Friday and Shabbat - woohoo!!

So - we survived Thursday. I notice a number of my blogs start "we survived". :) Well, it's not easy being an immigrant, I'll admit that!

Friday was a much better day. We got Jonah off to Gan and he even agreed to stay. We re-met his new Ganenet too. I came back to the apartment afterwards and packed for Shabbat. Then I did a bit of work and I don't remember what else and it was time to get Jonah. He stayed the whole day - woohoo!!
So we picked him up and our friend Jodi actually dropped us off so I could lend her some diaper cream for her poor baby's tushy. Yay - Triple Paste!! Whoever told me about that, G-d bless you. :) It has saved many a tushy!!

We had to get to the Rosh Ha'Ayin train station which is about a 15-20 minute drive. If we had a car....we were trying to figure out the whole bus system but since we HAD to make the train because it was the last one of the day, we opted to splurge and get a taxi. It was worth the extra money to have infinitely less stress, make sure we are there on time, etc. It wasn't cheap though. I am hoping in the future to either find a ride from someone or perhaps find a college student with a car who wants to make a few extra shek....
So we took the taxi and got to the train station. It was practically deserted, I guess because it's Erev Shabbat and the last train of the day. We made sure we knew which train to catch and when it came, attempted to get on. Jonah was scared to take the big step to get on the train and while he was dilly-dallying, the doors started to close! It scared the "bejeebers" out of him. And me. And Shauli. Sammy wasn't really concerned. He was probably jealous that it closed on Jonah and not him. :) So that was fun.
We got on the train and chose seats and off we headed. We had to change trains in Tel Aviv but it wasn't a big deal and it came within 10 minutes. Then we were on our way to Nahariya. The kids LOVED it and behaved very very well. They were fascinated just looking out the window!
Sadly, we sat on the wrong side of the train so we weren't on the water/beach side. We got to Nahariya and Simmy and my father-in-law picked us up. It was about a 15 minutes drive to Maalot and then we got to see the whole gang again. Plus Mom and Dad. Woohoo!!!
Jonah immediately started playing with his cousins and a little later, Shlomo, Sarra, David, Shany, and Shilo arrived. Woohoo!!!
And then it was time for Shabbat!

We had a beautiful Shabbat in Maalot with lots of quality family time and a few nice walks. Jonah really had a good time with all his cousins and Sammy didn't pinch anyone too much. He did give Aura a few kisses so that was cute.
And that was that.
Motzei Shabbat we ordered pizza and sat around on our laptops. Mom, Dad and our family were the only ones who stayed overnight. We decided it was just too late and too much of a hassle to try and get the kids home. So we stayed until Sunday morning and then headed for the train.
The train ride home was not nearly as nice or restful. It was very full and while Jonah sat watching a video, Sammy would NOT sit. He just wanted to run up and down the aisles - reminiscent of the plane ride. It was SO frustrating. And it got so crowded that we ended up sitting with a kid on each of our laps. Blah.
We got the Tel Aviv University Stop and it sounded like the guy kept saying something about going to Rosh HaAyin. So I mentioned to Shu that I wasn't sure if this was our stop and then the girl next to us said that he said we should get off here for the Rosh Haayin train. We were literally at the stop so I grabbed both kids and Shu grabbed the laptop, backpack, and suitcase. Sadly though, our CD case must have been on the floor or something because it didn't make it into any of the bags. Sad.
So we (or a Hebrew speaking person who can help us) will call the Lost and Found tomorrow and hope that someone turned it in.
Well, I'm tired so I am heading to bed. Thanks to my loyal readers! Hope you are enjoying.
And thanks to all those Facebook readers too!!