Chagim Come and Gone

The last of the holidays has ended, and I personally couldn't be more relieved. But more on that in a moment.

Last weekend was Simchat Torah. Before those festivities began, we decided to try out the Topsfield Fair, the oldest agricultural fair in the country. We got there early and had great luck with the satellite parking. Hannah enjoyed some of the rides, and Marc got a new vegetable peeler, but really, I think we're not fair people. Or at least we're not fair people right now, with a toddler in tow, a bad back, and lots of food issues to manage. Plus it was crowded and chilly, and difficult to see any animals. But we went, and now we know.

That evening we went to synagogue for Hannah's Kabbalat Panim, or consecration ceremony as we called it growing up. Fillis and John joined us for dinner first, and Julie met us at synagogue. The ceremony was cute - Hannah looked so proud saying the Shema with her classmates - and seeing her receive the small Torah was very moving. I whispered to her how proud I was, and snuck in a little "I hope that someday your kids will do something like this." I think that may have been the basis for a long conversation Marc and I had with her later that evening, which covered everything from the story of creation to how babies are made to who you should make them with. It was a nice night, and we all had fun dancing during the hakafot. Max really liked waving the flags, and thankfully no one lost an eye.

Sunday we went back to synagogue for more hakafot, and then later that day we had a really nice time having dinner with the Hicks family. They'd also just been to the fair, so it was fun to compare notes, and good to get to know them all better!

But now the chagim are over, and I couldn't be more relieved. It was nice that everything fell on a weekend this year - usually I miss out on some of it since it'll fall on a week day. But it was exhausting to have every weekend taken up by lots of events to attend. I've enjoyed celebrating, but I need time to get the laundry done and go through the mail, and maybe to watch some Oprah. So while we've still got lots scheduled on the calendar in the next few weeks, we're definitely going to schedule in some time to relax too. Hope you all enjoyed the last few weeks!