It Was a Lovely Holiday

Everything went really well. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm enough that we didn't need jackets but not boiling hot.

Dinner the first night was great. The food was really good. I'm glad I did the salmon at the last minute. I put it in at 6 pm and took it out just before candlelighting and it was perfect! There was enough of everything but I don't have huge amounts of leftovers. A little smoked turkey and a little jellied cranberry sauce (mmm, turkey sandwiches for dinner tomorrow I think).

We took all 3 girls to synagogue both days, pushing a double stroller and a single one. (On Yom Tov the rules are similar to those of the Sabbath but you're allowed to cook on an existing flame and to carry, which includes pushing a stroller.) It took an hour and 20 minutes to get to synagogue (and about another 20 minutes to get to the rabbi's house for lunch and 2 hours to get home). That's a lot of walking!

You want to know the most amazing thing? I was just commenting to Abby (from i pick up pennies) the other day that my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter loves to go but can't go on Shabbat because she can't walk all that way. I mean, really, my 5 year old has only recently managed to walk both ways. Today my granddaughter insisted that she wanted to walk and she did! All the way to synagogue, all the way to the rabbi's house and (basically) all the way home! (We started home with her in the single stroller but she loudly insisted on getting out within about a block and walked the rest of the way.) I am, as the British say, gobsmacked!

I guess she can start coming with us on Shabbat now (though it'll still be a while for her little sister). Oh, and my daughter? She walked all the way home today but was happy to ride otherwise.

The baby graciously slept through most of the shofar service yesterday, allowing me to read all the prayers and take part fully. Today, not so much. I spent a lot of the service in another room with her, just dashing to hear each time they blew shofar. But it was still good.

Lunch both days at the rabbi's was as good as always (the food is always tremendous) and the girls enjoyed playing in the back yard on the trampoline and with a bunch of Little Tikes toys.

Tomorrow is a "short" fast, from 5:41 am to 7:20 pm but it's the easiest fast of the year. After 2 days of eating huge meals we could probably use the break. I'm going to eat (including having my protein drink) just before I go to sleep and then I'll be able to make it through okay until dinner. Sometimes I get up early to eat before it starts, but I'm pretty tired so I'll pass on that this time, especially as it's a regular day in all other respects. So we go to work and Dear Child goes to school (not that children fast anyway). The real fast doesn't come until next Thursday when it will be Yom Kippur.