Hello! Happy Wednesday! I’m lucky enough to be writing to you from sunny Florida, where I’ve been for just over a week. The reason for this little getaway is that my second cousin, Hayden, had his Bar Mitzvah, so we made this the Florida Bar Mitzvah trip! Never heard of a Bar Mitzvah? Here is some information, but in short, it’s the ceremony to mark the time when a Jewish boy is able and obligated to participate as a Jewish adult and follow the commandments of the Torah. It was a great weekend, not only because of his Bar Mitzvah, but because I also got to spend a ton a time with cousins and family that I haven’t seen in YEARS! 
Saturday we headed to the synagogue (and were the first to arrive. WHO ARE WE?!). We snapped photos and then settled in for the service, where Hayden read from the Torah and ‘became a man’. He did an awesome job and we all agreed it was a great service- funny, informative, thoughtful. Hayden did a great job and the whole thing was very well done. Way to go, Hayden!
When the service was over, we celebrated the way Jewish people always celebrate- with bagels and lox!…followed by more food, of course. The party was at an old arcade and it was such a good time!
We played pin ball, skee ball, Pac Man- all of the old favorites.
Some of us even danced 😉
When the party finished, we changed our clothes and then walked around a big art festival called The Delray Affair, where there was a ton of great stuff being sold. We had to hold back from buying all.the.things, but I think we did fairly well. My mom found herself a nice bag.
Around 7, we headed back to my cousin’s house for yet another party, but this time it was a pool party- complete with catered Greek food (really good!) and a belly dancer / performer. I got to spend extra time chatting with my cousins and it made me wish we all lived closer and spent more time together. 8 years is entirely too long!
When it was over, we all crashed hard from an exciting day! And the next morning? What did we do? We ate more bagels, of course.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with my Mom’s cousins who I haven’t seen in even more time- maybe 13 years? We had coffee and yummy homemade cookies, and just caught up on life.
To end the night, we drop to Miami Beach (South Beach) where we all fought over directions and how to get there. My mom, all of these years (and technologies) later, STILL loves her maps <3
South Beach was absolutely INSANE. And it was a Sunday night. I don’t have any pictures to accurately represent what it was like, but suffice it to say, I don’t want to go on a Saturday.
What a great Florida Bar Mitzvah weekend!
