UBM Post 3 - A trip to the city

Last month, we did a day trip to San Francisco. I used to visit so often before the kids were born. In fact, my first date with the husband (when I met him for the first time) was a day in SF. I think he fell in love with me that day itself - I had planned it so well :). Below is a picture from that day at twin peaks (circa 2006)....

Mom n dad had spent a week in SF when they first visited US in 2005. I never took them back after that, except getting in and out of the airport. So a trip with them and the kids was long overdue.

Our short day trip was a lot of fun. We visited twin peaks, and it was so windy that the daughter was scared of being blown away :)

Sameer and I....(circa 2013)

Ruhi - I love this outfit that she wore - I wish I could buy a matching one for me. It's from GAP and I picked it up during the memorial day long weekend sale.

She was scared and would only sit far away from the edge (even though there was a walkway beneath so not scary at all) to pose for a picture.

Grandparents with grand kids - they both adore each other to bits....

The kids were reasonably happy in their car seats....

And we visited Ocean Beach for the first time....this beach and the views are amazing. Not sure why I had never been here before. The water was cold but the sand was very warm, so the daughter went crazy building one sand castle after another.....she cried when she was pulled away from the scene.

I had not been to Golden Gate with my parents before - they had gone with an uncle of mine while I was at a conference in SF. So we stopped at the vista point to take some pictures and soak in the gorgeous views.

We had lunch at Dosa (http://dosasf.com/) - sooper cool place. I had never been here before either. I always try to eat non-Indian when I visit SF - they have amazing crepes, thai food, chinese food....but with parents and kids, we don't experiment much. This was perfect - mom n dad ordered the paneer n peas dosa and it was delish! Hubby's vadapav was amazing too!

And on the drive back, the daughter wanted to pee badly. We were on a stretch where there were no exits with a gas station or restaurant, so we took an exit into a strawberry field, and we told her to squat down and pee on the side of the road - we shielded her from all sides using the car door and ourselves. I was not sure how she would react....but she was so happy to do her thing in the middle of nowwhere....there were some rocks where she squatted and she kept saying "mumma I pee on the rocks and rocks become wet" - LOL!

We reached home just in time to catch the last colors of the twilight hour....and it was a day well spent!

UBM Post 2 - The Thakkar Kitchen (Part 3)

Experimentation in the kitchen continues. Mom is here so her expertise comes in handy when I work with new ingredients and try out new recipes.

A new favorite in the house in quinoa. I've made upma, salad and pulao from it. We love the salad the most during summertime. For the salad, I use rainbow quinoa, ripe mangoes, avocado, red cabbage, tomatoes, cilantro, and a homemade dressing of olive oil, lime/lemon juice, cumin powder, black pepper and salt. This dish is so pleasing to the eyes....even the daughter gobbles up more than one portion without any complaint.

This next dish is my mom's signature dish. It's stuffed baby eggplant, baby okra and occasionally, baby potatoes added to it. The stuffing can be either a green one which is used in undhiyu, or a dry one (used in the picture below) which is made of gram flour (besan), oil, salt, coriander-cumin powder (lots of it), kashmiri mirch powder (for more color and less spice), lemon, sugar, garam masala, sesame seeds, coconut (optional). You cook the vegetable on low/medium flame in a open pan. We decided to make this because we chanced upon a batch of very tender (seedless or very small seeds) okra at our local Indian store. It was kept aside in the back room for a special order, but hubby spotted it and requested a small quantity for us.

Next to Indian, our favorite cuisine is mexican. I love love love avocados. It's one of the very few things I miss when I'm back home. So far I have not found them in Ahmedabad. Last week, I made a fantastic grilled vegetable quesadilla on whole wheat organic tortilla. In addition to guacamole, I made a cilantro yogurt chutney (cilantro, peanuts, green chili, salt, lemon juice, yogurt) to go with it and avoided using sour cream. I've made variations of it before but this combo was the best.

And then what's life without desserts :)?

A while ago, I made these yummy eggless butter biscuits - orange zest, cranberries, pinenuts, butter, sugar, flour - what's not to love :)?

And finally, for Father's Day, in lieu of cake, we made Sukhadi. This time, I learnt how to make it step-by-step from mom. The best part of making sukhadi is the smell of it....it fills the entire house. Everyone loved it.

