Flint Hill Children's Festival

My kinda town- Saint Paul! I think if Ashish and I knew what we know now, we definitely would have looked to purchase a house in Saint Paul. It's a very artsy, educated, cultured, family friendly city. They have some of the best festivals I've ever attended too!

We attended the Flint Hill Children's Festival. Amazing! There were so many FREE Things for us to do. The Art Moves parade at 1PM shouldn't be missed. Many companies were on hand like Target, which gave kids free sun hats to decorate. The Children's Theatre Company made masks with the kids, and yet another theatre made sock puppets with the kids. There were a ton of culturally enriching performances in dance and theatre. For a mere $5 a ticket, you could see even more productions from different parents of the world. Nishad and I went to see a puppet production from a company that is based in Peru.

Be sure to save the date for this annual festival.

Hail to the Storm

Hail to the Hail! We met with our contractor yesterday afternoon. He will begin work this Wednesday. We are getting a new roof, garage doors, screen door and siding. This is the second time in two years that we begin this process... on a house that was built in 2004.

Minnesota's extreme weather gets to be a bit old. Every state has its issues, but this year Ashish and I have had about enough. It snowed from October through April this year. Now the severe storms...

We do have a lot to be thankful for though. Two tornados touched down north of us yesterday. The day that this picture (May 25, 2008) a tornado did a lot of damage south of us. Needless to say, we've been spending more time in the basement than we would prefer.

Farmer Beverly

Beverly, Beverly, how does your garden grow? With patience, water, sunshine...and a whole lot of fertile soil! Cucumbers, Zucchinis, Tomatoes, Peppers, Strawberries, Watermelon, Cantaloupe and Herbs...

This is my first 'Minnesota' veggie garden! I'm proud to say that things look better than anticipated. Even after Mother Nature's hail storm that leveled a lot of my plants that Nishad and I started from seeds (I was teaching him about the seasons). Which, in turn, was a good lesson for him; Despite our plans, there are things we can't control. However, we can control our reaction to them. SO! Nishad, Arun and I went out and purchased a few little veggies to supplement the ones we 'lost' in the storm. Even after Arun was in the store- strangling- the plants (as everything seems to be in his reach these days), they too managed to thrive.

I started off my first year with a 'smaller' garden as I wanted test the waters, per-say. I wasn't sure if I would have the time with a toddler and an infant, and honestly, I didn't know if anything would grow well enough for us to reap the benefits. Well, I suppose if the farmers can do it here on the Great River Road (where we live was once farm land- now a developed sub-division thanks to urban sprawl), so can Farmer Beverly!

Who knows, at this rate, maybe I'll be feeding the entire neighborhood! With the semolina out-break with tomatoes and peppers and the high cost of produce today, this isn't only 'fun' but something that I feel confident about feeding my family, convenient and cost effective.

Imprints: Nothing like having Mom tell you to go into the garden and get a fresh cucumber! Cucumbers were always my favorite growing-up. I use to wish my Mom wouldn't plant so many tomato plants so there would be more room for the cucs! I read an article about how kids that are involved in planting gardens, eat more veggies. They get to see the process and build up anticipation for the fruit of their labor. My Mom told me how she would eat tomatoes like apples when she was a kid. I'm going to attempt that this year!

Tower of Towels

One has to love bulk supply stores and a little boy that can organize it all!

Nishad could surely take Marie Montessori head-on and give her a run for her money. We've always armed Nishad with tools to gain an early independence, but now he's taking over the house. Which, depending on the way you look at it, is a good thing, right? After all, Ashish and I bought a house to be a home for our children, not a museum piece.

Nishad often reminds US that everything has a place and if we put something 'temporarily' somewhere, we're quickly reminded of where it belongs. A-hem. Montessori has back-fired on this Mommy. haha...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY

This year Nishad picked the theme of Daddy's party; Cars. Even though he's never watched the animated movie, the big red car that tops the cake was enough to sell him on the idea of having a CAR birthday for Daddy.

I'm not sure Nishad comprehended the idea that we were suppose to pick out something that we thought Daddy would like- not our own personal desires. Eh, at 2 everything is about you!

Daddy's CAR birthday came with presents for the gas grill. Since Daddy has showed an interest in cooking, we thought we would arm him with some tools of operation!

Unfortunately, Arun (our early to bed, early to rise baby) hit the sack before the cake even made it out of the fridge.

May 17th.

Deer Park

Before leaving the Dells, we had to stop at Deer Park. I have many a memory feeding the deers here with my family. Growing-up, every summer we would spend a week in water park heaven.

Ashish and I always have mixed feeling about visiting these types places for animals. Deer Park does have a lot of acreage for their animals to roam and they do seem very well cared for. (Get ready if you visit though! Arm yourself with plenty of deer food. The have a Pavlov response when the gate opens to let visitors come in!)

DELLS

We made it to the Dells...we are now ready for some R&R before driving the rest of the way home. Ashish found a nice little beach front hotel in the Dells called Sunset Bay. http://www.sunsetbayresort.com/ It's not really a resort, but it is a nice location. The indoor pool was nice...and the beach was peaceful.

Chicago Bound

Chicago Bound. May 12-15th.

Monday faced us head on with the not-so-speedy Illinois Tollway. Why must we keep paying for roads that are habitually being worked on and are even worse after they are complete? When we lived in Illinois someone was making a lot of money from the tollway- and now that we moved to Minnesota...they still are making a lot of money of the tollway! I'm also glad we filled up in Wisconsin, which was higher for gas than Minnesota, but not the price shocking $4.19 a gallon for regular in the city.

