An "Awesome" Hike in the Aminadav Forest

We spent the morning in the Aminadav Forest, which is just outside Jerusalem. This gem of a preserve consists of mostly replanted trees (the organization that reforested the area boasts that they've planted 230 million trees over 250,000 acres) through which there are many good trails for hiking, biking and riding 4x4 vehicles. The hike we went on passes several ancient springs, some ruins from olive presses, and hillsides covered with stone terraces. The bonus for today: in a great little picnic area, we found not only two seesaws, but about a half dozen sculptures of sheep! Totally random, I know, but the sheep pretty much made Alexander's day. He learned how to say "awesome" today, and he kept going up to the fake sheep, saying, "awesome!" Some of us like sheep sculptures; others of us like a dry sunny day and the sound of the wind blowing through the pine trees. Either way, we all found today's hike to be pretty awesome.

 

Both boys crashed for early naps right after the hike. I sat in the car with them outside our house for over an hour. By the way, this scenario, with both of them napping at the same time: it rarely happens. But every once in a while, we get lucky!