Blissful mornings

When Neev wakes up early and still lets me sleep in for a few more minutes, running his fingers thru' my hair, twisting and turning his little body on pillows.

When Avi joins in a few minutes later and asks for good morning songs and adds 'its going to be a special day today'.

When we can skip breakfast and have brunch instead -OUTSIDE.

When the day is not planned and laundry & cleaning is taken care of the previous day

When I am on vacation and wake up in a suite but not in a hurry to 'cover' the attractions, just to enjoy a cup of coffee and let the kids jump on bed.

When I hear the pitter-patter -pit the FIRST morning of rain , its overcast and a bit chilly.

When we have to leave for a long road trip at dawn and catch the sunrise on the way.

When I caught glimpse of life thru' train -rides, passing by villages and towns, with a cup of chai on numerous over-night journeys between home and college.

When I started jogging with friends in Bangalore ISRO Layout and we found this beautiful temple en-route.

When its weekend.

Yosemite trip

Our trip to Yosemite National Park was awe-inspiring. Spread in 1200 square miles, this place needs to be revisited . Things we covered in this trip was El-Capitan, Bridalveil Fall and Yosemite Fall.
The nuances of the Valley form spectacular rock formations, for which Yosemite Valley is famous but rising more than 3,000 feet above the Valley floor, El-Capitan is the largest monolith of granite in the world. Its more than a rock , a strength that you feel when you are around it.
Avi and I enjoyed the water play in Yosemite lower falls. Laying on the warm rocks with my feet dipped in cold water felt like getting a hot -stone massage. Avi loved throwing the pebbles in the falls. Outside the falls , he pretended to hunt the bears in the caves (lots of rocks around lower falls forming cave like structures) and save 'Mommy' from them. Neev did what he always loves, copying his big brother and chasing him all over.

The trip reminded me of my 19th birthday party at Pearl Valley, Bangalore . A bunch of us went on motorbikes , about 2 hrs from Bangalore and had a blast at water falls. And yep, my friends carried the cake and chole-bhature on bikes. Fond memories......

Like all natural settings , being there felt so relaxing. Gazing up from the Valley floor we appreciated the enormity of it all. Hope to go back sometime again.

Trip (another one) to Children's discovery museum

Coudn't be more convenient. Train station is only 10 minutes walk from our home and I took the kids for a train ride. 20 minutes later, the train dropped us right in front of the Museum. A GREAT day spent making pizza, playing with giant blocks, painting, making rocket ships and straw dolls, blowing bubbles, checking out the fire truck & ambulance and a lot of other COOL things. Avi's favorite thing - watching flying lemons (as he liked to call the yellow and green balls flying on top of gush of air), Neev's favorite part -going up & down on wobbly conveyor belt shaped thingy.
My super mom moment - fixing a FRESH meal of pao-bhaji with all the paraphernalia -chopped red onions, lemon wedges, cilantro chutney and butter.
Highlight for Anurag - kids went to bed by 8.30 and we both watched a great hindi movie. For Wednesday, trip to museum, dinner and movie - it was a day from dreams. Loved it.

4th of July weekend 2009

Pool, shopping, movies and a trip to Gilroy Gardens. It was all about Avi and Neev. Rides, rides and more rides in Gilroy Gardens. Fun for them but my head was spinning at the end. I am not getting even on the carousel next time, will probably just paddle the boat all day - that was the most relaxing part for me.