Magnificiently colorful indeed!

September-October in Minnesota is incomplete without a post about the beautiful fall we have been fortunate to experience for 3 years here. The fiery reds, zesty oranges, the bright sunny yellows and golds are one of the most beautiful sights from the huge bounty that mother nature has to offer. And this year the colors are the best that we have seen in the last few years. Anywhere you go, you are literally swept off your feet by the colorful extravagance that surrounds you. I see more of yellows and gold which till last year, in my mind, tended to become a little monotonous than a variety of red and orange and even purple but this year even the yellows and the golds are so stunningly breathtaking and not the least bit humdrum.

Minnesota fall color reports finds a regular and esteemed place in the Bookmarks toolbar so that its just one click away and keeps telling us where to head to view the best fall colors. So a couple of weeks back we headed to Banning State Park which is a couple of hours drive from home and took off on Quarry Trail.

There weren't the best of colors there but just being in the midst of the towering trees with sunshine shining through on the carpet of red, yellow and brown leaves that adorned the ground was heavenly. We loved walking as did the kids. It was a treat watching them pick up branches, throw leaves on top of each other and on us and then giggle,

sit on fallen trees,

shout "I love you" in the silence and then hear it echo back.

In the end even the 2 mile long trail left us rejuvenated rather than tired. And thus came to an end a Saturday beautifully spent.

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Yay!! Spring's here!!

It feels really strange to have cool breezes blowing, the little leaves growing out of shoots in the lovely 'new' green color and looking forward to bask in the sunshine, all in the month of May when one has associated this time of the year to scorching heat and strong gusty hot winds for the most part of one's life. But its beautifully invigorating nonetheless. The summers are going to be short this time, having begun so late. So we are enjoying them to the hilt. Its funny how much you come to value the simple pleasures in life once they are taken away from you for so long. The winters with 2 young kids at home were rather long and even tough. The beauty is so breathtaking outside right now that just yesterday we were joking that if someone comes to Minnesota at this time of the year for the first time, the land of 10,000 beautiful lakes, lush greenery that pleases the senses no bound, the cool gentle breeze that is enough to uplift any spirit, they would surely be foolishly mesmerized to stay on and even think about the poppycock one hears about the harsh weather and nothing to do and so on.

So here we are hitting the parks every single day. Vansh is proud, especially in front of young girls, make that pretty young girls learning to ride a bike, in flaunting his own skills and pedals with full gusto making sharp turns and then cruising along in a smooth zig zag. This one has a penchant for making new friends, even the shy ones, infecting them with his silly vivacious giggles and inviting them to run around with him or just be naughty throwing around sand and then giggling some more. I am happy and indeed proud to see him do things, even if its just to impress his peers, things that he normally doesn't do in spite of coaxing, things like going up the slide the wrong way or coming down a giant one all by himself or climbing up those rungs. Makes me realize one more time the effect that friends have on kids that parents don't.

Jiya is a natural when it comes to attracting attention with her 'daintiness' (3rd percentile on her weight, beat that!!), a luscious smile here, a delicate wave there. And when kids and grown ups come by hoards to ooh and aah, she never disappoints, delightfully charming each one with her newly learnt skills of putting hands together to clap or covering one single eye with one hand, fingers apart in a gesture of peek-a-boo. Also she has just realized that 'butterflies in the stomach' sensation when the swing comes down after going up and after the initial shocked 'what is happening to me here' kind of look now giggles away gleefully with each sway.

One of those times when I cannot thank God enough for adorable, lovely, healthy children who laugh, who play, who are privileged to be who they are; for showering His countless blessings in such kind ways, for looking over us like he does, for all the happiness and joy he generously bestows.

So here's to a lovely, enchanting, gorgeous spring and more!!

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Lots of snow and not much to do!!

