How Not To Pack For Vacation:

Step juan: Take a bunch of stuff out of your closet and pile it onto your bed.
Step two: Add some underwear and maybe a few socks.
Step three: Realize that you need a suitcase to shove your leaning tower of clothing into.
Step four: Acquire suitcase.
Step five: Drag suitcase to your room and blankly stare at it until you decide that it's time for bed.
Step six: Shove all of your clothing into a basket and place it next to your suitcase for the magical packing fairy to find.
Step seven: Go to sleep and wait for the fairy to work her magic.
Step eight: Wake up in the morning to find your suitcase and clothes exactly where you left them.
Step nine: Blame disney for giving you unrealistic expectations of fairy's.
Step ten: Procrastinate (all day).
Step eleven: Glare angrily at your still empty suitcase while lamenting the fact that you don't own a robot to pack your bag for you.
Step twelve: Bed time! Sleep fitfully while envisioning multiple scenarios in which you're forced to walk around wrapped in a curtain because you were to lazy to pack your own suitcase.
Step thirteen: Wake up and trip over your still empty suitcase on your way to the bathroom.
Step fourteen: Procrastinate.
Step fifteen: Write a blog post about how not to pack for vacation.

Congratulations! You have now successfully avoided packing for your vacation despite the fact that you need to leave for the airport in a few hours. *clap clap clap*

Crazy Drivers

The last leg of chag was nice. We ate, sang and were merry. We went to Lori's for dinner and then Lori&co walked over to us for lunch. I tagged along with Lori&co when they decided to walk home. Buzzy and I ran amok in the park until chag ended and then Lori and I watched a few episodes of Gilmore Girls before I went home. 

Friday morning Lori kidnapped me and took me on some errands. We dunked our new wineglasses in dirty spiritual water and stopped at the grocery store for some broccoli. 

Dinner was delicious, my mom made a delectable savory lamb stew which we all enjoyed immensely. 

Lori&co came for lunch, we hung out all afternoon and then made pizza for dinner. 

This morning Lori&co, The Crazy Lady and I all ventured into the holy city for an adventure. The Crazy Lady and I went to the hair cutter place to get her hair cut while Lori&co wandered around the shuk. After the hair cut we found Lori&co and walked into town in search of buttons to put on a dress that my mother made for my niece. 

Sea was in town and came to hello/goodbye before The Crazy Lady and I embarked on our Ireland escapades. Speaking of which, our flight leaves at 5am Tuesday morning. I should probably start packing... :P

Shut Up Spalding

Bowling was a huge success! OK, so I probably wouldn't win any trophies at a bowling tournament (aside from the trophy for least points earned). Little animations played across the screen while the pins were being reset, most of my family members enjoyed funny scenes congratulating them on their spares while the screen taunted me by finding a myriad of ways to say "nice try". I did manage to get a spare and a strike in addition to my two fouls, so I'd say I did alright. 

My father showed off his mad skillz and the dibble proved to be a natural. Z won the first game with 110 points and Lori won the second with 108. 

After bowling we got some ice cream before getting in the car to head home. There wasn't much traffic and unlike on the drive there, we didn't get lost. Buzzy kept us entertained with his tricks while the dibble serenaded us from the backseat, the drive went by pretty quickly.

Back in the sunhouse we raided the fridge for chinese leftovers and ate a late lunch. 

Tomorrow is erev chag again, we should probably get on that... 

Out With The Old, In With The New.

Shabbos was really quiet, just me, my little brothers and my parents.
Friday night we enjoyed our dinner with the symphony of dying bugs in the background. Lunch was as quiet as dinner had been. I decided to walk over to Lori's to see how things were going there. Buzzy was the only one awake when I got there, we soon remedied the situation by annoying everyone else until they got up. I found some desserts on the table and we spent the remainder of the afternoon hanging out and eating way too much cake. After shabbos ended we decided that it was time to resume our Gimore Girls marathon. We watched a bunch of episodes and then Z drove me home.

Sunday was a lazy day, I spent the morning watching Scrubs and playing Pajama Sam. Pajama Sam proved to be harder than remembered and I eventually gave up and went to Lori's for dinner and a show. We had fauxwaiian chicken (fake Hawaiian chicken...) and pina coladas while we watched Americas Got Talent and Gilmore Girls.

