Our last month on the adventure...

 Its been a month since I've last written, and now we are gearing up to go home in just 3 days. We will arrive home on August 19th- jacob's 45th birthday, just two weeks before the kids start school.

Our last month we moved from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and then to ramat hasharon.  While we were in Jerusalem our routine was pretty much bring the kids to camp, I would work at a nearby coffee shop, jacob would go and study hebrew and some judaic classes and then we would spend the afternoons eating and hanging out and then go out to one of the glorious playgrounds.  In the two weeks we were there we ran into so many people that knew someone I knew.  At a playground one evening I started speaking with someone who then realized that I was the yonit that our mutual friend Irit had told her was doing a sabbatical- becuase she was also a pediatrician on a sabbatical! We didn't do too much sightseeing as it was hot and I also have seen most things things, and the kids are still young to appreciate the history of the place- but we did do the underground water tunnels that were excavated in the last decade and had a really fascinating history dating back thousands of years and still essentially carrying water through them. And on our last day there we visited the acquarium which housed fish from all of the seas around israel

We had a bit of a car curfufal when jacob came to meet me at the tunnels and left the keys to the car we had rented for the weekend in the cab! It was the one time we had keys with no airtag on them- and the one time we had lost them! After renting 6 other cars these last 8 months i am still thinking it is impressive that we made it that far!

When we moved from Jerusalem to TLV we did not have a place to stay- we were supposed to rent an apartment for a month and that fell through after the Iran war and we hadn't been able to find an affordable place.  So the night before moving we picked an apartment that had a bomb shelter in it- because that was now the criteria as there were sirens weekly and we didnt want to have to wake the kids up each time and traumatize them.  It was more money than we wanted to spend but we were sort of desperate.  When we arrived to TLV and i walked into the apartment i felt like we were living in a bar- there were neon lights, the apartment was pretty small and had very steep stairs separating the two bedrooms.  I pictured my energetic children running up and down in the middle of the night and causing a traumatic brain injury- like the 8 year old girl who was essentially brain dead that i had taken care of a few years back who had done the same thing.  And I was out of there. We moved to my parents place for the night, the kids were amazing and went with it- they were starting camp the next day and took it all in stride.  And jacob and i spent the next day touring apartments to find soemthing.  We were able to negotiate for a last minute deal at this amazing place over looking the beach just a few blocks from my parents place.  And with all of my attempts to sway airbnb they were not going to give us even a cent back in refunds.  So we knew that after the 11 days of staying in this amazing apartment we would need to find a place for free because our budget was spent and then some.  During our time there my first cousin had a wedding party- we got to see our whole extended family, and we met lots of my parents friends.

That week we went to the beach most days, jacob dropped the kids at camp and then would run back along the beach.  I went food shopping in the shuk just a few blocks away and we were enjoying the time.  My sisters were in town for my cousins wedding, and it was fun to see all of my extended family and spend some time with my sisters in Israel as well.  The camp however was not great for adira, and after a few days we pulled her out.  In israel, most kids stay in preschool until 1st grade, and the preschool provides camp as well.  So there were few options for kids her age.  We spent a day visiting my cousin Doron's art studio- you can see her stuff here: https://www.doronadorian.com/ where there also happend to be a camp for older kids that adira jumped in and out of while doron and i had coffee together. And the rest of the week adira was with my mom for a few hours while i worked.  We met a family who is sending their daughter to school with Adira this coming year at Hannah Senesh Day School- and the kids played for hours in the park while we ate and drank and got to know the parents. 

