It’s easy to bleed money when we’re traveling. It’s also easy to bleed money living in a city like Jerusalem. Lucky us, there are lots of free things to do in Jerusalem with kids. Explore the Old City The Old City in Jerusalem is beautiful and full of history. Whether you’re exploring the Church of… Read More Free Things to do in Jerusalem with Kids
Saturday morning, we drove to the Mount of Olives and picked olives as Jerusalemites have been doing for thousands of years. The technique of harvesting olives is simple. Wait until the olives begin to ripen, then rake the lives out of a tree. In our case, at the Lutheran World Federation, the caretakers had spread… Read More Olive Picking on the Mount of Olives
One of the most amazing things about living in Jerusalem is living within spitting distance of thousands of years of history. Caesarea (pronounced Keh-sar-ee-ya) is an old Roman town on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. It’s about an hour North of Tel Aviv, and about 90 minutes from Jerusalem. On the first official day of my… Read More Caesarea — Exploring Israel with Kids
My husband and I worry about the effect of our Foreign Service lifestyle on our children. Raising expat kids is a real challenge! Will they grow up rich with experiences, polyglot, and appreciative of all that they have? Or will they grow up spoiled and entitled, used to having the world at their feet? We hope… Read More Seven Ways to Keep Life Balanced while Raising Expat Kids
One of the best kids’ activities in Jerusalem is the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, and I was tired of my coworkers’ surprise when I told them, “No, we haven’t been to the zoo yet.” So on Sunday morning, we got up, picked up the house, packed a lunch, and dragged the kids to Jerusalem’s zoo. It was… Read More Sondjos at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo
How do I know I’m getting old? All of my friends’ halloween parties started at 6 last night. And we didn’t go to any. My husband picked me up from FSI with the kids already in costume, but fast asleep. We went grocery shopping, and then came up and rushed to get the house picked… Read More Halloween in DC with the kids
I raced my first 5k over the weekend. Camille, my awesome amazing and to be much thanked running buddy, and I have been training both separately and apart. She, to get back to running after a few kids, and me, to get to a point where I wouldn’t embarrass myself by collapsing on the course after… Read More Diary of a Fat CrossFitter – ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED (1st 5k!)
I am a planner, but I hate putting shit away. My husband is a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of guy, but can’t stand a mess or a disorganized room. Between the two of us, we’ve finally got our (short) trip routine down to a science. Or at least, as much of a science as it can be… Read More Painless short trips – Sondjo style
I woke up yesterday morning to the unsettling realization that I’m leaving in a week. After a brief discussion that went long the lines of OMG THE SKY IS FALLING THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO, Bertrand reminded me that he doesn’t cook vegetables. Because this week is going to be ridiculously busy for both… Read More I’m not going to roast any more pumpkins for a while