Trip down Memory Lane

Now that we have gotten through Tisha B-Av and jet lag, we are having a lot of fun here. Unfortunately we do not have a camera to document any of it. Our digital camera is as old as Y (7) and has finally died. We usually use our phones but they do not work in this country. It's a shame, but the truth is memories are being made, even if I do not have the pictures to prove it.
We spent some more time with cousins who were (ironically enough) going to NY for vacation. Today we found a great play space for the kids, that is not overcrowded with the "bein hamzanim" throngs. It was not cheap but the kids played for at least two hours and would have stayed longer had we not decided it was time to get going.
This place was near Har Nof (I won't say where, this place is staying our seceret), our old neighborhood, so we decided to swing by and show the kids our old apartment and visit the neighbors. It was kind of surreal. In certain ways, things had changed- the lobby of our old apartment building looked different, some stores had closed while others had opened, etc. In other ways, it was like we never left. We visited our neighbors, who lived right next door. They were so happy to see us and meet our younger kids. They are so sweet. I took the kids into our old apartment and was expecting to feel a lot of nostalgia, but really it felt foreign. Kind of familiar but with other people's stuff and furniture in it, it did not feel like ours at all. The kids really do not remember it, as Y was about 16 months  old when we moved and A was pretty much a newborn.
It really felt like a different life time. There was also a big gaping hole, where a mountain used to be. In an effort to use any build-able space, someone seems to be building apartment buildings into the mountain between Shaulzon and Agassi. Where the 200 steps used to be, there is just a hole and lots of debris. It's pretty crazy to think that if we come back two years from now, there will be new apartment buildings in that space.
But I am learning that life goes on without you...just because we have not been to Har Nof in four years does not meant that things are not constantly evolving. When we visited last summer, my sister's daughter was a little baby, This year she is a real toddler.
At the risk of sounding like an old lady, I will try to enjoy my time here while it lasts. Before we know it, we will be back on a plane and getting ready for a new school year.

Also apropos nothing, here is a great article about disabilities, "having it all" and having enough- Enjoy.