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

The Museum, The Mosque, and The Market

On Saturday the 13th, our tour guide Mohammed took us to the Egyptian Museum, followed up by a trip to Sultan Hassan Mosque and Khan al-Khalili Market Bazaar.

We arrived at the Egyptian Museum around 9:30 am, just after it opened, and there were already hundreds of people waiting outside. It was a great idea to go with our tour guide as we soon found out inside that most items are not well marked in English and there isn't a map to guide you through. The museum holds over 120,000 items on display, most notably Tutankhamen's tomb. We zig zagged through the tour groups and made our way quickly through the ground floor and upstairs to the really interesting stuff. While there are kings who are known for accomplishing more during their reign than Tutankhamen, finding his tomb intact has made him the most famous Egyptian Pharaoh. There are more than 1700 artifacts of his in the museum; his tomb, couches, throne, coffins, and of course, the fabulous golden death mask.

We stayed at the museum for close to 2 hours and after seeing many mummies (both people AND animal), sarcophagi, pottery, pictures, columns, and knick knacks, it was time to go. We then went to visit one of the oldest mosques in Egypt, the mosque of Sultan Hassan. I was expecting to see something similar to the Great Mosque in Oman, but I was sadly disappointed. While the dimensions of this massive structure are truly grandiose, that's about it. The carpets inside are disgusting and it's in need of a major renovation AND cleaning! It probably hasn't had much work done to it since it was built in the late 1300's. I was also surprised that neither men or women were required to dress modestly while entering the mosque. While we were all conservatively dressed we saw many people walking around in shorts and t-shirts.

We finished our tour with a quick trip to Khan al-Khalili, the outside market bazaar. We went during the first day of Eid, so unfortunately many of the vendors weren't there. However, I think that's probably a blessing as I don't know if I could have handled any more nagging, begging, and haggling with the shop keepers. I was prepared to buy something interesting if it caught my eye, but nothing jumped out. Instead we bought a just a few t-shirts.

The Sphinx and the Solar Boat Museum

To the south of Khafre's Pyramid sits a huge creature with the head of a human and a lion's body. The Great Sphinx is believed to be the most immense stone sculpture in the round ever made by man. The Sphinx is made out of limestone and was under renovations while we were there. It was surprisingly much smaller than I had imagined, but awe inspiring nonetheless.

Our final destination was to the Solar Boat Museum. It was fascinating! In 1954, a boat, over 120 feet long and made entirely of cedar wood, was discovered at the base of Khufu's Pyramid when the ground was cleared for a tourist road to be put in. Forty slabs of limestone were discovered set in the ground with the pieces of a complete boat arranged in 13 layers. The boat was laboriously removed from its pit, piece by piece, and in 1958 reassembling of the 1224 pieces began. It took 10 years to complete. No nails were used in the construction and the planking was assembled through an ingenious system of stitching through holes with ropes of vegetable fibers. When the wood was swollen by water the ropes would tighten and make the boat watertight. Spectacular. The museum was built at the same spot where they found the boat.

After our half-day tour, Mohammed dropped us back off at the hotel where we had lunch and napped. We spent the evening exploring the area around the hotel, dodging traffic and playing "chicken" in the road with our lives, and letting the girls eat dinner at none other than KFC.