 Over the weekend, we went to visit Nachal Oz- a kibbutz that was attacked and many were killed or taken hostage from on October 7th.  We visited a family who had stayed at my sister's house last summer on a program to get a vacation of sorts away from it all.  They have 4 children, and their parents when the attack occured grabbed their son's gun who was home from the army- put all of the kids in the safe room and started shooting from the roof.  They managed to protect the house, and when the israeli army came after the terrorists had left they saw the dad on the roof with a gun and thought he was a terrorist and killed him.  They had left the kibbutz like all the members, and just 3 weeks ago returned.  We had a tour and could see gunshots and blood still on some buildings, they told stories of the hostages from each home we past. It was an emotional day and yet you could see what a beautiful place the kibbutz was at some time- how it held the environment i was seeking- kids roaming around free and barefoot.

The first day we moved out of the apartment into my parents place for 4 days was Adira's birthday.  We threw her a sweet birthday party at a nearby park with families we had met along our time in Israel.  There was a family from Kibbutz Gezer where I grew up, a family we had met in Italy who lived about 45 minutes away, a family in tel aviv who my parents introduced us to, and a family who lived in ramat hasharon who was generously giving us their home while they traveled abroad for two weeks.  The kids had met them each just once or twice but had gotten along so well each time.  Everyone always commented when they met our kids " They are so friendly its really amazing" and I think it is a combination of who they are and of this trip, which has taught them how to make friends fast with people from anywhere who speak any language.  We had a water balloon toss and a pinata and Adira was on cloud 9!

When we stayed at my parents jacob and i accompanied my mom to one of the protests in hostage square- this was the week that Hamas released the video of the hostages who were starving and looked like holocaust survivors.  The square is filled with people holding booths for family members, communities, who were or are hostages.  There was a beautiful havdala service put on by the reform movement, and i cried so hard the whole time.  Then there are people coming to speak on a large stage telling stories and begging the government- israeli and american- to stop the war and bring home their loved ones.  There is another protest just a few blocks away that my mom usually attends after this one which is protesting the current israeli government, but just a few days prior she had been at a protest and was tear gased and got pretty shaken up. There were about 60,000 israelis at hostage square though, so we couldnt make it to the anti government protest.  

One of the things I worried about when we were coming here was how it would feel to be here during this time- politically and emotionally.  Mostly it has felt sad.  People are broken.  People are grieving. People are tired, and also just trying to live.

We left tel aviv and moved to ramat hasharon just 30 minutes north in a suburb.  Shiloh did surf camp, and was very proud of his ability to stand on a surf board and catch a wave each time he tried! Adira went to camp with Liv her friend that we had met in Italy, in this adorable backyard where she was barefoot with dogs and bunnies and they made things out of reusable materials and cooked every day.  Adira had her first sleepover! It was at Liv's house, and although she went to bed late- they told me she was just very thankful to them for letting her sleep over! We went to meet my friend Tamar and her family one night at a pool near their grandparents house, and then watched the sunset at the beach together.  And shiloh had a sleepover at our Italy friend's house one night as well.  Our connection with this family was so special for us as they met us on this journey, shared many values, and we were able to meet them again in a different place on the trip! We ended the week at my cousin's house- and Jacob said we are just as busy here socially as we are in Brooklyn!

We are starting to plan our arrival home and thinking through the emotions it might be bringing up.  I have so much gratitude for this trip, but I also have some things we didnt get to experience that I had hoped we would, and it feels like a missed opportunity in some ways. I dont know when or if we will get to do this again, and there is something about middle age that feels like i have to hold these moments so near because time moves quickly.  We left with many questions that I hoped to answer, and most of them I wasn't able to- like where do we think is the best place for our family to thrive in living, and what is my next career move...but we also answered questions i didnt realize i wanted answers to. I didnt seem to rid myself of those awful parenting responses i sometimes have when i'm quick to react and anger, but i did learn to recognize them quicker and catch myself some of the times.  I learned how good it feels when i do meditatte and exercise everyday, and also how hard it is to do that all of the time.  We were challenged in so many ways, and we grew as a family and as individuals in ways i dont think we would have at home.  Just today we spent the day at this home doing much of nothing all day, which is something we very rarely did in Brooklyn- and I felt like we gained those skills- we learned how to hang out with each other without going stir crazy too quickly.  I set out a bunch of pots and pans and water and the kids made a mudd kitchen in the backyard without instruction. 

