August 5th--Kfar Etzion, Malcha Mall, Bike Riding in Jerusalem

Out of sheer exhaustion from the weekend, we all slept until almost 10 AM this morning, but even with the late start we still had an action packed day!
We began by setting out of Jerusalem towards the Gush area. Yehuda was determined to buy new Naot shoes and there is a Naot Teva outlet in Kfar Etzion. After a successful first stop, and a very happy Yehuda, we headed to the Kfar Etzion Visitor Center for an amazingly informative sound and light show about the importance of Gush Etzion and it's rise and fall. We had never known the story and now have a much deeper appreciation of what occurred there.
Next we drove around Efrat since we know so many people that have made Aliyah to there and were interested in seeing it. Neither one of us had ever been there before. The views were absolutely fantastic, we just weren't so sure about the neighbors...
After our detour, we headed back into Jerusalem to the Malcha Mall to walk around and have dinner. Of course we had to stop in the pet store, Toys'R'Us and the Apple Store. The boys begged to have McDonald's Happy Meals so McDonald's it was! Yehuda and I has falafel and shwarma instead. Then we headed back to Gila and Josiah's to take the boys on a surprise night activity. The boys were super excited to go on a twilight (which turned into nighttime) bike ride on the bike path along Derech Harakevet. The night was gorgeous and Although Benjamin had difficulty at first, he became a real speed demon. We rode the entire bike path (the whole length there and back) and were out for over two hours. We all had such a great time! Filthy and exhausted, we showered the boys and they fell fast asleep after 10.