Snoqualmie Falls

The last time we went to Snoqualmie, the kids were little..it was 2009. We made two attempt to go and given the slippery trails and low visibility, we left the kids and went by ourselves and saw the falls. This time, the kids made it and were old enough to remember and enjoy the trails, the falls and the river!

 This is a lovely way to spend an afternoon on a Seattle visit.

Initially the kids were protesing for going on the trail and kept asking "how much longer" but once at the river access they were extremely happy.  

The hike down is a lot easier than the hike up. 

Took a lot of pictures on the trails and at the falls. HDR images below..

Next time I plan to lug my filter kit with me on this trail. Something tells me that we will be visiting this place again.. 

Traffic jam, in Paradise, and a snowball fight, to make things right!

Isn't it ironic?!

The weekend trip to Seattle for 4th of July was interesting. Flew out Friday and came back Monday and we managed to visit Mount Rainier on Saturday and Snoqualmie falls on Sunday. 

We had a single goal. Get to Paradise point and let kids play in the snow. I was also dreaming of having a hot cocoa there after some snow play after our previous experience there. 

The trip was supposed to be 3 hours but it took us an extra hour because all of Seattle citizenry decided to visit Mount Rainier on that day. There were 50 cars stuck at the entrance to the park and by the time our turn came to pay and enter, we had spent an hour at the park entrance. Once in, we made a mad dash to Paradise point. My instinct is to stop at every pretty vista point to take pictures. But given the delay, it was going to be touch and go, so we drove straight to Paradise.

That is where my inner Morisette was awakened. There was a traffic jam, in Paradise! There was no parking for a good mile. Dropped everyone outside the point and parked 1.2 miles away and hiked back. 

Then we made it to the snow and all was forgotten! 

There were smiling faces all around. Given there were 2 males and 8 females in the group, the decision making on how far we hiked at what rate was decided by the ladies. Given the tension in the vehicles prior to the hike, we were all happy to play in snow. There were points where the snow had caved in and water was flowing underneath.. fortunately we did not have any fall in's! Here is a life saving tip for my fellow travellers who are driving the vehicle. Never come between a womans bladder and the nearest restroom.  

There were a lot of pictures and picturesque scenery. We made it back out after playing in the snow with a 10 minute stop at Narada falls and drove back towards Seattle. Given the 1.2 mile hike back to the car, there was no time for anything else. We are getting used to these rush trips on Seattle visits!

Here are some pictures in HDR. 

 

You can see Jr. and her grandma on the bridge. I was already in "let's go" mode as we had to get back in time for dinner. Here is another life saving tip for male drivers.. Never come between a woman who is perceiving her children to be starving and the proposed dining location!

We did have other little things that entertained us, like this baby squirrel which seemed to be comfy around people. That was a surprise given our backyard squirrels run away!

Or me amusing the family by doing Triangle pose barefoot on the snow. I am getting better at this as time goes by. All that pulling in your inner thighs towards each other to avoid slipping, works.  

On a side note, I did get pictures from the plane on the way back from above the cloud line. The camera was right under the seat and the zoom was put to good use. 

Don't think we can ever tire of Mount Rainier or Paradise. Even if we spend a couple of hours there, we always have a great time! 

The national parks should let us buy the pass ahead of time online or with our phones and let us keep moving if we show the pass on our phone. They should seriously try to go the app way, especially on long weekends.

Happy Father's day!

Another year when Father's day ends up in rush mode with me traveling. Did not plan it that way.. realized much later that today was Father's day.

The kids have made some surprise gifts for me which I am guessing are things they did in art class. Have to wait till I come back to see those!

They asked me what Daddy's request was for a gift. Given how they are both at a phase where posing for pictures is a chore, asked them to come pose for a few pictures in backyard and also wear what I ask them to wear.. 

They agreed. Then realized it was one of those "let's take the same picture" deals and went "oh no! he is now going to ask us to look an an old picture and position just like that! 

This year my MIL is here. So went to Yoga class at 6AM and got a rose from Bikram Yoga San Jose, just like last year and the many years before. Last year Father's day was International Yoga day.. this year they are a day apart. For us every day is Yoga day! 

and here is how things have changed in a year..  

Let me make a few forward looking statements.. 

1. My hair will grow back

2. The kids have grown taller and will continue to grow taller

3. Here is to many more International Yoga days and Father's day's and roses from BYSJ! 

Time flies, sometimes with its arms and legs stretched as far as possible, like a 747 taking off.. 

Happy Father's day to my dad and all the other dads out there who are close to their kids! 

It is time to go listen to yet another story from an Uber driver who has survived persecution of some kind in the middle east or another conflict area. This year it has been 6 for 6.. Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Ukraine.. I am too bummed out to talk to Uber drivers on way back and one does get to converse on the way in, especially when it always a Sunday morning with no traffic.

Here's to all those dads who are trying to do the best they can, with the cards they are dealt, not necessarily due to any fault of their own.  

Bhanja Bhangra

It has been a very busy two weeks with some flying, long distance driving and lots happening at home and work. Finally got to editing the pictures from our LA trip to cheer my nephew on his Bhangra dance competition. 

Also got to get the video sorted out.  The family has matching T-shirts now, thanks to my sister-in-law. There was a special one for the start which said "RAM"

and the rest of us have Family on the back.. 

First Class Bhangra is the name of the group he was with and they did an outstanding job. Almost two dozen dancers on stage doing formations. 

The background sceen never touched the floor and the kids kept leaving their props on the corner. Did not make for good pictures. If you see the photo below, it was a lot of work to clear up those props on photoshop. Wish I could write a macro for that! 

The costumes, the energy of the crowd, the quality of the effort these kids put in to the 5-6 minute numbers was amazing! 

We were not happy with the Orpheum theater though. The event started an hour late and we had small kids in the group. They refused to let us bring food into the theater, didn't have anything other than chips and beer at their store and did not allow re-entry into the theater if we were to go out eat something outside and come back. So we had to leave halfway into the program.

We took this selfie after reaching the hotel room.. 

For those of you who were wishing there was a video.. well, here it is. Took 10 second clips of other teams, but the highlight for us was First Class Bhangra.

There were teams from bay area as well in the competition. Hoping that they have the competition here next time. 

Now that we have a good idea what to expect, will be better prepared as a parent and as a photographer the next time we go to a Bhangra competition. 

All said and done, it was a great evening. The music kept going in my ears till we were back home and every now and then wanted to jump up in the air and go Balle Balle!

An equal opportunity blog that needs new names

Jr. is all grown up.. obvious.. 

but the little one.. she makes us realize every minute that she is growing up.. this one is not creeping up on us silently. She makes a bold statement with her presence every waking minute. 

While it was a big day for Jr., the little one had her own big event in the morning. 

They had a "Clap out" for the fifth graders on their last day at elementary school. In case you are wondering what a Clap out is.. here it is!

There was also a small display of the kids and their projects.. 

Her teacher made me cry by telling me what a sincere and hard working kid she is. 

I begged her for a selfie or photo with her, having rushed straight from the airport to the clapout.. but she is going through a "Nofie" phase. Grandma managed to get a snap.. 

Finally after 9 years we will not be visiting this school that frequently anymore.. we will still go biking in the track around the playground every now and then or go say hi to the teachers on teachers day, but as far as this family goes, we are officialy out of elementary school! 

We are now be back to the middle school, with the little one. 

Jr. is still my junior and the little one will always be our little one!

They have grown up and I was thinking of new nick names for them, or maybe it is time to just start mentioning them by their name going forward?!