A friend of mine asked what will you bring with you that you gained from this trip- mostly i am hoping we slow down a bit.  Spend more time just being together.  I also recognized yet again how important nature is for me.  So i will try to find ways to incorporate that into my life even if just running in the park- more regularly. I have also learned a bit more about what we all need, and how i might be able to respond when we aren't able to all get that.

We learned spanish and hebrew, some italian. We learned :

Shiloh learned to surf, had his first sleepover, learned to SUP, to Ninja, to multiply, and to eat fish and beans!

Adira learned to swim, had her first sleepver, learned to write the word BOB, and to smile when she is nervous and how that helps her make friends!

Yonit learned some past tense in spanish, became a certified lactation consultant, is in the midst of her first qualitative research study, published some papers, and restarted meditation and HITT workouts!

Jacob got into hyrox, read lots of books, learned some judaic studies, and made headway on his to do lists.

THings we brought on the trip that were helpful:

Laundry Detergent Sheets

Stitches without stiches (that i thankfully didnt have to use)

Shiloh's kindle ( which he read more books than we can count on)

Snack Tins (always helpful to pack snacks ready to go, and also for camps and schools)

Mineral Based Sunscreen (which is surprisingly so difficult to get abroad)

My favorite cleanser made from manuka honey

This swimsuit from Amazon that doubled as an outfit and also kept me from burning in the sun

Games: cards, uno, travel chess set, stuffed animals and clothing/blankets for play, travel art supplies, books and more books that we got everywhere we went because my kids devour them

 JHK Entry: Top Ten Surprises, Both Good and Bad

10) Flesh. More specifically, the men at the Tel Aviv beaches, half of whom seemed to have six packs (including a man I saw who looked to be sixty-five), and the women at the Tenerife beaches, a quarter of whom went around topless. In Tenerife I barely noticed the (lack) of attire, given my happy marriage, but it did make me wonder why Tenerife women seemed so much more comfortable in their skin than women elsewhere.

9) Hiking trails in Tenerife, which were abundant, varied, and routinely spectacular. I particularly loved this one hike we did on a narrow path, with a steep drop-offs on either side, surrounded by green mountains. Down below we could easily see a beautiful beach, and a rock formation coming out of the water that looked like a bear taking a nap.

8) Safety in Israel. We went to Israel three weeks after the direct Iran-Israel conflict ended Before we arrived, I was fearful that hostilities would break out again, we’d have to repeatedly race to bomb shelters, and our kids would be traumatized. Once I arrived in Israel I realized that these fears were completely overblown, as (1) generally we stayed in apartments that had a kids’ bedroom that doubled as a safe room, and (2) Israel’s enemies generally send their missiles at night. So we didn’t even have to wake our kids when the alert apps on our phones went off, and they remained blissfully unaware of the conflict.

So strange to think about how Israel is so used to getting bombed that since 1993, it has required every new residence to have close access to a protected space, and how this rule creates a new kind of inequality, since half of Israel homes were built before the rule was enacted. For background, see https://israelnationalnews.org/2025/274 .

7) Time, and how VHS tapes can deteriorate over forty-five years. One of my self-assigned sabbatical projects was to review and create a chart of 50+ old family videos my mom recently digitized. But to my deep disappointment, when I watched the videos (when I was in Tenerife, while my kids were in school) I learned that the sound on many of the videos is terrible. I so hope that I can get the sound restored, and can get to hear the voice of my dad, who’s been dead now for 28 years. Reminds me of a paragraph from a good novel I’m currently reading: “Books, like people, die. They die in fires or floods or in the mouths of worms or at the whims of tyrants. If they are not safeguarded, they go out of the world. And when a book goes out of the world, the memory dies a second death.” Anthoney Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land, pg 52.