We had over a foot of snow over the weekend and its snowing some more today. Huh!! It can only get more cold than this at the North Pole, we are absolutely convinced about that. Its hard to while away time, especially in the evenings. It gets dark at 4:00, its obviously impossible to go out and you keep wondering what to do till bedtime apart from half an hour of dinner, say. We play boardgames, read books, play with building blocks, take Vansh for cycling in the corridors and even rides in the elevator and there's still time left. Huh!! One of Vansh's ways to idle away time is to switch on the lights which we put up on Diwali umpteen times a day, and
pronounce Happy Diwali!

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Getting busy ...

Huh!! Filling in after a long time. Vansh's terrible two's get so much to me at times. I have to lie down myself when the kids sleep in the afternoon to pull myself together and go on for the rest of the day. And weather is partly to blame too. As winter strikes big time with temperatures now being sub zero on a regular basis, confining us indoors, its tough to know what to do with the physical energy of a 2 year old and to find the time and the energy to keep up with him. Well we have decided to take him to a couple of indoor gyms a couple times a week to channelize some of it. Anyways, this too shall pass.


On a brighter note, I have several things to be happy about. For the first time in the 4 years that we have been here, we went shopping on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and boy was it thrilling, one because we were shopping for the kids and two because it was so crowded and that always reminds me of India. We shopped for some kids' clothes and toys and got some pretty neat deals and that brings me to the second thing or rather discovery that I am happy about. We bought 3 board games for Vansh and he has been so interested in those for the whole of the past week. He takes them out several times in a day and plays with them all by himself. His favorite is Hi-Ho Cherry O where he puts the cute little cherries, apples, oranges and blueberries on the respective trees, spins the spinner for a number and then picks the corresponding number of fruits from the tree and puts them into his basket.


Last but not the least we have a budding photographer who is getting better with every passing day :) So now mom can get her picture with Jiya even when dad's not around or dad and mom can get their picture taken too, all they do is ask and we have a more than happy son who complies :)

As for Jiya, she is chilling out. Getting bigger and smarter by the day, she sure knows how to get everybody's attention and loads of it. The tough time between 4 and 6 months when they realise a lot of things like the fun they can have when sitting in mom or dad's lap and playing with toys or better still be carried around and look at things from a moving perspective but are independently not capable of doing those, that's what she is going through right now.

I also started a few solids in the long weekend. She did very well with the rice cereal for about 4 days before I introduced moong dal to her and now that's all she wants to have. She shuts her mouth tight and actually pushes my hand away if I try to feed her pureed carrots and bestows the same treatment to the cereal after a few spoons. I didn't even know that a 4 something month old could actually do that. And last evening when it was moong dal again, it sure was party time.

Hmm, so all this is leaving me with lesser time and more work on my hands.

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The magnificient fall colors at the Arboretum

A refreshing trip to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, the vibrant hues of orange, rust, yellow and red never failing to wow us!! A surprisingly splendid day with lovely sunshine and the temperature just perfect at about 19 degrees celsius, for probably the last time this year, demanded a trip to a beautiful place! The arboretum fit the bill to the tee. Fall is undoubtedly a breathtaking season here, you only hope for it to last a bit longer. Last year we had driven along the enchanting North Shore up to Lutsen just about an hour away from the Canadian border and had been truly mesmerised by the utterly beautiful Lake Superior amid all the fabulous shades of fall. This year, with 2 kids in tow, we enjoyed them and beyond our expectations at that, at the 8 miles away Arboretum. Here are a few lovely pics.

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The lovely Spring greens and the chirping of birds

Its been raining for the last 2-3 days and is expected to continue the same way most of this week. But the temperature is pretty comfortable at about 16 to 20 degrees celsius. (I still don't get it in fahrenheit even after being in the US for more than 3 years), so I don't really mind the rain. The entire surroundings are rapidly turning green as if being painted by the master's hand. Its so invigorating to look at the soothing hues while taking a walk; so cheering to be woken up by the chirping of birds every morning; so relieving to be able to step out in the patio without wearing a jacket and the view from the bedroom windows is stunning yet again. Just waiting for the flowers to bloom now to add more color and bounce to the springing beauty.

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