The wild, wild East

Travelling eastwards with the aim of visiting family has become a habit of ours. Fortunately, exotic family ties are not only to be found in the Middle East, but also in the East of Germany. Adventures are also to be had fully dressed. Ain't that a relief. A visit in Jena with the grandparents at Auntie Su's and Uncle Chrischie's is a whole lot of fun!

And please, that smile! So content. We'll give Lia a minute to pee in peace, before the action starts...

Yoga with Su! Downward facing dog. Ruff.



And appreciating your neighbor. Namaste.



Inner peace and all, Lia sets out for a relaxing excursion with her favorite uncle.



And later sits down with Chrischie for a philosophical discussion.



Yoga also teaches you to appreciate the nature around you.



Lia experiencing the highest state of consciousness.
Or let's just say:
That's one happy yogi.


Might be travelling further East. To India maybe? Not sure we have relatives there. And what's peanut in Hindi? Gotta find out.

Israeli and nuts

Here it is, the final part of our Israel blog. What can I say, other than: all good things come to an end. I do have a million more pictures to blog and a million more cousins to present, and it would in fact be great to pretend that we are actually still hanging out in Israel, but ... for Moses' sake, why not? For one more blog post, I will do just that.

Greetings from the Mediterranean! Wish you were here!

Here's Lia in her bathing suit from the sixties with her Super-Granddad, (wearing his bathing trunks from the sixties as well), getting ready for a nice swim.

And this little fella would NOT look up, as he was too busy counting grains of sand and sticking them into his mouth. Beeen! Ben? Ben!! Oh, forget it.

Back from the beach at Nurit's, yes, another cousin! To be precise, the daughter of my mother's cousin! Our grandmother's were sisters, and I'm actually named after Nurit's grandmother Rosa. Here she is eating up Ben, who is busy counting grapes.

Lia coloring in Nurit's garden in her favorite outfit. That girl does have taste! The colour of her underpants have been chosen with great care.

And look at all those girls! These are not my cousins. They are my sisters!! From left to right: Yael with her daughter Noa, me and Peanut, Roni, Anat, and Efrat. They are my lovely adoptive family in Yagur, a kibbutz I stayed at for half a year after highschool. Being "adopted" by a family in the kibbutz was part of the program I took part in. I was actually assigned to a different family, but before that could happen Anat and I became friends and she introduced me to her family. You could even say that she picked me up in the pub and took me home (in a literal sense!). There wasn't exactly a shortage of girls in this household, but it was love at first sight, and so I stayed and became the fifth daughter.

And Noa instantly became Lia's new best friend. Oh wait, cousin, that is! So here we have yet another cousin. And so cute, too. Later that night the two girls, also known as Dubi and Peanut, took a best-cousin-friends-shower together.

And what's Israel without a shopping spree in TA? Before getting married to Thiemo I spent my bachelorette party with this girl in Tel Aviv, a party that lasted 3 months and would not have been the same without Keren! My hen in crime. Expert shopping consultant that Keren is she checked out the best locations for children's clothing in advance and welcomed my Nuts with some pretty cool presents. Lia is just about to pull out a shirt that reads 'Princess' in Hebrew. Love it.



Keren and I met in 1994 on the campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. But Tel Aviv suits us so much better. I love that city. Get ready, Tel Aviv, there's a whole new generation of crazy girls ready to conquer you! One in my arm, and one in Keren's belly! Congratulations!



Here I am slightly choking Keren, whose sun glasses go really well with Ben's stroller. Hey Ticko, you should consider getting a red stroller, too! This picture was taken two streets away from where my Mom once used to live. So that makes three generations of crazy girls in love with Tel Aviv. And off we go, to buy some cute stuff and have coffee.



The girl is a pro! So Tel Avivian, and that passion for gossiping!


Sunshiny little nut. Israel suits you, too, I'm so glad to see that. Look how well you blend into the scenery:



And how happy you look, bare feet and all. With and without accessories. The little green and red bag you bought in Tel Aviv is adorable! It has the shape of a house and is called "Sheli mehabait" - "mine from the house". It's for little opinionated infants who won't leave home without extremely important things they need for the road. So what will you put in your bag when you're leaving Israel?



Certainly memories of the new friends you've made,



and of how you left your mark and conquered Israel in no time,



and most of all the love, the lifestyle, and how to let loose.
Oh yes, that does call for a bigger bag.

It's always sad to leave, but don't hang your head, little Boten (which of course means Peanut in Hebrew). Because your Israeli adventures are going ...

... to be continued.

Afula Express

This picture conjures up a ton of fond childhood memories! I actually celebrated my third birthday in that garden with all the kids from the neighborhood. But wait, this isn't me, it's my tattooed daughter visiting her Great Aunt Chedva!

My aunt is in her late 80's (I'm probably not supposed to write this) and is being looked after at home by the nicest Philippine nurse, Helen. So this was the very first time I couldn't stay with her. Kind of tough. But we dropped by as often as we could.

Chedva, by the way, is our biggest blog fan and has pictures of Lia and Ben all over her little house. Her daughter says, she hasn't been that crazy about her own (10!) grandchildren. Here she is with cuddlesome (and gigantic looking!) Ben.

Ok, this is absolutely uncanny to have my own daughter linger on these stairs. Barefoot. Just like me, countless times before.

