March 31, 2006

Purim and the rest of March

The day after we got back from South Africa was the Purim party at Tyler's pre-school. Purim is the holiday that celebrates the story of Esther from the Bible. The kids all dress up and as you can see below most of the girls dress up as princesses in honor of Esther.

Purim party

The pre-school also arranged for a professional photographer to come. Tiffany brought Brooke so that we could have a picture of Brooke and Tyler together.

Purim costumes

Tyler was off of pre-school for the next two days, so Tiffany went with the mother of one of Tyler's friends to a kibbutz where the kids could see, pet and feed animals. Once a week a lady brings an animal from this kibbutz to the preschool to show the class. We saw many different kinds of animals: chickens, goats, monkeys, birds and snakes.

Feeding the goats

Brooke was entranced by the baby chick. We also went in a shed filled with incubitors with lots of little chicks inside.

Petting a chick

There was a fun park in the center of the kibbutz. The kids were more excited to play than to eat our picnic. Fortunately they ate some pita while playing on the slide.

Lunch on a slide

On Saturday, after church, we went with several other members to the hills of Nazareth to see the Nazareth Iris. It blooms for only a few weeks each year and only in Nazareth. The flowers were beautiful and worth the trip.

Nazareth Iris

Tyler had fun running around, and Brooke enjoyed looking at all the pretty flowers. Tiffany and the kids posed on the hillside where we found the irises.

Nazareth hillside

Tiffany had another dentist appointment in Herzliya, so Scott played with the kids at a park while Tiffany got her teeth fixed. Brooke loves to slide any chance she gets. It is her favorite thing to do at the park.

Slide fun

On March 29th, there was a solar eclipse in the Middle East. It wasn't a total solar eclipse, but 83%, so the sky noticeably darkened. Scott watched it on his lunch break at work through a filter and took a few pictures when a cloud blew over. Tiffany was having her Hebrew class and noticed it getting dark.

Solar eclipse

On Friday night, we went to a birthday party for one of Tyler's friends from pre-school. The kids had a wonderful time as you can see in the video below.

Birthday Activity (video)

Tyler-isms:
"ponytail" - Brooke's My Little Pony.
"Belts are my favorite part of getting dressed." - While putting on his seat belt.
"Why are there lots of Peugeots in the world? Maybe because they're so cute." - Tyler loves our green Peugeot 307.
"I'm not sad, I'm just making a wave with my mouth." - Funny expression.

Brooke-isms:
"Prinsas" - Princess
"Fower" - Flower

Posted by sjbowden at March 31, 2006 10:57 PM