Fixed the link

For those of you who complained that the link to the slide show from the photographer didn't work, I have fixed that link, you can also access it here.

...and pictures

One of the fun things about being in Chicago was hearing about all the people who read my blog. When I first started I figured it would be mostly my sisters who would read it(and they do), but it is fun hearing that a wide variety of people read it on a regular basis. I did get a lot of complaints that I don't post enough pictures, so I will make an effort to take more on a regular basis and post them. Here are some from our trip.

By the way, if you are reading, feel free to comment, say hi or let me know what you like/don't like about the blog!

Update...

Sorry I was so bad about blogging when we were in Chicago. We had a great trip but we are happy to be home. I will just go over a few highlights of our trip and then get back into the swing of things.
I believe I left off on Friday, so I will start there. On Friday, after Jordy woke up at 2am wanting breakfast, there was the whole pre-shabbos/wedding preparations. We an a few errands, Jordy got a haircut etc. Then Friday night we went to shul for dinner with the Rubinson Family. It was great being there and seeing everyone. Jodi, Amy, Aviah and Shush came for shabbos as did the Drapkins, my parents and of course all the Saltzman siblings. We had a nice dinner with a very funny speech given by David(it wasn't THAT funny but David asked me to say it was...lets see if he notices). Luckily the kids slept until a normal time Saturday morning so we got a little sleep. Shabbos we went to shul for the aufruf. Danya and Jordy were really excited to see that Alex came to watch them. The candy throwing was pretty funny since there were 100 bags of candy and just the kids we brought with to collect them(9 kids total) so they were happy to collect a lot of candy. Jordy missed the throwing part and he went up to throw candy at Avi well after the throwing was over...it was cute! After shul we ate lunch at the shul again. After lunch we went to Myrna's for a short nap followed by the Shabbos Kallah. On the way back from the shabbos kallah we got caught in the freezing rain and we kept praying that the rain would stop and it wouldn't be freezing at the wedding. Well the rain did stop but it was still freezing! Saturday night we stayed at the hotel so we would be nearby in the morning. The morning was a little nutty in terms of everyone getting to where they had to be and when. We finally made it to the wedding, it was about 40 degrees and we were cold! We all wore our winter jackets and only took them off to walk down the aisle, very laid back. That said, the wedding was beautiful. After the chuppah we drove to the hotel for the dinner and dancing. Jordy fell asleep pretty early into the dinner but Danya had a blast dancing with Talya, Atara and Aviah. Monday morning it took everyone a while to get moving. Once we finally did we packed up and after Pops brought David and Jodi and co. to the airport we went to their house. Monday night we went to Sheva Bracot at Myrna's where we watched the video of Matthew being on the Jamie Kennedy Show several times. Tuesday I had the afternoon off and did a lot of shopping! Tuesday night we also had sheva brachot at the Sheinfelds. Wednesday I took the kids to Target where we spent so much money that I think they will change the name to Arica Target soon. Then we went to Becca's house so the kids could play together. Wednesday night we went to Hy Life with the Amsters, Abrams and Needles. We had a good time and it was great seeing everyone. Thursday we went to pick Lanie and Maayan up at the airport and then Danya and Jordy went with Bubs and Pops to the game store(aka. a video arcade) while Lanie, Maayan and I went to Lincolnwood Town Center. Then we went to my parents house for Ken's Dinner dinner. Friday I didn't do much, just went to Jewell to buy some stuff for shabbos(and some American Cheese to bring back to Israel) and I made a few things for Shabbos. Matthew and Marissa(M&M) came for dinner which was fun. Saturday the Kleimans came for lunch along with M&M. In the afternoon Becca came with the girls for the kids to play. They stayed until after shabbos. Saturday night we went out with Zev and Becky to DaNali's. That place was hopping. Apparently we lucked out and got the last table...guess they are taking reservations these days! We had such a good time talking with the Goldbergs that we skipped the bowling. Sunday morning we went to my parents for brunch along with the Kleimans and the Saltzman family. Josh had a work emergency so he said he would be a little late. Unfortunately he missed the part where we sang Happy Birthday to him(and my Dad and Danya) but the rest of us had a great time. Tami stopped over with her kids to say goodbye, which was sad, but we have already been through it. We said goodbye to everyone and headed back to finish packing and leave. On our way to the airport we realized that we forgot something but luckily Danny was coming to visit us in Israel on the next flight, so he brought it. The trip was fine with a few small exceptions. First, Josh's cologne was confiscated as he forgot and packed it in a carry-on. Then Danya spent a half hour crying on the plane that she wanted to be sleeping in her bed(until she finally fell asleep). In London, where we switched planes, we cut it pretty close and we were standing in the security line when they announced that anyone on the flight to Tel Aviv should move to the front of the line. So we rushed to our plane where Danya had a tantrum that she wanted to sit next to me, but it was Jordy's turn, so she did a lot of crying and screaming. After they served the breakfast we all fell asleep for the reminder of the flight(probably about 3 1/2 hours). We got off the plane, went through customs, picked up our Duty Free(you buy it before you leave and pick it up when you return) and collected our luggage. Of course they lost a piece of our luggage and of course it was the car seat bag...it always is. So we had to go take care of that and get loner car seats...seems that lots of airports have them...we have been through this many times! Poor Josh had to push the 2 luggage carts out of the airport and all the way down to the cab stand while I pushed the stroller. We got a cab and I am not sure how, but he managed to fit he 4 of us and the 6 pieces of luggage plus the carry ons and double stroller and none of us had a duffel on our laps! We were happy to be home and then spent the next few hours unpacking and the kids ate dinner. I left at 8:30 for my toning class. When I returned I was surprised to see that the kids were both asleep. Then Danny called that he arrived so Josh went to pick him up. We all ate and went to bed. (You knew that when I said the kids went to bed at 8:30 they wouldn't sleep through the night....right?). Danya woke up screaming at 1:30. Then the phone kept ringing. Then Jordy woke up looking for breakfast at who knows what time. He and Danya were playing until Josh put his foot down at around 3:30 insisting they go to bed. Jordy did pretty easily but Danya just couldn't. So I let her play her leapster. I then couldn't fall asleep so I turned on the hot water and checked my e-mails. At 4:30 I took a shower and then I fell back asleep. We slept through Josh's 2 alarms and I woke up in a panic at 9:20. We woke Jordy and got him to gan but Danya just wouldn't get up. So we let her sleep a little later. Josh drove Danny to the bus and then we unpacked and tried to get a little more organized. Danya and I picked Jordy where Danya had a reunion with her friends. Then Danya went to play with Tamar. Jordy and I came home and while I was planning on going to the store I couldn't keep my eyes open so I took a hour nap that lasted an hour and 45 minutes. Then I went to get Danya. The kids had bath time and dinner and Jordy went to bed. As I sit here at 11:10 Danya is sitting next to me coloring...She gets 5 more minutes and I am forcing her to sleep whether she is tired or not!