My parents, Lori&co and I piled into our van and drove out to the Modiin mall for the afternoon.
My naot have been through quite a lot in the last three years that I've owned them and they showed it. My mom has been trying to get me to buy new ones but I haven't been able to find any in the style that I like. Apparently my shoe size is extremely common (European 39) because I checked four stores in the past few months but couldn't find my size in a normal pattern (I'm wasn't to keen on the shiny pink that they had in one store). We went into the naot store not really expecting much and asked the lady at the desk if she happened to have anything in my size. She went into the back and came back with a box of blue strapped sandals and asked me if the color was OK. I was slightly shocked at the fact that they actually had something in my size and thanked hashem that they were a nice color with a pretty pattern. I paid for the shoes and then put them on and wore them for the rest of the day.

Although the straps started out different colors, the soles started out the same....

I also managed to find a cute shirt, a belt, and a super comfy sweater. It was starting to get late and we all started getting hungry so we headed home to make dinner. 

We decided to make Chinese for dinner. General Tso's chicken, sweet n' sour chicken, beef and broccoli and lots of rice on the side. It was DELICIOUS! 

Tomorrow we're going to try to go bowling in Cholon. For some weird reason the place doesn't let you reserve a lane, it's sort of first come first serve situation. Hopefully it won't be too packed and we'll actually get to play! 

Jimbo

This years sukka comes fully equipped with a fan, water cooler, bug zapper, and comfy chairs.

The Freddies came for chag and dinner in our fancy sukka was as delicious as it was enjoyable. 

Thankfully there was no repeat of last years bug zapper fiasco wherein we saved a critter named Jim from the jaws of death using a trusty pair of salad tongs. 

The Bug Zapper Fiasco:

Jim was a praying mantis with a death wish, he tried to fly into the bug zapper multiple times but was to big to fit. On his second or third try he managed to get a few of his legs stuck in the outer layer of the zapper and spent twenty minutes or so waiting for his inevitable death while my little brother cried in the corner. After twenty minutes of staring at the critter in shock and dismay, my father decided that we had better do something. He approached the zapper, salad tongs in hand, and tried to pry Jim from the metal grate of death. The salad tongs eventually won the fight, Jim fell to the table with a thud as my father let out a manly shriek. The rest of us crowded around waiting to see what would happen. Jim lay motionless on the table, completely unaware of the chaos that he had created. 

We poked him several times and noted that he had lost a leg in battle but still, no change. We waited a few more minutes but it was obvious that he was no longer with us, we said good bye and went back to clearing the table. We were about to go inside when good ol' Jim started to show signs of life, it was a sukkot miracle! We found him a nice leaf to live on and then went inside to get some sleep.

Lori&co joined us for lunch along with another family from the next neighborhood over. The fan provided us with a nice breeze throughout the meal despite the seventeen people that were crowded around the tables. 

After lunch was over and the other family had said their good byes and headed home we went inside to enjoy the AC. Buzzy and the little munchkin ran wild and Oscar did his best to keep up with them. We played many games including "screech at the terrified cats(and maybe even pull some fur out)", dump the peas on the floor", and Oscars personal favorite "lick the small human in the face". 

The afternoon passed by rather quickly and we were saying good bye to everyone before we knew it.

Lori&co decided to go to Ikea this morning and offered to let me tag along with them. My mom gave me her list and sent me on my merry way. The place was packed but we managed to find all of the stuff that we wanted (and more). Z got some grub while Lori and I checked out, we ate in the little "eating area" before heading out to load up the car. The drive home was short and they dropped me off at my house with my goodies in tow. 

Now I'm sitting here smelling the delicious food that's being cooked for shabbos and wondering why I haven't eaten any lunch. I think it's time to scavenge for leftovers help clear out the fridge to make room for more food. After all, I'm nothing if not helpful. :) 

Pickles

Yom Kippur was slow going but I made it through. Freddie and the little munchkin came to stay with us over chag and Freddie managed to cajole me into going to shul not once, but twice!

On Sunday morning Freddie, the little munchkin, the dibble and I all went over to Lori's side of town and had a party in the park. The little munchkin climbed up ladders (and slides) and caused general madness and mayhem, she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself.

