One of those Days

One day last week Eitan and I had totally open- no gymboree, no music class, no plans, just a day to explore.

He's been a bit anti-stroller lately, wanting to walk and "hold you hand" instead. Most of the time though, that's not an option, if we need to go anywhere on any time frame, anywhere that includes walking more then a couple blocks, or buying anything that I need the stroller to act as storage.

But that day, well, no stroller city. We walked up and down Rakevet street (it's parallel to Emek Refaim, here's another post on adventures there) where without the threat of cars or busy streets, Eitan could roam free. And that he did. It's really a beautiful little boardwalk, especially our stretch that somehow has green grass and beautiful flowers even in the dead of summer.

He did so good staying on the wooden tracks as instructed, taking time to touch the plants and flowers. It was a great change of pace from the norm, and he was so proud to be walking on his own and exploring.

Eventually though, it started to get a bit hot for strolling endlessly. I mean it is the Middle East in August, so obviously the only answer was to stop in at our favorite bakery and get the most decadent, beautiful looking thing in the shop.

After a few minutes peering into the fridge, I decided on this beauty. So they don't have cupcakes here, the craze hasn't hit, and a big old Crumbs cupcake would have been the perfect thing for this day, but this four layered cake made a fine substitute. White chocolate on top, TWO flavors of mousse (chocolate and coffee) and chocolate cake on the bottom. Delicious. 

I think we did a pretty good job polishing that guy off. And afterwards (yes, after feeding my kid a rich, chocolaty, sugary cake) it was time for Eitan's nap. So home we went. I guess the walking neutralized the sugar because he went right to bed and took a nice long nap.

The next day, normal errands, play dates and plans resumed, but for that morning, it was perfect.

Going, Going, Gone...

Last week (my brother) Hudy and (future Sister in Law) Debra came in Jerusalem one evening to hang out and have dinner with us. Okay, so maybe it was for my birthday, but whatever. I suggested we go somewhere in the Shuk as it's close to the central bus station so easy for them to get to, and also close to Ami's work and football practice so he could join us for a bit between.

Me and sidekick Eitan met up with Ami when he finished work around 5 and we strolled around the area until the Tel Aviv crew arrived at 6ish. Sitting on Yafo street, we noticed a wall of boxes being built. It reminded me of the days before our move here- with our own wall of packed boxes for storage that I called our "Kotel of boxes", and remember saying, "see, we don't have to move to Jerusalem, we have our own Kotel right here in DC" (it didn't work, here we are). But, I digress, a Kotel of boxes right outside the Shuk.

So Ami thought this wall of boxes was cool and took some pictures. And what happened next didn't occur to either of us, but Nina sent me this picture on her phone today:

So it seems they get compacted up somehow and loaded onto a big truck and taken somewhere...

And because this post started with Hudy and Debra's dinner visit, here are two snapshots, also because no Eitan-less posts are allowed. The picture of Hudy and Eitan even made it to GlassesUSA.com's photo of the day (we MIGHT have an in there, ahem), and the other one of me, Debra and Nina got a few "likes" on our facebook pages. So that's that.

By the way, we went to Pasta Basta in the Shuk. They make all the pasta and sauces etc on site and from fresh Shuk produce. Delicious. Go. I can't remember everything we all had, there was lots of delicious sauces going around and we ended with panna cotta and tiramisu, and those I definitely remember.

7 plus hours in the Israel Museum Later

Tuesday Eitan and I had a LONG day out. On Sunday there was a notice on the front gate of our building that the electricity would be out from 9am to 3pm and being in this house that long without fans (okay and internet) is not okay. So I got to brainstorming. So other then going to Ami's shipping container office on a construction site, another trip to the Israel Museum seemed like a good fit. And bonus, it  was the annual Kite Festival over there so there was additional fun kids activities. Deal.

Because our last visit to the museum was less then 3 months ago, admission was half off (Eitan's free until 3, so that's cool). We got there a little after 10 and left at almost 5 so I'd say we got our money's worth!

