Water Water Everywhere

Because we live in a desert country, water is a precious commodity. Much of the water that runs into people's houses in Israel comes from the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and there is often talk on the news about the water levels of the Kinneret. It only rains between November and February, approximately, and that rain is supposed to be enough to fill the Kinneret to last throughout the dry summer (and spring and fall) months. This past winter was VERY dry with very few rainy days (except for the week that my parents were here visiting, of course) and now we are having a severe water shortage. I once read an article somewhere that said that one day, people in homes across Israel would turn on the tap and no water would come out and for some reason that just struck a chord with me. We are very conscious of not wasting water and try to teach the kids the same. I have heard Big yell at Little for playing with the water fountain in a park, saying "Little! That water is for drinking, not playing. The Kinneret is almost empty!" They also know that if they take a drink of water and don't finish it, they need to water the plants with the leftovers and not pour it down the drain. Sometimes I think they purposely fill their cups too full so that they can water the plants...and spill half the water on the floor as they walk from wherever they are to wherever the plants are. But anyway, we are trying our best to save water! And, our filthy car attests to the fact that we don't do any unnecessary car washes. Some might say we also don't do any NECESSARY car washes!
Anyway, there is a point to all this talk about water. Sort of. This past weekend we went up north to a Kibbutz for the weekend with our good friends who are moving back to America in a couple of weeks. The Kibbutz had a guest house where we stayed which was basicallly a glorified college dorm without the drunken parties. Not the nicest accomodations I've ever stayed in, but we had an amazing time. On Friday, we wanted to do something fun in the area so we headed out to Mei Kedem. It was very very cool. First, we watched a movie about the building of an aquaduct and how the water moves through it. It was all in Hebrew so I didn't get too much out of it, but afterwards I asked Big and his friend A if they understood it and they said yes and then proceeded to explain what it was about. Impressive!
Then, we took a 20 minute walk through part of the aquaduct. I was nervous, being the claustrophobe (and general big fat baby) that I am, but I'm so glad I did it. It was just so cool. Did I say that already? Little insisted on being carried the entire time, and Big was scared at first so I carried him until I almost fell and dropped him in the water, at which time he finally agreed to walk. For most of it, the water was just about ankle-deep but there were two parts where it was waist-high on the adults. And it was cold water. And a little dirty. But fun nonetheless.
On Saturday morning, the 2 fathers took all the kids to the dairy on the Kibbutz to watch the cows being milked. They came back stinking like cow poop, but they all loved it. We spent the rest of the day at the pool just chilling and enjoying.

All in all, it was a great weekend with great friends. We are going to miss them so much and are so sad that they are leaving. Simon will especially miss his best friend. How cute are they??