6) Public infrastructure, and specifically, the contrast between that of

a. Costa Rica, where there are no cute towns (historic or otherwise), practically no sidewalks, and terrible roads – even those in front of fabulously expensive vacation homes. Indeed, the roads are often so bumpy that driving on them can feel more like horseback riding, and the roads routinely fill with puddles so large that they become nearly impassible. I suppose this is partly because Costa Rica is still poor, and has a rainy season so intense that roads don’t last.

b. Israel, which had bike paths, free public adult workout areas, and playgrounds vastly superior to those in New York, both in terms of quantity and quality. For example, we went to numerous playgrounds that included bouncy houses, fifty-foot slides, and grounds as soft as mattresses. Perhaps this social infrastructure is so good because Israel used to be a socialist country, is relatively warm most of the year, and lacks American-style suburban houses with huge backyards, so good shared public space is critical.

5) Guns, and how ubiquitous they are in Israel. At a playground in Jerusalem we met up with a friend of Yonit’s (an immunologist and former colleague of Yonit’s) and her husband, who’s orthodox and a dentist. Of course he brought his Glock with him to the playground. And often on a public bus, I find myself riding next to a young person wearing regular clothing and carrying an assault rifle. 

4) Beaches, and how different they can be. In Costa Rica, the water is cloudy and warm like a bathtub; in the Canary Islands, even in late June the water is freezing; and in Sardinia and the British Virgin Islands, the water is clear light blue, filled with fish, and the perfect temperature. Oh my how particular I’ve become!

3) My kids and how kick ass they are. For example, Shiloh turned out to be more like a dandelion than an orchid, i.e. resilient and adaptive, routinely and quickly making friends and playing games with kids who spoke zero English. Below is a photo of Shiloh playing ball on a moshav with some Hebrew-only speaking kids he met five minutes beforehand. 

And Adira was amazing too, making a best friend with this Spaniard named Jade (pronounced "Ja-deh") who doesn't speak English.

As another example amazingness, at the start of our trip, if you put Adira into the water, she’d sink like an anchor. And we wondered if that’d ever change. But then, as if by magic, a couple weeks into our trip she learned to tread water, and swimming followed soon after. Perhaps this is simply normal childhood growth, but it still blows me away, and makes me so proud.

2) Smart phone usage. I am a big believer in Jonathan Haidt’s view that kids should not have cell phones until they are older, and was quite surprised that every first grader in Shiloh’s surfing camp had a smart phone. One theory we had is that given the security situation, parents want every possible way to be able to get in touch with their kids. But that didn’t make it any less frustrating for us, or for Shiloh. For more on Haidt’s ideas, see https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/opinion/parents-smartphones-tiktok-facebook.html

1) Wildlife. In Costa Rica a bat came into our house twice, and we saw wild monkeys every week or two. I will always remember.

Adios Tenerife, Buongiorno Italy- and now to Israel

 These months really fly by!

Our last two weeks in tenerife we really felt settled in there, the kids started having playdates, we went to other people's homes and socialized with locals, and we really treasured the beauty of the place.  The weather was warming and the ice cold sea felt tolerable to swim in.  We missed Lily and her family, but also experienced the island through new lenses.  

Jacob's parents visited our last week there and we booked a whale watching tour- at first all of us thinking about whale watching in cape cod where it is quite boring on a big ship and then you finally see a whale in the distance but its too far to really know what it looks like- were skeptical.  But we boarded a small speed boat with a marine biologist as captain and were sooo close to these whales/dolphins.

