Weekend Trip

We are off to Hyderbad for the weekend. We have a wedding to go to. So the wedding is for a family that my parents know from back in Michigan. This family moved here at the same time we did thru GM as well. Well their daughter is getting married this weekend. Vim, my mom, and Me are heading off to the wedding. There will be a few families from Michigan travelling to the wedding so it will be nice!!

Milan and Mira opted to stay back with my dad! Actually they are really excited about it!! Mira keeps saying that they are going to 'party' when we are gone.... should we be worried????

The Oscars...

8 Awards for Slumdog.... WOW!

Did anyone catch the name of the lead actor.... yep.... Dev.... Patel!!

He stole my name... But that is OK because he has made now made the name famous.... So, by association... I too am famous!!! right??

Go Dev!!

Security.....

The bombings that happened in Mumbai back in November have changed things here in Bangalore (actually all around India for that matter).

Some of the changes are small, and others are big.....

The little things is a metal detector that you need to pass thru when entering public places where crowds can gather such as a mall, or hotel. The interesting thing, half the time you walk thru them and wonder if it is on or not. Or in some cases it beeps, and you just keep going.

Usually next to the metal detector, there is usually a bag check where some takes a fraction of a second to see if you 'have' anything.

At all hotels (or at least the big ones), they have a mandatory car check. They check the trunk, usually a quick glance. Open all the door to see who is in the car. And the best part, they take a small mirror on wheels and check underneath the car.

At my work, they have stepped up security too...

All of this begs the question.... it is really going to stop someone that wants to do harm??? Or is it just a front to give people a sense of security?

I will take pictures of these things to share with you...

Long Time No Post.....

Sorry for the delay in my posts..... been busy....

Will try to catch you up....

Milan is loving having my parents around. He is enjoying the attention from both my parents!! It is really sweet. Over the weekend, he was out cruising on his bike (yes, pretending it was a motorcycle, I am sure), and CRASH.... into the back of a car!! Bloody nose, bloody lip..... and a bruised ego!! He is doing better, but he can not ride his bike for a few days. I am sure that this is not the last of his spills on his bike. When will he learn???? Vim is worried that his nose will scar, I think that if it does, it will make for a good story when he is on a date!! Right??

Some of you remember Milan's flair for style back at home. When going to school, he would wear a shirt and tie, and style his hair. Well, he is not sporting the shirt and tie as often here, but he is now doing the daily hair-gel thing. Some days he get out the hair dryer to get a nice style going.... should we be worried???? In the morning he won't let anyone touch his hair (his masterpiece)! He is afraid we will mess it up.

Milan is really loving his Bakugons! Now, these things are a big craze her in Ozone. Is it all the rage back at home too??? So now that Milan has his own bakugan's he feels that he is part of the 'bakugan-club'. However, we put a rule down to him that he can not trade his Bakugans. He has to wait until my parents leave to trade (it seemed like a good date out in the future). Well now he asks how many more days before Nana goes home??? Ironic, eh! He was counting down for them to arrive, now he is counting down for them to leave.... I know that it is just the bakugan trading that he counting down for!

Mira is enjoying doing craft and art projects with my dad. Everyday the get up to something creative. It is really sweet!

Mira is enjoying have "nana's cooking"!! Manjula is learning more Gujarati cooking!! It is really nice. Let me tell ya, I am getting really spoiled!!! Honestly, I can't remember the last time I cooked a full meal.... seriously!!

My dad's brother and dad's sister from our village in Gujarat have come to visit us too. They are currently travelling the south. They will be back tomorrow. Mira and Milan are enjoying their time with all of them, especially with Jadu Bapa (my dad's younger brother)!!

We have some travel plans coming up..... We have a wedding to go to in Hyderabad the last weekend of the month! And, we planned our trip for the week that the kids have off at the end of March. We are doing a whirl-wind tour of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. It will be a quick spin thru each place, but enough to get a flavor of each place.

In between all of that...... we have more visitors!!! YEAH!!! Vim's cousin from Toronto will be coming over to visit with us for a weekend in March.

Needless to say.... we are busy.... it is a good busy!!! It is making the time really fly by!!

Heat Wave!!

I have been tracking the heat wave that has hit the Midwest!!

I hope you are enjoying the un-seasonable warm weather!!

I am sure that you all enjoying the break from the brutal winter that you have had so far!!

Hopefully this is a signal that winter is on its way out!!

One can wish, right.....

