A weekend in Pictures

This weekend saw a lot of activity in spite of me being down Friday and Saturday. 

Everything that happened in and out of the house was a cheerful experience.

We did the Varalakshmi pooja dinner Friday and the whole house was full of people, standing room only at one point. It was great to see the smiling faces in huddled conversations and the kids running around gleefully (if there is such a word).

Then we attended a surprise birthday party for my friend who turned 40. Yes, this year is "no one escapes the big Four O" year for our batch. There are only 4 guys I know from our batch who are waiting to celebrate within the next few months. The cake.. Oh What a cake! We have seen a lot of unique cakes over the years but this cake takes the cake!

Came home for some rest and took my parents to Shoreline park so they could watch the geese, pelicans, etc. and get some sun. It was good to get some fresh air and sit on a park bench and get more grounded with the thought processes. Kind of like going into your hard drive and killing all those threads that are running in the background!

After a long time we skipped Yoga entirely on the weekend. The body needed a lot more water and rebalancing before being confident that there wont be any dizziness once in the room. Sometimes, got to give a break when a break is due!

This morning we went and attended a "Kalyana Utsavam" at a friends house. It is a function where they conduct a marriage ceremony for the god and goddess just like the real wedding ceremony for the bride and groom. It is kind of like the "wedding rehearsal" that people conduct in marriages here which gives a "what to expect when your kids get married" before the actual wedding. The priest did a good job of explaining what was being done in a step by step way, something that more priests need to do to set the context for today's generation so they appreciate the reasoning behind the customs.

My parents enjoyed it thoroughly because they don't get to attend outside functions during their visit here but in India they are going to some function or other on a weekly basis. For me, it was great attending a function after a long time where I was not the one doing the prayer! Sometimes it is good to be in the audience.

Then more rest after some heavy food and off we went to get haircuts, an activity that was postponed by the parents demand that it wait till all the functions were done..

Both the kids now sport short hair. A big help once school starts in a few weeks as we will be going crazy with the post swim class hair dry routine and the early morning "combing" ritual which will take an extra 5 minutes.

Now an eventful weekend comes to a close and we begin yet another busy week for everyone in the family!

Happy Monday, here we come!

Travel week

Another busy week with me being in Los Angeles, Austin with a one day break in San Jose between trips. Was glad to get some rest the last 36 hours.

Came back and the first thing the kids told me was that the bunny infestation is now an issue. The bunnies are no longer the cute little grass feeders. They are putting holes in the tomato!

Today was spent in building a planter, thanks to Home Depot and the "build yourself anything" concept that is so prevelant..

We are happy with the end result. It was an ordeal transplanting the tomato and other plants into this planter from the little pots we had them in originaly. Time will tell if they survived the relocation.

The rest of the afternoon was spent photographing the usual suspects.. the little one, blue jays, etc..

The next week is going to be even more interesting..

Wax hands

Spent some time at our local Memorial Park to check out the Cherry Blossom festival. We did end up buying two things after promising each other that this would be a "window shopping only time". One was a pen stand made of nuts and bolts welded together. They had a stall full of arts and crafts made from welded metal pieces.

The other item was a wax hand! They make a painted impression of your hand in wax by alternately dipping it in molten wax and water. After seven or eight dips in wax they just pull the hand out effortlessly, let it dry, dip it in some colored wax and there you have it!

Jr. managed to keep her hands in position in the hot wax pretty well. The little one was not allowed because of the "5 years old" minimum age requirement. We never seem to learn. Before saying yes to one child for any activity, check minimum height, weight, age, size requirements for the other child!

Another April weekend whizzes past!

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A day in the life of Jr. and baby...

Decided to go eat with friends at the famous "Yan Can Cook" restaurant. As fate would have it, there was some ingredient in the yummy stuff that I was allergic to, and ended up sick on friday night. That meant, spending some quiet time at home with the kids and keeping a low profile (not to mention the two birthday parties attended over the weekend)!

They were up to their usual antics..

In other news, the canon S30 has reached its limit. After making it through steam and sulfur at Yellowstone, even daylight images are getting grainy! (the fringes you see in the video however are not due to the S30, they are due to the insect screen on the sliding door!).

In other other news, San is getting me a new camera for our wedding day!

To all those (you know who you are) who have recently gifted digital cameras to your spouse for various occasions like anniversary's, birthdays, fathers day etc. thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Needless to say, you will hear all about the new camera. I can't wait to open that box!!

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