Buzzy was content to sit on his throne and survey the madness and mayhem from the sidelines. 

The little munchkin was determined to show him a good time and did her very best to liven things up a bit.

The party ended when it started to get really hot out and to Buzzys relief, we headed back to Lori's for refreshments and air conditioning.

The little munchkin got sleepy so Freddie and I said good bye and took the lil munchkin home for a nap.
After a nap and some lunch, Freddie packed the car and we waved good bye as they drove off (don't worry they'll be back on Wednesday). 

Yesterday I went grocery shopping with the crazy lady for chag, we found some baby cucumbers and decided to make pickles.

Look at them float! Except for that loner on the bottom....

 I've wanted to make pickles for a while now so I'm pretty excited to see how they come out!

Lori&co came for dinner and Z helped put up the outside of the sukkah.

Today we're gonna finish putting up the sukkah and then we get to decorate!! I'll post some pictures when it's ready :)

Teeny Tiny Plane

The bus to the airport was scheduled to leave at 11:20am Thursday morning. Sea and I woke up early to take advantage of the few hours that we had left on the island. After a quick breakfast we donned our bathing suits for the last time and headed to the beach.

The beach was mostly empty and very relaxing, we stayed for about an hour and then headed back to the hotel to shower and pack up the last of our things.
At 11 we went down to the lobby to check out and wait for the bus to arrive, the bus came shortly thereafter and we all piled on.
We got to the airport and waited on line to check in, it took a long time but we made it through and headed upstairs to security. Security went pretty quickly, they confiscated my water bottle and gave me a pat down (lucky me) and then sent us on our way. The whole ordeal had taken a little over an hour and all that was left to do was wait for the plane to show up.
We wandered around duty free where we bumped into our friends from the day before, we sat and chatted with them while we waited for the plane to arrive.
The plane showed up on time (woohoo) and we gathered our things before climbing up the steps and into the little plane.

The flight was short and we landed in Israel right on schedule. Passport control was a breeze and we managed to find our suitcases pretty quickly, my father was pulling up to the entrance just as we were walking out of the airport. We jumped in the car and headed back to Bet Shemesh where we dropped Sea off at the bus stop to Jerusalem before heading home.
My mom made me a delicious dinner, it was the first real meal that I had eaten in a while and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yom Kippur is in a few hours and everyone is running around trying to get ready for it.
The food for the seuda smells delicious and I cant wait to eat it!
I hope that you all have a gmar chatima tova and an easy and meaningful fast!!!!!

Exploring The Islands

Wednesday was a busy day, we left the hotel at 8am to find a taxi to take us to the port so that we could catch the boat going to Symi. The boat was supposed to leave at 9 and we got there nice and early hoping to catch good seats. It turns out we weren't the only ones with that idea, there were no seats near the water on the top floor so we went down to the lower deck to find seats.

We snagged seats near the railing and enjoyed the view for about an hour when Sea mentioned that she had to pee. We asked around and were pointed in the direction of the bathrooms which appeared to be in the inside of the boat, we walked through the doors and were quite shocked with what we found.

The VIP lounge (ok so not really VIP but still pretty cool if you ask me) it was sleek and snazzy with comfy couches galore, this is how you ride in style.
We looked around for a place to sit and ended up crashing a lovey dovey couples party by taking over the end of their couch. We lounged on the couch for an hour or so feeling pretty cool until we noticed that we were getting pretty close to land.

We stepped off of the boat and on to the tiny island, it was gorgeous!!!

There were a bunch of tour guides waiting outside the boat, we found an English speaking one and tagged along with her group listening to various facts about the island. She asked if anyone wanted to see a church and as it turned out, a lot of people did. Sea and I weren't so interested in the church so the guide gave us some suggestions and directions before leading the group away.

The houses were built into the mountainsides and there were staircases going all the way up to the houses. 

Sea wanted to explore the side streets but I wasn't thrilled at the thought of climbing another mountain in my naot, I decided to wait in the shade while she clambered off into the distance. 

I sat on my perch looking down at the picturesque village below me and waited for Sea to return. She came down the stairs twenty minutes later and we headed back down towards the village.

We walked along the edge of the water until we came to another set of stairs that lead into the water where people were jumping into the bay. 

