Lots of Cousins

We spent Shabbat with lots and lots of cousins. We went to Alon Shvut and stayed with David's cousins Marci and Mitchell and their SEVEN kids (only 6 of them were home). I think Simon thought he was at school. The kids were so nice to him and he had a great time playing with them. By the end of the weekend, I knew all their names, but I'm not sure that Simon knew any of them. They had all left for camp when Simon got up this morning and he was walking around saying "where did all the friends go?" Rocky and Jeremy and 5 of their 6 kids came for lunch on Shabbos too so it really was a huge crowd of cousins. There are no cars at all on the roads in Alon Shvut on Shabbat so it's really nice and great for the kids because they can just run around wherever they want. I was glad to see that Simon did stop and look both ways before crossing any streets even though there weren't any cars.
In the late afternoon, Elie and Jessica Gertel and their kids came over--it was great to see familiar Boston faces!
This morning, we went to Jerusalem and met up with Huvi and Ezra at the Inbal Hotel where they had stayed for Shabbos. Freddy and the older kids had gone up north this morning until Tuesday. We walked to Ben Yehuda to get some lunch and then we went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. Simon learned how to swim on his own with water wings. At first, he refused to let go of me or whoever was holding him but then I just let go of him and showed him how he was floating by himself with the water wings. He was a little nervous, but then he loved it. I bought a float for Eli and he loved being in the water.
After swimming, we went back to Huvi's apartment--David walked and Huvi and I smushed the kids and various strollers in the car and drove. Somehow David got back before we did! All three kids were screaming their heads off and then they all fell asleep during the 10 minute ride. They got to sleep a little bit longer because it took forever to park--there are no parking rules in Israel and it's really starting to bother me!! I don't think sidewalks are meant for parking. We ordered in from Burgers Bar for dinner and then we loaded up the car again and went back to Ra'anana where Eli refused to go to sleep. It's almost 11 and he just went to bed a few minutes ago.