Unlike our last visit, this trip we spent a lot of time in the children's wing and in the sculpture garden. Partially because I'd seen the other stuff already and partially because it's harder to keep a toddler entertained and contained with one parent then two.

In the children's wing we revisited the "Goodnight Moon" room. This time, it was lit softly (mimicking the book) rather then bright and they let us actually go IN rather then just peek our heads in and see. Which was a good thing, because Eitan immediately recognized it, said "animal duce", ran in, and was just totally enthralled. He touched EVERYTHING. It was pretty much the coolest thing to watch. Still not a  perfect copy, (no red balloon! no kittens!), but it was great. And kept him busy for a good long time going from the toy house to the clocks to the bed, to the book itself.

After some more time in the children's wing we ventured outside. A big hit was Claus Oldenberg's apple core. Which made me happy as a New Yorker, and happy for Eitan as no one was enforcing the "please do not climb" sign. Sorry Claus.

We also went to see this sculpture below. Eitan called it the big mirror. I have no idea who made it, but it reminds me of the bean in Millennium Park in Chicago. So maybe the same person? Either way you spot us upside down below. And I can flip over the image so we're forwards, but that's cheating the art. So you can see us as we saw us. 

After some more running around outside, and figuring out how to push his own stroller, we headed inside to scope out a semi quiet place for me to put Eitan down for a nap. And yes, I came prepared with a light blanket to cover the stroller with to block out the light, and my kindle loaded with entertainment (and headphones). I found a great spot (third floor, lots of big leather chairs, not much art, and a small coffee stand/shop for some reason), rocked Eitan to bed and settled into a chair with a large latte and a couple episodes of Veep (it's funny!).  I also took sleeping Eitan in his stroller to the new fabulous exhibit about Hasidic Jews. It was great- lots of videos, images, clothing. With all of the strife between the sects here, hopefully it will inform the general population about the "other" side. I hear there are also separate women and men hours sometimes to be more welcoming to Hasidic visitors. Here's some news I dug up on it if you want to see for yourself.  Well done Israel Museum.

 

When he woke up from his nap and after a lunch break, we continued to explore the museum as there was still an hour or so until the actual Kite festivities began. This one room had this giant statue. I promise when we walked into the room, Eitan said "daddy" and pointed. Really. I can't make this stuff up. Seriously. Check out the scale of this guy. Most people were about up to his knees.

 Before we knew it, Kite fun time. For some reason it was kite festival/Japanese festival, but we enjoyed it all.

There was a dragon, drummers, Kabuki dancers, it was lovely. Eitan was OBSESSED with the dragon. He followed the guy, and would run  up right in front of them. And the face below- it was like that for 15 minutes straight. Really!

 

The kites were great. There were workshops all day where kids could make their own, and some people brought with. The truth is, we left around 5 and tons of people were filing in- so it seems the most kite action was after our departure, but after a few minutes Eitan was way more into playing with and throwing the gravel rocks on the ground then watching kites anyways. He threw them everywhere. Like down his back. We found some in his diaper even which takes special skill for Eitan because he was wearing a onesie shirt, so I guess they went down his back?

Anyways, the pictures I took of the kites just look like dots in the sky, so I'll spare you! But it was great and fun, and if you're in town, you should go next year.

Blogging our Birthdays

Ami and I both have summer birthdays. His in July mine in August. Both of our birthdays actually are pretty much the same every year. For Ami, always a barbeque at his parents house with mud pie as the appetizer (because it's dairy) and  wiffle ball tearing up the front lawn with our friends. For me, it's being grumpy, avoiding phone calls and pretending it's not happening. 

This year, being here, both of our birthdays were different.

One Rozmaryn tradition is waking up the birthday person with a ring ding. I don't know when it started, but it's a big deal. Well, there are no ring dings here, so me and Eitan woke up Ami with mini eclairs from Marzipan. Note the time on the clock back there- yep that's before 6am...thanks Eitan.

