We headed to Nazareth for the day. But first, I had to get up at 1am to discuss The New Jim Crow with my book group. Carly also ended up getting up, as she was still not feeling well from the pistachios. I eventually got back to sleep, then in the morning he went downstairs and fell back to sleep, and started waking up again after 7. I got up at 7:45. He was watching Peg + Cat, which I eventually made him watch on the floor as he was getting zucchini bread crumbs everywhere. They nursed on the couch, then he said “I don’t want to go for a drive, mama squirrel…Besides, we’re trapped.” I was the owl, and he had me trapping them on the bed. I made him oatmeal. He got creative: “Mama heard us cuz she has microscopic tube…helps her hear microscopic things…like you…Look, you’re so tiny I can’t even hear you.” He got his water and a drop sprayed him: “Thank you, water bottle! You showered my hair a little bit.” He had me be an owl again: “Mama, I’ve been wanting to show you this owl that traps two squirrels…”
We left at 9:50. Carly drove so I could read to August. He was a machine: “I have gears that steer me. I have all the directions: north, south, east, west, northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast.” And “Dada, some books are written by Jon…Judd Widnick.” We read some of James and the Giant Peach. He then counted to 200 on his own. Just because. Then we read some of Magic Treehouse #4. He also used my phone to take some photos as we drove.
We got to Nazareth and parked – 30 shekels for the day was nice. First thing we saw was a shop selling lots and lots of Santa hats. We walked up the hill to the northeast, then back to the west and found the market. August walked the entire way and was really into exploring and choosing which street to go down next. When Carly stopped to look at postcards I had to basically convince him to not leave her behind.
We ended up at the Church of the Annunciation. We looked around outside the church and heard the bells, then Carly and August headed up the outside stairs to the bathroom. I went in to the downstairs area and heard some service in Latin. And I looked at the impressive doors with scenes from the life of Jesus.
I went up the stairs and found them outside. Carly went into the church and I stayed outside with him for a minute as he said he wasn’t ready to be quiet inside. But then he asked “Dada, can you go in and take pictures for me?” I convinced him to give it a try himself. We went in and he went to Carly. She took him outside for a minute a couple times when he wanted to make noise, but he did a pretty good job of staying inside, speaking invisible language and looking around. We mainly admired all the big mosaics set in the walls.
Back outside, August wanted to go on the zigzag walkway with me, so we did that. August wanted to take a photo of a date palm. Then we admired the stone work pictures on the ground. Then some Korea flashbacks: a guy got his attention and waved at him, and a woman patted him on the said and said “annyang”. It was a group of Korean tourists.
We left and walked back to the west and looked at a graveyard, then found a restaurant called Kitabon for lunch. We ordered a lemonade, bread (which came with yogurt and pickles), cauliflower, and a lamb and potato platter. All very good, and August ate quite well. There were some college students at the next table over looking at August and Carly told him to say hi and he said shalom. They said they say ‘Marhaben’, so I reminded August of the Arabic we’ve been studying the last couple days and he said ‘Marhaben’ to them a lot, and ‘Shukran lake (thank you).
We walked to the west again and saw Mary’s Well, then to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, a competing site of the Annunciation, as there is an underground spring in it that feeds the nearby well. The church and entrance were crowded though so we didn’t go outside. August wanted to explore a bit, but was starting to reach his limit, so we headed out on a walk. Back west up another street. But he was getting worse, and told a girl “I’m going to hit you” or something to that effect. We found the site of the Cave of 40 Monks for future reference (it was closed anyway) and headed back to the car.
There, he really had a meltdown as we put him in the car and he wanted to nurse. We needed to go find a place to do that though and it involved me backing out of the tight parking lot, then driving out of the city. He actually calmed down and we considered keeping going, but decided to stop at a gas station area. They nursed in the car and went to the bathroom at the Cafe Cafe. They came back with some little bakery treats.
Carly drove the rest of the way home and he and I read more of the pirates book and played Toca Blocks and ate some snacks.
We were home around 4. They nursed and I put together by bookcase shelves outside and put the doors on. Quickly, though, as I was getting attacked by mosquitoes. August was being a handful, so Carly made him some oatmeal. He and I read Gustav, the Goldfish and Bartholomew and the Oobleck and he shared the leftover food from last night with me: ate a good amount of cauliflower and carrots and falafel.
Carly gave him a shower. I went upstairs after they were done and he said “Dada, I have two of everything: two arms, two legs, two eyes, two stomachs…” He and I played guitar and Carly took a shower. We then went to the bed and brushed his teeth. Carly came in and I said to him “You’re going to dream about…” He interjected “Hurricanes!” I left them before 7:40, but he came down at 7:50. We read Splat the Cat, Everyone Poops, Would You Feed It to the Monkey? and some Plumdog. He was ready for bed and was asleep after 8:30.
In the car:
Exploring the market:
In the Church of the Annunciation:
Counting grapes:
Reading at lunch:
Looking at Mary’s Well:
