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Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Monday, May 27, 2013
Rosemont: MB Financial Park to Host Summer Concert Series
Friday, August 31, 2012
Back to School ...Excitement Galore!
So the siblings marched out the door, after having waited all these years, to go to the same school, finally! The younger one's excitement over the past few days had to be seen to be believed. Incidentally, we were also going camping the day after their schools re-opened and were to set up tent and sleep in sleeping bags and were to go with 7 more families, all the kids' friends from the complex that we stay in and with whom they literally spent almost every waking moment with during their summer break. Needless to say, they were way too excited about that as well. So one day Chica, after thinking for a while, asked me "Mom, guess what I am more excited about ... our camping trip or starting school?" To give you an idea of just how excited she was, she told me I was wrong when I answered "our camping trip".
This picture sums up their feelings pretty well on the first day. Niño felt like a very responsible big brother and wanted me to drop them to school on their first day so that I could guide Chica as to where the Kindergartners need to stand to get in the building, which he otherwise considered his responsibility. Chica, on the other hand didn't want to delay getting in the bus by even one more day and told us that I and Niño were welcome to come by car, but she was way too excited to take the bus and was unfazed and sure there would be teachers to tell her exactly where she should enter from!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Santa's Village AZOOsment park
A few weeks back, we spent a very interesting and a very exhausting day at Santa's Village which has re-opened after 3-4 years in East Dundee, IL.
The kids had so much fun at the rides. The park was open till 7 pm. We reached there a little before 2 pm and for 5 whole hours, the kids were on the move with the exception of about 15 minutes for a snack break, during which a Magic Show started and they ran off to watch that. The best part was that it was pretty compact, which in my eyes as a mom of 2 young kids is really good because it lessens my worry of losing them from my sight. Plus we went there with 2 more families, a majority of which were wearing bright orange :) and so even if we did get a child out of sight, I would have to move a few steps on any side, spot a bright orange, move my eyes a little more and spot my child. They were moving around with their chosen best friend of the day too which helped as well :) Till the clock struck 7, each one of the 5 children were running around to get one last chance on their favorite ride(s) and the staff was sweet enough to operate it with even one child sitting. And the rides were the old kinds which get me sentimental about the diwali melas which used to be awaited with much anticipation while I was growing up, the ones with really bright orange and blue and such colors, the ones which make the creaking sound as they go round.
Apart from the rides, there were animals, even though very few but then they were the closest we have gotten to them in a long time. I think for the kids, it was a first to be among the animals and pet them as they moved about in the mud. There were sheep and their lambs moving around freely and seemed to be so happy amongst the kids being petted and fed. There were llamas, which the kids have found a new fascination with after a couple of episodes of Dora and Diego. And there was a pony ride which was a huge hit too and the kids returned to it several times. The only thing being we have started noticing more and more that when animals are tied or made to do something or even put inside those barriers at zoos, they seem so sad. Even though they are being fed and being taken good care of and kids get to see them, but they seem so totally out of their element. The ponies' faces seemed to be drooping which made me sad but the kids did have fun going on them. As opposed to them, the sheep who were moving about freely seemed to be so much happier and enjoying the kids who moved around them.
Do you see all the orange? Thats all our group :)
After a little hesitation, the kids got comfortable with petting the animals.
