Girls will be ..

Girls, Silly!!

Grandma decided to dress up in a silk saree to go for a Varalakshmi pooja at a friends place. There was no plan to take the kids.

The minute Jr. saw grandma in a saree, the promptly pulled out a dozen clothes from her wardrobe, found her pattu paavadai (silk frock) and wore it. Then went on to wear her bangles, decorate herself to the point where Grandma couldnt continue her dressing up.

As soon as they came out, the little one had an expression that could only be described as :

50% shock that this dress up session had happened and she didn't have a clue

30% anger that she was still not dressed yet

10% pain

10% jealousy

I could be off a little bit on the breakup on the pie chart, but rest assured that all those things were evident in her rapid change in facial expression! She let out a yelp and went running to the dresser and jumped up and down till her most elaborate Paavadai was found!

After 10 minutes she came out with her sister to show me that she was also all decked up and the first thing she tells me?

"deda, nanna nanna (pointing to herself and saying I look good, I look good)...foto.. foto.." and pointed to the backyard to our portrait location!!! Apparently, it has now become a tradition to take a picture when they declare themseleves to be pretty. Well, I am not complaining. Hey, what are dad's for?

It is amazing to see a 20 month old, have that kind of attachment to silk and gold! I can see myself 15 years from now trying to buy two of everything, sorry, three of everything.. (forgot to count the big girl) and taking lots of portraits and enjoying every minute of it.

I am glad that Girls will be girls!

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Oakland zoo - Photos

Promised myself an upload of the last few photos before writing about other sentimental stuff (yes, I foresee some sentimental mush in this site in the near future!).

Here are the last few photos of last weekends trip!

The zoo has as many unique plants as animals and birds!

This is just your common berry ...

Now for some photos of the cuties to round up the post. I am yet to perfect the sports mode with this camera. Have to practice taking pictures of the moving kids..

It is almost next weekend again!!

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Oakland zoo - Sister Act

When Jr. and her cousin get together, they are in a world of their own and it is fun to watch them observe things, make up stories, interact in general..

So here is the Oakland Zoo, the way they saw it..

The little one has her own perspective of things. She was in white and white and looked like a mini astranaut exploring things her own way.

Will post the remaining animals and flowers tomorrow. Until then, ta ta..

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Oakland zoo - Revisited

After a break of two years, we visited the Oakland Zoo today. We had a really great time!

Here are the teaser photos, taken with my new love, the Digital Rebel!

of birds and...

animals, or kids trying to be animals..

I promise you, this post is not like a Jackie Chan movie trailer where the best action sequences are completely shown in the trailer and you go watch the same sequences with filler material in the movie. Brings back memories of watching First night, first show in Alankar theater a few decades ago! Boy, I am growing old..shoo shoo, you bad thoughts.. Now back to the topic! You will see some more nice pictures when I upload them tomorrow!

Home made food, great company, nice weather, cooperating kids, time well spent! All said and done, it was a great day!

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A quiet day - updated!

The week was so hectic that I decided to sleep for 11 hours last night. All those continuous sleeping contests in our college days came to mind. I was second runner up once at 18 hours! (This happened when a bunch of South Indians were left to spend a few weeks in Varanasi during the Ayodhya riots, but that story is for another day).

Decided to take the kids for a photoshoot and spend some time at the local park.

My best portrait shot of Jr. so far..

Waiting for them to come down!

Goosh, Goosh, Goosh.. (you know by now who said that!)

Plan to spend another quiet day tomorrow. In other news, grandpa is getting better! Thanks for all your wishes.

Here is a photo I took just after the first one..

This one is specially to answer the visitors questions. Notice how the single hair that streaks across her face and its shadow over her cheek? I rejected this photo for the blog although it was in better focus.

Sometimes cameras are smarter than we think. This one locks focus on a single point (somewhere near Jr.'s nose) and takes the shot. It also does a final focus adjust, prior to taking the shot, and herein lies the rub!

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