Mom-dad US visit 2010 - musings (2)

I started my maternity leave 10 days ago, and time is just flying by. My friends and I thought I would be bored in the first couple days, and boy we were so wrong :).

Spending these few days off with mom-dad before the baby is a special gift. I cherish it every day. Last week, my sister was here too, as she had a week off from work....time flew by but we all had a great time together.

Last night, I made tacos for my parents...dad LOVES avocados, so he enjoyed them very much. I made salsa at home too since the store ones have onion/garlic which they don't eat.

We went to Ikea the day before yesterday...and picked up small things for them to carry back home. They both LOVE the store, and could spend hours in there. For me, I got my walking for the day done :).

Dad accompanies me for all the errands that I have to run - I enjoy driving him around town, and chatting with him on life in US. Sometimes we take mom along too...like the other day we all went to Costco and spent more than a couple hours there. We all love that store too!

We did BBQ in our backyard...it was a first time for mum n dad, and they enjoyed it.

We went to Apple Hill for blueberry picking...it was a hot day, but we had a great time. The best part was stopping on the side of the road near a cherry farm and "stealing" some cherries...before anyone could come and warn us or shoo us away.

We also go for a late night post-dinner walk around the community few days a week. The weather is just amazing at that time....cool with a slight breeze...and since we don't have many street lights where we live, the sky lights up like fireworks. If it's a full moon night, its an added bonus :).

Mom-dad also completed their first 5k walk last month. I thought they did remarkably well, as it was another warm morning. I hope to do another one with them in September/October.

We went to the Sacramento Rivercats Baseball game, and having never watched baseball before, mum n dad were trying to figure out the rules :). Then they watched a couple games on TV and understood the rules, and made sense of what they saw on the field. They found the game very slow and boring (just like me :))!

We enjoyed watching FIFA and Wimbledon during the last few weeks....and a couple of good Gujarati plays on DVD. Our family does not watch much TV, and I find that to be such a huge blessing.

We also play UNO/card games....watching mom play UNO is PRICELESS! She hates to lose, so she gets all tensed and worked up if she has too many cards on her hands. She feels very guilty when she forgets to say "UNO" with one card in her hand, even if it goes unnoticed by others :)! Pure bliss to watch her face during those moments!

Other than these activities, my daily conversations and quiet moments with them are something that makes me feel so content. It is extremely hard for me to see them grow old, and there are few things that I struggle with every single day. However, I feel extremely blessed to be able to spend this special time of my life with them.