The kids really appreciated the Kaleide school they went to.  At first shiloh said he wasn't learning much, but soon became more accustomed to the democratic school's way of learning- more self directed.  The teachers were so warm and nurturing, the class size was small and mixed ages, and the kids spent much of the day outside climbing trees and jumping on trampolines.  There was a farm next door and there were cows that often popped their heads over the fence.  The kids really started learning more spanish, adira had some playdates with kids who didnt speak english and her spanish rolled off her tongue! The last week of school the kids voted on a trip and decided they wanted a sleepover at the school with the teachers- and that is what they did! Adira's first sleepover without one of us! On the last day they invited families to join and I cried from joy- it was just such a magical feeling to be part of such a loving and positive school.  I feel so fortunate we got to experience it and that they all welcomed us for just two months to join them.

Jacob and I continued our weekly hikes in the area and ate at little tiny local restaurants, and we just really enjoyed our house there and the ease of it all.  But we were ready for the next adventure!

Italy

Sardinia-

When we first decided on sardinia, i was like why are we flying all day to just go to a different beach- we have so many in tenerife.  But when we arrived i realized.  This place was gorgeous- i mean see through salty water you just float in, set alongside the sounds of sacadas in the grass.  I took shiloh on a stand up paddle board tour where we had dolphins swimming right by us in the open ocean- the guide was so impressed by shiloh's stregnth and endurance that he said he would hire him if he wants to move there! Our favorite day was a boat we hired to go around the smaller islands and take us to secluded beaches- we jumped off the boat, went snorkeling and stand up paddle boarding and truly felt grateful.  We were in Sardinia with jacob's parents and it was so wonderful to see the contrast of a 4 year old and a 92 year old both exploring the world!  We have been so fortunate that many members of our family have met up with us along the way this year.

 The kids were in heaven mostly because they were in love with the kids club there and soon after we arrived jacob and i were squirreled away in our room trying to figure out what to do this summer- in two weeks we were meant to be in Israel and the war with Iran was underway.  Should we go, no we thought not, so what would we do? We were supposed to go in two weeks and we had no back up plans- our apartments and camps were booked.  We decided to try to postpone the trip and stay in Italy longer- the camp in piemonte agreed to let us stay for another week and our airbnb was available to extend the trip- so we booked a flight a week later that was refundable.  But what if a week wasn't long enough- our visa was ending and so we called a lawyer to see if we could have a case for extending longer- there was a war, we had two small kids- but apparently no that wouldnt work- we could go back to the US says the lawyer- so we couldnt extend further-This just pushed off the israel decision but we were so tired of making decisions and planning at this point that it felt best to do this.

When we flew from Sardinia to Milan we contacted a friend of Jacob's that I also became friends with while we lived in DC- Victoria- who we hadn't seen since we left DC in 2013 but who we knew lived in Turin because of social media.  She was so generous and offered for us to stay with her when we flew in- even though they were moving houses that weekend! The kids had a blast connecting with her daughters- adira was in heaven playing dress up with their clothing- and although it was boiling hot- we loved reconnecting with her and her husband and learning about life in Italy for them.

Village Forest School and Piemonte

Back in Costa Rica when we were planning our summer I found this camp in Italy run by a school called Village Forest School.  The camp runs in one week increments with different themes (we did food and farm and survival weeks), is run in English, and attracts an international crowd.  As a waldorf school its all outdoors, and when we first arrived for the meet an greet the sunday before camp started and the kids ran into the meadow my jaw dropped- this is what childhood should be about is what i thought.  The school has deeply rooted nutritional values: from their website: The snacks and lunch they are given are prepared largely following the Nourishing Traditions philosophy developed by Dr Weston A. Price, which emphasises the use of organic, natural, non-inflammatory and unprocessed foods to provide a balanced diet which recognises the importance of a healthy digestive system to physical and neurological development.

This obviously really grabbed me- a school invested not only in the education of the minds but the nourishment of the body! The camp is set up so that the families are also given ample opportunity to connect with one another- and since most dont live there people are really open to meeting others and it felt like a true community.  Every morning J and I did a HIIT workout called hyrox  with another couple from upstate NY that we became friends with- in some open field.  The fields here looked like a classical italian painting with rolling hills and hay rolls.  We then spent the rest of the day doing work while the kids were at camp learning, making, creating and playing- and after camp we would go for a swim, go to ice cream and get dinner- usually with a bunch of other families.  We became friends with an israeli family, a family from Hong Kong, England, Dubai- it was really quite beautiful.  And I loved that most people had similar values due to the waldorf style- low tech, mostly nature and nurture. 

