Dear Asher: 5 Years

Dear Asher,

Happy birthday to our funny, silly, smart, loving five year old! 

You handled all of this year's changes and uncertainty with grace. The biggest change for you this year was school. With the pandemic still in full-swing, we decided to create a small pod for you, Elnatan, and Adam. We hired the most amazing teacher, Morah Sharon, who taught you math, English, Hebrew, holidays, and more. You baked challah every week, you crafted, you went for hikes, you learned to like dogs...and so much more! We are so lucky that you got to spend your last year in pre-school with a fantastic group.

It's so hard to believe you'll be heading to Kindergarten this fall. You're ready though! You can now write your own name and have even started recognizing some sight words like mom, dad, Zahara, son, sun, cat, and more. Sometimes to get my attention, you'll even call out "M.O.M." It's very fun to see you starting to figure out reading.

Your math skills are growing too. You love asking what numbers add up to and solving equations like 2+2 or 4+4 on your own. This year you've also gotten more excited about science. You got a science kit for Chanukah and you conducted countless experiments with it. You'll make an "experiment" out of almost anything--dirt, worms, food.

And while you're getting so much bigger and more independent in a lot of ways, you're still our little boy. You love being around us, which I know won't last for ever. And as much as we love being with you, sometimes, Asher, you just need to go to the bathroom by yourself without me or daddy reading you a book!

What can I say about you and your sister? The truth is that you guys drive each other crazy. But, you also really love and care about each other. When you're not fighting, you actually play so well together. Daddy and I love seeing that side of your relationship, and we hope that continues to grow.

Asher, you are a true joy to be around. You are constantly telling us you love us, making up songs about how wonderful we are, and smothering us with kisses. You camp counselors tell us there is no staffer who doesn't love you. It's so delightful and I hope that never changes.

Happy fifth birthday Asher! We can't wait to see what this next year brings!

See Asher's other birthday wishes here.

Dear Zahara: 8 Years

Dear Zahara,

Happy eighth birthday! I said it last year, and I'll say it again: what a year it's been. Reading your letter from last year highlights the journey we've been on for the past 18 months. Last summer, there were still so many unknowns about the year ahead. Would you return to school? Would the pool open? Would there be vaccines? While there are still many unknowns, this summer we are returning to a bit of normalcy. We are all grateful for that!

Though Covid is still impacting our world, you are doing an exceptional job navigating all of the changes. Zoom continued to be the norm this year. You were in virtual school for the majority of the year, returning to campus (and meeting your teachers for the first time!) in late fall. That was only for two half-days a week. It took another few months before you transitioned to two full days, and then finally four full days a week. It was hard for all of us, but I loved our time as co-workers. I already miss our Kabbalat Shabbats together.

One highlight of the school year was carpooling with your classmate Zamir. You two were the cutest! Listening to your banter was amazing. Big news for you this year is that you got glasses--real ones, not just the blue light glasses above! As the fashionista you've become, you've incorporated the glasses with style. You chose these two pairs for yourself, and you did a great job.

You're still an avid reader. You're reading in the 98%, which is just astounding! You just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (book 5) by yourself. We read the first four books together, so I'm a little sad you did this one on your own, but it's just part of you growing up.

You and Asher are continuing to get along well, for the most part. I love watching you fill the role of big sister and show him the ropes. Whether it's in the swimming pool, on a hike, with electronics, you're right there to help him out. I also love listening to your imaginative play together. You often play pet and owner, family, or teacher and student. I'll let you guess which roles you play in each of these games.

Last year we were fortunate that the pool did open and it's open again this year. Once again, you're a little fish! You are a great swimmer, earning your deep-end status. 

Have I mentioned your strong personality yet? I say it every year, and every year it's just as true. One day, Zahara, you're going to rule the world. I never worry about your future. Ever. You don't take no for an answer and you don't suffer fools. You know what you want, though you don't always do a great job of communicating it. We're working on channeling your passion, emotion, energy, and willpower into forces of good. 

Zahara, I love our conversations, our silly dances, our inside jokes, our reading time. Though I may not love every minute, I really do love being around you. You're fun, funny, smart, empathetic, energetic, and so much more. I can't wait to see what this next year holds. Love you lots!

See Zahara's other birthday wishes here.

Labor Day Beach Vacation

Although I'm excited for fall, I'm in denial that summer vacation is over. This year was very different for a lot of reasons, but we actually had a great season. We enjoyed our country weeks, exploring local towns, and starting to go on hikes as a family. We ate well, played in the pool, and read a lot! 