When we went to Lindos we hadn't thought to bring bathing suits with us despite the fact that we were on an island with beaches all along the coat. Most of the people in our group had gone down to the beaches while we wandered about the market place. 

We were determined not to miss out on the next opportunity so we had shoved bathing suits and towels (and sunscreen) into our bags before leaving the hotel figuring that we would find a bathroom to change in if the opportunity arose. 

The sun was beating down on us and the clear blue water looked so inviting, we set off to find somewhere to change. We wandered around for a good while but couldn't find any bathrooms, finally we found a hotel and thought that we were saved. We climbed up the steps to the front door only to discover that the doors were locked. We looked at our watches and noticed how much time we had wasted, there was only an hour left before we had to return to the boat! Resolute and steadfast in our decision we looked around for an alternative and noticed a small alleyway that seemed to be deserted. Years of changing for the pool at summer camp and on the sides of mountains during school tiyulim came into practice and we managed to get into our bathing suits before anyone came around the corner.

We walked back to the stairs and jumped right in, the water was cool and much appreciated after being out in the sun all morning.

We stayed in the water for about half an hour and then got out to dry off and head back to the boat. The news about the lounge had spread like wildfire and there weren't many seats left so we sat up on deck.
The boat stopped again in front of a big church and everyone got off, Sea and I didn't want to go into the church so we walked around for a total of five minutes before getting back on the boat. Since most of the people had gotten off the boat we were able to get a seat inside and the ride back to Rhodes was nice and comfy.
Back on Rhodes we looked around for a taxi to get us back to the hotel when we heard some people mention that they were going to walk to the old town. We asked if we could tag along and they were more than happy to have us along so we set out on an adventure.
We found the old town pretty easily and our new friends bid us farewell and reminded us to stay to the left in order to get to the new town.
Sea and I continued along the coast enjoying the view along the way.

We were pretty tired and the beautiful scenery was distracting, we forgot to keep to the left and ended up walking past the new town and to the edge of the island. 

When we realized that we had reached the edge we figured that it might be a good time to try and ask for directions. There was a nice looking man standing by the big old walls and he happily informed us that we could walk along the walls and straight into town. We followed his directions and arrived in the center of the city a few minutes later. The bus stop was relatively easily to find, we bought our tickets at the booth and got on the next bus.  

The bus dropped us off by the hotel and we got back to our rooms at 8:30, it had been a long but successful day.

We showered and packed our suitcases before climbing into bed and falling asleep.  

Acropowhat?

This morning Sea and I woke up nice and early and caught the bus to Lindos. The bus ride lasted about an hour, we saw a bunch of little villages on the way and the tour guide passed the time by sharing tidbits of information about the island with us. We got off the bus in Lindos and were faced with a decision, go up to the acropolis (either by walking or via donkey) or walk down to the beaches. We opted to go up to the acropolis but decided against riding the donkeys after our tour guide told us a story in which someone fell off the donkey while it was going down the steep mountain. I'm not sure what category "being crushed by a donkey" goes under when it comes to speaking to the insurance company, but I wasn't overeager for a chance to find out.
The acropolis was pretty high up on the mountain and the climb seemed a bit daunting but we decided to do it anyways.

The outside of the walls

Here's what it looked like on the inside after we spent 15 minutes climbing up the side of the mountain.

It took a while, but after a lot of huffing and puffing (and some slipping and sliding, maybe I shouldn't have worn my naot...) we finally made it to the top of the acropolis.

We managed to get one picture before the security guard yelled at us for climbing over the barrier.

I'm glad we decided not to be lazy because the view from the top was absolutely stunning!

Heart shaped bay <3

 We wandered around for a while longer reluctant to part with the beautiful view, but the sun was beating down on us and we didn't want the bus to leave without us so we headed back to the village square. We managed to weasel into a spot in the shade and ate some snacks while we waited for the shuttle to take us back up to the main parking lot.
The bus ride back to the hotel was quiet and uneventful since everyone was tired from standing in the sun all morning.
We got back to the hotel and decided to check out the beach, we spent the last couple of days staring at it from our room but had yet to go in the water.
The shore is covered in pretty (but sharp) rocks, we walked/waddled along until we came to an area where there was sand which was super soft (especially after walking on rocks).

The waves were pretty calm and the water was cool, we floated around in the waves and watched people windsurfing further out in the distance.

