David and Abby spent a good last day with Charles and Barbara in Oxford. Actually in Windsor and Henley on the Thames. They toured Windsor Castle and had the best fish and chips ever overlooking the Thames. Abby most enjoyed seeing Queen Mary’s dollhouse, but would’ve preferred Legoland to Windsor Castle - by far. After a busy day and a long flight, they landed in Toronto around 10:30 pm. The girls - including Cookie - and I are very happy to have them home.

Categories: Dad, Abby

David and Abby will spend their last night in Oxford tonight. They got to spend a day in London and a few days in Oxford together and David even managed to get a little work done with Charles. This photo is of Hamley’s toy store in London. We went there in July and Abby insisted on going back yesterday.

Categories: Dad, Abby

David and Abby spent their last day in Jerusalem. They hit the new shuk and the Bloomfield Science Museum at Hebrew U. Later on, David dragged Abby to Hebrew U. so that he could do some work with a colleague there. Abby wasn’t complaining as he just set her up playing on the internet - Webkinz, etc. They fly to London tomorrow at 7:00 am, which means they need to be at the airport VERY early in the morning - aka “the middle of the night”. They will spend Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, Friday and part of Saturday in Oxford and they will be home here on Saturday night.

Categories: Dad, Abby

David and Abby met up with Muli in Jerusalem and hit the old city. Muli used to be a tour guide in Jerusalem, so he was able to take them to places they wouldn’t normally get to if they were just touring around on their own. Here is Abby at the Western Wall. They are staying with Nick and Tamar and their little pug.

Categories: Dad, Abby

Abby had her last day of school this morning. School ends at 11:30 on Yom Shishi (aka Friday). David and Abby had lunch with Ehud, Marav and Sheked. Then Abby, Zohar and Tamar went to see Bolt, only it wasn’t playing, despite what it said in the paper. So the girls just hung out at the mall for a little while. David and Abby will have dinner with the Kurtzmans tonight. Tomorrow they will head to Qadima to have lunch with Pua and Baruch and their family as well as Amit and Imbal. I think that they will also see Chemi and Muli and their families there.

Categories: Dad, Abby

David is back working in Rehovot and Abby is still busy with school. Two more days and then they will visit some family and friends and tour around a little bit. This evening they traveled to Rishon LeZion to have dinner with the Greenblats. Yoram is also in Israel so it was nice to see him at the same time.

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With David off in Eilat, Abby spent Shabbat with the Selzers. They went for a hike in an orange grove and played a little dressup. Thanks to Tamar’s Mother, Tziki, for the photos. Abby has now moved over to the Kurtzman’s place as of after school on Sunday.

Categories: Abby

David has been very busy at the Weizmann and is now down in Eilat for a conference. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had much of a chance to send me any photos for the blog. I have spoken to Abby every day and it sounds like she is having a marvelous time. She has been to Scouts with Zohar and Tamar (Tuesday), painting with Tamar (Wednesday - Abby and Tamar did this activity, followed by a playdate, almost every week last year) and they also went to the Sportek playground (Thursday). Of course, they were at school every day until 1:30 as well. Abby will be spending the “weekend” with Tamar’s family and then moving over to Zohar’s place on Sunday after school.

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After uneventful flights and a safe arrival last night, David and Abby were ready to get to work. Here is a photo of Abby’s arrival at school this morning. Her girlfriends were very excited to see her again. Sounds like she had a good day all round, although I’m sure the jet lag will catch up with her at some point. David was busy all day with a conference. The weather is very nice - I noticed that it was 22 degrees at 5:00 pm! I do miss the weather in Israel for sure.

Categories: Dad, Abby

Our sabbatical is long over and we are getting back into the swing of things back home. Getting resettled and organized took a LOT longer than we thought it would - and we thought it would take a really long time! I suppose getting a puppy and a kitten didn’t help, but that’s just like us. Just when we’re pretty sure we can’t manage our lives, we turn around and make them more complicated.

Now on to the point of this post. David and Abby have just landed in Israel. They will be there for 2.5 weeks and then stop over in Oxford for a few days on the way home. Abby is staying with friends in Rehovot. David will attend a workshop at the Weizmann, a conference in Eilat and then return to the Weizmann to continue working on a few things he started during sabbatical. He and Abby will also travel around a little bit and visit with family. Abby will attend school and will be with her class from last year. Not the same teacher, unfortunately, as she is on leave this year. This is a big adventure for Abby and I am excited for her to reconnect with her old friends.

Categories: Dad, Abby