I have taken the camera out a countable number of times this year.
My FIL bought a new camera and his first trial shot was of me and the kids.
Happy smiles all around!
The batch of 2015
Please welcome, the Vadams of Cupertino, batch of 2015!
Don't know how many will actually graduate in a few days to storage..
Yet again, Simba is guarding them from the backyard critters.. have added a spade to convey the message "don't mess with this!"
The maavu was very yummy and that means we might eat a few "while they are drying"
Same process as before, but this year a twist. Made a second batch where half the Sago (tapioca) was still raw and mixed it in for the last 30 minutes of stirring. It gives the vadam the built in "beads"
Will have to wait and see how well they taste after frying or microwaving!
This year, I really want to try and make Koozhu vadam, using San's grandma's recipe. It involves fermenting a rice paste over a three day period and then making vadam. Will have to wait a few weeks before trying that out. We have to preserve these recipes and pass it on.
Someday, maybe the kids will show their kids this blog and make some vadam's. It seems highly unlikely, but then again, if you would have asked my grandma "who and where do you think your vadam recipe will still be tried out in the family?"... Cupertino would have been the least likely answer.
Six Flags Discovery - A day trip
For the July 4th weekend, we decided to go on a day trip to Six flags with the cousins. It is 90 minutes away and in all our years of living here, we never visited this theme park.
It is a combination of Sea world, Disney's animal kingdowm and Universal all in one for a third of the price. Granted there are some give and takes for the price but the end result when you have a bunch of kids running around on a sugar high, a great place to spend the day!
We went in as soon as the park opened and stayed there till the park closed. Pretty much on our feet the whole time. Here are some pictures.
There was a seal show. The seals did a good job but the people in the show were too loud and annoying. The volume was too loud. Hope the seals dont hear the same frequencies we do at the same volume!
Then the little dolphin show. It was amazing. There was also another big dolphin show called Drench, but we missed it. The little dolphin show was better than the ones we have seen at Sea World.
These 4 female dolphins were so synchronized and trained. They did a hoola hoop on their nose, threw a ball up with their "hands" and caught it in their mouth.. amazingly well trained.
Then we moved on to land animals. The tiger show was something we have never seen before. Five bengal tigers, jumping across 10 foot concrete slabs, climbing up 20 feet in one leap..
and diving into water and swimming! Have not seen that one before..
The butterfly garden was beautiful. Lots of large and small butterflies, well maintained, multiple security guards to make sure folks did not have both doors open to let butterflies out.. it was nicely done!
This one was the size of my palm!
Then we saw "feedom".. a Bald Eagle that was rescued. She posed for pictures a good 50 feet away. Was happy to get this "portrait" of her. Truly majestic and regal! On a good note, the extender and lens are fixed and seem to work okay after the repair.
The highlight though, was the fireworks. In all our life we have watched a lot of new years, disney, 4th of July fireworks. This was the best. Nice seats on a gallery. Very decent crowd. Great view of the fireworks launching pad across the water. The quality of the fireworks was also great. It was very well organized.
Tried a slo-motion video of the first part of the fireworks on the new iPhone 6 plus. However not sure if it uploads as a slow motion video.. it is on my youtube as a separate video..
Was too tired to even take the canon out after the long day.. Sometimes the best camera, is the one you can hold!
Loved this day trip. It was really a pleasant day, less crowded rides, happy kids and parents after being on our feet the entire day. Cannot ask for much more!
Strongly recommended for a day trip!