The Moshav Festival
Nadav fell asleep in my arms listening to music, matzah crumbs in his hair. Most of the family had left after my husband, his 6 brothers, and their band “The Chait Brothers”, finished taking the stage. Lani was running around with her cousins, playing with a ball in the grassy area, and I thought she probably needed a sweater. Dusk was settling in and the crowds in front of the main stage had come to a peak. The Solomon Brothers had begun a “Mariachi rendition” and people were starting to dance.
I should do this more often, I thought. The festival air is infective, and it reminded me of running around as a child at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, getting lost in thousands of tents. This was, of course, a fair on a much smaller scale. But it still had the feels. Lawn covered in blankets with coolers holding goodies from home. Music-Jewish country mostly- playing live in the background as people strolled and mingled. Craft booths set up around a kids wooden playground, everything from tye-dye clothes to make your own slime for the young ones. Smells of BBQ chicken wafted through the air, and we enjoyed a plate of crunchy wings and fresh kosher-for-Passover cookies made with chocolate chunks and date spread.
With the entrance ticket came a free petting zoo area, complete with three live snakes that children had curled way too tight around their necks. Across the way was a long magic show we didn’t stick around to watch(my two year old is not one for sitting still), and arts and crafts, also free. The kids could make their own bookmarks with stickers and scrapbooking paraphernalia, or opt for a dangly pom pom keychain. Giggling teenagers ran around with their faces painted, and their younger siblings played with huge bubble makers in the shade.
For the festival, I dressed Elianna in her “Wild Thing” tee, and her bestie Dovi in a gorgeous blue “Outfitter Tee” gifted to us from the lovely American kids clothing brand called Sawyer. On long days out, I prefer the kids to be dressed comfortably, in clothes we don’t have to worry about ruining every five seconds. Sawyer is a small brand I recently discovered that creates durable clothes with great slogans-in fabrics so soft the kids don’t want to take them off.
This brand reminds parents to get their kids off the electronics and into the wild- or just the backyard! With iPads and phones constantly around nowadays, I think this is such an important thing to be reminded of. The summer days our children will remember the most will be the ones spent out in the sun, running free, and getting dirty and wet. Check out Sawyer- Outfitting Children of the Wild, for your littles summer tees, and feel great knowing you are supporting the family behind a wonderful small brand!
We would highly recommend the Moshav Festival for a family day out- both over Pesach and Succot. Go early for parking and bring a blanket and snacks!
Horseback Riding at Chavat Omri- “Omris Farm”
This was our one free day over the week break-chol hamoed- that we didn’t have a plan for. As usual, we woke up late, me and my husband nudging the other one to “pleeeeeeeeeease get up with the kids”. I made cheesy fries in our one frying pan. We cut the potatoes with a plastic knife ’cause we couldn’t find our Passover utensils. If I had the patience, I sautéed some onion as well(besides the tears, onions are so, so, difficult to cut with plastic please don’t try that).
Simcha found a video on Facebook of this farm and it was supposedly not too packed- which is a huge deal because everything is packed over Pesach in Israel!
The farm wasn’t really so much a farm, more like a small horse ranch. Tickets were NIS 42 for an unlimited time in the petting area, three rounds on horseback, for one kid plus an adult. Sim held the baby and I took Lani in to the “petting zoo”, a round gazebo style structure housing rabbits, ducklings, mini chickens, hamsters, and goats. She had a fabulous time running around catching things and making beds for them in little baskets.
We waited for quite a while in the line to ride the horses, but it was totally worth it and I can still picture her straddling the saddle for the first time, holding on so tight to the horn, and smiling a huge smile. Afterward, she colored at the coloring station and got ice cream from the snack shop. The whole day cost us so little and we had such a good time!
*Horseback riding for the whole family is available year round.
Water Fountains at Teddy Park
As mentioned above, we had limited time for activities, and this is one we didn’t get to do last week. Mostly because it’s open all year and we can go anytime. This activity- wonderful for the summertime heat of the Middle East- is totally free and will get your kids jumping with excitement..and really wet! Bring extra clothes and a picnic(and frisbee) to enjoy at the park between intervals of the water fountain!
Summer Hours
The park is open 7 days a week, from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm
Daytime fountain shows (water only) at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm
Evening fountain shows (light, music and water) at 8:00 pm, 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm.
Do you know of any off-the-road activities in Israel that are family friendly? I would love to hear about them, please tell me in the comments below!
For more behind the scenes, join us on instagram @estee_bestie and on Pinterest for lots of great ideas!
More great stories @A Day To The Fabric District & @101 TURBANS.
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The kids look like they are having so much fun. You are right, it is important to keep them outside and busy andoff of their devices for as long as possible. Summertime will be tricky!
The kids look like they are having so much fun. You are right, it is important to keep them outside and busy andoff of their devices for as long as possible. Summertime will be tricky!