The preparation for this trip actually began weeks before, but I will start this blog with dinner with the Kurtzmans, which took place on June 30th around 7:00 pm - our last night in Israel. While Trudy took Zoe, Miri and Naomi to their house, I went and picked up Abby from Tamar’s. On the way over, I got a phone call that someone was waiting at our gate to buy our extra cell phone. So, I dropped Abby off at the Kurtzmans’ and ran to our place to deal with that. Ended up he could not use the phone, so that was a bust. After a delicious dinner I had a great cup of coffee. It was not so much that the coffee was so fantastic–standard Israeli black mud coffee–but the memory of sitting and relaxing with friends enjoying my last such coffee for some time while there were so many things to be done is very strong with me.
After that moment, everything becomes a little fuzzy. Packing all night (2 hours of sleep); selling items to strangers that came over during the evening; cleaning the apartment; packing up the bikes, etc. I have to thank Dani for coming over and washing our dishes and cleaning the kitchen–I know is sounds strange but Irit and Dani kept asking how they could help and this was the only thing that I could think of. It was a HUGE help to have clean dishes and not have to worry about that mess–thanks. Also, thanks to Amit for coming over to help out. Amit and Dani’s help with packing the bicycles was very welcome.
In the morning, we were 80% packed and the guys who were scheduled to take our luggage to the airport at 11:30 showed up at 9:30 saying “Where is the stuff?”. We of course were shocked. We stalled them until 11:00 but we were still not 100% ready when we left. I got in the truck with them and went with the stuff while Trudy tried to finish up at the house. We met Amit at the airport (he took the day off to help us–again a huge thank you!). But once we got there I realized that I had to turn around and go home to finish up a few things (pay parking tickets, mail a few things and pack one last box to go into the mail). So, I grabbed a cab and went back leaving Amit watching 6 airport carts with 16 pieces of luggage (8 hockey bags, 4 boxes, and 4 bike boxes). Once I got home, I did the last few remaining things–well, actually, I asked Liza to take care of them and she agreed (thank you Liza). We packed up the last box and got the kids ready for the trip.
Once we arrived at the airport, Amit had to leave right away–called back to work. So, we were on our own–Trudy, me, the four kids and our 8 luggage carts (we added all of our carry-on, which consisted of 5 rolling suitcases, 1 large gym bag and 6 backpacks). Thankfully, BA supplied a helper to assist with the kids (not the luggage, but the kids). Her name was Orit and she was awesome! She made the move through security quick and smooth and then helped get us checked in and moving through security (yes, two security checks), passport control and into the departure area. Without her help, we probably would not have made our plane on time! Of course the girls were hungry and thirsty, so while Trudy went ahead to the gate with Miri, Zoe and Naomi, Abby and I went and bought some snacks. We arrived at the gate just as everybody was loading onto the plane. With some difficulty, we found our seats and finally relaxed (sort of). Needless to say, Trudy and I were exhausted.
Categories: Kids
