And did I forget to mention?

Here is a quick end of Pesach, back to school round-up. Shabbat Chol HaMoed was nice. Saba and Savta joined us, and the Hausdorfs were our Shabbat lunch guests. I think everyone had a good time catching up. On Motzaei Shabbat Ariella had her first out of the house sleepover, at Sarena's. She had a blast, and can not wait for another vacation for another sleepover.

Sunday was yet another prep day, as we got ready for the last day of Chag. Aviva and Josh and family joined us, as did former students Mindy and Rivi. Everyone had a good time - especially Ariella and Shalem, who had a sleepover and played really nicely. Josh and Arica and kids, along with their chayal boded Robert, joined us for lunch. It was a full house, and we really enjoyed it. Putting away Pesach was not too painful and took very little time. And after all that fuss, and all that work, and all that preparation, and all that effort, zip, seven days and Pesach was out of here...

Isru chag brought our traditional trip to town and the shuk, but not before the kids collected on their afikomen IOU. They desperately wanted a pet (at least some of them did), so David took them to the pet store, where they fell in love with the parakeets. Deeming them the least objectionable possibilty, and distinctly not rodent-like, David acceded. They brought home two, which are currently named Penelope and Sam, and so far, I have not strangled them or any of their owners, though the night is still young.

After the birds got settled in, we headed to town. We enjoyed falafel in soft, fresh, pitas and lafas, as well as seeing people holding second day chag walking around town jealously. But, not my problem. Then we went to the shuk, where Dani spent some of his hard-earned bag-boy money on a kilo of gummies for his Shabbat Kitah. He promised to share with his friends, or pay the dentist bill... We rounded out the day with Katzefet, then returning home to get ready for the return to school!

Without Dani, Shabbat was certainly not the same, but we muddled through. As I mentioned, Adina and Rivky joined us for Shabbat, and we were out for lunch, which was a pleasure. Dani returned home exhausted after Shabbat. Luckily, he did not have to be in school until 9, which he turned into 10. In the meantime, David and I went out with Lori and Seth to a cafe, and had a very nice time, returning quite late. The next morning, I went to book club/Laura's birthday breakfast in another restaurant (yeah, it's a hard-knock life for me) and had a good time, though we did not discuss the book, which I managed to read, in its entirety, the day before. Oh well. Sunday afternoon brought Ariella's final swimming class and their "recital," which was absolutely adorable - synchronized swim for the junior set. She worked unbelievably hard at learning to dive, and she was fantastic! Though I will not miss the carpool, we will surely miss the chug. Sunday night was the yishuv's Tekes Yom HaShoah, and that brings us up to today.

Have a great week!

Dvora