More Pictures

Sorry I haven't had much time to write while we are in Chicago! It's been busy and I have been lazy. I just wanted to share more pictures from Avi and Eva's beautiful wedding. Their photographer put together an unbelievable slide show that you can see by clicking here. Enjoy and have a good shabbos!

Summary

Since Friday we have attended an Aufruf, Wedding and 2 sheva Brachot! We have been having a lot of fun with minimal jet lag. It is so great to see everyone even though it hasn't been that long since we left. The wedding was beautiful, but freezing cold. We wore many layers and aside the 10 minute break where Avi sent Josh to go find the ring while we all waited at the Chuppah(yep, that really happens...not just on TV) it was the fastest wedding I have ever been to. The party was also fantastic and Danya was dancing the whole time and had a blast. Jordy, on the other hand, was exhausted and fell right asleep and missed that whole part of the wedding. Otherwise we are working on our shopping list. It was so nice today to go to Target again! How I have missed Target! I also hit Bed, Bath and Beyond, the discount bookstore and Best Buy. More shopping tomorrow!

Wedding

Hi Everyone! Things have been busy here in Chicago and I don't have too much time to write now but I wanted to share some pictures from Avi and Eva's arctic wedding(for those of you who don't know the chuppah was at a outdoor gardens and it was about 30 degrees and we were freezing!). Will add more later!

