see where the chips may fall and where we will go. We'll let you know.

Riley's Big Night

Last night was a huge accomplishment for Riley... she went to bed for the first time wearing "big girl underwear" instead of pull-ups. For over a month she's been asking to go to bed wearing underwear like all her friends, but she hadn't been able to either hold her urine in all night or wake herself up to use the bathroom. Without going into too much detail, let's just say that we made a deal with her that if she had 2 weeks of pish-free nights that we'd let her wear her underwear to bed. She succeeded!

She was very excited when we tucked her into bed - she must have told us at least 10 times that she was wearing her underwear. Of course, she did wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me that she was still dry - very sweet, though I could have waited until morning to hear the good news. She continued on and woke up this morning as dry as could be. She was very proud of herself and so were we.

Wish us luck that this continues!

Halloween

We went to a huge Halloween party tonight at our friend's Michelle and Chris Young. Since the Embassy didn't put on a big trick or treating fest as in year's past, Michelle decided to do it herself. She bought all the candy and decorations, asked her neighbors for their help, and planned the shindig of the year. She invited the entire preschool - and almost every kid and their siblings showed up! The kids had a small cluster of houses in which to trick or treat, and then they ended at Michelle's where there was dinner, dessert, games, and even a pinata.

Dressed up as princessess... again!

Top Left: Jill and Christine.

Top Right: Jill, Heather, and Michelle.

To the left: Michelle, Lee, and Jill

Yay for visitors!

On the day we returned from Egypt, Matt's good friend from middle school, Richard Tesler, came to Israel for a visit with his family. Unfortunately Rich's trip got cut short as his father got sick and was hospitalized the day he arrived. Rich, Yen, and their son Liem stayed with us for a few days in between traveling around Israel, and on their last night we were even able to get a baby sitter so we could have a civilized dinner. What a treat. (On a side note, the last time we saw Richard was in June, 2003...a lot has changed since then!)

Richard and Matt with their kids

Rich, Liem, and Yen

Riley's Ballet Class

Here is a video clip of Riley's ballet class tonight. Parents aren't allowed to watch the class or even be in the room, except for the last minute.

Riley is the 3rd girl in the middle row wearing the dark purple leotard. By the way, there is sound, so turn up your speakers. Enjoy!

Back to Israel

It was an uneventful trip back to Israel last Monday. We left the hotel around 6am, checked in for our flight by 7:30 am and had well over an hour to hang out and relax. In the terminal there was a disgusting play area for the kids, while upstairs I was in heaven... a Cinnabon directly next to Starbucks! I could have stayed there ALL day.

A few hours after we arrived back in Israel Matt left for the airport to pick up his friend Rich and his family, who arrived for a two-week visit. More on that later...

Our last day in Cairo

Our final day in Cairo was spent being lazy and laying around our rooms and the hotel. We all woke up late (yay!!) and had a late breakfast. We then got dressed and went to the pool. The girls swam a little and had lunch with daddy and Poppa, while Micky treated me to a relaxing manicure / pedicure at the spa. The rest of the afternoon was relaxing as we all napped, read, and did absolutely nothing.

Our last supper was at Spices restaurant, a beautiful Chinese restaurant in the hotel. It was fabulous! They had crayons and coloring books for the girls, and even a children's menu with none other than hot dogs and chicken nuggets.

Nile Pharaoh Dinner Cruise

We followed our long morning of touring with a dinner cruise on the Nile. Our driver picked us up from the hotel around 5:45 pm and dropped us off at the dock of the "Nile Pharaoh". We had an hour to kill so we checked-in, sat around, took a few photos, and waited...and waited... Soon enough we were boarding our boat and seated at our dinner table.

The half-full boat took off exactly at 7 pm, and by the time we started moving we had already been served our mezza, appetizers, and drinks. By 7:15 pm we were served our main course, and by 7:20 pm we were done. Their efficiency was key and their service impressive... the Israelis could learn a thing or two - however, I digress.

There was a small show on the boat that began at the end of the dinner service, with a belly dancer, a whirling dervish, and a musical number. The kids enjoyed watching and they actually stayed in their seats the entire time. After the show we took a walk around the boat and even went outside for a quick view (too much longer and Sheridan may have taken a header off the side). We docked at precisely 9 pm and our driver was waiting for us. The girls were so tired when we got back to the hotel that they quickly crashed out. Thankfully we could all sleep in the next morning...

Sitting at our table

Our first photo together in a long while

Whirling Dervish