Two weeks ago tomorrow (can I actually use past tense with future tense and write it in the present tense???) Hadarya and I flew to Philadelphia on the red-eye. Yiftach was attending a two-day conference and we decided to join him for an extended weekend to visit with our dear friends (who introduced us and married us) we had not seen since they'd moved to Voorhees, New Jersey, 2 1/2 years ago.
I was pretty nervous taking such a long flight, with a change of planes, by myself and my daughter. Fortunately, for me, I had a first class ticket all the way there and my daughter is amazing, so I needn't have worried. She slept like a champ through security, into the bjorn, and into the first class seat. She settled in nicely on my chest and snoozed the entire way. She awoke in Atlanta and stayed up for the hour layover, but fell asleep as soon as we got back on the plane!
Our time was great in New Jersey. Hadarya stayed on California time, so she slept until 9:30 AM every day! She had so much fun playing with Rebecca, 11, and Josh, 5. They were so loving and kind and helpful. Josh loved feeding, changing her diaper, and putting on powder. They both rushed downstairs to see her first thing each morning and fought over who got to push her stroller!
We spent the day (the three of us) touring Independance Hall in Philly while they all worked and went to school. We had breakfast at Cereality (a cereal bar) which was so yummy and then walked around the historical monuments in 30 degree weather. Hadarya loved the cold air and being out and about. She took her nap just before we got to the Betsey Ross House, so we only saw the gift shop.
We tried to go to the mint, where the coins were misprinted, but cameras are not allowed inside at all...and we were told to take turns or not go at all. It was quite stupid, actually, that none of the brochures had mentioned this and didn't they think that tourists would always have a camera??? Since it was visible, we couldn't really say we didn't have one. We even offered to leave it at a desk and check it... but that is not an option. So we left in a huff and ended up seeing an amazing interactive exhibit at the Federal Reserve Bank,
We spent Shabbat with Alyssa, Stephen, Rebecca, and Joshua. We had a lovely and yummy Shabbat dinner and stayed up late talking and reminiscing. Shabbat morning we went to see her new shul, meet some of their fabulous friends, and just take in an East Coast Synagogue. You don't have to work so hard at being Jewish on the East Coast. Their synagogue has 1100 families and 600 kids who attend Sunday School. It's unbelievable. They are getting ready to break ground for an amazing new building and we look forward to being at Rebecca's Bat Mitzvah to see it and celebrate.
Hadarya flew better than many adults and had a wonderful time wherever we went. Her only freak out moment, was on the way home on the crowded plane. She was fast asleep before we ever took off and another child, about 14 months old was screaming his head off two rows in front of us. He stopped and then started again at some point when it was ok to take off your seatbelt. I know this beacause Hadarya suddenly awoke screaming and would not calm down with a bottle or cuddling. I got up and climbed over two seats and moved towards the back of the plane, away from the screaming child and his mother, who remained seated in an aisle seat. As soon as I got far enough away that you could not hear the screaming, Hadarya calmed down. I felt so bad for her to awaken that way. We stayed standing in the aisle until the boy calmed down and fell asleep and Hadarya was back asleep too.
Our next stop: Yosemite. Next week.
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