Vansh posed like the llama while being clicked with him.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Tidbits from the very very fun last week
Dear friend Noonoo always does her best to bring me out of my slumber :) I know I had said that I would try my best to write as often as possible. Last week and the weekend were pretty busy. We had friends visiting from Minnesota who stayed with us for Saturday and Sunday. These were friends we had made when we ourselves stayed in MN and had had several fun outings together. Their kids and ours had played together when they were babies and toddlers. So a lot of last week was spent in prepping up for their visit plus the Mon-Thur driver duties of lugging both my kids to their respective camps and classes. On top of it, jumping into the pool myself to try and help V get over his fears of leaving the wall of the pool and going in the middle to practise his front and back floats. I did that last Wednesday for an hour and a half inside the pool when I knew there's a load of laundry that needs to be done, some groceries that need to be brought, a house that needs to be cleaned before the long weekend and still I did it and then was so hopelessly, utterly, wholly tired that I just collapsed for 2 hours in the afternoon and my muscles still ached when I woke up. But yeah that was me feeling frustrated as a mom watching her son struggle in the swimming pool to overcome his fears. Anyways, we are taking baby steps and I'll update when there is something to update about :)
So the said friends arrived with 3 kids in tow and much fun was had. Jiya became best friends with Arunabh as Vansh and Shreshth couldn't get enough of each other in the two days that they were together and shed copious tears when it was time to say goodbye. Vansh is counting days to the next long weekend when we can visit him in MN. We went to Navy Pier which was crowded just like Delhi is always and I enjoyed it so much. I actually crave crowds, I have noticed and enjoy them. We took a boat tour of Lake Michigan and Vansh listened very carefully to the narration for words like 300 feet deep, storm, windy and hyperventilated. He is such a cutie pie who gets nervous about little things as his knowledge about tornadoes, floods and the likes increases :) Jiya's birthday was on the same day and she entered her 5th year running, hopping, jumping and dancing to the music which played at Navy Pier all in her very very dressy outfit and being in the best of her spirit. I think I should dedicate a separate post to the person that she is, so more there. We returned very late after watching the fireworks, some time wasted because of some wrong parking by a friend who cursed his GPS a million times and drove in complete terror when he lost sight of our car and the super heavy traffic but at the end of a very very fun day. The next day everybody went to Adler Planetarium except I and Jiya who decided to stay back so Jiya could rest some. She is still very tiny and little and doesn't have the stamina to do two consecutive hectic days. So I just took her to the library for some time and she wore her crown and bangles there because she had forgotten to wear them on her birthday. Vansh was extremely animated when he returned, pouring out all that he had done and learnt on his dream visit. After some great grilling on our new Cuisinart Griddler Grill Centro which we chose from a variety of items on Ashwini completing 5 years in his organisation and have never been more happy with our choice. Its great great great, really! And some animated gupshup with the friends retired for the night.
Monday morning they left and I waited anxiously for the evening to meet one of my favoritest bloggers and friend Cee Kay. It was my first ever blog pal meet in the US and I was really looking forward to it. And the meeting was delightful. Its wonderful how love and familiarity traverses distances and makes you feel so connected to a friend. Its like you have chosen a friend because your thoughts and views match and inspite of the distance you are able to maintain the friendship and the bond even though you may not be communicating often and then when you do meet, its like you are just catching up and not like you are starting anew. I really wish I can meet more and more friends I have made this way. Ninni, her 4 year old daughter was charming and delightful. Cee herself was even better than what I had imagined her to be. Poised, gentle and just so mature and balanced. When I told Ashwini that she stopped yelling at her kids a long time ago and I bookmark her blog posts on parenting for reference, he told me I should so try doing that myself and I swear I am making a conscious effort. So your visit was just as inspiring Cee as it was fun. We were so engrossed in conversation that we forgot to take any pictures at all, such a pity :(
Anyways so that was our fun packed week and the weekend. This week I have mostly been getting over the hang over, looking at pictures and videos and have resumed my driver duties. How have you been?
Friday, June 24, 2011
Of simple everyday dreams...
