First year - Binyamin

Binyamin in Ashkelon

Binyamin has had an excellent year. He was in Kita Gimmel (3rd grade).  He was in a fun class at Orot Etzion.  His main teacher was morah Shoshana and he also had the same Rebbe that Yaakov had, Reb Yitzhak.

Binyamin made a lot of friends this year.  Unlike in Denver, where he had only one or two friends and really only one friend who lived close by, here in Israel he has a whole classful of boys his age.  Even better, many of them in right in our neighborhood and he can walk to them and hang out whenever he wants.  How cool is that!?

Just like everyone, Binyamin got the take the bus to school.  He likes to catch the early bus (at like 7:15!!!!) so he can be early for school and play some extra soccer.

The favorite Messi jersey

Binyamin has really fallen in love with soccer since we arrived in Israel. His favorite player is Messi.
He also plays soccer in the local league, he draws his own soccer cards, and he plays soccer at every recess.  

A Lego cartoon character

He has also become a great artist. He loved art when we were in America, but since coming to Israel, he had taken his drawing to another level. They have art in school as well (one of the benefits of going to public school). He got to make mosiacs this year.

Binyamin also made our Purim cards for our Mishloach Manot.  They were really beautiful.

Our Purim Card

On the path near the sifting project

    This year we did a few activities that Binyamin really loved.  One was going to the sifting project and sifting for artifacts.  The sifting project takes dirt that was illegally removed from the temple mount, and alongside archeologists, people are allowed to sift through the dirt and sort the objects into the appropriate categories, including pottery, bone, and glass.  During our time at the sifting project (during chol hamoed Pesach with the Livnis) we were lucky enough to find 3(!) coins from the second temple era.  Binayamin was a star chooser of buckets.  If anyone comes to visit in Israel, we want to take  you to visit the sifting project. It really is a so cool.

 Also during chol hamoed Pesach we went to visit Herodian.  If you are into ancient structures, this is a cool place to visit and only about 20 minutes from our house.  During Passover, they also had special activities, so the kids were able to make clay jars and mosaics.  Herodian is a fortress built into a mountain.

projects from Herodian

 On Yom Hashoah, Binyamin had to have a minor medical procedure in a hospital in Tel Aviv.  While there, he got to meet a very nice British clown and he got to wear some cute pjs.  He was super tough and we were in and out in only about 6 hours.  It was really a nice, modern hospital. He slept right though the siren.

The next week, he was already back in school for the yom hazicharon/yom haatzmaut celebration where he got to do daglanut.

For Lag BaOmer, we went up to the North with Grandma and Grandpa.  We first went to Acco and we saw the cannon on the walls where Napoleon came and attacked. 

We staying in a small town near Meron and we went to an amazing natural spring.  It wasn't hot in the water, but it was a heat wave in Israel, and it was over 100 degrees, even though it was only May.  The water was cold but refreshing.

 Binyamin LOVES hotdogs and hamburgers. If you ever want to see him smile, you can just get him one of those things.  One day we were in the city and we tried a new  restaurant on Ben Yehuda St called Zalmans. They sure were yummy. It's not so simple to find good, American style hotdogs.  Luckily, Binyamin doesn't mind eating the Israeli ones.

In June, the city of Jerusalem does a cool light show in the old city, with all sorts of different light displays that change every year.  We went and had hamburgers at Tommys  then walked to the old city though Mamilla.  It was a long walk, but we all had fun.

Once school was over, the girls went to camp, and Aryeh went to Europe, so with just Binyamin and Yaakov we went to Ashkelon.  We swam and went to the Beach every day and had a blast.