Sweet (old)Home Chicago

We made it! Our cab arrived at our house at 4:30am on Thursday morning and we headed to BenGurion. Our flight left for London at 7:05. That flight was great as they had an on demand TV screen at each seat. The kids had a good time with that(and I did too....Watched The Devil Wears Prada and half of the Davinci Code). Jordy slept for a little while at the end of that flight. Then we arrived in London. We had been happy to hear, in Israel, that our luggage would be checked through to Chicago . When we went to switch terminals the guy at securiy stopped us saying that we were only allowed one carryon per person. We had 2 backpacks, 2 computer cases, my purse and Josh's Talis bag. So I fit the Talis bag in my purse but we couldn't figure anything else out, so we had to go back and check one backpack. The problem was that we had to go through customs which meant we had to walk all the way around the airport. It was a bit annoying, but we had time. When we were sitting at the gate waiting to board Danya announced that her head itched(due to constant hair washing...No more lice) and she yelled to me "Mommy, did you bring the lice comb with you?". I think everyone sitting in a 5 mile radius heard and all slowly inched away from her. I couldn't recover from that so I just smiled and prayed we weren't sitting next to any of those people on the plane! The flight from England was long and the kids wouldn't sleep, so we had lots of fun. The only kids movie playing was Cars, and I think Danya watched it 15 times. The kids finally fell asleep an hour and a half before we landed. Once we arrived we went through customs/passport control pretty quickly. While I found our stroller(which had been checked through from Israel) Josh collected the luggage and we made it out pretty quickly. Pops came to pick us up and he brought us to the shul in Des Plaines where Bubs was setting up for the Aufruf. We hung out there a little while but Jordy fell asleep and Danya was hungry, so we headed to Myrnas. Myrna made Danya some Wacky Mac while Jordy went right to bed. Avi and Eva stopped in to say hi, but they were running so we only got to see them for a minute. Danya stayed up until 9:30 when David, Jodi and kids arrived! She was so tired and we all got to go to bed finally once she was settled. At 2am Jordy woke up and came to me asking for breakfast. So we found him some cocoa pebbles and then we spent a half hour in the basement figuring out how the TV worked. Once I got that running I layed down on the couch while Jordy was happily watching/playing. Josh came down at about 3:30 to take over and I went back to bed. Now it is about a quarter to 9am and all the kids are awake and playing. Myrna just left to pick up Jodi and Shush at the airport and we have a fun filled/jet lagged weekend ahead of us!

Packing...again

This morning, after sending everyone off to school(including Josh who started Ulpan today) I headed out to run a few errands for our trip. I decided to send Jordy to daycare today since he will be missing tomorrow. I brought Danya and Tamar home and they played until it was time for arts and crafts. I brought them and left as I wanted to get home and get moving on the packing. Of course as I was stopping at the mailboxes to pick up our mail I got a call to come back to arts and crafts as Danya got a splinter and she won't let anyone near it. Once I finally convinced her to let me near her hand I got the splinter out with a tweezers but she already missed half the lesson. She stayed and I went home but didn't get much done between then and picking up Jordy at daycare. After dinner the kids went to sleep and I went to my aerobics class. Then I came home and FINALLY began packing! It is 11:40 and I still haven't started carry on luggage, but I am completely done with all clothing. We are being picked up by cab at 4:30am for our VERY long day of travel. We are scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 5pm...giving us about 20-21 hours of travel door to door(without any delays). Wish us luck and I will write more on the other side!

A New Car

Today was a very busy day! Of course we really, majorly, overslept! Jordy came in at 8am which was a bit on the late side since we had a lot going on today. We rushed everyone out the door so we could head to the money changer to get a jillion shekel so we could pick up our new car. I called the money changer yesterday to ask them if they would have enough cash and they guaranteed me they would. I kept asking them, explaining that I needed shekel, not dollars and they insisted they would...guess what??? They didn't! When we got there they guy said he didn't have enough and we could either have it wired to our bank(which would bring on fees), wired to the car dealership(which would take a day and therefore be another day which we were renting the car) or we could come back later. So we went to the bank, where we needed to do some business regarding our mortgage, which was also frustrating. Why is it so hard for someone to tell us how much money we owe each month? And why didn't they tell us that there would be extra fees the first month??? Anyhow, we headed home after that. Soon after I picked up Danya and Jordy and Tamar. I brought Danya and Tamar to Lori and Jordy and I headed home to wait for all the people who were coming over. First there was the cleaning guy, then the electrician who came to fix my telephone(for those who have been trying to call my phone is working....and for those of you who left the 16 messages I am working on getting back to you!) and finally the plumber. Funny how things go full circle...when we lived in Chicago we had tree roots growing in our line so we had to have our pipes roded out about once a year. Well turns out we have the same problem here. We noticed that the guest bathroom was smelling funny so we called the plumber that the Klein's recommended and he said it had been about a year since he had been out. Sure enough the line was almost completely blocked. The interesting thing was that in Chicago this would always cost between $150-$300 to take care of. Here it was about $40! Then I went to pick up my skirt for the wedding, which is all done thanks to my wonderful neighbor! I put Jordy to bed and then gave Danya another lice combing and am happy to report that she is lice free!!! I will keep checking, but hopefully we are OK for now.

