Well, Pesach has come and gone and we enjoyed a great vacation together as a family. I was off for three weeks surrounding the Passover holiday and Josh worked off and on, but was able to spend a lot of time with us. It was really wonderful. Before Pesach, we heard from friends about a really cheap place to stay in Eilat. While Eilat wouldn’t have been our first choice, it sounded too good to pass up. And it really was! The hotel was right by all of the activity in Eilat and was an apartment hotel. So for about $50 a night, we had a kitchen, family room for the kids to sleep in and bedroom for us. It was perfect (except for Amichai waking up at 4:30 both mornings, but that’s another story!). We went to the aquarium, walked on the beach, went on a speedboat to see dolphins, and went to an interesting amusement park. The kids even got to go on trampolines where they were attached to rope and could swing in the air with glee – they were very excited! We arrived in a sand storm – something we had never experienced, even though we had heard about it while living on Kibbutz years ago. On the way down we stopped at kibbutz Revivim, where we met, to show it to the kids, and then we went hiking in a great national park on the way back and had a nice lunch at Yotvata Kibbutz.

After cleaning for Pesach and getting the house in order, we had a beautiful seder with the Frankls (reuniting with our Potomac tradition). Everyone came dressed as a part of the seder – Matan was Moshe Rabeinu; Jordan was Paroah; Miriam was Miriam; Yehuda, Rivka and Yedidya were all animals from the plagues, and I was darkness. It was very fun and an enjoyable and meaningful time. Next year with the Levins as well! (and anyone else who wants to join us : ) )! Saying “Next Year in Jerusalem” is so interesting when you live in Jerusalem and obviously has a different meaning for us now.

During Chol HaMoed (the intermediate days) Pesach we had four days to enjoy ourselves. We got the chance to see Deborah and Josh Wilbur and kids at a great monkey park near here. The monkeys were actually climbing right above our heads at one point, and the highlight of Yehuda’s day was getting peed on. What can I say? We briefly saw my brother and family while they were here for a bat-mitzvah and it was great to spend time with the little cousins. Another day we went to a deer park right by our house, another day we went to the beach with friends, and a final day we went shopping for furniture for our new house. Yes! We are actually moving in the next few months – yeah!

Now everyone has returned to school and life resumes. The next few months will be filled with crazy activity between Matan and my birthdays, Yom HaAtzmaut, Shavuot and other holidays, the end of the school year and the beginning of our packing and moving. We should be in by the beginning of July. We are starting to get quotes for some changes that we are doing to the house, and shopping for furniture. Many will be sad to know that our beloved green leather couch won’t fit in our family room, and so we are searching for a substitute. Is it really possible to have a Sussman house without that couch?!