I think it is ME, inward pointed feet and ants in my pants, running up and down the path that leads to my aunt's crooked house. Sigh.


We'll be back! Soon!

Wedding special

Irit sent me these!

The happy couple in a cotton field.

And us at the reception, a tad more glamorous!

I love their serious faces...

(and the fact that Lia's eyes are even darker than mine)

Back and front. Or vice versa.



And us, all brushed up and not yet sweaty, seconds before throwing ourselves into the party!

Mazal Tov!

The big event during our stay in Israel was my cousin's daughter's wedding! My cousin? That's Dorit, Roni's sister, the proud mother on the left. And her daughter is the beautiful bride, Irit, standing under the chuppa, a canopy with four poles under which the marriage ceremony is conducted. Irit's veil has just been lifted, and the very excited groom is about to break the wedding glass!

I don't have a lot of pictures of the event (can't wait for Irit to send me some of the professionally taken pics!), so you have to trust me when I say that Israeli weddings are simply outstanding. 200 guests are average, and the ceremony and celebration usually take place outdoors under the most gorgeous night sky, in some beautiful, paradise-like garden.

Lia and my Dad watching the marriage ceremony.

And these pictures were taken right at the beginning, during the reception. The funny thing is that you only see us, but there are actually a ton of people buzzing around us, family members eager to hug us and the photographer taking pics of every one being in a frenzy. The kids have no idea where they are and why they are not in bed! Lia was holding on to me, Ben was clinging to his gramps. Only five minutes later I no longer had a clue where Lia was. She was part of the celebrating lot and was reported to shake her booty on the dance floor. Dancing under those twinkling stars...

Who? What? Where?


And here's us with my lovely little Auntie, my mother's sister! The bride's grandmother, Savta Cheda. I'll blog more about her later! Of course, the Israel blog series is going ...


... to be continued.

Baby Beckham turned 8

Ben celebrated his 8 month b-day in the Holy Land!

And even though Ben was held and cuddled 90 % of the time, he used every free second to work on his developmental milestones, which he prouldly presented on his birthday. In Israel Ben learned to clap his hands and say "Da-da-da!"

And his greatest achievement? Sitting up straight! Aaah, nicely done.

Yes, he was sitting a second ago, just before being cuddled again, by his big sister. Squeeze!

And being cuddled again by Lee,

... and cuddled by Anat,


... and ... oooh ... yes! Sitting up straight! All alone, finally. Phew.


A short pleasure, before being ... well, you know.


Time to lay back and relax. And practice some more da-da-das!

5 star lodging

Israel with the kids - part II.

We stayed in this perfect little cabin (two stories, a bathroom and air condition!!!), which is located in the back of Roni and Nechama's beautiful house. I don't want to brag, but my cousin Roni is extremely talented and built the cabin with his own two hands. (When he was 14, he was caught in the streets of Afula driving a car without a driver's licence, a car he had built himself !!! His Dad had to pick him up from the police station and there even was an ariticle about him in the newspaper.) Back to our cabin:

Side view of gorgeous cabin with kids playing in the grass. Good scratchy Israeli grass. And no kangaroo poop anywhere in sight.

At night we would open the window and fall asleep to the soothing sound of cascading water running into this pond:

Lia, Ben, and Shlomi (the oldest of three) feeding the little goldfishies.

And this is Nechama, my cousin's wife, picking lemons with Lia. I think you get the idea. Pretty idyllic place we stayed at. And if I say that we received 5 star treatment, it is an absolute understatement. I can't put into words how much we were spoiled. For Ben, Nechama had bought a baby bath tub and baby skin products, and she even cooked and pureed his food, and mopped the floor twice a day so that Ben could crawl everywhere and lick everything. And never in my life did I travel home with a suitcase full of clean clothes. Have I mentioned that Nechama is working full time? I still haven't figured out how she's doing it. It's beyond me how someone can achieve so much in so little time.

Lia daydreaming on the front steps of my cousin's house. (I have more of Lia goofing around on the front steps. I love those.) The best part about staying at my cousin's was the feeling of home. We simply belong.

Shlomi, Paul, Peanut, and Snoops on their way to the horses.
Have I mentioned that they live in a Moshav? A Moshav is an agricultural community similar to a kibbutz, only that the farms are indivdually owned and not part of a collective. At least this was the concept in the good old Zionist state-building era.



Lee, Lia, and Shlomi, back porch. Cute! Lee is in the army right now, driving all the soldiers crazy...

And here he is, my cousin Roni, Lia, and Lia's Saba.

Cuddles with Keren, Shlomi's beautiful girlfriend.

Cuddles with the boys, Dor and Shlomi. Can't say that there was a lack of attention, really. Lia's outfit was chosen by herself, a cardigan a bit too warm for dinner on the patio. In October. Ever since this night I'm no longer allowed to dress Lia to my own liking. Mmpf.

And this little balloon duckie lived a short but very fulfilled life. No duck was ever loved that affectionately. She was a present by Dor and went everywhere with Lia, even to the Kangaroo Zoo. And here are the two girlfriends, sleeping together on the floor in a pillowy nest.

And while I'm writing this post, empty bags of Bamba (the best Peanut snack ever!) are strewn around my laptop, and I'm munching on Chalva and slurping Nescafe from Elite. Little edible souvenirs that actually lose a lot of their good taste if eaten outside of Israel. Sigh.

To be continued...