But what we really missed was a beach vacation (#Firstworldproblems). We were so lucky to be able to go on a last-minute vacation to Bethany Beach courtesy of our neighbors Marcus and Dani. Their family owns a beach house that gets a ton of use all summer, but they so generously found a few days for us to visit.

The house is only a few hours away, so it was an easy trip. We planned to keep physically distancing while there, so we packed food for us to take to the beach and to eat at home in the evenings. It was actually really nice to pack picnic lunches and to come home to eat burgers. 

We did eat out one night at a restaurant called Off the Hook; the food was great! Really fresh fish and veggies. And, no trip to the beach is complete without ice cream. If you know us at all, you know we follow "Rome Rules," whereby we eat as much ice cream as we want while on vacation. We had ice cream each day at a different location. They were all delicious, but the chocolate peanut butter on the beach was my favorite. Dan's favorite was the rocky road from Vanderwende's.

The house was perfect for us. It was built in a way that created two wings. The kids slept on one side of the house and we were on the other. Zahara slept in a really cool "secret" room that she accessed by way of these steep stairs. And there were so many spaces for hanging out. I really loved the screened in patio and the outdoor shower!

The beach itself was lovely. It was a five minute walk from the house and was exclusively for the neighborhood residents. We had plenty of room to spread out and play. The waves were very rough and large, so we didn't do a ton of swimming, but the kids liked holding on to us while we braved the waves. 

Since we went over Labor Day, Zahara was off school on that Monday. But she had virtual school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday she did a good job attending her classes and doing her work while Dan and I took turns with Asher at the beach. The four of us joined up after her class for some beach time and ice cream (of course).

Wednesday it actually rained all day, so we stayed in and played games and cleaned the house while Zahara was in school. We headed home after her last class and made it home in time for dinner.

I can't tell you how refreshed I feel after that quick trip. It was a great change of scenery, and the house was everything we could have asked for. Thank you again, Dani and Marcus!

Tonga Week!

As summer comes to a close, we decided to wrap up our around-the-world adventures. I'll have a highlights post with some of our favorites, but for now, I'll fill you in on our last stop on this world tour: Tonga. 

Craft/Culture

Why Tonga, you might ask? Or where is Tonga--another valid question. Tonga is a Polynesian nation of more than 170 islands located in the Pacific Ocean. Only a few of those islands are inhabited, with some islands even disappearing and reappearing with volcanic activity and erosion.

This week I let Zahara choose the country. She had recently listened to a podcast called Wow in the World (family favorite!) that highlighted this island nation and wanted to learn more about it. I'm all about interest-led learning, so off we went!

I posted earlier about how we used this country week as an excuse to visit a nearby waterfall (see here). It was a bit of a stretch, but we had fun pretending we were exploring a Tongan island and that the sand and mud were volcanic. 

Dan helped get us into the spirit of the week by buying a young coconut. We drank the water and then used the shell to make a coconut bra. Ha! Mixed verdict on the water. The meat wasn't ready to eat--it was more gelatinous than I was expecting, and the water was a little bitter. But two thumbs up for Dan's engineering skills and Zahara's dancing skills!

We also watched Moana this week. It was a nice tie-in to talk about the Polynesian culture and their ancient traditions. I love this movie. It's so beautiful. And of course the songs are incredible. 

Food

When Zahara first mentioned Tonga, I wasn't sure there would be much to eat this week. Turns out there are a ton of Tongan dishes that we could make at home. You won't be surprised to find out that almost all of them center around coconut. Here was our menu: ota'ika, lu pulu, lu sipi, kale moa, otai. No, I'd never heard of any of these before either.

Ota'ika is a little like a Tongan ceviche. It's raw tuna mixed with coconut milk, tomatoes, and bell peppers. It was pretty good, actually. We got all of our ingredients from H Mart.

Lu pulu and lu sipi are the same dish, but with different proteins. Lu pulu is lamb and lu sipi is beef. You make them both of them by wrapping the meat, onions, and coconut milk in taro or banana leaves and then cooking them in the oven. Traditionally, lu sipi uses canned corned beef. We made our own corned beef instead, and it turned out great. This was a really different dish--and not at all visually appealing, but I enjoyed it.

Kale moa is a chicken curry with...you guessed it. Coconut milk! I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but Asher was a great sous chef. 

This watermelon drink was really refreshing! We made it the traditional way without coconut. We all loved it, and Zahara even asked for seconds.

I was really surprised that we were able to make a whole week out of this tiny country, but we did! This was a good reminder to me to not say no automatically to my kids' ideas, but instead to explore and learn with them. Tonga was a wonderful host for our last week around the world.

See our other country weeks here.