Getting back to business

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My parents left this morning after a really good two week visit. We all enjoyed each other tremendously (well, there was that one evening when a few tensions surfaced, but nothing that wasn't quickly resolved). Seriously, we had a great time together and are eagerly awaiting their next visit just three months from now. It was wonderful seeing my kids and my parents beaming at each other and working hard to make up for lost time. My parents were especially amazed at the changes in Maya since last August. She was incredibly involved and interactive, much more enthusiastic about new ideas and a lot more tolerant of upsets to her routine. Watching them play together really warmed my heart, and theirs. While we've definitely seen the progress she's made this year it's sometimes hard to really appreciate how very much progress she's made when you see it develop in incremental steps. Hearing my parents excited about how much of a difference there was really drove home how very far Maya has come in the past four months. If just four months can make such a difference, I can only imagine where she will be at the end of the year, or next year, or the year after... What a joy to see the future stretching out brightly in front of us.

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While they were here my parents got to see Maya's school Hannukah party,

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and visit a local winery, where we may have had just a wee bit too much to drink. Luckily they had a great lawn out back complete with picnic blankets.

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and light Hannukah candles on our hotel room's miniscule balcony

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and teach Itai to skateboard (yes, his arm is completely healed now and I suspect he is playing soccer at (Hannukah) camp this very moment)

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and Maya to rollerskate (thanks to my dad, who had to make special arrangements to meet the UPS guy in a supermarket parking lot the day they left to get the skates we'd ordered - who'd have guessed that Maya's heart's desire, pink rollerskates, would be so hard to find here in Israel). Here she is collapsed on the ground after her first time out - turns out she was a bit sick that day and learning to skate pretty much did her in. She found out the hard way that it's a lot tougher than it looks. She'd gotten the hang of it by the next time though. (Don't mind the makeup - an older girl at camp did it. Really brings out her sickly pall, doesn't it?)

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And give Maya a dollhouse that my mother painted and decorated herself to look just like their own house, complete with the jacuzzi in the backyard - the perfect thing for playing "going to Grandma's house".

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All in all, a great visit. We were sad to see them leave, and are eagerly awaiting their return this April. In the meantime, Hannukah vacation is nearly over and it's back to business, and blogging, as usual.

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