Hugs in Israel

The boys have been doing such a great job of posting that if feels like my posts are unnecessary. However, when on a 6hr flight to Marrakech… The last few weeks have been sort of magical. We have all enjoyed slowing down, having a homebase, a park a few blocks away, a grocery shop whose aisles we learned, an amazing smoothie guy who knows our orders when he sees us and watches over our kids as they go and come from the park on their own, a favorite falafel place, a great produce stand where the cucumbers are crunchy, the grapes are sweet, and the dates are soft, and a regular path to the beach that the boys can navigate on their own. We had a wonderful time just living and being in Tel Aviv with short trips to explore the country, including the Golan Heights, Dead Sea, Masada, Ein Gedi, Haifa, Safed, and staying on two kibbutzes, which were some of our favorites.

We are so lucky to have my grandpa’s cousins, Micha and Ofra, organize multiple get togethers where we got to see and meet our Israeli family. We use the term family loosely as many are 3rd, 4th or 5th cousins, many times removed, but it was all ‘mishpucha.’ I enjoyed reconnecting with cousins with whom I raced up Masada as a teen and having him now teach me and my kids how to make wine, having a Sukkot dinner and meeting a cousin who happens to be a patent attorney who led a CAR-T patent litigation I followed closely, having pizza at a home surrounded by lush vegetation and mature plantings that 23 years ago was new construction surrounded by dessert, and watching our children connect and play with their Israeli cousins and form their own connections.

The 5 weeks in Israel was capped off with an incredible hug from home when Gila, my co-mom and the boys nanny for the first 6+ years of their lives came to visit us in Tel Aviv. We spend most of the time in the shuk and on the beach, soaking up the sun and the Gila love. Words can’t express how much visits with loved ones fill our buckets.Read more