Anechnu Mdobrim Ivirit

On Monday we were awoken by our usual Jordy crawling into bed and begging for "bwekfast". Of course we were running a little late, being that is was the first day back at school, plus our first day of Ulpan. The kids are supposed to be in school by 8:30 and Ulpan started at 8:45. When we got to ulpan the teacher first went around the room asking everyone to tell about themselves and what they expected to gain from the classes. For some reason the first 5 people who talked all had an extremely high ability to talk in Hebrew(of course Josh was included in this group of people). This of course intimidated the rest of us(especially me) who had a lower ability. Then once she assessed our speaking ability she gave us a written test. Josh was the first one done with the test and I was the last one done...what does that tell you about our abilities??? The class was then divided into 2 levels(me being the lower level, Josh being the higher level). The teacher then told us that this week the higher level will meet on Wednesday morning and the lower level Thursday morning and after this week the higher level will meet Sunday and Monday morning and the lower level will meet Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. So since we are going out of town I will miss the first 4 lessons and Josh will miss the first 3. After Ulpan we came home and did a ton of laundry...I am constantly washing everything in hot water since the lice episode(which seems to be under control). Jordy then went to daycare and I picked Danya up and brought her to gymnastics. After I picked her up she came home and did her English homework from before break. Then I brought her to English, picked up Jordy, picked up Danya and we came home for the evening. I went to toning class at night and then watched Ocean 11 since we don't have TV set up yet...I needed to watch something and it was the first DVD I could find in the box. Here are the pictures from yesterday...enjoy!

End of the Holidays

On Friday we didn't do too much. My parents had a few appointments re:the house, so they were kind of busy with that. Josh went to the Yishuv softball game. Otherwise we stuck pretty close to home(I think...I can't totally remember what we did). Friday night we went to shul for hakafot. Then we headed back towards home as we were invited to a dinner at the shul across the street from us(which is a little more on the Israeli side). We had a nice time at the dinner however we came home and crashed(especially the kids). Saturday morning the kids slept until 10!!! I was so happy about that! When they got up we went to shul and arrived just in time for the huge kiddush that hosted each year by Norman Abell. He brings a ton of meat from Romanian and everyone partakes! After the kiddush there was still a lot of davening(since it is Smeni Atzaret and Simchas Torah all rolled into one). When shul was over we headed to lunch at neighbors of ours. We had a good time there and then came home and Shabbos/Yom Tov was over soon after. We got the kids to bed and headed to the basketball court while my parents babysat. On the basketball court were hakofot sheniyot where there was a band and a ton of dancing. On Sunday we headed to the mall in Yerushaliam for some Pizza Hut lunch(finally!!). Danya and Jordy thought that the name of the restaurant was Pizza Hut Hut and were cheering Hut Hut on the way there! It was cute! After lunch we found a place that the kids filled glass bottles with colored sand. I will add those pictures tomorrow since my camera is all the way downstairs and I am not walking down all those stairs now to get it. Then we hung out in the mall for a while until Danya had a massive tantrum and we had to go. My Dad then headed to his hotel and my mom came with us home. We hung out at home the rest of the day. I went to the seamstress next door to get my skirt for the wedding shortened(no fear...it will be ready tomorrow) and then the kids went to bed and my mom was picked up to go to the airport. Josh and I then watched an episode of Studio 60 and now I need to get some sleep...we have a busy week ahead of us! Hope everyone had a good Yontif!

