Another year flies by

The girls turned 7 and 4 respectively and yes, we had a great birthday party at a place called "Color Me Mine" where they got to paint little ceramic plates, cups etc. with their friends.

Next week we get to relax a little bit before Daddy and Mommy have their Joint birthday party!

Dad will turn 37 and Mom will watch Dad turn 37(Mom has remained 29 for a few years now and will maintain the status quo!)

Leaving you with a few pictures that capture the essence of our week..

On the funny side, the little one asked me if it was possible for her to be three again. I said "No. you can only grow older!" and she was very disappointed.

"I don't want to grow bigger and bigger and then die! I just want to say small!" she said. I do not know where this is coming from and will have to understand her reasoning. It did bother me that a three year old (er, four year old) is concerned about growing up and dying.

Told her that only her mom can tell her how to freeze age. "Daddy grows older and older, but mommies don't right?" and she agreed with that!!!!

Mom has no idea that she is going to be quizzed about her methods, on the way to school tomorrow..

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You are "it", with a piggy twist

Last night we got together with the cousins. We decided to avoid crowded public places and watched a movie at home instead.

Most of the conversation was centered around the flu.

While the adults are seriously worrying about the flu, the kids, safety etc, the kids are apparently playing a game called "swine flu"

One kid is supposed to be "it" and they go chasing all the other kids. When they manage to touch another kid they say "you have the swine flu now!" and now both the kids go tackle the rest..

Interesting perspective from a kid standpoint!

Hopefully it teaches them subconsciously that the more people who have the flu, it is easier for the rest to get it. Then again, these are kids playing "swine flu" without knowing what it really is.

Now don't get me started on the great job the media is doing on this topic. Have lost whatever little respect there was for the few in the media.. (most of it was already lost after they held people accountable and did great investigative reporting during the WMD issue)!

Sad. Very sad.

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Focus

Thousands of faces, all focus on god.

There is one kid who is oblivious to all this noise, all this hoopla, having a bubble of a time!

As the camera zoomed back and forth, caught this kid so focused on that next flurry of bubbles he was about to create, that my focus also went from god to kid. He was probably going to get a slap from an accompanying adult for turning his back on god, but you see god in that very innocence.

For a few seconds, relived my childhood watching him blow a few bubbles.

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What makes a festival festive?

Is it the gods?

Is it all the action?

Is it the crowd of devotees?

Is it the zillion other kids in the crowd?

or could it just be...

Kaathaadis of different shapes,

sizes,

and colors,

A billion bubbles

big ball and apple balloons

screeech screeech screech..

getting your hands on these WMD's minutes after your brother got his apple ballon

flutes galore

click click click click peacocks

and if you are a girl, some lovely nai kuttys (puppies)

glass and rubber bangles

and some paasi maalais from your friendly neighborhood kurathi

and is it?

sweet panju mittai (cotton candy)

thengai burfi and perichchambazhams(coconut sweet and date fruits)

poovam pazham, malai pazham, rasthaali ? (types of bananas)

pala cholai (jack fruit)

Pattani, pori kadalai (puffed rice and roast nuts)?

Do you still have any doubts?

Didn't think so!

ps. All of the above photos were taken between 4th and 6th April 2009 around two sides of the Mylapore temple tank around the Vijaya store corner during the Kapaleeshwar temple utsavam (festival).

pps. The photographers mental age at the time of taking these snaps was approximately 7.258 years.

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The perks of having an MBA

One of the advantages of having an MBA is the ability to make the entire family happy. I know, this comment catches the business dudes off guard and makes them think "what am I missing here.. which class did I miss during my college days? How come no one told me this?..." etc.

The reason, you are caught off guard is because the MBA we are talking about here is not a Masters in Business Administration, but rather the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

Yes, we have access to the MBA. THE MBA! and it is awesome. We took San's uncle to get his MBA last weekend and had such a wonderful time.

The kids, were just thrilled. It was worth the almost 2 hour drive at short notice, because we got to see some amazing displays, contribute to aquatic research as part of the ticket proceeds, and literally, have a "whale of a time"! Add to that, it was bonding time for the kids with "Mama"!

Here are some photos from the trip.

San admiring the Jellyfish displays!

Trying to take "no flash" (yeah, no flash allowed!) pictures of dimly lit aquatic specimens through 1/2 inch thick plexiglass can be daunting. With the things moving reasonably fast, even if you have a tripod and use 1600 ISO, you are still going to come out feeeling "that photo could have been better".. so, I stopped taking pictures and just enjoyed the displays. You have to go there to enjoy it. Truly spectacular. Now for the little birds inside the various open exhibits.. They were all "collared" or "plastic ring identified"! and were very friendly with the humans!

Then there are the sea otter exhibits and the giant kelp forest. The thing holds more than half a million gallons of water, they say.. You are just dwarfed by the scale of the exhibit. Makes you get a grasp of how insignificant we are. It is not easy to create that effect in an indoor exhibit, but the MBA pulls it off.

We had a great time in the "sit out" facing the ocean. They have a lot of gulls coming to eat fries, seals on the far off rocks, and little free telecopes (binoculors) to watch the kayakers, pelicans, etc.

You cross this and go into a play area for kids. The kids just refused to come out. We learnt a lot about Dolphins, whales and sea lions in the kids area. Nice displays. Good fun.

The kids then got to "touch" various sea creatures and get a "feel" for marine life. Initially they were scared, but then touched starfish, clams, crabs, sea anemones, etc. etc. You even get to touch a stingray in one of the exhibits.

A day well spent. We were glad to show San's uncle something he would normally not see in India.

The sandwiches and Pizza in the Aquariums Cafe were also top quality.

The only other place we have visited that comes close or is better is the Sydney Aquarium in Darling Harbour. The MBA is still our favorite!

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