Grandma and Grandpa Stratford in the Holy Land

We had the fun of welcoming Grandma and Grandpa Bruce and Nancy Stratford to the Holy Land for the last ten days of April. They arrived on Ed's birthday and at the end of the semester, and we kept them busy running to every site we thought they might possibly want to see, from Masada in the south to Galilee in the North. I think they went home very tired, but it was great to see them and spend time with them. We haven't lived close to either of our parents since we got married and had kids, but somehow when you live far away in an exotic and interesting place, it can be easier to miss the people you love because you want so much to share all the exciting experiences with them. Here's just a few of the things we did with them.

Masada was a long day trip, with stops at the Ein Gedi spring (where David came upon Saul and chose not to kill him) and Qumran (home of the Dead Sea Scrolls). We left Abby and Joe in Jerusalem with the Judd girls and took just the older three kids. I think I wanted to do this trip more than anyone else--I've wanted to see Masada since I was in high school. It didn't disappoint.

Herod's Summer Palace on the northern end of the cliff top would have been party to any breezes that blew in that region. The kids enjoyed exploring all around what's left of the palace.

A model of the palace. The kids were pretending their fingers were people falling off the cliff to their death. So cute.

Not sure what was so funny here, but it looks like Linda could fall through under the railing. You can see the Dead Sea behind her.

Mary is standing in front of some remaining frescoes from the palace.

Mary and Isaac studying the map.

This bird wanted Isaac's lunch.

I don't know what Isaac's sitting in, but the kids thought it was a perfect place to rest.

This was a tremendously large cistern at the southern end of the plateau. Since Herod had a two palaces on Masada, both of which included pools and bathing complexes, there was an even greater need for water storage than a normal community would have had. And in this landscape, that need would have been pretty high anyway.

Oh look! We DID take a picture of Grandma and Grandpa!
We only spent a couple hours on Masada, but the kids were quite done, as you can see by their faces.

Ein Gedi is a natural spring coming from the mountains right next to the Dead Sea (the mountains over which one must cross to get to Jerusalem and Bethlehem and Hebron). Only a few hundred meters from the Dead Sea, it's an amazing oasis with green vegetation and small animal life.

Since Masada is two hours from Jerusalem, and Ein Gedi is on the way back home, we had already had a decently long day by the time we got here. Grandpa was a little tired. . . .

A family of hyrax. I avoided taking the picture of their latrine, which looked like it had been used by 5 generations.

Handsome kid, resting in the shade of the rock.

Grandma and the kids at David's Falls. Notice Mary's wet jeans--she hit a slick patch on the trail and fell in the stream. She was a great sport about it and I think she enjoyed being wet and cool. 

Hiking back down from David's Falls, the Dead Sea in the background.

The Shephelah is the lower hills region of central Israel where David and Goliath and Samson lived. Grandma and Grandpa wanted to see Biblical sites, so this was a great trip for them. We also made stops at the Bell Caves and Bet Guvrin, but the highlight of the day for the kids was the Soreq Cave. Ed and I went there a few months ago and loved it. Such an imaginative fairyland. It is amazing what the earth makes. Here are just a couple examples of the different formations in the cave:

Elephant Ears

Cauliflower

Taking a picture of Grandma and Grandpa, who are taking a picture of the kids. 

There were lots of other adventures with the Grandparents, but most of the things they saw were things I have already written about and photographed from other excursions. I wish I had taken more photos of the kids and grandparents together, but here are a couple other shots I liked from the time they were here.

Abby and Joe were hiding in a window niche to surprise Grandma and Grandpa as they were climbing the Augusta Victoria Tower.

This is a vertical view of the Pools of Bethesda in the Old City. The green layer would have been contemporary with Christ, while I am taking the picture standing at the modern level. There has been fifty to a hundred feet of building in the last two thousand years.