It started to get a bit windy and the waves were getting a bit aggressive so we decided to get out and head back to our room to shower.

Now we're hanging out in the room eating dinner and debating what sorts of shenanigans we should get ourselves into this evening.

Tomorrow we're taking a boat out to Symi (an island that's about 2 hours away), I'm not sure what there is to do there but I'm guessing we'll find out... :)

Sea The View

Remember how I was saying that I could hear the sea but not see it? Well, this morning I woke up and stepped outside for some fresh air...

Suffice to say, I think I could get used to this.

Sea woke up and went to make herself some coffee but then remembered that we didn't actually have any milk, so we got dressed and headed downstairs to see how we could remedy the situation. We asked the man at the reception desk if he had any ideas and he informed us that there were loads of mini markets further down the block. 

We walked down the street and found several mini markets and managed to find milk, big water bottles and some dish soap (we brought food/utensils with us).

After breakfast we decided to head into town to explore the island, we left the hotel and decided to go in the same direction as we had gone to find the mini markets. We walked about half an hour before coming across a map that seemed to be telling us that we were going in the wrong direction, I proceeded to lament my decision of turning right at the hotel exit while Sea attempted to ask for directions. We finally found a helpful stranger who informed us that walking to town might not be the best idea and strongly advised us to take a bus, luckily the bus stop was only a few minutes away and we made it just in time to get on.

The bus dropped us off in the center of town after fifteen minutes of driving along the coast, we silently thanked the helpful stranger for making us take the bus. We found the "new" market place where there were tourist shops galore, we stopped to look at various things while making our way to the other side of the market place and then wandered out through a different exit. 

We walked along the street until we noticed a big wall in the distance, there were a bunch of random stairways that seemed to lead in the general direction of the wall. 

Curious, we began investigating them until we found one that lead into the old city. 

We walked around the old city for an hour or so, a sign informed us that it had been a fortress many years ago that had been built to ward off the arabs and turks.

We eventually came across an exit and decided that it was probably time to head back to the hotel, now all we had to do was find a bus stop.
The streets were pretty narrow and we soon noticed that the cars were only going in one direction. We determined that the bus was most likely going in a circle and spent a goodly amount of time wandering around trying to find something that we recognized. Forty minutes and multiple helpful strangers later we found a shop that we recognized which led us back to the main bus stop, the bus arrived a few minutes later and we made it back to our hotel just in time for lunch.
After eating yet another 5 star meal consisting of tuna fish and chips on our porch, we decided to change and head for the pool. The pool was as beautiful as it had looked in the pictures but it was later in the day and there wasn't much sun to tan in. As fun as shivering in a pool is, we decided to head back to the room soon after we arrived where we showered and (after much deliberation) got dressed and headed out to explore the hotel and buy some fruit.
After many offers from greek gentleman trying to convince us to eat dinner in their quaint little restaurants serving giant lobsters (which were on grand display), we escaped and made our way back to the olympic palace for dinner.
Dinner was adequate, I had some "uncle bens minute rice" and chicken while sea feasted on cous cous a'la nemes ba'cos (aka cous cous with instant soup powder mixed in, dehydrated vegetable and all).
After dinner Sea stepped out on the porch with a bag of nuts to snack on only to be joined by a neighbor who was investigating the loud crunching noises coming from next door. Our neighbor politely informed us that she could hear us from her room and then promptly went back inside.
We went down to the lobby and arranged to take a tour of Lindos tomorrow (through the company that we got out tickets through), I've heard that it's a beautiful part of the island and I can't wait to see what's in store for us!
I think my wifi time limit is running out so I guess this is where we part ways, good night!