                                (Adira in the doctors office- she had an ear infection, and it was 100% free!)

When I found this camp we were living in LaEcovilla and I realized that Celia, a friend there, had lived in Italy so I asked her if she knew about it- and low and behold this camp was her kids school! and they were moving back!! So when we got here we reconnected- and as she had in CR, she did acupuncture on me that my body just melted into.  It was so wild to reconnect with someone we met at the beginning of our journey- and felt comforting in some ways as most of the connections we have met felt so temporary.

We had one weekend in piemonte and decided the day of to go to Lake Maggiore- and it was such a great decision.  It was a vacation from travels as we stayed in a sweet hotel overlooking the lake.  We spent our one day there swimming and then taking a boat to a tiny touristy island with just 20 inhabitants on it and met up with Jacob's old babysitter Adrianna who happened to be nearby in switzerland! All together we stumbled upon an art gallery walked up these narrow staircases and learned about an artist who lived there and created sculptures after melting plastic he found in the lake as a sort of act of advocacy against pollution- and unfortunately ended up dying from inhaling the fumes.  This was a great reinforcement for my kids about why plastic is so terrible for us and for the earth and why we try to avoid it- as difficult as that is!

On our last day in piemonte we went with Nava and Bryan (our HIIT buddies) to the most incredible restaurant for lunch- set it in a majestic building with beautiful murals and impressive food- i'm still drooling thinking of it.  And that night we headed up to the Milan airport to stay in a hotel before our flight the next day.  Marta, one of our former au pairs met us there for a meal and it was the perfect send off!

Marta and her mom!

The next day we flew to paris at 650am and got to our connecting flight at which point they said- sorry the flight to israel is canceled.  Now this was our second flight canceled to israel, and we already had some cold feet about if we should go, and our visa! and so this felt particularly stressful.  So we are in the airport and i'm trying to tell the attendants at the gate that we cannot leave the airport because of our visa and they are like its fine your flight was canceled- and i feel like no one is listening- so i start to really panic, and jacob and i begin to fight and the kids are running circles around us and punching my stomach and it all feels terrible.  I run to the bathroom and realize that i got my period- in my ONE pair of underwear i have because our luggage is on some imaginary plane to israel- and its kind of comical but mostly unnerving.  But we get out of the airport after a police officer essentially extends our stay a day, and head to the hotel that airfrance puts us up at- which essentially feels like you are living in a submarine. And after a few hours of the kids having pillow fights we manage to get ourselves together and take a train one hour to the Jardin Luxembourg.  Where its just the perfect place to spend the afternoon- they kids race these antique toy sailboats, go on a carousel and play in a wonderful playground (that you have to pay for!! this is def not the socialist part of western europe)- while I go shopping for new underwear and keep being directed to lingerie shops that dont have anything nearly suitable for having your period.  But after two chocolate crepes and a successful cotton underwear purchase we headed back to the hotel in time to get some sleep before the next flight the next day.

Israel

We arrived in Israel greeted by my parents in the airport and went straight to our apartment in Jerusalem that we were renting from a friend of my sister who was in the states for the summer.  The kids were in heaven with having their own bedrooms- which has been rare this trip, and having some toys here to play with.  We were supposed to be in Jerusalem because my good friend Maital was coming and our kids were going to go to camp together, and Jacob was going to study at Pardes- well those two things got canceled, and so now we were here but didnt really know anyone or have a purpose for coming particularly here.

