Home Sweet Home

Isaac and the kids

Adi and the whole group

Spencer's birthday

The bullet factory was amazing...it was incredible to see how smart the Israeli's were in hiding where this factory was. The kids and adults both loved it. After we rode back to Tel Aviv and said good bye to Isaac-we were all sad to see him go and we think he had a good time with us as well. He was a perfect fit for us and was a 'jolly' guy, always telling jokes and providing us with mounds of history and information.  We walked around Shenken Street and the shouk in Tel Aviv. Michael remembered this pizza place he had been to and it was unbelievable. The boys were all troopers as the girls walked in and out of every store. At the shouk we bought some quick souvenirs, but the bargaining annoyed all of us.  We stopped at a place to grab some ice teas, hot chocolates and cappuccinos at a restaurant under this huge tree.    For dinner we walked the opposite way in Tel Aviv and found a nice place called 'Mike's Place'. Even though it was 7pm we were hoping to catch a 1pm football game.  They had big screen tv's and we ordered wings, nachos, and burgers... a fitting meal for our last night. We recapped what our favorite site or memory was and we decided that we could not include the Bnai Mitzvah. Some of the answers were Zevat, the Western Wall, Dead Sea, Ceasarea, and the Big Itzchik:) We ordered a cake for Spencer as it was his birthday on Jan. 3rd and sang to him.  He was surprised.  The Carus family left at 8:30 and we went back to pack. The Bernstein and Mach families left at 7:30 am on Monday. Al had his best night of sleep last night.  As we said good bye to Adi, he said that in his 16 years this is the most unforgettable group he has ever had. We think this was a compliment, he seemed so genuine and we all teared up. We are 'facebook friend requesting' him and exchanged emails with both.  They truly made our trip incredible.
We are all home safely...It is Tuesday morning and all of our clocks are a bit off, but we did pretty well with the sleep. I'm sure the tired will hit us all later!  This was a trip of a lifetime...I think everyone got a lot out of it on many different levels. Obviously the adults loved the history and stories and the older kids as well. Spencer and Aidan were definitely able to repeat what we did each day and maybe didn't understand the history, but knew each site we visitied.  Again, the kids were great- they all got along and we feel very fortunate to have had this experience with such great friends.
Israelis are proud of their home and for very good reason.  It is rich with history and culture beyond any place that we have been to.  We come home with a greater understanding our our religion and heritage and a place that ties us to being Jewish.
Shalom!