Ro's Favorite Book

Ro is fascinated with animals. Zoo is his favorite place to visit. We read a lot of non-fiction animal books to him. On our weekly library visits, he heads straight to the animal section.

On one such trips, he found ‘Owen and Mzee’, a touching real life story about un-explainable friendship between a baby hippo and a 130 year old tortoise. The baby hippo, a lone survivor of the 2004 Tsunami is rescued and moved to a reserve where he rushed to the safety of a 130 year old tortoise, Mzee. The tortoise is initially reluctant to bond but eventually reciprocates back to the baby hippo. The book takes you through the journey of this unusual relationship via words and pictures.

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A question here and a question there

  

Ro thinks the dinosaur book he is reading is ‘sooooo …crazy’. He questions pointing to the small dino, Amma, why is this dinosaur following the other one?” I did not get it, I ask him why not. He explains, “They are not in the same family, Amma. This big one is a herbivore and the small one is a carnivore.” He was right; they were not even the same kind of dinosaurs.

Yesterday, when I took him to the temple for Rama Navami, he asked me “Why are we celebrating the birthday of somebody who killed somebody?” He’s moved on but I still ponder over it...

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Recipe Collection

Not all recipes get into our hall of fame. Ri and Ro have the final authority on that one. This started when Ri was 4 years old and said, “Amma, can you give me the recipe for this one, I want to make it for my kids.” The very first recipe that started our tradition of recipe collection was the Venn Pongal and eggplant Gothsu.

Fresh green pea pods are out in the Indian stores and it’s been on our menus lately.

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Up, The Movie

Ri and Ro watched the movie "Up". I heard so much laughter that we decided to watch the movie as a family one more time. In the movie there is an imaginative girl and a boy. They become good friends. Right before the next scene, Ri goes, "This is where they get married". I tell Ri not to tell us what is going to happen and she agrees. The couple grows old. The wife dies.

Now the lonely old man is bored and decides to fly his house with a million balloons. A small boy is added for company and humor. They land in S. America and spot a unique bird. There are talking birds looking for the same bird. Now Ri is a good listener and is determined not to make the same mistake. She says "Amma, I will not tell you who the dog's boss is? ... Now Ro pitches in and burst out to help his mommy. "Amma, I will tell you amma. It is the old man who comes in the first scene".

Last night we saw Alice in Wonderland.

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Spring is in the air

In our first house, we landscaped the yard all by ourselves. I handpicked and planted every flowering bush and tree (except for the far and few the builder gives you). Sure it was a lot of work to move 27 cubic feet of earth, but it was sheer pleasure to see the garden mature and get beautiful over the years.

I got some tulips, roses, dahlias bulbs and gladiolus. I can't wait to get my own supplies of flowers this spring and summer.

Today, the kids sowed the seeds for the vegetable garden.

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Spring Break Road Trip 2010

I am sure my parents waited decades or generations before they could narrate 'then and now' stories. Today is a different story. I had to explain Ri that when five years ago, road trips were different. Dad would drive and mom was the navigator. If there were traffic jams, mom would read maps and look for detours. She would also estimate the distance and ETA by eyeing the scale of the map, speed and other road signs. Today, the GPS does it all.

The kids did fairly well on the trip. Heard Texas-history stories, lots of Hindi/Tamil songs, all that a pokemon can and cannot do, and my absolute favorite are the songs the kids make when they are bored.

One new game I came up on this trip was, if I badly wanted to listen to a song (like the old 90's tamil song or older Hindi ones) and the kids do not, they have to guess the meaning of the song. Ri's answer to "Vaan uyardha solailey ... nee nadandha ..." was "Somebody wants to be with somebody". I had to give it to her. Very soon she found the formula for the songs. Male solo - he loves her, female solo - she loves him, happy duet - they love each other, sad duet - they miss each other.

It was time to move on to another game.

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Bastrop State Park, TX

Is my life getting predictable or am I setting up a tradition here? Spring break means a visit to state park and is usually a week after Holi. This year we missed Holi due to rains and visited the Bastrop State Park located close to Austin TX.

The Cabin we stayed was built during the Great Depression of 1930s, in an attempt to boost the spirits of the depressed youth. They were paid $30 a month and were expected to send $25 home.

I make it a point to visit the local farmers market or grocery stores to get a feel for the place. I picked up Mexican Chillies sauce this time.

Ri and Ro chose a 1.5 mile hiking trail that leads up to a viewing center on a small hillock. Ri was navigator #1 and Ro, navigator #2. Each chose a stick and their job was to lead the rest of us by following the trail marks on the trees depending on the hiking route they chose. Ro was disappointed that he did not get a chance to fight and clear cob webs on the trail, I guess it was a well frequented trail. The view at the end of the hike was a dense pine forest. It was picturesque.

The kids used butterfly nets to catch tiny fishes and later released them all back into the water. They had a blast exploring, playing with bubbles and collecting firewood and pine cones. Later in the day, the kids and M lit up a camp fire. M and I stayed up until midnight and enjoyed the warmth of the fire.

Right after we came home, Ri googled up our next hiking trip.

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