 For Ami's birthday I got him a gift that really took a village. He got a Robert Griffin III Jersey (he's the newest Redskin, number 2 in the overall draft, kind of a big deal!). Our friend Jesse ordered it through his special hook up in China, Ami's brother Gadi picked it up from Jesse's and brought it to Mindy, Mindy brought it to Hillel to give to Graham who was coming to Israel in June. Exhausting amounts of logistics right there people. And lots of thank yous. But mostly to me for thinking of and coordinating team RG3 jersey.


For my birthday, Ami was smart. He leaves for work at 6:30 am, right around when Eitan's getting up, and generally says good morning to me by dropping Eitan into my bed as I'm still sleeping and telling me that I'm on. And of course, he wished me a happy birthday. When I went into the kitchen that morning to get our breakfasts ready I saw this curious note on the fridge (if you can't make it out, it says, Happy Birthday Miriam look inside):

And when I opened the freezer, this is what greeted me:

That's half a kilo (about a pound) of gelato from Aldo arguably the best ice cream place in Jerusalem. It's down the street here on Emek Refaim, and Ami secretly brought it home the night before as he comes in late from his football practice and I'm usually already in bed.

So that's what a pound of ice cream and 31 spoons looks like. Ami said the man  at the shop thought he was a total lunatic for asking for 31 of the tasting spoons, but that makes it a better gift, right? And for those wondering the flavors in there were lemon vodka, coffee and rocher (a chocolate bar that's fabulous in ice cream and regular form as well).

My present which arrived in the mail was a soda stream. I have wanted one for ages! And once we found out that it doesn't plug in (which means it will work in both Israel and the US without any converter plugs) I convinced Ami that we must have one. And apparently on the website if you order online you can pick the day it arrives. That's pretty cool. And the company is based here in Israel, so score one for supporting the local economy.

When the mailman dropped it off, Eitan obviously thought it was his. 

And I took the opportunity to stick our kid in a box. A family tradition of sticking him in places (popcorn bowls, sombreros, other boxes, salad bowls) that's coming to an end now that he is not only bigger but strong willed about where he does and does not want to be. So that was a bonus present for me.

Anyways, this year I decided that I no longer dislike my birthday. Mostly because my biggest fear was 30, and that's come and gone, and now in my old age I realize the more I make a big deal about not liking my birthday, the bigger deal everyone else makes. So it's over. Birthdays are fine. Ami's 30, I'm 31. Over it. Of course, the ice cream helped. Yep, it was gone fairly quickly (Ami had too).

And for all of the birthdays we missed this year, here's a bonus gift of our crazy kid spinning around and around making himself drunk sick:




Spinning Round and Round! from mimi rozmaryn on Vimeo.

Balabasta- Party in the Shuk

It's festival season in Jerusalem. The one that we were most excited about is the Balabasta, Sunday evening events in the Shuk all of August.

Machane Yehuda is already probably my favorite thing about living here, and add in extra street performers and extra treats, what could be better? We went last Sunday night for the first part (it goes from 5pm and although officially ends around 9, Nina reports that there are unofficial parties that go on later) before Eitan's bedtime.

Many of the stalls had closed for the day already (rumor has it the stall owners hate these festivals and parties in the shuk which take away from the destination as a place to buy food, not hang out/mooch), and some had been taken over by makeshift vendors including fortune tellers, face painters and special treats, cotton candy, popcorn, etc. And there were little surprises down every aisle- capoeira dancers, clowns, mimes, a guy on a unicyle, it was a bit of everything, kind of like the food offerings during the day.

            
             
But the real draw of Balabasta is the performances. As we entered the open street of the shuk (as opposed to the covered aisles) we could hear music but couldn't see where a band was set up. Looking around and seeing the crowd standing and looking up- there they were. A band on top of a building. Brilliant. Also happening between buildings in the alley was some kind of performance with laundry ladies and a flower lady. Sounds crazy. Is crazy. And awesome.