My Parents Arrived!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a wee hours of Saturday Morning, I was at the airport with the Driver and Milan. Milan was hanging out in the car with Devraj, the driver. I was hoping that he was going to continue to sleep, mind you it was 2 in the morning!! Not so lucky... he was too excited. I stood outside and waited for what seemed like hours, the entire plane to emptied out.... and last... but definitely not least was my parents!!! They made it to Bangalore!!

As soon as we got in the car, Milan was wide awake and he could not stop talking to them. It was really precious!!! When we got home it was a bit of a struggle to get the Milan to go back to bed, but eventually everyone finally went to sleep!

Saturday Morning was like Christmas for the kids. Things kept coming out of my parents bags.... Webkins, Bakugans, candy, cards, backpacks, care packages...... it was great!! The kids were in heaven!!! Thank you to everyone that sent a little something with my parents!! It was sooooo sweet!!! We consider ourselves so lucky to have such caring people in our lives!!

The rest of the weekend was relaxing.... we let my parents just hang out and enjoy the time with the kids.

On Sunday we went out for lunch. It was a great Gujarati Thali. Now, some of you are thinking... who gets excited about Gujarati food, right.... Let me tell you... it was out of this world... They kept walking around serving you whatever you wanted. The best part..... hot - fresh - Jalebi (sorry for you non Indian, this will be hard for you to relate to... Jalebi is an Indian dessert, and it tastes amazing when it is warm). We ate so many jalebi.... they were so awesome that you just could not resist!! Needless to say after that meal... we went home and took a nap!! Perfect Sunday afternoon!!!

Making Noises from Body Parts

OK, Make sure that you read the title for the blog correctly... it is not body parts making noises, but using body parts to make noises.

So when we had a visit from our friends from Canton, MI (Paru and Bhru and family), we were sitting in the family room all relaxing. And then it started, I think it was either Nikhil or Mihir that started it. I was a quick slip of the 'cupped-hand' under the armpit, and then 'prrrtttt'!! Yep, arm-pit farts. It was not long before there were 4 boys (technically 2 boys, and 2 dads) ripping away. Better the arm-pit farts than the real ones, right!!! Anyways... Milan is just in awe!! He then desperately is trying to get it so that he too could join in the melody. Unfortunately... all he got was a big flapping sound.... He was a bit disappointed. Mira tried to join in too, and was not able to get it quite right. That was over 3 weeks ago.

So yesterday I come home from work, and Mira quickly pulls me aside and tells me 'look mom, I have to show you something'. She was so excited to show me that she too can now make the arm-pit fart!! She was so happy!!! Again, Milan was a bit frustrated because he could not get it. Mira then says 'come on mommy, you can do it too!!'. I tried, but unsuccessful. I suppose that made Milan feel a little better. He is not the only one in the family that can not make the fart noises.

So, Mira is now randomly 'farting'. This morning after her shower...'prrtttt'. This morning on Skype with Umang... 'prrrttttt'. She is happy to show off her new skill!!

7 months.....

OK..... 7 months down...... PHWEW......... it is flying!!

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of my parents!! They come in on Fri Night/Saturday Early AM. The kids are SOOOOOOO excited!

Milan has started the count down, actually it has been going for a few days!! He always needs a little help with the days..... He will say 'OK, when is Nana coming? Is it tomorrow?' Then I have to correct him. They he stops and then thinks and says 'its not long, right'!!

So the funny thing... Both Mira and Milan have invitations to b-day parties coming up.... Mira's is this weekend, and Milan's is next weekend. So Mira said to her friend - 'Sorry, I can't come to your party... my grandma is going to be here. I want to spend time with her', SWEET isn't it!! Then Milan got an invite to his friend Anish's party. Now mind you, Anish is the friend that he calls on his fake cell phone to talk about what is going on and generally chat about the day (yes... fake phone, one sided conversation, with Anish). Anyways.... His party is next weekend. I talked to Milan yesterday and asked if he wanted to go.... I need to plan ahead to get a gift. It is not like I can run to target at the last minute. These things require some planning! Back to the point.... So Milan says, 'No, I don't want to go. I want to spend time with Nana and Bapa'!!!

Both of the kids are willing to skip out on parties to hang with their grandparents!!! Priceless....

Pictures from Goa...........

Here are some pictures from Goa..............

Notice the pictures of the beach.... it was hustling and bustling!! Now we were told that there are other beaches that are more quiet, and others that are private so they would not have the activity that this beach did. This beach was called Baga Beach. Apparently there is quite a nightlife on this beach. We did not experience it b/c we were back at the hotel in time to tuck our litte ones in.