The kids started camp at All Stars Israel- and it was a 180 from their waldorf camp in italy- they served bread and nutella for snack every morning, and gave them ice pops in flimsy plastic they were told to bite on to break open! My heart was sinking- was two weeks of nurishment enough to cancel out two weeks of terrible nutrition and microplastics everywhere? The kids adapted well, but said there was very little hebrew.  I was struggling a bit, our apartment had a beautiful huge balcony- but on the other side was an extremely busy loud street.  I missed the peace and quiet of piemonte. The beautiful drives in the rolling hills.  There was english everywhere and I felt like i was on the upper west side.  My kids came home and shiloh asked for a kippah since most kids were religious here, and adira didnt seem to notice still asking for her belly shirts :) 

But i remembered that a friend from residency moved here and connected with her- we met up at the most incredible playground i have ever seen at gan sacher- and our kids played beautifully while we ate at the yummy cafe overlooking the playground.  It was a special night and helped me realize a bit about why we are here- the next day we visited my aunt who lives 40 minutes to the other side of the city.  She hadn't seen me or my kids in 7 years- so it was a treat for them to meet and to see her and my uncle again.  For most of my life I came to israel every year, so seven years is a really long time.  So much has changed in this time for me in my life, for this country and the people here...

Tenerife- 6 weeks in

 It feels like a lifetime ago that i wrote the last post, over the past month our lives have shifted and we have grown in feeling like we were hesitatingly accepting tenerife to falling in love.  We fell into a rhythm in Santa Cruz, during the week Jacob mostly bunkered down by the kids school while i stayed home working and started cooking some homemade meals that we all were craving.  I took up boxing with Lily a few times a week and got a much needed haircut.  When i went for the hiarcut was oen of the few times on this trip I have felt judged for my nomadic composure- i would say I rarely wear makeup, wear the same Lululemon outfit and have let my hair run wild.  The hairdresser must have asked me a hundred times if i ever brush my hair and brought over the 3 nearby hairdressers to see what a mop my hair was- i was like dude just chop it off- and he did! But I'm loving the short hair, no matter how wild i must look now without any hairgel or anything in it.  Over the weekend our routine begain as we spent one day as a family exploring and one day with Lily and Jose going to a different beach.  Our families immediately meshed together- so much so that the kids referred to their kids as their cousins and I had to explain that they were friends, even though it feels like family!  Adira in her adira ways even coaxed Lily to take her home with her when she was going to shower for dinner- and then Adira proceeded to tell Lily she was going to take a bubble bath while Lily showered and got into the bath:) Since hanging with them we all also began to try new foods- such as tiny clams that you pop into your mouth that the kids find so fun! 

                                                            

Adira in the bath at Lily's

After a month in Santa Cruz we packed up our white washed apartment, stored our belongings in Lily's apartment and headed to visit a nearby Island Lanzarote and its sister Island- Graciosa.  If Tenerife is lush, with many microcimates and like a tiny continent of desert, beach and mountain- lanzarote is like the moon- brown, sandy, volcanic- and other wordly.  We spent the first day on a 3 hour hike to a volcano crater- which while i was proud of the kids for doing, totally wore us all out and i was so cranky afterwards (I dont know it was worth it with kids in tow).  That afternoon we went to these incredible caves that are designed by a local artist who has installations throughout lanzarote- it was one of the most creative pieces combining nature and art I have ever seen. 

                                                Middle of Hike

                                                        END of the Hike!