I don't bake much because all the key ingredients - butter, sugar, white flour - are sooper unhealthy. But, the paleo recipes sound very interesting - almond meal, coconut butter/oil, honey or agave, and some kind of vegetable (zucchini) or fruit (bananas) and/or chocolate. I've bookmarked a couple recipes to try out. I'll post the results of my experimentation here :)!

UBM Post 1 - The Heat

We are right in the middle of a heat wave. My dad takes the son out for a walk in the morning, but even at 7.30am today, he said it was too hot to go for a walk. So we are stuck indoors for a little while. Such times are always interesting....we need to come up with new things to keep the kids and ourselves busy.

So what did we do over the weekend?

We routinely let the daughter help us in the kitchen. She can use the hand blender effectively, help with making rotis or parathas, help with unloading the dish washer, and a few other things. We also have her little play kitchen right at the entrance of our kitchen, so sometimes she mimics what we are cooking, and serves pretend dishes for us to try. One day it was sandwiches, the next day it was dal dhokli. Once, I was working in the home office and she came to give me shaak and milk, saying if I don't drink milk how can I have enough for Rusham baby :)....quite a thinker she is!

On Sunday morning, we did a small test with her patience. She wanted a tattoo on her hands, so I did a small henna design on her hand (a flower and a star, and some dots) and told her that she will have to let it dry before mom can scrape it off and then the tattoo will reveal itself. She was also told not to touch anything during this time. My feeling was that it will last 15 mins or so on her hand, but she surprised me. She sat in the front yard which was shaded in the morning and let her hand dry out completely. Her dad was reading books to her during this time. She came inside and patiently waited for me to scrape off the dried henna, let me put oil and LOVED the tattoo that emerged from beneath. Being a hyperactive toddler who cannot sit still even for a minute, she sure surprised all of us!

Bath time is also a lot of fun and we can spend atleast an hour when we fill up the tub and do bubble bath with both kids together. This is one thing that both will enjoy without messing around too much with each other. I jumped in too and enjoyed soaking in the warm water....

Blocks of various kinds and the train table are other favorites in the house. The train table is turning out to be such a good investment (of money and space). It's huge which is good because both the kids can play independently on it without getting into trouble.

Finally, on Sunday evening, we decided a short trip to the spray park would be a good perk me up before the work week begins. So off we went. The daughter is scared of a couple of spray structures, so at first, she was throwing tantrums as a way to express her fear, but she slowly warmed up to the scene and enjoyed herself! It was the second time we took the son, and he did okay - I think the cold water was a shock to him initially but he didn't cry so that's a good thing!

We also did a big house project, but I will write about that in another post!

Stay cool, stay hydrated is the motto for this week out here :)!

The Ultimate Blog Challenge

There is so much that I have been wanting to pen down.....most of it is related to my babies but it's stuff I'd like to go back and read a few years down the road, and somehow I am failing to make time for it.

So I'm picking up the Ultimate Blog Challenge (UBC) for July. I like it because the rules are flexible (http://ultimateblogchallenge.com/faq/)....I don't have to do a post every single day; I just have to do 31 posts for 31 days in July. Tough, but if planned well, doable!

So what will I write about?

- my boot camp - it's working wonders for me so far.
- some home projects
- new recipes from my kitchen - been experimenting a TON lately
- conversations with R Sr.
- stories of R Jr.
- how they are bonding - it's fascinating
- pictures - lots and lots of them
- the garden this year
- July 4th long weekend trip

And some more.....

I'm excited! And looking for your support :)! I will not use any of the options to promote my blog....it just does not seem right to me, so the few of you who read this space is all I've got - and I think you are enough (and awesome :))!

Timing is everything

This is somewhat of a rant or a vent....

I seem to live among a very ambitious crowd. Most of the people have a Masters degree, and have jobs in companies who have solid revenues year after year. They want to do Ph.D or MBA, they also want to play in cricket or tennis leagues, they want to hike at various National Parks on weekends, they don't want to waste a single minute of their time being idle (or what I personally prefer to call as resting time).

