First Shabbat as Rabbi

Our first Shabbat in Portland went better than I could have hoped for. I was very nervous about being alone with both kids and acting as the rabbi. The kids don't have any friends in the neighborhood where we're currently living, so it was bracing for the worst. Thankfully, the kids made friends with two boys that came Friday night and Saturday morning. They ran around and played games together. The best was hide and seek. One would usually think that this is a nice, quiet game that would be very appropriate for a shul where there are many places to hide in the hallways and downstairs. The kids figured out that there are also more places to hide in the sanctuary which made the game all the more exciting... Eventually, I got the kids to only hide in the hallway. I didn't anticipate that this meant that the "counter" (1,2,3... ready or not, here I come...) would remain in the sanctuary so that he wouldn't see where any of the other kids were hiding. Naturally, he made sure to count loud enough so that everyone in the building could hear him so that they would be prepared before he began his seeking.

Like clockwork, the kids came running in to me in the middle of my speech. Everyone was very pleased to have little kids running around so no one seemed to mind. If anyone was nodding off during the sermon, it definitely woke them up. I should probably schedule them to come in every week at that time... In the afternoon we found our new "Shabbos Park". We had a good time for a while, then went home for dinner, havdallah, Hamsty time (new rule: no Hamsty on Shabbat), and bed.

Sunday, we found the Portland Children's Museum. It was great for the kids, they didn't want to leave. There was do it yourself face painting, water works, rock climbing, and anything else that kids would want to do. I posted all the pictures on Facebook in case anyone's interested. At night we had a Sheva Brachot at our shul. Now that we have a garage, I've been taking advantage and leaving the keys in the car (guess I learned it from my dad). I got the kids all dressed up and we were ready to go and found out that Dina decided to be extra cautious and she made sure to lock the car doors the last time she was in it (unlike my dad who just locked me in the car). Fifty-seven dollars later we were back in the car and I learned my lesson and now take the keys with me wherever I go.

The kids have been adjusting to their new schools. It's the first time that Dina and Yoel haven't been in the same building for the entire day. Yoel is only in a half-day program, so he's my "helper" from 12:30-3:45 when we pick up Dina. He usually falls asleep in the car and naps for an hour and then we go on to some activity. Today, we went to a park where he played for around an hour. We then went home to play with Hamsty. Yoel fell asleep on the car ride home (takes around 5 minutes) and woke up with a few minutes to play with Hamsty before it was time to pick up Dina. Tomorrow, Yoel and I are going to serve as chaperones for Dina's class as they go on a trip to the Bee Farm in the afternoon. Will let you know how that goes. And because I don't have anywhere else to put it, here's a picture from Dina and Yoel's first day of school last week...

Welcome to Portland

We landed in Portland on Tuesday afternoon and tomorrow (Thursday) morning the kids are going to start their first day of school. We had a pretty good full day here. We walked around, found a park, were too shy to play with any of the other kids, then found some swings that no one was using. Dina and Yoel kept nudging me, but I was just too shy to go on the slide with the other kids there. After that, we rented a car that we will have for the next week and did our big shopping trips. You never really think twice about what you buy in Costco when you have a minivan. After driving a Corolla you start to appreciate that extra trunk size that the Odyssey affords.

Ever since we decided to move out of Riverdale to Teaneck (yeah, I think we got off at the wrong exit) Yoel has been asking for a hamster. We told him that when we move into a house he can have a hamster because it's too tight in an apartment. Like all things said to a 3-4 year old we were hoping that that would satisfy him and he would move on to something else. But he didn't, he persisted. Now that we are living in a "big house" he hasn't really stopped asking for the hamster, so I decided that it was about time (sorry Mira, we didn't wait for you). The kids have already proclaimed their undying love for Hamsty. They've told me that they don't need me anymore in the house because they have Hamsty. Obviously, I'm not showing him to anyone in the shul lest they have the same feelings...

Little know fact- hamsters are nocturnal. If they sleep all day why do they make good pets? Good question, the girl in the pet store also didn't have a good answer. Well it's 9:30 Portland time and Hamsty just woke up and is currently running on top of his wheel. Either he's an overachiever or he can't figure out that he's supposed to run inside of the wheel. Now he's climbing up the walls (literally) of his cage. I'm interested to see what other tricks this hamster is capable of.

Anyway, as this is the first of (hopefully) many posts about life for the Kaplans in Portland I hope that you enjoy. And just in case you were wondering, Hamsty just tipped over his food bowl, spilling it all to the ground (he has a duplex cage- he's living the good life).