Here's a clip:




Later on after the band went on break and the ladies retired to their buildings, another performance began a little down the street with huge statue puppet things. They freak Ami out to no end, he says they look like big giant zombies, but me and Eitan, we loved it. I think Nina was somewhere in between. There was statue dancing and people dancing, it was great. Eitan even got a high five from one of them.

Here's a bit of the Statue dancing: 



And of course, the treats. Because even amidst our general shuk grocery list for that day festivals mean treats, right? Okay, so nothing as exotic as deep fried butter, but still a treat is a treat. Nina and I shared a huge cotton candy. When was the last time I had real cotton candy? Omygosh it was so good and sugary! Ami had a big doughnut (doughnuts are usually only available around here Chanuka time), and Eitan got bites of everything. If you're here next Sunday, check it out- it's the last one. I might go back just for the cotton candy.

Old Friends

December 2010

I love Disney, Disney World, the whole thing. I know it's cheesy, but I can't help it. I just do. And thankfully, it seems that this Mickey Mouse love has transferred over to the next generation despite Ami's resistance.

We took Eitan with us on a road trip last year while I was on maternity leave and he was only 10 weeks old with the destination of Disney meeting the rest of the Rozmaryn family (minus Aviva) for a few days. And on this trip he acquired a Mickey doll, Mickey ears, the whole deal.

And he sat on a shelf in his room, and then, of course came with us to Israel last November. Mickey was always just a decoration, a momento of the trip. Until recently. Eitan now demands that MickeyMOUUUSE constantly. They're pals. He gives him rides in his truck, holds his hands and dances with him and sits him down on the couch to watch over the place and make sure everything's okay while we're out (a compromise I devised after he wanted to take him out with us).  

I snapped these pictures yesterday afternoon:

So that's the story. Eitan and Mickey, buddies. Score 1 for another trip to Disney while Eitan's young enough to be mesmerized, well I guess I still am so no rush on that...

Eitan's New Chair: DIY Fever!

Last week I mentioned I was working on a big secret crafty project- and here it is!

Walking down Emek Refaim one day last week I saw this sad little chair sitting by a garbage. Eitan spotted it, I spotted it, I looked at it, checked it out and stood looking for a minute. An old man sitting at the bus stop a couple feet away said to me, take it, you have a kid, it's good. It had cheapy plastic creepy clown fabric, and an orangy wood dirty frame, but I figured, let's just grab it because I don't want to regret not grabbing it. And as you may have read, I was on a craft kick, so why not take on a bigger project.

So, I did. I figured I'd give rehabbing it a try, and if it doesn't work out, I didn't lose anything. And Eitan was just transfixed by the "new chair". I scrubbed it clean first thing, it was really gnarly, both the wood frame and the seat. But it was solidly built, and it seemed like with some paint and new fabric, I could give it a new life. And when we go home, we can just give it to someone around these parts if it's cute enough. So me and my friend google did a search for chair renovations, reupholstering, rehabbing and found some sources for how to attempt this undertaking.

Step 1: The original chair, after a serious scrub down:

Step 2: Removing the cushions, and spray painting, a nice glossy, bright white:

I did this outside in the front garden of our building, because you know, paint fumes aren't the healthiest or best smelling. And it takes about 4 hours to dry and I knew I couldn't keep the curious little toddler fingers, and his nap is only 2 hours. 

Step 3: Fabric shopping! This was the best part. On Yaffo street in the center of town there are tons of fabric shops. I wanted something that was kiddy a little, but not baby-ish, and something
that wasn't totally boyish too in case it gets passed down to a little girl one day.

Also, sites I read in my research recommended a fabric with a pattern that doesn't need to line up perfectly, especially for my first go around at re-upholstering.

