The Goodbyes Begin

I guess we are really leaving because we've started saying our goodbyes! Too bad Eli and I still don't have passports...
Yesterday Avi, Danielle and Emma drove in from Riverdale to hang out for a bit and say b'bye to us. Eli and his future wife seemed to like each other. He looked so big next to her--it seems that he has giant meaty hands. Simon was glad to see Uncle Gordo and Tiny Head (although in the morning when I told him who was coming, I said "uncle..." and he filled in "Freddy!") and was especially happy when Danielle bought him a little broom at Magic Beans that he really wanted. We walked to Coolidge Corner and got lunch and ate in the park to enjoy the beautiful weather.
When they left, Eli took a nap and Simon and I played while David took care of some moving-related stuff and then we went to a barbecue at the Krams to say goodbye to us and to the Galpers. It was determined that it is way more likely that people are going to come all the way to Israel to visit us than go to New Haven to visit the Galpers because, really, who wants to go to New Haven?? The barbecue was really fun. Eli's new favorite person is definitely Barry. And he likes Farrah too because she gave him beer. He also took an entire plate of pasta, picked up handfuls of it and threw them. Nice manners.
Simon, Elan, Abby, Isabella and Zachy spent a good 20 minutes chasing Dov around the yard yelling "we're going to get you...we're going to get you!" Then they all jumped on top of each other and surprisingly none of that ended with anyone crying or getting hurt. The kids all played really nicely together. Simon fell down at one point and lay on the ground yelling "help...help" Zachy came over to him and Simon stuck out his hand and said "Zachary! Help me!" Zachary came over and gave him a hand and pulled him up. It was very cute. Also, at one point, Simon was in the tree house and Abby was standing on the ladder feeding him watermelon.
Today is Eli's last day at Yaya's house so that will be another goodbye for us:(