Rocky Mountain National Park, July 2010

We clocked 2400 miles on our road trip and Rocky Mountain National Park was our final destination. A surprise visitor paid us a visit on the first day of stay. It was from a little black bear. July is definitely not the best time to visit the Rockies if the sole intention is to see wild life. We were lucky to see a few.
We drove to Bear lake and took a hike up to Alberta falls. A few detours made our hike a little longer and it is on this hike, Ro lost his first baby tooth.

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Boulder, Colorado, July 2010

Boulder, Colorado is located at an elevation of 5400 ft and can still get hot and humid during the summer. We went there for an evening and spent most of our time at Pearl Street Mall where you can get anything from a Natraja statue to clothes and anything else that can be sold. There are singers and potential upcoming musical bands performing impromptu.
Well, the formula for a successful street of shops is not complete without good eateries. We visited a coffee house/bakery for some coffee and baked goodies.

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Denver, Colorado, July 2010

 
We neither saw Madhuri Dixit nor the other attractions in Denver, instead we opted for a scenic drive around Mount Evans, which is an hour drive from the city.  Just like the other 14ers, the weather conditions on Mount Evans are unpredictable in the afternoons. If you are interested in seeing more pictures, click here.
The best part of this drive was when Ro plucked a few flowers on the way and gave it to me with love. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, I still had to give him my speech for leaving the mountain side flora undisturbed for all to enjoy.

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Colorado Springs, July 2010

Garden of the Gods
During the summer, it rains most afternoons in the mountains accompanied by thunder storms. But the view after a rain is priceless. There are a few family friendly walking trails and it is an easy walk to get a good view of all the formations. Click here to see more pictures from the Garden of the Gods.

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Amarillo, Texas, July 2010

Our only intention to stop at Amarillo TX, was to split our 14 hour drive to Colorado into two 7 hour drives. On our way to Amarillo we saw bill boards advertising the second largest canyon in the United States. We took our chances and paid a visit. We were pleasantly surprised by the creativity of the Red River.
The P.D Canyon is in no comparison to the Grand Canyon in Arizona but is definitely worth a visit and is also a good candidate for a camping trip. Lather on tons of insect repellent if you indent to go on a trail or two.

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Lunar Memory

Remember the time as a child when you first realized the moon followed you everywhere?
Sometimes as parents our kids remind us of our own childhood.

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A Message from Kenya

There is a beautiful Kenyan lady who works with me and she is always dressed up. Her shoes and bag go with her outfit, her hair is done and you can tell she has taken the time to accessorize well. Her worst day of dressing is on par with any of my best dressed days.
A few evenings ago, I complimented her style of dressing and wanted to see if I could get an insight into what motivates her every morning to show up to work well dressed. A little later in our conversation, she mentioned that her mom would make her go back to dress up right, if she was not dressed up to the occasion. The sisters received the credit for developing an eye to choose accessories.

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"I am a Big Boy Now ..."

Ro is now sleeping in the kids’ bedroom. For the first few days, he did come to our bed in the middle of the night and gradually that stopped as well. I know I should be glad he is on his own, but like many other parenting milestones, this is another one with mixed feelings. A trifle struggle between a part of me that wants to let go versus the part that wants to hold on.

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Spell Bee Spree

A good friend of mine at work told me how much her daughter loved to spell words. I asked her about spell bee contests. She told me right away, it was no longer fun to participate in one. To get a glimpse of how the contest used to be few decades ago, I looked at some of the winning words since 1965.
1965 – Eczema
1970 - Croissant
1975 - Incisor

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Young Chefs @ Work

Prepping -  Ri, the chef is mixing the chocolate cup cake batter and Jr.Chef Ro is doing what he does best, beating eggs.
Straight off the oven
Their touch is what makes these simple cup cakes a master piece.
Thanks C Akka (saving you the 'aunty' title), they loved making cupcakes and monsters with the gifts you gave them.

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Happy 4th of July !!!

Ro had his playdate with V and we played cards together. Later they made monsters with multiple heads and laughed their hearts out over their creations.
This year like most, we saw July 4th fireworks and enjoyed the band.

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Cooking Party

Indeed, it is a thin line that separates my social and work life and with yesterday's get-together it got even thinner. Fridays before a long weekend are usually early release and last evening a bunch of co-workers and I headed straight to my house.
A 'Cooking Party' is what I had planned for as I printed out a slightly different recipe for a few classic dishes. I moved the bar stools around the kitchen island and we hung out there most of the time. A couple of drinks and never ending conversations turned mundane activities like chopping and cooking so much fun.

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