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?!

Jr. grows up without us realizing it!

It feels like yesterday when Jr. was complaining about the blog being all about her baby sister and how her birth and early life was not detailed here.. and to appease her I made this video 

and it feels like day before yesterday that those events in the video happened ! 

Before we realized it, this little girl is all grown up and is now going to high school. 

In a space of two weeks we saw her do a Bharatanatyam performance with her dance school, get glasses, do a solo with pros thanks to her Saxophone teacher, do a band performance at school, get a distinguished student award, look way cooler than her daddy and walk graduation! 

This girl who is now into signature posing.. continues to impress us with her perseverence and work ethic! 

Her teacher had some nice things to say about her and told me that Anjana would make a great teacher. Think her school teacher grandma will be very proud!

 

The highlight of this week though was that both kids graduated from their respective schools and are moving on to new schools. It was great not to just watch Jr. but all her friends graduate. All these kids we have seen grow along with Jr. over the last 9 years, practically as an extended family! 

The smile on her face says it all. There is a confidence, an assertiveness, a certain independence that we are seeing now that was not there last year. It is reassuring to see her go through this phase at this age. By comparison I was a clueless kid till the age of 18. The kids in the US may not be pushed hard enough compared to how we were 30 years ago in India when it comes to Math, Physics or Chemistry (my perception) but they are surely getting a more well rounded education with a better perspective on how what they learn is going to change things in the future for them and everyone (again my perception). 

 

Recently a guy in Asia gave me a compliment "you look like you are 46-47 years old!" . He thought it was underestimating my age. I did not say anything and just smiled. 

Compared to the 13 year old, I do look 45 when I am 43, and for once, I am okay with it, because I am now "cool" by association! 

They say when you feel time go by fast, you are happy and when you feel time stands still, you are not in a good place. Thirteen years flew by! 

Credit to Jr. for making us proud and happy. I can already imagine writing a post on Jr. going to college. Hope she does well in high school as well over the next four years.. 

Watching them grow

No.. not a post about the kids.. They are growing alright! 

There is a family of geese living in the creek that runs along Lawrence expressway. They go for a walk in the same path I take post lunch or when walking to the local starbucks to get some tea. 

Have been watching them for the last two weeks. The little ones are growing so fast! They have almost doubled in size in two weeks.. maybe I am imagining it.. 

 

It warms my heart to watch them trot along and see the parents help them climb the sidewalk to cross over.

Sometimes I just sit down on the sidewalk and watch them for a few minutes and move on. Calms me down immensely and helps me dive back into work. 

Nature has everything out there to calm us.

If only we can take a few minutes every now and then to get some sun, breathe fresh air and watch the creatures around us to get a reset?! 

Jr. improves on dancing

Another year has passed with Jr. continuing to learn Classical Dancing. 

Here is a short clip from her groups dance performance at Pushpanjali Dance Academy 20th annual day celebration. 

She has come a long way since her first steps. While she will continue to get a barely passing grade from her mother and grandmothers and all the women in the family who have danced before her, I have only adoring eyes for my little darling. 

She makes me so proud.. 

be it on the stage while smiling away..

and having fun or

 off the stage at home posing for pictures..  

and still having fun!

 

It is our sincere hope that she continues to practice and get better as time goes by! 

Old Town San Diego and Double Peak park

After visiting the Leo Carrillo Ranch, we moved on to Double Peak park. This was a beaufiful park with some play area for kids and a trail path for everyone in Carlsbad/San Marcos area. 

Reminded us of Hunters point in Cupertino. The views were awesome and the kids had fun with a triple fulcrum see-saw! It was interesting and we have never seen a see-saw like this where 4 or 5 kids can walk up and down. 

Then we took a short break and drove to Old Town for New Year's eve dinner, at El Coyote! Most of the shops were closed but we got to watch the window displays in this area.. some of them were quite interesting!

Then we watched ladies make tortillas at Guiness book record speeds. 

The dinner itself was quite interesing with a couple of guys with guitars singing for the ladies! My three girls were either not amused or were embarrassed by the attention. 

El Coyote has a separate "vegetarian menu" and they give it if you ask for it. It was good that our friends knew that and made ordering a breeze. 

It was a memorable evening and we all slept well. On first we had the last stop on the trip. The San Diego Zoo! 

First time visit for everyone in the family and there are still hundreds of photos from that day that have yet to be edited. Will take a break and post them next week. By far the best Zoo we have seen..