At Play - USA
When we left Europe, the kids were not happy; apart from being uprooted from their home and their friends in Germany, they also didn't feel a strong connection to life in America. After all, in addition to our four years in Germany we were also stationed for two years in the United Kingdom when the kids were younger.
It was fortunate, then that we came back to the 'States in the summertime (when the livin' is easy...) and that one of our first stops was Baltimore. I've always liked Charm City, having lived nearby years ago. In particular, the Inner Harbor area is a pleasant place to visit on a summer afternoon. We even took in an Orioles-Yankees game at nearby Camden Yards. Unfortunately, the Yankees lost!
This is our home in Colorado Springs; the photo was taken during our first snowstorm in it, when Eyal was home from school on Winter Break.
This is the view from those big picture windows in our living room, also in the winter.
We enjoy the opportunities for outdoor activities in Colorado. Here, Clara and I are snowshoeing at the Continental Divide on Monarch Pass.
And here the kids and I are rafting on the Arkansas River with my friend and Air Force Chaplain colleague, Mark Ingles.
What image could be more quintessentially Colorado Springs - except for Pikes Peak - than the 'Kissing Camels' formation at Garden of the Gods?
For summer vacation 2009, we drove the kids from Colorado to school in North Carolina. We stopped to visit friends in Cincinnati, a city that will always be near and dear to our hearts since it was the first place we lived after we got married, when I was going to school at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion there. Also, both kids were born in Cincinnati. One of the city's main attractions is its beautiful riverfront on the Ohio River.
What better way to explore the latter, than to rent a surrey we could all pedal (not that The Diva pushed very hard...).
This was the front door to the first place Clara and I lived, on Euclid Avenue in the Corryville neighborhood. Coryville is an old, inner city neighborhood full of VIctorian houses which, like the one in which we lived, had long since been sub-divided into apartments. As we drove through the neighborhood, Eyal asked: "Why did you live in The Ghetto??!" It was an unexpected question. Although we have lived in racially-mixed meighborhoods with the kids, I guess it was the combination of many local residents of color, and the age of the buildings that brought the appelation 'ghetto' to mind for the kid.
There's a chain of fast-food restaurants in Greensboro (and, I'm guessing in the Southeast region generally) called 'Moes'; Ma'ayan was excited, because that's the name by which all her friends have called her for years. Funny thing (or perhaps NOT so funny), now that she's at the American Hebrew Academy, everybody calls her by her real given name!
No, that's still not Lance Armstrong. Here I am riding in the 2010 Elephant Rock Bike Fest, the 'unofficial' opening even of the Colorado bicycling season. I had just bought the recumbent bike, a Lightnining Phantom, a few weeks before. The unusual bike enables me to ride distances despite some injuries. And it's fast; here where the photographer snapped me, I was riding downwind and sometimes topping 50 MPH!
For our 2010 Summer vacation we went to Moab. I know, I know...Southern Utah in the summer??! Yes, it was hot but we did have a great time hiking, boating and bashing around the desert in ATV's. Here, Ma'ayan and I are looking over the ATV's to decide which kind to rent.
So which ones did we rent? Why, the blue ones, of course! (Blue and white being the colors of the Israeli flag.) Here we are, all suited up and ready to go. Second from left is Mark Ingles, my friend from the Air Force chaplaincy.
The scenery around Moab is just breathtaking, as seen here...
...and here...
...and here...
...and here...
...and here...
...and here...
...and here.
I finally wore the kids out! :-)
I have been playing ukulele for years. I've always dabbled with guitar, especially using the instrument to accompany myself when leading religious services. I first took up uke when preparing to lead a group tour of Israel; I wanted to song-lead in the bus while transiting from place to place, and it is difficult at best to maneuver a guitar down the aisle of a motorcoach - even one of the Martin backpacker's guitars. In a moment of clarity, I decided to buy a uke! Uke chords are ridiculously easy for someone who has been playing guitar. I used my uke for two tours to Israel and eventually, began reaching for the uke instead of the guitar more often than not. And it's just as well; Eyal has taken up guitar and relieved me of my 'good' instrument, taking it to school! Well, after years playing an inexpensive student soprano uke, this year (2010) I bought myself a good tenor uke. Here I am, enjoying a morning strum on my deck. Don't ask me how much I spent on this sweet-sounding instrument...
If it's winter again in Colorado (December 2010), it's time to slide down mountains with boards strapped to one's feet. As you can see from the picture, Eyal and Ma'ayan have developed a preference for the fat kind of boards. I'm regrettably sitting out this season...I'm job-hunting and therefore avoiding risky actvities! :-)
But the enjoyment on my kids' faces makes the outing worthwhile...
As does the lovely scenery here...
...and here...
...and the fun of...
...kickin' back at the condo...
...and stopping at the Buffalo Restaurant in Idaho Springs on our way back down to the Front Range.
If it's February, it's time once again for Parents' Weekend at the American Hebrew Academy. Eyal participated in a musical performance...
...as did Ma'ayan.
My mother, and my sister, Lisa came down from Charlottesville to spend the day.
I skipped the skiing this winter, but I decided it was time to finally go sailing in Colorado! On Father's Day 2011, we drove up to Lake DIllon in Summit County and rented a Catalina Capri.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, Eyal learned to sail in his Freshman year at the American Hebrew Academy.
The skill part of it wasn't too interesting to Ma'ayan, but she was happy to go along for the ride...
...as was Clara.
Even though it was a rented boat, I insisted on keeping everything shipshape. Yes, that's snow on the mountain in the background in June; this is, after all Colorado!
Hungry from the sailing, we enjoyed a picnic at the lakeside...
..before getting on our bikes for the downhill ride from Vail Pass to Frisco.