The last five days have been spent in humid, muggy Orlando, Florida. It was our first trip with a toddler who can walk, tell us what she wants, and is very curious. It was a blast and she was so amazing! We'd do it again in a heartbeat.
The conference itself was ok, not great, not bad, just in between. It's the relationships that we built, nurtured, and made during that trip that made it so fantastic.
I was attending the United Jewish Synagogue's Biennial Convention with the Education Director of Ohr Shalom, LeAnne, LeAnne Adams. Yiftach and Hadarya were our bonus feature for the long time away. We were able to secure our timeshare (2BR 2BA) and that made such a great difference for eating and sleeping and Yiftach having good space for Hadarya to play with her toys. It is here that she learned to open all the cabinets in the kitchen... cause it wasn't our house so why not let her have fun? We didn't think of the transfer of activities that would take place upon our return. Hence the childproof locks that Yiftach installed and that made Hadarya mad because she couldn't get into them!
We were lucky that Yiftach's bone marrow recipient and her husband, Grammy Phyllis and Papa Joel, were able to make the drive from Ft. Myers to spend time with us. They had the pleasure of lots of wonderful time with Hadarya and Yiftach. They took us to a scrumptious dinner on the pier and generally caught up on our lives since seeing them in May. It was so great to spend time together!
Yiftach has cousins, Lynn and Marc, who live in Orlando with their two boys, Matthew and Jonathan, whom Yiftach had not met since he'd not seen Marc and Lynn for almost 10 years. It did not matter! They had a lovely time Friday night together and loved being with the baby. We all hung out Sunday night at Downtown Disney, watched the fireworks from the beach across the way from the castle, and ate dinner at a gourment McDonald's. They all doted on Hadarya and her favorite stuffed animal to date is her Florida Gator...Albert Allie Gator!
Another bonus of this conservative movement convention was spending time with our dear friends Alisa and Stephen. They introduced Yiftach and I 7 years ago, and Alisa married us almost 5 years ago. They now live in New Jersey, so this time was especially precious. It's just like we saw them yesterday. Their friendship makes me smile and warms my heart when I see them. They loved having time with Hadarya and being able to relish in our child.
ON to her... she flew to Orlando like a pro and back to CA without any issues. She stayed on California time and napped well. She slept half the night in a crib (provided by the timeshare) and the rest in our bed taking up most of the space in the middle. She ate well. She laughed a lot. She ran around the gigantic hallways at the hotel amusing herself. She played hide-and-seek around the corners, explored the registration office, wedged her way under the end tables, and slithered off to poop in private. Can you tell how much I am in love with my daughter? She made everyone laugh and smile at her genuine happiness. Life is good, no scratch that, fabulouso, with her in it.
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