On cousin Netta's birthday, Mikael was asleep for the afternoon by the time we managed I managed to get a hold of Netta in the middle of her party, and Netta was asleep by the time Mikael woke up. Still, we told him about it and he sang happy birthday for Netta and also "Where's the cake," (aifo ha uga)
Ayala is right that Mikael has really had Ayala's birthday pumped into him pretty intensely for the past couple of weeks. We also talked about it quite a bit yesterday as we planned for the restaurant and when we drove to the restaurant and once we were at the restaurant. We sang all the birthday songs we know in all the languages we know. There was a brief lull in the intensity while we ate, but when desert came around, we came back to the same theme. So, one the fourth time we asked him whose birthday it was while waiting for he desert, he got a sly grin and he said "Savta Rina." Everyone laughed. He was pleased as punch that he'd gotten a reaction, so he said it again, "Savta Rina yesh hayom yom huledet." Savta Rina laughed so hard, I thought she'd never stopped. Mikael was quite proud of himself.
The spot we were staying is best known for it's little zoo, called a 'hai bar' (roughly: living desert) which Mikael, Yael, and Liya really enjoyed. There was a petting zoo and a bunch of monkeys that aren't pictured. We toured the zoo towards evening and again in the morning.
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We stayed until the party until quite late. Mikael had a blast. He ate tons of yummy food (it was totally out of control what they had) and then did a lot of dancing and then rode the elevator up and down and up and down and then danced some more and then hung out with Tal and then rode the elevator some more and then had chocolate for desert and so on and so forth. Here are a couple of videos we took during the party; I'm particularly pleased with the second one. Nadav is the kid dancing at the beginning of the first video. I'm sure eventually there will be official pictures and video, too.
Vimeo.
Vimeo.
In the evening, the cousins all got together to light the 7th candle. I showed up later, and missed the fun. The thing to notice is that Mikael is much more interested in getting a match lit than he is in the anything else that is going on. He takes some much pleasure in the whole idea of fire that we're consistently torn between encouraging him and warning him to be careful.
All the cousins converged in Givat Ada last week. Givat Ada is quite green and they spent a lot of time playing outside.
There have been some complaints that we aren't making clear who is who in all the pictures, so I'll try to be better about that.
Mikael and Yotam
From left to right: Yalli, Noa, Mikael and Yotam
Savta Hava, Shaked, and Mikael playing a game that I'm not sure I understand. You see more of it in the video. I'm assuming that Mikael thought this was fun.
On Vimeo.
From back to front: Maya (Shaked and Yotam's mother) and her new daughter, um, damn, and then Hila (Yalli and Noa's mom) and then Mikael and Savta Hava
Yalli and Mikael
On Vimeo.
Before dinner, all the kids enjoyed 'milky' treats. Hard to describe to the non-Israelis, but certainly a staple of any well balanced child's diet in Israel.
Yalli and Mikael look like they have come up with some sophisticated power sharing arrangement for their small kindgom.
Mikael really liked the spiked punch. It was probably a mistake to let him try it.
Mayan Shahar took some really great pictures during Sukkoth at the Bril abode and, as usual, I had an awful time showing any editorial restraint. There is a long series of these to come.
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There was a question about the painting, so I'll translate what Liya wrote about it for the Hebrew-impaired:
My talented younger sister painted this painting. In the painting she's blowing bubbles with Mikael. The painting is made in chalk colors.
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