India Trip

We just returned from a fabulous trip to India! The 4 of us went through NJ and picked up Ammamma and Tata before heading on our VERY LONG flight. Thankfully, we had grandparent support on the flight which turned out to be quite manageable! I packed lots of games, snacks, activities, every distraction you can think of and we did just fine.

We spent a total of almost 2 weeks in Bombay and Hyderabad visiting family and relaxing (and lots of shopping and eating!) I was so impressed with how well the kids adjusted - making the trip seemed to be a piece of cake for them. They quickly acclamated to the heat, the food, the crazy schedules and all of the other wonderful things that come with travel. Aside from some jetlag - which kept us all up a few nights - they really seemed to have a good time. And as a result, so did we! The kids had such a great time playing with Ammamma and Tata which was such a treat! While we were there, we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and my birthday. In commemoration of such momentous events, Erich decided to shave his beard and leave only a mustache...it was not received well by anyone, much to his disappointment! Thankfully, it's gone now :)

Here are some highlight pictures, as well as a full album below. Enjoy!

Click on the photo below to see the full album of pictures:

India 2011

Sheila Aunty and Bab Uncle's visit

A few weeks ago, we were so lucky to have Sheila Aunty and Bab Uncle come visit us for a few days. The kids had such a great time with them here (as did we!) and it was so fun showing them Seattle. It was so nice to have another set of "grandparents here" as we got to get away for a dinner out, and as it turned out I was really sick that weekend, so they helped take care of the kids while I got to rest. We were so happy they visited, and now we can't wait for a cousin reunion with Aditi and Pooneet and Ananya and Amisha :)

Here are some fun pics from their visit:

Road Trip (version 2)

We headed down I-5 for Labor Day. The kids got dropped off in Medford, and then we headed farther south for another 7 hours to Sonoma. Sonoma was great, since we hadn't had much of a summer in Seattle, and spending a couple of days wine tasting and hopping around Healdsburg was quite a treat. Here's a "self portrait" and a couple pics we took at the Truett Hurst Winery in the Dry Creek valley:

After this brief interlude from parenthood (thanks Nana!), we headed back up to the Rogue Valley to bake some more in the 100 degree heat for the rest of the week. Olive is doing great, and is ahead of schedule on her surgery recovery. Sonia and Neal, of course, had a blast hanging out with their cousins. Sonia got some swim lessons, and is practically officially a "swimmer" now (ok... maybe 1 more week of lessons. But, she's really close.) Here are most of the cousins on the green machine getting ready to visit the pond: