Muscle Men

A few mornings a week, Ami does pushups. And Eitan follows along. Or makes trouble for his Daddy.

Very Intimidating!

This morning I finally got out of bed early enough to witness this little experience. Check out little Buzz Lightyear as Coach/troublemaker. Halfway through I realized I was facing the wrong side of the room with the lighting, so Part 2 is much better lit. Whoops.

Part 1:





Part 2:

From Burma Road to the Tico House

Our cousin Yakov is in town, so we're under a lot of pressure to get around and do things with him, pretending that our normal life in this country is really exciting. Also, visitors are a great opportunity to actually get out of our little neighborhood and routine and get around playing tourist (skip Eitan's music class? Gymboree? Yes!).

Yesterday we were fully adventurous and spent the afternoon at the (slash looking for) Burma Road.  The wikipedia paged linked just before has all of the legit information, but in short, it's a road that was built in the war of Independence in order to get around the siege surrounding Jerusalem. Ami's wanted to go there and look around ever since we were in the cab on our way home for Pesach, and the driver pointed it out as a great nature-y place to visit not so far out from Jerusalem.

So I can see that it would have been beautiful and full of flowers a couple of months ago, now it was kind of dried out looking, but either way, it's a historical site, is in the middle of hilly mountains, and it was great to get out of the city for the afternoon.

At the entrance to the trail is the national Machal Memorial, commemorating those that have come to Israel from outside of the country to serve.

After the afternoon hike, and before traffic back into Jerusalem got standstill, we headed back into town for an early dinner at the Tico house. I hadn't been there since my year in Israel in 1999/2000, but Yakov mentioned that his parents love it there and rave about the onion soup in a bread bowl. So before he could finish saying "bread bowl", we were there. It was amazing. It might be partially because we were starving from all the hiking (and maybe forgot to eat lunch), but the soup was perfect. And it ended up being our whole dinner because we were so full after just didn't end up eating anything else the rest of the night.

Aside from the delicious soup (get it!), the setting was beautiful, a cool night in Jerusalem outside in the lovely garden with a hot bowl of soup and lots of bread and butter. Can't get much better then that. And Eitan loved the whole scene too, as you can see by that big smile when he just started with spontaneous giggles.

So in short, Burma road, go in April, and Tico house, well, go immediately!

Pool Club!

With the weather heating up around town, I knew we'd need some water activities to keep us cool this summer. Unlike DC, there aren't any "splash parks" here, playgrounds with fountains and sprinklers for kids. Instead, what I hear, is that Israeli parents just take their kids to regular like, sculpture fountains and let them just go wild. So, that wasn't going to work for me...

After getting back from Pesach, I started researching nearby pools- the hotels have them, some are for guests only, and others accept visitors for day or monthly, but they're for the most part, absurdly expensive. It seems hotels aren't really interested in crowding their pools with locals, I get it.

So, although I'd heard mixed things about our local community pool here on Emek Refaim, I figured it was our best option. It's two blocks away (an on the way is my favorite mushroom bureka bakery, score), has a heated and covered olympic size lap pool with a few lanes, and a baby pool and a kids pool (a little deeper then the baby pool). It also has an attached gym if I am ever so inclined to get on a treadmill. No, it's not as luxurious as a hotel, you have to bring your own towels and the chairs are plastic, but, you know, we'll deal.

Apparently it gets very crowded in July once school is out, but I'd imagine in the baby pool we'll be fine. So we did it. For the price of one month at a hotel pool, we're hooked up for the summer. The pool is going to be our home away from home.

Eitan loves it. He likes to hang out mostly on the steps of the kid pool and walk back and forth and splash.

So, if you're looking for us this summer, that's where we'll be!

TV in Israel

Because I'm with Eitan during the day, and working Monday-Thursdays in the evening, there's not much time for TV watching. Now, we always watch "our shows" from home online, through slingbox or some streaming websites, but just sitting down and turning on the TV, well that doesn't happen.

But, on the rare occasions where I have attempted to just chill out and turn on the TV, or tackle a project wanting something int he background, I've come to the following conclusions about Israeli TV.

Plus: There's a whole lot of America programming happening. Like I can go through a bunch of channels in a row only hearing English. Which is nice for me, and there are subtitles, so maybe I'm learning a bit?

Minus: All of the channels and programming have different timing. There's no consistency (that I've seen at least). There are not 30 minute or hour blocks. Some things will start at let's say 10:40, others 11:05, and on another channel 10:25, and it varies from channel to channel, day to day it seems.

Plus: Commercials! There are no commercials in the middle of any program, only extended commercials between programs. It's sweet.

Minus: The shows are outdated. Like a couple years old, if not more. Some, like talk shows (they have the Daily Show, Ellen) are a few days or weeks late, others Oprah are really old. In Israel, Oprah is still running...

Minus: Weird shows! It's really weird. With all of the channels and shows that are on in the US, it's like they picked the craziest ones. The show "the middle" is on, like every day, One Tree Hill also, always on, and the new 90210, always on.  I know there are shows that we'd like on, Parks and Recreation, Grey's, and I think even Mad Men, but we haven't been able to figure out when they're on, and besides, the whole working at night thing gets in the way....

Also, I know Israel is a secular country- and I'm all cool with that and everything, but it's weird that TV commercials advertise shows in hebrew for Shabbat. It's just weird for me! Just today while flipping through, and finding E!, there was an ad for a Kardashian Marathon, get this, on Shavout. They didn't even just say "next Sunday", but Shavout! Sounds So wrong!

So all in all, it's not worth turning on the TV here, for us anyways. I can barely figure out how to turn this one on (you have to push TV, power, and THEN "hot" and power. I can't get it straight and am always turning the tv to a snowstorm. I'm happy to stick with US tv online.

Next time you visit, I'd recommend coming with your computer/kindle/ipad loaded!

Nothing to do with this post. Just a cuddle captured by Nina's Iphone.

Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

So last Friday we took a visit to the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. We're trying to do all of these outdoorsy activities before it gets brutally hot. Which it kind of was already on Friday, but it's just going to get worse...







So we cabbed over there and were greeted with this beautiful entrance, a windy path road down filled with flowers.

As we walked around we saw lots of different trees and plants, but spent the most time in the North American area hanging out with familiar trees.


We discovered a little stream that Eitan just became enthralled with. The thing is, he wouldn't let us hold his hand, and it was rocky and slippery and he almost fell like a million times, so I put the kibosh on the whole adventure and he FLIPPED OUT. Like the worst meltdown of his life. All he wanted was to go in the water, and not just that stream, the main pond in the front of the gardens, smaller little ponds scattered around, waterfalls, whatever. Of course, when we got home and it was time to take a bath he was having none of that, but wow, maybe we should start bathing him outdoors.

So even though our little outing was cut short due to a toddler freak out, it was still beautiful, and we recommend you make a visit. Plus there's a branch of the famous Caffit restaurant over there, so go for dinner and a walk on a breezy cool Jerusalem night? We might just have to go back and do that ourselves.


Of course, we didn't leave before Ami got up in the flowers to take some pictures.

 

Lag B'omer

Last Wednesday night and Thursday was Lag B'omer. Work wasn't closed or anything, but there were festivities all over. On Tuesday at Eitan's music class the teacher taught a whole bunch of new songs about Lag B'omer. It was cute. Or would have been if he understood what was going on. And on Wednesday night there were bonfires all over the city, in all of the parks, backyards, etc. The whole city smelled like fire.

Thursday however was the day we really did something for the day- Wednesday night I had work, and Eitan had sleep, and Ami, well, is stuck with us lame-os. Thursday afternoon the neighborhood Chabad hosted a kids event. It started at a playground with some drummers, and they gave out flags and hats to all the kiddos (which Eitan wore for a grand 5 seconds). They whole group walked a couple of blocks on "parade" to a local school courtyard/play area where they had a bunch of bouncy houses (!), music playing, more drummers, with a drumming circle for kids to play with, and bbqs with hot dogs.



Drumming from mimi rozmaryn on Vimeo.


It was fun for kids, maybe a little better for kids a bit older then Eitan, but you know, he likes to party and can have a good time where ever. The bouncy house fun was very short lived - I think the bigger kids scared him a bit, so he stayed at the entrance, but the drumming circle was so fun for our future musician. And he liked hot dogs too. His first...and last for a looong time. Those things are not healthy.

And of course, pictures...

Latest Fun

It's getting warmer, the days are getting longer. Yesterday it was up to 86 degrees, and HOT in the sun. I've been trying to keep inside for the hottest parts of the day, naptime is from 12-2, so that's easy enough, and playing lots of games right after until we take an afternoon excursion.

In the Rozmaryn house Eitan's most recently been entertained by:

His blocks or BOPS that he got as a present over Pesach. He carries them in their case to me when he wants to play, and watches me stack them one by one. Sometimes he'll even add one, but really likes to watch. It is NOT okay for me to stack them sideways, the little engineer in training lets me know. They have to be in size order only and right side down, always. After I build a tower he'll just watch in, and lightly touch it. Ami tries to show him the fun in knocking it down, but he doesn't seem to really care for that. Maybe he is mine, after all.

Eitan's also all about climbing into the bottom of the stroller. He'll climb in, hang out, get bored and scream because he can't get out. After a few times we started storing the stroller folded up, but it was cute while it lasted.

And lastly, lots of reading! Eitan likes to pick out a book, or  BOOP and hand it to me. He does NOT always have the patience to sit through the whole thing. That's another Rozmaryn resemblance. Or maybe just being a one and a half year old...

Here's a go at a current favorite, Chica Chica Boom Boom, a Chanuka gift from his cousins Liat and Itai (Idat) and Uncle Gadi and Tia.





That's what we've been up to! What have you been doing? Other then getting a pool membership for the summer (doing research...it's a MUST) what are some ideas for keeping cool when it gets brutal?

More Bakeries!

Last week Ami read an article about some of the "bests" food-wise in Jerusalem here. Obviously, we got right on that the next day tackling two. Because you know, me and bakeries, we're tight. Marzipan, duh, but the other four. Hello.

The first, Gagou de Paris was written up for the best Eclairs. Ami LOVES eclairs. Like LOVES. Which is weird, because he's not a dessert guy, at all. He even one made them from scratch after a particularly inspiring episode of Good Eats.

The bakery deemed to have the best Eclairs the best was a french place on King George Street in town. It's actually 14 King George if you're planning a visit. But maybe don't. They had lots of different beautiful treats. Mini eclairs that looked adorable, but to Ami's dismay were not filled with custard, instead some caramel-ly stuff.

I had a lemon meringue tart. And unlike Ami, I AM decidedly a dessert person, and couldn't even finish my tart. The pie crust was pre-bought, a disappointment (it tasted chemically) and the meringue was kind of grainy and too sweet. And it's a big deal if I say somethings too sweet.

The third dessert we sampled was a strawberry creme thing. Ami liked it, I was neutral.

The biggest problem I had with the bakery was that it's pareve. I mean, that's a good thing sometimes, but you know, if you're going to have really great desserts they're usually dairy.  The great thing about our discovery of this pareve-ness was that while Ami was at the counter with his first eclair, he ate it and then said, "oh crap", to which the guy behind the counter said knowingly, don't worry, it's pareve. Only in Israel my friends.

The next "best" we had was the best Challah in Jerusalem at Pe-er. Luckily for us, the best place is actually two blocks away from our very apartment. Pe-er on Shmuel Hanagid. It's right parallel Burgers Bar, one street behind. I'm being generous by street. It's more like a back alley, and that's the only establishment on the block.



 


What it lacks in clarity of location, it makes up for in charm. Seriously, is the place oozing charm, or what? Okay, so it's totally not stroller friendly, but the seating area is adorable, and the bakery area charming as well. It feels like a secret.

Eating and being strolled around is exhausting !

Um, and the Challah, yeah, it's really good. Really really good. Totally worthy of their nomination.

Anyways, that was our Friday adventure!