August 6th--Ramat Gan Safari, Holon Children's Museum

Today was another fabulous day for the Kohns! This morning we started out at the Ramat Gan Safari on our way to a 2:30 reservation at the Children's Museum in Holon with Sarah and Millie Raanan. We figured the Safari would take about an hour or so. The kids loved it! The zebras and emus came right up to our car, as did a whole host of other animals. We didn't realize that there was also a rather large zoo there as well. After the safari I told the kids that we only had a half and hour to see the zoo, which I knew was totally unrealistic based on its size. The boys agreed that it would have to be a quick stop. When we got to the entrance, there was a big sign to rent golf carts to drive through the zoo in half an hour increments! How cool?! So as un"Kohn"like as it was, we rented a golf cart and drove through the zoo in record time. Well, let me tell you that visiting a zoo will NEVER be the same again. It was awesome and we got to see the entire zoo in warp speed.
Next we stopped for pizza and gas in Holon and headed to the Children's Museum for the "Enchanted Forest" exhibit. Unsure of what to expect, the exhibit was actually fabulous. We had a great guide named Reut (I would totally have hired her as a BPY teacher).
The exhibit started out with a story of an enchanted forest with strange and interesting animals and a dwarf that liked to cause mischief throughout. The kids had to follow clues and a map to find the wizard to help them recapture the dwarf and teach him to play nicely in the forest. Through the different stations and stops along the way they helped different creatures discover hidden talents and learned about the power of teamwork and positive social interactions. The ending was a highlight as it was "snowing" in the wizard's ice kingdom. After the completion of the exhibit two hours later, the kids recapped what they learned with our guide. I think that I enjoyed the experience as much as they did! The company of dear friends didn't hurt either...
After our return to Jerusalem, we met Yehuda's cousin Ahuva at Burger's Bar on Emek Refaim for dinner.
After showers, Joshua and Benjamin read us bedtime stories tonight. It doesn't get better than this!