Once upon a time there was a lady. She had 2 children aged 3 and 1. She was so tired from entertaining them, caring for them, taking them for their bathroom visits, making them wash their hands, giving them baths, dressing them up, cleaning up after them, feeding them their meals and the list went on and on and on. She felt she was so incompetent, the house was always a mess, she found it hard to find the time for cooking the meals. Even when she took them to the park, one of them cried either because of hunger, or tiredness or just because. They were so young and hungry and tired so often. And they had to be watched all the time lest they run into a swinging child or too close to a big slide. And the mom looked at other moms around the 
park sitting on benches and chatting or reading a book or enjoying a cup of coffee and dreamed that one day, she'll be them. When she'll still watch the children for sure, but not be as worried
about their safety. Where they'll play with each other like friends do, run and laugh and push each other on swings and sit on opposite sides of the see saw, where they'll make new park friends as they play along and run and laugh some more and she'll not have to be the one doing all that, not because she didn't want to but because her tired limbs and nerves deserved a little relaxing. And then she'll be able to justify to herself that having two children so close apart was indeed a good idea :) The dream has finally come true!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Summer 2011 Writing Journal
Vansh got a Summer 2011 Writing Journal at the end of his Kindergarten last week. He has to write a couple of sentences, the more often the better, and draw a picture for each entry. To make up for the utter negligence that I have rendered to my blog, I decided on the same strategy for myself. Summer is a great time for this part of the world. We have been going out on weekends and sunny week days. There have been so many fluctuations in the weather this season. Its close to 40 one day and 12 degrees the next...its bizarre! Thankfully the city is absolutely new to us and has so much to offer both in terms of indoor and outdoor fun.
May 22nd - Lincoln Park Zoo
It turned out to be a much hotter day than expected. It was hot even in the shade. So the highlights of the day were cooling off with almost baths at every water outlet along the way.
Cooling off with snow cones and showing off the rainbow colored tongues thereafter.
And an indoor air-conditioned tree house climbing for kids. We strategically asked Vansh to go first and Jiya after him so that she eggs him to go on further rather than Vansh telling her to not go any further and go back with him.
I deliberately have missed out on the animals in the zoo this time because the dainty Miss Jiya was overwhelmed with the heat and the fact that she had to walk through it. I had not carried her stroller from India thinking which soon to be 4 year old needs a stroller. Turns out that mine does. So had to buy another one after this rather hopeless trip in terms of us doing anything fruitful because she tires out so soon. Luckily we went with friends who went around the entire premises with their son and Vansh to see all the animals while we sat in a gift store with Jiya sleeping in my arms.
Jun 4 - Last Gymnastics Class
Jiya is really fond of music and sways to any music that plays quite rhythmically. When we reached here in March, preschools were not enrolling any new students because the session was anyways about to end in a few weeks. So I enrolled her in a couple of classes so that she can get out and meet some children her age, get used to the language and accent, et al. Dance was our first choice but we didn't have options for that again during that time. So we picked gymnastics and she loved it so much that she literally went through the entire class with a smile on her lips. The first session ended Jun 4th and she now says that she wants to continue with Gymnastics and not dance at the moment. Her very flexible body is a bonus.
Jun 12 - Last Soccer Game of the Spring Season
Vansh was quite keen on playing cricket right after we came here from India. The World Cup fever was on. India won it while we were here which added to the craze. I told him he could play baseball which is also a bat and ball game but realized he won't be able to continue once we move back to India. So suggested soccer (football elsewhere) to which he had had some exposure last year during the Football World Cup but didn't remember much. But he decided to try it out and after a slow luke warm start, took a liking to it and started getting the hang of it. And has even asked me to sign him up for the next season in fall. I think the fact that he got a popsicle and a really cool medal at the last game and that he looked all glam and jazz with that shiny oversized red jersey(white in some games) and the shin guards has something to do with it ;)
I think his expression in the picture is because he was trying to smile but fighting back tears too though he doesn't admit it. But yeah lately he has become way too sentimental. A phase? I don't know.
June onwards
We have undertaken a really cool project at home titled 'Around the World'. The idea came from the really cool Choxbox's really cool post on studying Mexico over here. Since Vansh has been extremely fascinated with different languages and cultures and countries, locating them on the map and the likes, I thought it would be a good time to pick it up. We started with making their own passports. We found some very neat resources online for profile pages, immigration stamps when you visit a country and the place profiles.
We started with Germany. He colored the country on Europe's map after looking it up in the Atlas. We looked about its climate and current temperatures on weather.com which anyways is bookmarked on our computer because he likes to go on it every hour, if not sooner, to check the weather conditions. Listened to the German counting song on youtube. Jiya did a craft where she colored and dressed up a German boy. And they both added details in their respective passports.
We have studied India after that but more on that later. As also our adventures from last week because duty calls now. So ciao and hope to keep up with this religiously :)
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