All this is fun and good as long as kids are not in the picture. I was one of these above people too....to a large extent. But once these ambitious people become parents, that's when they cannot figure out the art of balancing. So many of my friends are doing MBA along with working full time and have kids who are a few months old or 18 months or 2 years old. These very young children are either at daycare all day (and no matter how good a daycare provider you can find, it's never comparable to being at home) or at home with a nanny or with grandparents who lovingly tend to them, feed them and bathe them at home but cannot take them out anywhere as they don't drive a vehicle.

I wish couples who both work full time would plan their children at a time when besides their work, they could devote their full focus and attention to the kids. When they can afford to take as much time off as possible, and when promotions at work can take a backseat for a while. Atleast until the kids reach 1st grade or so. Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers require a ton of one-on-one time. They are hungry for your attention all the time. Any little thing they do - be it a tower of building blocks, a puzzle, a drawing, a game of hopscotch, or blowing bubbles - they want your approval at every step. Their bodies and brains are growing at a very fast pace in these early years, and the more time, love and affection that a child's mom or dad gives them, the better it is for their growth.

When you trying to do too much within the 24 hours that you have during the day, the first thing you do is compromise on sleep. Lack of sleep causes you to be irrational and judgmental and lose your patience when you are dealing with a two year old's tantrum, for example. If you have a sick child, you have to drop your MBA class and tend to him or her....this affects your studies as well as affects you mentally for not being able to give your 100% to the course you are doing. And young children fall sick....a lot. Sometimes every weekend for a period of time. These are just some examples.

I have tried sharing this with a friend or two, and the response I get is: well there is no good time. If I have to do it, now is the time, else it will never get done. My response: well, then let go of it. It's not worth it at your child's expense.

Someone else told me: each one has a different parenting style. What works for you may not work for them. My response: well, don't kids all over the world have the same requirements from their parents? love, care and quality time?

Maybe my standards are too high. But I'm glad my hubs is on the same page as me. We live a very slow paced life with our very young children. I never say no to reading a book or narrating a story. Yesterday, I was talking to the daughter for more than an hour at bedtime (everyone else was asleep in other rooms of the house) but she did not have to go to school and hubby had the day off today so it was okay if she stayed up late and I just enjoyed that precious time with her. We always plan trips where there is something for the kids to look forward to, and where we leave lots of free time during the day for them to simply be out of their car seats and relax. I cook fresh meals for them every single day...the kids rarely eat leftovers. They are our highest priority, and while they are this young, other things can wait, or fall off the bucket list.

Mind over matter....

I did two sessions of the craptastic brutiful bootcamp this week....and this is how I felt during both sessions :):

My whole body aches. Some of the muscles that I thought had cease to exist have come roaring back to life. I feel the need to keep stretching them all day long. Those warm showers post workout have never felt this good.

Its a painful realization of being soooooooooo out of shape due to the two pregnancies. This bootcamp is kicking my metabolism in high gear :)!

Let's see how I survive the rest of the month - the goal is to do a minimum of three bootcamps a week, combined with a couple of gym sessions. The goal is also to get fit and be able to start hiking, biking, swimming, playing tennis and not focus on the lbs lost.

I can't even say TGIF....you see, we have a daughter who never fails to remind us several times a day why they call them the terrible two's!

But, you guys have a terrific weekend!

Questions

I have way too many questions in my mind....and not much time to figure out answers for all of them :).

:: Why is the rupee weakening so much against the dollar? When will the freefall stop?

:: Which 529 plan should I choose to invest for the kiddos? {I've looked at it before and none seemed appealing then}

:: Should I refinance our home again (we did in November last year) or wait some more time? {prices are skyrocketing in our area}

:: How will I survive the month-long bootcamp that I signed up for starting next week?

:: Why does R Jr. scold me when I go home a little late for lunch?

:: How will we keep R Sr. busy starting next week during the day? {This is her last week of preschool before summer break begins}.

:: What summer camp to choose for an almost three year old? {Most of the camps are for 3+ age kids. Not that I'm desperate to send her anywhere, but having a part-time option would be nice for her and us}.

:: What will I do once mum n dad leave for India in September? {or even before that, how will we manage when they go to my sister's place in August for few weeks?}

:: Should I choose a nanny or daycare option for R Jr. after grandparents leave?

::  This list can go on and on.....but I'll stop here :).