So Gross

Well the inevitable has finally happened to us...if you are weak of stomach please stop reading here. This morning we had plans to go with my parents to Yerushalim. I knew that they wanted to get there before 12 so I was sure to be up and ready early and as soon as Jordy woke up I got him dressed and gave him breakfast. When Danya got up I also got her dressed and while dressing her she mentioned that her head itched her(can you see where I am going with this???). So we pulled out the good old lice comb and took a look and I was horrified to find lice!!!! I had never seen them before and up until now whenever anyone talked about lice I would talk about how my kid would have it and I would have no clue and everyone reassured me that when I saw it I would know and let me tell you, they were right! So after flipping out and being so grossed out I took Danya to the shower to clean her hair and then we began the comb out....that took about an hour and a half until I was satisfied that I got most of it. Then we went to Yerushalim and went on with our day, however since we left late we missed a few of the errands and we basically just went out to lunch. When we got back my parents were supposed to go to a Simchat Bat in Beit Shemesh however 30 minutes after they left they returned that they took the wrong highway and that by now they were too late. So we all hung out. Josh and I went to Home Center and a lighting store after he ate dinner. We bought 2 ceiling fans and are starting to get an idea about what kind of light fixtures we want. After we returned we hit the lice comb again hard for another hour and there was almost nothing. I will continue this regime of lice combing and cleaning the sheets until she is all clear, but this is becoming quite an experience!!! (Bubs, I know you are reading this and cringing...don't worry, I will have her all clear before we get on the plane!!!).

Once More

Here is a video of our lift arriving in Israel! Notice that the street we live on is so narrow that he had to back up down the whole street(and notice the poor guy waiting to drive around him!).

Catch Up

OK, our second internet line is up and running and I can upload pictures and video again! Here are the videos of Danya and Jordy on the Omegas at the Monkey Park from Tuesday.

I also added the pictures to the Monkey Park post so you can go back and take a look it you'd like!

Ah...back to the Bank

Can you guess where I was today??? My parents decided that they wanted to open a bank account here. They asked me how long it would take and I told them it probably wouldn't take that long to open the account, it was just a matter of how many people were waiting. I don't know why they were surprised when the process took all morning...haven't they been reading the blog??? Yup, we spent quite a bit of time at the bank! After opening the account we stopped at ice cream to celebrate! Then they brought me and the kids home before they ran a few more errands. Rachael Neuman came over to play with Danya(and Jordy) and they really played nicely for a long time. Yocheved picked Rachael up just as we were figuring out dinner. After dinner I put Jordy to bed and then Danya and I took a walk with my parents.

Monkey See Monkey Do

My parents headed to a few house appointments today and we decided that the kids needed to get out of the house. So we went on a trip to The Monkey Park. It was a 7 minute drive from our house. It was a cute place with a lot of monkeys! Aside for the monkeys there were a lot of activities for kids(ie. wall climbing, omega, painting, water slides and a clown). We stayed much longer than we had anticipated and made it home at almost 4 exhausted and hungry! My parents came home a few minutes later and we ordered dinner from Burger's Bar. We all had a good dinner and were stuffed! After dinner I walked my parents to Lori's so that my Mom could see her bathrooms. After that we came home for cleanup and bed.
I spent 15 minutes trying to upload todays pictures and it wouldn't work so I will try again tomorrow...sorry! I also have a few videos....stay tuned!

Chinese in the Succkah

Monday morning my parents were off to a few appointments while we stayed home and did more unpacking. We had a guy come to pull a water line and install the ice maker...We now have ice! The kids played and watched videos(thanks Lisa!) while I unpacked. Then Daniella Kaplansky came to play with the kids and I ran to Shilat to get some dessert for dinner. When I returned we placed our Chinese order. Then Nocky and Ruanne Kleinman returned with my parents(who they took shopping earlier in the day) and Yocheved Kleinman arrived for dinner. We had a fun dinner with everyone! The kids stayed up a little too late, but they were having fun too! When everyone left we loaded the dishwasher(it's nice having a dishwasher!) and headed to bed!

Mmmm...BBQ

This morning I went with my parents to Shilat to check out the kitchen options for their new house. We spent a while at the kitchen store and then a longer while at the appliance store. We stopped at home center, followed by the kitchen store again. We came home and got back to the unpacking! We conquered the linen's and toiletrees. We also cleared out the main floor(mostly) so that you can walk in the door without tripping on boxes. My parents took Danya to a toy store while I took Jordy to the park. Then the Geldman's came over for a visit and they stayed for dinner with my parents while we left them for Ramat Beit Shemesh where we had a BBQ at Tutty Yudkowsky who is Josh's first cousin once removed. We had a great time there with a few other cousins and his friends. Now we are here at another late night!

