A Rainy Day in Jerusalem

We woke up yesterday morning thinking that we were back in Boston as it was pouring rain!! We decided to just pretend that it wasn't raining and walk into town for breakfast. We went to Cafe Hillel and sat outside in the sukkah in the rain (most of their sukkah is actually under an awning so we didn't really get wet) and ate yummy babka. Simon was not so cooperative because all he wanted to do was walk up and down the street looking at all of the motorcycles/scooter-thingys that so many Israelis have. We met up with Jamie and Carrie and walked around Ben Yehuda, which looks pretty much exactly the same as it always has, but I think the rain kept most of the American yeshiva students away--there was no huge line at Frozen Yogurt! We did some shopping and then got pizza for lunch. Simon was really excited about the pizza, but apparently he was also thirsty because we got to the pizza place and I asked him if he wanted pizza and he said in a somewhat frantic voice "OJ...Agua...PIZZA." After lunch, we came back to Mic and Ayla's to try to get Simon to nap before we met up with Mic and Ayla for Shalem's birthday party at Ayla's mom's apartment. The nap wasn't so successful, but Simon was less cranky than I thought he'd be at the birthday party. He and Shalem played with cars out on the porch and were getting along pretty well. We also saw Naomi Slotki who was one of my best friends in 5th and 6th grades when her family lived in Boston--she is getting married to Ayla's cousin in a couple of weeks!! After the birthday party, Uncle Jerry and Auntie Judy picked us up and we went to Dodi and Marc's house in Beit Shemesh for a barbecue with all of the cousins (except for Rocky and her family). It was a lot of fun to see everyone. Simon was a bit overwhelmed at first--we kept telling him that he was going to see all of his cousins and I think he was expecting to see people like Joshua and Bailey and not so many kids that he's never met before. He was ok after he saw all of the cars and trains that he could play with. He spent most of his time pushing a little baby carriage around the yard. The whole time we've been here, all he wants to do is be outside walking around. I will try to include some pictures, but for some reason they don't seem to be showing up on the blog. When we got back to Jerusalem around 8:30, Shalem was still up so he and Simon played (fought) for a while. They are so funny because they take turns copying each other and laughing and having so much fun and then all of a sudden one will want something that the other has and then it turns into a big fight. Simon didn't actually bite him at all last night, so maybe their relationship is improving! Mic is disappointed that Shalem doesn't bite back--so much for the tough Israeli kid!! David is leaving for Ranana in a few minutes and Mic, Ayla and Shalem went up to the Golan to visit their potential new community, so once Simon wakes up we are going to spend the day with Matt. There is supposed to be some sort of parade so we might go to that or we might go to the museum. It's actually sunny out again, thank god!!--so at least we can be outside.