The best day EVER

Yesterday was the best day of our trip so far. It was SO much fun! Here's a photo of me with spiky wet hair:

Anyway, to tell you about our day, first we went to Tzippori, an amazing archaeological site. It was HUGE! We saw many beautiful mosaics, but everyone's favorite was the one called the "Mona Lisa of the Galilee." Here is a photo of it:

We also saw lots of Sabra Cactuses. Here's one:

 And here's Jonah with another one:

After seeing lots of sites at Tzippori, we fulfilled my mommy's lifelong dream: we toured the Elite Chocolate Factory! We had to suit up in these funny clothes:

 (Yes, Abba needed a special cover for his beard!)

We weren't allowed to take any photos inside the factory, because we actually saw them making and packaging things like candy bars and gum, but we took this photo at the end, just before we got to eat as much chocolate as we wanted (as long as we didn't take any with us):

From there we went to Beit Alpha, which has a cool zodiac mosaic on its floor.

Then we went to the Marzipan Museum and Factory in Kfar Tabor:

There we got to see cool marzipan creations made by artists. Everything in these photos is made out of Marzipan:

 Here is Dobby from Harry Potter:

 Here is a scene from the Jungle Book, with a book made out of Marzipan:

Then we got to make our own marzipan creations...

 The flowers and some other stuff were made in a mold but I made this smurf by hand.

 Jonah made these purple mushrooms for my smurf:

...and chocolate creations, with white and milk chocolate, yum!

Today we went to Bet She'arim, which had tons of burial caves and catacombs. It was cool to walk around in it. Here is a human-sized carved rock menorah we found in one:

Here is the tomb of Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi, Rabbi Judah the Prince, the man who compiled the Mishna. We went in and saw where he was buried. He is one of the most important rabbis in Jewish history. It was so cool to be there:

Now we are in Jerusalem for Shabbat. Wishing everyone, everywhere a peaceful Shabbat Shalom!!

From Kibbutz to Rosh Pina

Tuesday was our last day on Kibbutz Bar Am. We got to see a billiards (pool) room dedicated in memory of my cousin Shlomo. Here is the plaque outside the door with his picture and name:

 Here is what it looked like on the inside:

We went swimming at Kibbutz Bar Am's awesome pool!

We also got to see a zoo on the kibbutz, which was really fun. I love animals! They had two cool peacocks:

We ate a meal in the Kibbutz Hadar Ochel (dining room). The hot chocolate was the best!

A special thank you to mommy's friend, Sandra Bruder, for hosting us.

Then we left Kibbutz Bar Am and went to Rosh Pina. We have a wonderful apartment with a beautiful view:

We have a cool balcony:

Yesterday we went to see an archaeological site that Abba worked on when he was 18. It is called BeitTzaida. or Bethsaida. Here is a photo of Abba with the plaque that says it is run by University of Nebraska at Omaha:

It is morning here. I hope today will be a great day. I will continue my blog with more again soon!

Rosh Hanikra to Kibbutz Bar Am

We had a great Shabbat in Tel Aviv. We spent time with Mommy's friends, Ori and Lea Melamed. Then we went to Lea's shop on Sunday to buy lunch. She made us fresh-squeezed orange juice, which I never had before. It was delicious!

We had lunch at the Jaffa Port, overlooking the ocean near Tel Aviv:

Then we drove up to Rosh Hanikra, on the border with Lebanon:

We rode on the steepest cable car in world to get from the top of the cliff down to the sea level.

Then we explored the grottos. These are naturally formed caves, made from water splashing against the rocks.

Then we went to Kibbutz Bar Am, where my cousin Shlomo used to live. I am named "Samuel/Shmuel" after him (and my grandpa's mom, Selma). Here is a picture of me next to Shlomo's grave.

Here is the tombstone:

Here are photos of Isaac putting rocks on the tombstone:

We went to the ancient synagogue at Bar Am, a cool archeological site!

 They had roosters running around there!

I like being in Israel.

Animal Safari

Yesterday was an amazing day! I love being in Israel!

We went to an animal safari in Ramat Gan (near Tel Aviv). My mom said that it is the biggest animal collection in the Middle east and has 250 acres and 1600 animals of different species (68 species of mammals, 130 species of fowl, and 25 species of reptiles).

From inside our car we could see many of the animals. Here is Abba with the zebras:

Here is Jonah with a zebra and gazelles.

We saw rhinos:

 We also saw lions!

The animals were so comfortable there that they walked right in front of our car!

They had an enclosed zoo in the middle of the safari where we could walk around. We went to a part where we could pet the sheep:

We saw a huge tortoise:

Then we got to climb a statue of a tortoise!

My favorites were the monkeys and gorillas. I got to climb like a monkey!

While we were driving from the zoo back through the safari to leave, the ostriches came right up to our cars!

For dinner, for our last night in Netanya, we went to a restaurant overlooking the ocean.

We sat in a window seat with an amazing view!

Then we walked on the beach

And got ice cream! The store gave me a regular-size cone and a really little cone, too!

Today we left Netanya and came to Tel Aviv. We are staying here for Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom to everyone!

PS Happy Birthday to Uncle Michael!