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!

Netanya is Beautiful!

Tuesday morning we went to the Israel Children's Museum in Holon. We participated in a story about aliens and outer space. Here is a photo of us at the museum:

After the museum we went to a great playground nearby. Here are some pictures from there:

While we were at the playground, a siren went off. There was no building nearby to go to, so we crouched down against the corner of two walls until we heard the double boom of the iron dome. We were fine afterwards.

At night we went to the beach in Netanya and enjoyed playing in some fountains.

The next day (Wednesday) we spent the whole morning at the beach in Netanya:

We also played in the fountains again:

Jonah really likes the animated characters they use to advertise the lottery in Israel:

At night we went to visit my Abba's relatives, Margalit, Ofra, and Ilan. We had dinner in their backyard and played.

 We had a nice meal together:

 Isaac spent a lot of time reading:

 Jonah really liked the brownies:

I liked the ice cream.

We are having fun in Israel. I will write again soon.