We're Baaaack

Well I have a week to sum up! Where to begin! To make a very long story short, we had Yom Kippur on Monday(like the rest of the world), Tuesday we moved, Wednesday we got our washer, dryer and fridge installed and FINALLY finished with the painters(who were supposed to be done on Sunday. Thursday we finally finished our fight with the shipper and got our furniture assembled, had our house cleaned, had the dishwasher installed, took Jordy to the Dr.(he has an ear infection) and my parents arrived. Friday we built a succkah, went grocery shopping and on a few other errands and started succkot and on Saturday we finished Yontif. I did write a detailed blog on Friday morning(after we got our internet set up on Thursday, however it somehow didn't post and I gave up.
Bottom line is we are in and we are happy! We had a TON of problems with the painters and were very disappointed with their work and the amount of time it took them to do a bad paint job. We had a bad experience with the shipper who kept insisting that they didn't assemble furniture even though the contract I was holding in my hand said that they do assemble furniture. It wasn't until I threatened an e-mail to the Nefesh B'Nefesh list that they got here. Again, they were minor bumps in the road....We are in we are settling and unpacking and organizing and best of all THERE ARE NO CHICKENS!!!!! Hope everyone had a good Yontif(even if it was 2 days!)! We are working on the Vonage now and it will hopefully be up and running tomorrow! Talk to you soon!!!

Alon Shvut

For Shabbat we went to Alon Shvut to Devorah(Levine) and David Katz's house. We didn't know it when we planned getting together but turns out it was a Chicago weekend at their house! David Stein was staying by them for Yom Kippur and was in town and Yitzie Matanky was also there for Shabbat. In addition we had lunch with Rafi and Jorge(Schaffel) Epstein. On top of that Epsteins had Chanie and Moshe Turk staying by them! Dinner was the quietest of the 3 meals as it was just us, the Katz's and their 3 guests(another guy they know from Gush). After dinner they had a whole Bnei Akiva shevet over as they seem to have adopted them! As David taught them a song I felt like I was on TVI all over again(David was my Rosh TVI). All the kids were up relatively early(especially considering how late they went to bed). Devorah and I hung out and got lunch ready while the menfolk were in shul. Then we had lunch with the Epsteins, Turks and the 3 boys. While this was really lunch it was kind of the ICJA HighSchool Reunion. Poor Rafi, Devorah and David...They had to listen to the "Have you seen...." And the "Did you hear about....". They were good sports about it though and they were proud to host the reunion. After lunch we headed to the park and then to Yehudah and Adina Rothners house. Josh and Yehudah are second cousins once removed so we went to catch up with them o all the family gossip. I had never actually met them, so it was nice to finally put the face with the name. We stayed at their house until we all headed back to the Katz's for Seudat Shlishit. This was the largest meal yet. It was the 10th Yahretzit of David's father so they had people over who knew him to commemorate the day. Since there were 10 men at dinner they had Maariv in their living room and we made havdalah. After everyone cleared out we had a few minutes to talk to David and Devorah before we headed out ourselves. During that time I learned something interesting I did not know about Israel before. David told us that they don't put fluoride in the water here and that once a week you need to put fluoride drops in your kids drink so their teeth don't rot. Thanks for that tip David...Hopefully you have saved us a lot of money on dental work! We headed out as we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us. When we got to the yishuv we decided to check on the painting process in our house...It is coming along! Then we headed home for organizing and packing to move on out!

Meeting the Neighbors

On Friday morning we had to get out of the house pretty early as Josh was supposed to meet a handy man at the house at 8am. After I brought the kids I joined them there and we started making a list of all the things that need to be done in the house over time. Then we were going to go to the bakery to buy a cake for our neighbor who is a landscaper and he trimmed our trees free of charge the night before as we needed the area clear for the AC guy. Along the way we met a neighbor across the street. We brought the landscaper the cake and spent some time with him and his wife getting to know them. Then we had to go because we had a job to do. The Yishuv had a phone directory (similar to the Acheinu in Chicago-but much smaller) and this years edition was just printed, so we volunteered to deliver it to the people on our street so we could meet the neighbors. The timing was great(we offered to do it a while back) as we are moving soon. So in the Chamsan(heat wave) we walked from house to house meeting neighbors and introducing ourselves(and delivering the books). Everyone seemed really nice and when we told them that we were going to be their neighbors they kept offering to help and call if we need anything and we even picked up a Bar Mitzvah invitation along the way! Once we were finished with that we had to pick the kids up from school. We went straight home to cool off as it was over 100 degrees outside. We hung out at home until Shabbat.