Tiger Creek, Tyler TX

My parents joined us for our Thanksgiving dinner along with my cousin, her family and a friend of hers. A friend of mine and I headed out shopping in the wee hours of mid-night. What's Thanksgiving without a bit of  retail therapy.

Saturday, we visited the Tiger Park in Tyler, a conservatory for rescuing tigers. They have about 30 tigers and close to 40 big cats in total including a couple of lions, pumas, bob cats etc. I don't think I have ever seen so many tigers in one place. Looks like there are more in captivity than in nature. Rohan was all attention to what the guide was telling us and re-enforced multiple times that the trip was worth the long drive.

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Grapevine Lake, Texas

Looking for a good hiking route in DFW metroplex area, the trail around the Grapevine lake is an option. May be not in Summer as it's right around the lake and it feels way more hotter than it really is. Not something you need in Texas Summer.With that said, it's a great option for a Fall or Spring time.

Most lakes in Texas, with the exception of two are man made. Natural or not, sails in water capture my attention and a place on this blog. Must have been the influence of English poets like Williams Wordsworth. Too bad they do not do much of English poetry in my kids' schools, at least not yet.

Received some goodness from a friend's backyard. One bite into it, I am determined to add some plums and peaches to our garden next year.

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Chinese Lantern Festival, Dallas, TX

A must see exhibit of lights beaming with creativity. Dragons made out of Porcelain plates, ancient creatures assembled from tiny bottles filled with colored liquid, ants on vacation some see-sawing while others playing a band, a miniature Temple Of Heaven about 1/3rd the size of the original one, mermaids, mushrooms, octopus gardens, dinosaurs, flamingos and Texas long horns to name a few exhibits.

No doubt the dragon was the high light of the show, mainly because the 300 feet dragon built from 15,000 dishes joined by hand is spectacular. Can you spot the plates?

The peacock simply stole my heart with dynamically changing lights imitating the natural movements of the peacock feathers.

The picture/photo does not do justice to the lilies and lotuses lighting up the pond. A couple of weeks ago, we had sneaked peaked into the Lantern festival during Diwali Mela as the venue was the same for both the events. We decided to come back another day and I am so glad we did. It's worth the 15$ for parking and the ticket price.

I am off from work starting tomorrow. What a delightful way to kick start our holiday season. I have to admit, the show was way better than I expected it to be.

You can find more pictures on pintrest.

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McKinney Avenue, Uptown Dallas

Looking for a hang out spot for the weekend in Dallas? The top two Dallas favorites are the Highland Village and the McKinney Avenue, not as in the suburb McKinney instead Uptown McKinney. The trolley is a great place for the kids to take a ride in. The best part, it's absolutely free.

On my radar are the Standard Pour, Malai and Sfuzzi. Would love to go to Sfuzzi for a girl's night. Most restaurants in the neighborhood did not look kids friendly. I hate to take my kids to places where they can't be themselves. What's the point in kids acting like adults? They have all their life to do that.

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Ray Roberts Biking Trail

I was watching Office Space rerun on TV. The movie is true in today's world as it was ten years ago. The multiple time sheets, status reports that take longer than the actual work itself and other work related pet peeves. I am still on vacation (except for the two times I had to log in to work) and thoughts of work can surely wait until Monday. Now is the time to soak up the sun and enjoy the hay days of Summer with kids, of course with loads of sun screen.

We drove to Lake Lewisville with our family friend hoping to jet ski and then bike on the trails. Unfortunately the place needed reservation and we did not have one. We continued with our picnic and then headed to the biking trails. We got to see a deer and a green snake. Well it's Texas, you can't go a few miles with out seeing snakes in wilderness.

You enjoy the rest of your weekend and we are off to watching a movie by the pool side.

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Fin Fun

 

My little boy turned seven this past weekend. He's still an animal lover. We took the day off to celebrate his special day. He decided he wanted to see Sealife in Grapevine and lunch at Rainforest Cafe. He's still an animal lover. Nothing's changed there. Rainforest Cafe is still his favorite restaurant. Sealife is not too bad, considering it was hot outside. It's a nice place to take the kids during Summer when the temperature roars up in the 100s. You will be glad you picked something indoors.