Rhodes Trip

Hey there! It's been a while since I last blogged so lets do a quick recap..
R"H was really nice, we had company for 2 of the meals and we went to Lori's for Friday night dinner.
I spent most of the holiday eating waaaay to much food and even more dessert, it was delicious and I have no only minor regrets. :P
On shabbos Lori and I walked over to my grandparents to wish my grandmother a happy birthday, we stayed and chatted for a bit before heading to Lori's place.
Shabbos ended and I raided Lori's apartment for thing to take with me to Rhodes, I acquired a suitcase, a travel bottle of toothpaste, some ice packs and a bunch of other things. When I was done raiding the apartment Z drove me home and I went upstairs to get packing.
I haven't gone on vacation in a while so I was a little uncertain of where to start, I figured that underwear is a pretty crucial part of my wardrobe so I meandered on over to my underwear drawer and pulled out my last clean pair. I briefly considered  going commando but then decided that doing laundry was probably a better idea so I dumped my clothes in the washer and went downstairs to make some granola bars. After the granola bars came out of the oven and the clothes were dry, I returned to my tower and attempted yet again to pack my suitcase. Everything went more or less according to plan and I managed to get a majority of the packing done before going to sleep.

This morning I woke up nice and early and hopped in the shower before putting the last few things in my suitcase. At 8 o'clock my friend Sea texted to say that she was on her way to my house for our 13:30 flight, I sighed a sigh of relief that everything was going according to plan and sat back to wait for her to get to my house. At 9 I got a text from Sea letting me know that she was getting off the bus just as I got a text from the airline saying that the flight had been delayed. We hung out at my house for a few hours before my father drove us to the airport for our flight.
Getting checked in didn't take long, we waved goodbye to my dad and headed to security.

We still had some time to kill so we wandered around Duty Free for a while and made a few purchases along the way before heading to our gate.

After waiting at the gate for a while we were finally allowed to board the plane and we hurried on to find our seats, we were sitting across from each other but noticed some empty seats further up and asked a stewardess if we could possibly be seated together. The stewardess checked things out and then moved us to the emergency row, we got to sit next to each other and got extra leg room as a bonus!

The flight was short and we were landing before we knew it, a bus was waiting by the plane and it took us straight to the airport entrance.
We made it through customs and then set out to find our luggage, it took over an hour and a lot of pushing and shoving but we did it! We left the airport (luggage in tow) and found the bus that took us straight to the hotel.
The hotel is really nice but they didn't have a regular room available for us so we were upgraded to a double room with a sea view. The room is huge, a double bed, 2 couches, a porch and of course the sea view (it's dark out now so I can't actually see the sea but I can hear it!). I ate some dinner while Sea hopped in the shower and then we headed down to the lobby to find some Wifi. I'm all tuckered out from the hectic day but it was well worth it!! We're gonna head to bed soon and explore the island tomorrow, can't wait to tell you all about it! :)

Lettuce Spinner

Yesterday turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be, Lori&co picked me up and we all went over to my grandparents house for a little visit. We talked with them while Buzzy attempted to shove multiple toys in his mouth, he did not succeed in eating any of them which he seemed rather upset about. S&S had to head out to the supermarket to do some shopping for chag so we went back to Lori's and they headed out to do their shopping.

Lori happened to have 2 eggs already cracked in her fridge (due to an egg catastrophe involving my nephew, an egg carton and the edge of the counter), she ordered a double recipe of chocolate chip cookies and I was happy to oblige in exchange for an impromptu waxing appointment. I mixed up the cookie dough while she heated up the wax and then she did my armpits in between trays. It took a while but she did an expert job, I think we've reached a satisfactory agreement and I'll definitely be going back.
After my armpits we're more or less hair free and all the cookies were cooling on the table we began to deal with their fridge fiasco (you can read about it on her blog http://lorip.blogspot.co.il/) by putting a majority of the contents of her freezer into baskets and taking them over to my parents house for a temporary vacation.

Lori&co decided to stay for a while and we scavenged for food to eat for dinner, we finished off the shabbos leftovers and helped empty out the fridge all in one go.

This morning my father and I ran out to do some errands for my trip to Rhodes which I don't believe I've mentioned on here yet so ya, I'm going to Greece for 5 days with my friend Sea (it was sort of an impromptu trip that we found on groupon and decided to book last week). 

We leave on Sunday so it's been a little crazy running around making sure I have everything before I go. This morning I got some euros from the money changers and I ran into the doctors office to pick up some health insurance, it's always better to be safe than sorry!

The trip is more or less a "bring your own food" kinda trip on account of there not being much kosher food on the island, so I stocked up on all sorts of stuff at the supermarket. The food weighs about 10 pounds already so I'm pretty confident that I won't starve.

Erev chag is tomorrow so I suppose I should go help my mom with the cooking!