Friends invited us to join them camping in the north the weekend following Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). We borrowed the necessary gear and packed our things for a weekend of living outside. We camped at the Meron Field School near Mt. Meron and the Lebanese border. 
It was really refreshing to leave the Jerusalem area for a few days and spend some time outdoors. The first night we had plenty of company of other campers, but on night #2 we had the camping area to ourselves (as we stayed one night past the end of the weekend). Well, with the exception of the wild boars who scoured the area around our tents in search of food. The weather was lovely, and we were even “lucky” enough to experience the first rain in 6+ months the second night. As our borrowed Israeli tent was not bad weather proof, we were exceedingly grateful (and surprised) that we did not get wet inside our tent that night. But it did make for a messy pack-up the next morning. Both girls slept through the thunder, but Elizabeth did awaken with the sounds of the heavy rain. We told her the rain was making music, which she thought was fun to experience. It was cozy to be all cuddled together in the tent listening to the rain make music above our heads.
Both girls loved camping! I was reminded that sometimes as parents, the joy of watching your children love an experience thoroughly erases (almost!) the effort and preparations. Their smiles and laughter make the experience truly worthwhile! Highlights for Elizabeth were sleeping in the tent, playing with her friends, and digging in the dirt.
This is how she looked most of the time when we were at the campsite. She took her work of moving dirt very seriously, even saying at times she was “too busy with working” to come and eat. Camping with a two year old is actually quite easy. Elizabeth and the other kids were self-entertained!
Camping with a crawling one year old is a little more demanding of the parents. This was OK, but we were glad to be two. Sarah required almost constant supervision to keep her from getting into danger and hurting herself. Although Sarah was not able to express in words what her favorite activities were, I can say, with complete confidence, that she too loved the dirt. Just look at that grin!
We took a lovely little hike around the upper perimeter of Mt. Meron. It was a perfect hike for little kids and well shaded to protect us from the hot sun.
Sarah enjoyed the view from the carrier on my back. Elizabeth and J had a great time crawling over rocks and enjoying all that nature has to offer.
So thank you, to Familie Heyn! It was a fun weekend, well summarized by Elizabeth who said “I want to go again. I like to sleep outside in a tent. I like playing with J and E (the other kids)”. She even had fun on the long car ride and mentioned it one time as one of her favorite activities of the weekend.