We had his party at the local community swimming pool. What better place to host a bunch of free spirited seven year old boys. I tried telling him, the intent of the party is to have fun with the friends and is really not the gifts/presents. I am sure none of that reached his head. But sure, it will slowly and gradually with time and constant reinforcement.

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Dragon Festival 2012, Lake Carolyn

We went to the Dragon Boat, Kite and Lantern Festival by Lake Carolyn on Sunday afternoon. As the name suggests, the festival included kite flying lovely lanterns swaying gently in the afternoon breeze, a short boat race and carnival type food vendors.

It was sweltering except for the shade provided by the trees. We bought a couple of these cute looking Japanese/Chinese umbrellas to keep the sun rays away. Loved the painted cherry blossoms. The inside of the umbrella looked hand made. Not bad for 5 bucks.

  

The vendor used Black & Decker to cut the potatoes into a spiral to make the curly fries. Another usual suspect in any Southern carnival. Chow mein, shaved ice, kulfi and old-fashioned pop were also served. we watched the final boat race, short but sweet. We cheered for the local Fire Fighter's team to win.

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Patrizio, Highland Village, Dallas Texas

My husband was is super proud of his new find. The Petrizio is located in one of the poshest neighborhoods of Dallas, the Highland Villages. Try to get there early for a nice stroll along with some window shopping amidst Jimmy Choo, DVF, Chanel and the likes.

We sat out in the patio overlooking the shops. There is a also a vintage theater that airs about three movies at a time.

The houses in the vicinity are not the typical cookie cutter homes but each with its own individualistic character. The best part was the price on the menu, very affordable.

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Velvet Bake Shop, Plano

Cup cakes are cute. Sheets of cake is boring and many times just too much for us. My last minute cake hunt for our anniversary landed me at Velvet Bake Shop. They make these tiny cup cakes in the shape of a small ball and roll it in chocolate.

I got a few chocolate-espresso for me, red velvet for the kids and German chocolate for all of us.The picture may not be too appetizing, but trust me the cake balls are.

Also I will be in Virginia next week for work. Will let you all know if I met Ms Irene.

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Art In The Square, SouthLake Texas

Three words to describe my weekend - 'Art, Music and Outdoors'. Actually that is four but I am sure you get the point. "Art in the Square" is an annual 'Juried' event that takes place in South Lake Texas. Inspiring work of local artists and kids on various mediums like oil, watercolors, wood, jewelery, ceramics and 2d were on display.

These are the work of Trish Biddle. I find her work romantic, fun and feminine; aspects I can well associate with. I went there close to closing time and could not strike a conversation with the talented artist. There were many more featured artists but these are the only ones I clicked, of course with the artist's permission to click.

Band and live music was entertaining and Sunday afternoon was tribute to the Eagles and Sinatra. Need I say anymore?

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Dallas Auto Show

This was one of those 60-hour work week. Most days I ate cereal for lunch and the kids ate at their school cafeteria. When I work hard during the week, I tend to party harder during the weekend. One of our good friends stopped by for a BBQ Friday. They are one of those couple who remind you, age is just a number.

We went to the Auto Show this weekend. While the kids had a good time getting in and out of all the cars, I was busy clicking pictures most of the time. I don't have to tell you how much the hubby loved it, do I? 

My husband like the black Bugatti and mine was the relatively affordable Z4. I also liked the Corvette Legends. However I was hoping to see more concept cars but the event turned out to be one huge dealership without the hassle of car dealers.

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Bruno's Ristorante, Irving Texas

As the kids grow older, the eating out experience gets better, including better table manners and more planned outings. Its not fun when eating out is simply a result of a long stressful day at work or back to back after school activities. I had heard rave reviews of Brunos Ristorante from multiple people at work and finally gave it a try during our Spring break.

The food and customer service are the high features of this place. The restaurant has been in the same place and has the same chef for the past 22 years ... and that speaks volumes about the quality and taste of food served.

My favorite part of the restaurant is its sun room with a good view of the Irving canals. The tiramisu could have been better but over all if you, like me, bored of the giant Italian chains, this place is worth the visit.