That night we took a ferry out to Graciosa- an island that only allows cars for its very few residents.  Think fire island but in Europe- and we stayed at the end of the island with only 16 houses, no stores or restaurants.  The view from our house was totally incredible- we could walk right out to the beach with clear water- shiloh found some kids fishing and joined them- one of them while fishing caught an octopus who then attached itself onto the kids arm when they reeled it in and the whole family had to work on releasing her arm (which was unharmed) before they set out to roast and eat the octopus! We were living next door to a group of 9 men who come there every year for a weekend away from their families, and our kids loved popping over and hanging out with them because they gave them chocolate bars and enjoyed the spanglish banter they engaged in with them.  Shiloh borrowed one of their Stand Up Paddleboards and we set out for about an hour on the ocean.  The ocean gets very deep very quickly here, and the currents are strong, so I wouldnt let him go to far- but his ability to stably paddleboard for so long is pretty impressive.  At one point one of the men came out to check on us, and shiloh was like- we are fine, just enjoying the ocean, and his reply - "wow this is a strong kid" was pretty spot on.  We went on a short hike from our house, but otherwise just hung around.  Our last day in lanzarote, I was so exhausted from the travel and being cranky with everyone that I decided we should just go to the hotel and hang there.  The hotel itself was like being in an ethnography of working class middle aged british families- with big buffets, sterile walls, and fun accents-glad to experience it but mostly happy to head home :) 

View from our AirBNB in Graciosa

When we got back to Tenerife, we moved into our new home- in La Laguna, about a 20 minute walk from the kids school- into a passive house with a tiny pool and backyard- and we are in heaven.  The weather is much cooler than santa cruz so each dip in the pool feels like an ice plunge, but the open layout with views of the mountains and palm trees is amazing, and we are just about 10 minutes walk into city center which is a UNESCO heritage site, with charming pedestrian only streets.  Since we have been here Jacob and I have done some daytime date hikes to pretty incredible places, and as a family we visited some natural pools and farms.  The first hike Jacob and I went on we left our house without any jackets, and arrived 20 minutes later in the mountain where it was cold! When we got out of the car, we decided it would be torture to hike so we got back in and drove to a restaurant in a small town.  Upon arriving we pulled up behind a couple exiting to start a hike.  Jacob in his very jacob way charmed them with some small talk about being dutch and asked them if they knew where we could buy a jacket (knowing there was no where)- and they said well we do have an extra- and he was like really how amazing! Next thing I knew I was wearing a strangers sweatshirt (which he promised wasnt infested iwth bedbugs) and we were all hiking on a hidden path together with this couple on a cliffside hike.  We ended the hike eating fancy duck at the most adorable french restaurant in this teeny town- 

Our House in La Laguna

                                            The Hike in a strangers sweatshirt :) 

The kids are doing really well, the each have made a few friends at school, and are taking more to Spanish.  At night they often like to play a game where everyone says a Spanish word and tries to see if everyone else knows it.  They are also playing more together- the other day we were playing a board game and i turned to them both and said how cool is this- just a few months ago Adira couldn't do this!  Their favorite games by far are building forts and running around the perimeter of our house knocking on the front door and running away again.  Its been a blessing not having afterschool activities and not running around at all- we are just enjoying slower living.  I find myself now struggling to figure out how to find that balance back home in Brooklyn where the after school activities seem to be the best around, and yet I know our lives are easier without running around so much.  Its almost like living near the best bakery in town, figuring out not how to overindulge.

                                            Shiloh Surfing in Taganana

This past weekend was our last weekend with Lily's family as next week Jacob's parents come, and they have family coming.  We had an epic 24 hours together- we left the kids with a sitter and went out the 4 of us- staying out until midnight was sooo late for us and Lily was like that's it?? but we stayed up talking until 2am and the next day hung around and then went to the beach.  The kids surfed, played in the sand and in some natural pools and we ended with a lovely seafood small town dinner- as had become our tradition every sunday with them.  We have been more flexible about letting the kids stay out late, we are ok if they are a bit late to school and so is the school- and have less prepping for the week to do since we can go food shopping etc during the day as we have more time!  Our goodbyes were tearful- this is definitely the closest connection we have made as a family on our trip- Adira on the way home said "this is the saddest day of my life...even sadder than my birthday party" to which we all could not help laughing and still dont understand what she means- other than maybe that they were both so amazing and had to come to an end??  We will miss them and our weekly beach day trips so much- but are hopeful we can meet up together and travel in the future