Off for a night (and a day!)

At my darling wonderful generous fantastic amazing husband's prompting, I am leaving my family behind to go here for the night. Excited would not begin to cover it - I'm going to see all the performances I want without having to spend most of my time in the playroom (children under 6 must (and of course need) to be accompanied by an adult at all times), or on a tractor ride, or chasing M through the lobby, or cutting up anyone's food, or stuck in a hotel room for hours with my not sleeping kids missing all the music and wondering why we paid so much money for this when we're only seeing the inside of a hotel room... Yup, just me, a bunch of good friends, great music, and no guilt whatsoever. I'll be back by dinnertime tomorrow and a night and day to spend some serious time with their dad will be great for all three of them.

For those of you who have read this and know that the spring Jacob's Ladder Festival is one of my very favorite family activities and who are now confused, let me clarify and explain that a few storytelling sessions and screened movies aside, the winter festival is really not a great event for kids. It's quite pricey since there's no camping, so consequently there will be far fewer children there. Since it's wintertime there is no pool or lake to swim in, outdoor activities are limited, and indoor venues are not nearly as forgiving of normal kid noise as large outdoor stages. We'd decided to skip the winter festival this year altogether for all of these reasons, but then Jay heard that Colum Sands, one of my very favorite performers, was headlining and suggested I go on my own. I was quite sad at the thought of missing Colum, so believe me he didn't have to ask me twice! Come springtime we will happily return together to pitch our tent in the grass and enjoy this event that to me represents the best of what Israel has to offer.

I'm off to go pack. Catch you on the flip side.