Do let me know your favorite mom-pop joint in your city.

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Dinner and a Movie

In this era of micro-planned weekends, one of our friends stopped by (totally unplanned) a few weeks or may be even a month ago. We went to iFratelli, an Italian restaurant close to our house for dinner.

Their wine selection is pretty extensive and Sundays are good days to try out their more expensive selection as these are half off. Like most Italian restaurants, their breads are freshly baked and served hot right off the oven. Usually we share a Margarita Pizza (cheese pizza topped with Basil and tomatoes) but then I ordered a simple soup.

We came home to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. There was no closure to the movie and it is definitely not the best of the series.

This week we visited them and headed out to a Mexican restaurant, Mi Cocina.  The lights are our for the holidays and Legacy Village is a place I love to hang out during the weekends. Too bad, I forgot my camera. Guess some things are meant to be remembered by the human brain with out aid from technology.

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Jai Ho! The Journey Home, Dallas 2010

 

I just got back home from A.R.Rehman's "Jai Ho" concert and there were numerous Tamil songs. I enjoyed each one of those. What else would you expect from an Oscar winner who took a minute to speak in Tamil during his winning speech. 

The energy level of the musicians and the performers were high. The lighting, sound and the constantly changing back drop were an integral part of the concert. They brought 'waterless' rain on screen when the singers sang "Na re Na re". In another minute, with tweaks in backdrop, lighting, costumes and mood they transport you to Punjab, with the song, "Rang de Basanti".

The series that followed literally took you in spirit to the various celebrations around India like Holi, Mehandi, marriage and including a quick one on Ganesh Visarjan. With "Ye désh hai mera" and 'Bharat Humko", A.R.Rehman and Hariharan respectively touched a cord of nostalgia, especially those away from home. It was truly a journey back home.

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Champion Trails

Now that summer break is over for the kids, we are down to biking once a week. The biking path in Champion Trails in Las Colinas is 12 foot wide enabling Ri and myself to ride side by side, which  means tons of mom-daughter talk time. Ro is still on the tandem bike with M.

We biked for an hour and its still not much of a workout as the bikes move with very little effort. How ever finding an activity that the whole family likes to do and just being outdoors more than makes up for the lack of calories spent.

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Canals and Rides

We are back to riding our bikes, now that the temperatures dropped from 105s to high 90s in the evenings. The trail is not long, but the water and trees around make the ride a pleasant one.

The canals are located in Valley Ranch, Irving and if you are planning to drive to get here, you might have to park in one of the businesses on MacArthur Blvd.

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Pho

As much as I like to try out new places, there are times I prefer predictability. Pho Que Huong is a local fast food chain that offers quick, healthy and great tasting pho or Vietnamese noodle soups. 

A perfect place to head to on lazy summer evenings after a swim when I am in no mood to cook.

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Kid Country

Last week we celebrated Ro’s 5th birthday, again, with his sister and friends. We headed to Cici’s pizza and as the sun went down, drove to Kid Country Park in Coppell.

This is one of my favorite parks for younger kids. The wooden structure is spectacular, the older trees provide abundant shade and a short fence surrounds the entire park. The boys loved the sand box and before the end of the day there was sand all over them. Well, it was only a shower away and was all worth it.

My 9 year old darling girl was bored and made a deal with me to bring one of her friends along, for all future activities that relate to Ro and his buddies.

I heard a few “You are not my friend any more”. I didn’t care to get into the details as the following minute they were all playing together. One burst out into tears and did not want to go home until he saw the goody bag and realized what a wonderful decision it was to go home and play with it. Friendship at its best @ 5.

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Big 5 !!!

Ro turned 5 last Tuesday and that weekend, we took him to his favorite place, the zoo. The Dallas Zoo opened up a new space for the 'Giants of the Savanna' and we were there on day 1 to see the 6 elephants in their new home and feed the giraffes. Ro had a great time, in spite of the heat. 

 On the day of his birthday, we had dinner at Rainforest Cafe. He loves the re-created tropical forest ambiance in the restaurant with the rainbows, shooting stars, the lush vegetation, the fake thunder and all the animals.

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