This is what I picked. I think it's awesome. Some people (Esty Altshul...ahem) think it's weird to make something for a toddler with skulls and cross bones, but I think it's funny. And it fit all of my fabric criteria. And, as it turns out, skulls and cross bones for little kids are actually quite fashionable right now, see here and here.

Step 4: Reupholstering:

I didn't even bother to pull off the creepy clown plastic, and just staple gunned right over it. My tools for this project included the fabric, the cushions, a staple gun and tropical flavored mike and ikes.

Step 5: Reassemble the chair and show it to my little customer!

 

 

He likes it!

My sources:
http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/10/office-chair-makeover-in-progress/
http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/10/color-me-happy/
http://ramblingrenovators.blogspot.co.il/2012/05/oldie-mini-chair-makeover.html

So like any good blogger, a budget breakdown:

Chair: Free
Spray Paint: 16 Shekels/$4
Fabric: 50 or 25 Shekels/ $12.50 or $6.50 (I bought way way too much thinking I'd make mistakes and need to have extra on hand. So I bought about 50 Shekels worth, but really only used half. More projects will ensue.)
Staplegun: Borrowed, Free (thanks Mallers)
Staples: 4 Shekels/$1
Mike and Ikes: 3 Shekels/75 cents

Grand total: $12.25 (because you know I still think in Dollars)

Exploring the Edges of Yemin Moshe

Yemin Moshe is the neighborhood that's right outside of the Old City walls, the first place people moved in Jerusalem outside of the Old City at the way end of the 1800's. It's really a beautiful beautiful area, the views of the Old City walls are unreal, but it's also very stairs-y, so not so so stroller friendly, especially without Ami around to either carry the stroller or make sure Eitan doesn't run off while i carry the stroller up or down the stairs.

Sunday morning we had a bit of a late start to the day, cleaning up from Shabbat, doing laundry, really fun stuff people, so I figured taking a walk over there (it's about 10 minutes from our house) would be a fun activity before naptime. Especially as the high temperature in Jerusalem was only in the mid 80's. Perfect!

The neighborhood is best represented by a giant windmill which has been under renovation all summer, it's looked like a very sad mill less (is that what those blades are called? Probably not...)windmill. It's actually a very cool project the city is undertaking it- restoring it back to a working windmill producing actual flour. It was supposed to be completed last Sunday (maybe in time for Romney's speech over there?), but alas, still this today when we went to check it  out the area was still gated off, and although the mill  is back on it's not in motion yet. Eitan didn't care that it wasn't spinning and just kept calling it a BIG FAN. He's really into fans nowadays...like obsessed, he points them out everywhere we go.

Beautifully restored, but not in motion yet.

Big Fan. Little Boy. On tiptoes.

On the edge of Yemin Moshe there's also a big beautiful fountain. In the summer this fountain becomes a very unofficial swimming pool for kids. I figured it would be fun for a little splashing around, but when we got there it was like whoa legit swimming pool with kids in inner tubes, bathing suits and parents ready with swim diapers and towels. See?

I am certainly not  Israeli enough to have Eitan swim in random fountains with water that I have no idea is sanitary, and definitely filled with kid pee without chlorine, but we did have fun splashing around a little bit. He didn't seem interested in going in- I guess from all our time at the pool this summer he gets that pools are for swimming and fountains for checking out? 

And, a video:


Splashing in the Fountain from mimi rozmaryn on Vimeo.



Either way, it was a great couple hour activity, and if you want to read more about the neighborhood, you can read this page.

Also, don't think it doesn't KILL me what a big boy Eitan looks like in these pictures. Seriously. I know I see him everyday, but am in shock. And maybe almost cried. And thanks to Uncle Gadi, Tia, Liat and Itai for the awesome hat, that is sized Infant, and for some reason still fits, somehow.

Also, Also, This is my 100th post! If I would have realized it before writing it up, maybe I would have done something more clever? Whatever, maybe for 101? Not sure if I'm clever enough to think about it.