...LaLo's here we come! They just don't make Mexican food like this back in Minnesota! However, with Chicago size portions and no calories spared, it's a good thing that this food isn't as accessible! Nishad was eating salsa by the spoonful...spicy salsa. Since we were in the neighborhood, we also stopped and took pictures of the boys in my Mother's garden at my old childhood house.

We loaded up the kiddies, and headed east to downtown. After living in Minnesota (only second to California with wind gust/power), the windy city didn't seem nearly as windy as I recalled. Chicago get it's nickname from all the political "wind" that flys around... We checked into our hotel, The Avenue http://www.avenuehotelchicago.comwhich/ is right on Michigan Avenue (The Magnificent Mile) and Huron. It was one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever stayed in.

Need I say, Gino's East (one of the best places to eat pizza) and Garret's Popcorn where right across the street! This city and FOOD! ha,ha. We were also a few blocks away from Fire House, Engine 9 that had a park adjacent to it- which was a hit with Nishad. He *loved* the non-stop sirens and trucks. I on the other hand could do without the diesel and hustle and bustle.

This time around, I learned first hand that Chiacgo is not a very family friendly-child oriented city. They have revolving doors at every store-front. Try getting the Cadillac of double strollers through that! It was about then that I missed the family friendly, "nice" people of Minnesota that see a struggling Mom of two and actually hold the door open for her with a smile instead of rushing right by.

We walked Ashish over to the Hyatt, where the BEA conference was being held. He registered and went to the meet & greet while the boys and I started shopping (yes, already!). This was also prime time for me to catch-up on my snap-shots! With the city as a backdrop, one can only feast with photo opps (see, a reference to food - again). We walked a few miles to Frontera Grill (Rick Bayless' place), but it was closed on Monday's! Instead, we headed back and ordered pizza to go, and crashed.

Tuesday morning Ashish got all decked out in a suit and tie (I haven't seen him in one since our wedding). While he attended the conference, the boys and I painted the town blue! We went to the Chicago Stockyards, shared a sundae at Ghirdelli, had a picnic style lunch, played at the fire house park, went to Millennium Park, and missed Daddy a whole lot! After the boys woke up from their naps, it was time to go and meet Daddy for dinner. We went out for Indian food- and made a pit stop for some Chicago popcorn for dessert.

Wednesday we met up with Auntie Audrey at LaLo's- again. Audrey and I did everything together back in h.s....I'm so glad we've remained in contact through the years.

This was such a short trip we didn't plan to make it a social visit- especially since we weren't going to drive to the burbs, but I had to have some...out of the city time. :) After the boys, Audrey, her Mom and cousin Colby (5), all played at Proska Park (the same place I grew-up playing). It was so neat to see!

After a long day, we headed back- in a commuters nightmare. Just when I started to tear-up about not living close to those special people in our lives...traffic gave me a reality check! Daddy was a party-animal (at least in Ashish terms) as he stayed out with the folks at BEA (they have an evening arranged for them all with a tour and dinner). The boys and I ate Gino's- again! And we loved every bite of it. :)

Goodness For Dan: Ashish's co-worker, Dan (Ashish's previous boss), became my savior a few different times turning this trip. Every time something happened- he would magically appear. For instance, my room key wouldn't work. So I'm trying to back the boys out of the elevator (mind you, I was already frustrated) and there he appears with a smile and a helping hand.

Then there was the Gino's East "incident"~ Remember how I spoke of revolving doors? Well, I ordered take out for the boys and I, and I couldn't get in to pick it up! So, I called Gino's and they had to send out security to open one of the regular doors. Just as they did, a PACKED trolley pulls up and unloads a million hungry people who trample over us to squeeze through any and all doors. So the security guard is yelling, "I'm looking for a stroller!" Nice huh? Well, it get's better!!

While waiting for our order, Nishad takes out his disposable camera (with a flash) that Mom picked up for him (so he would leave MY camera alone) and he takes a picture of 10 drunk business men. Thank goodness for beer...they were all happy! So, on the way out...I couldn't open the door again!! So, I was ready to give up and open the pizza right in the middle of place when Dan comes out of nowhere! He opened the door for us- Which, of course, I'm thanking him on the sidewalk in front when all of a sudden we hear, "Whoa, What Was That?!" and I turn and Dan says "Watch out!" as I simultaneously try to move the buggy...that a blind man just walked into! The nice blind man keep saying, "What was that?" Dan kept saying, "Your okay...Your Okay....You walked into a buggy." That was my cue to get back into our safe hotel room! Enough of letting us loose on the streets of chi-town!

The Perfect Spot: FREE Parking in front of the Lincoln Park Zoo. I knew it was going to be a good day when I landed a free parking spot in front of the zoo in Lincon Park. Good timing and my oh-so-awesome illegal u-turn abilities combined with my parallel parking skills paid off! We spent the morning at the zoo, along with every other elementary school in the Chicagoland Metropolitan area, visited the botanical gardens and at lunch before (The Gorilla Grill- Good Enough to beat on your chest about) heading back to pick up Daddy. Nishad loved how close the animals were- similar to a very beautiful zoo in Saint Paul, Como Zoo.

Off to the Dells!! Bye Bye, My Kind of Town! Despite 1hour detour, we made it to the Dells where Daddy booked a lakeside, beach room for us to relax in. And, boy...did we need it! I think we were all in bed by 9p.m. The following day we went to Deer Park and heading back for home!

Grandma Wanda

The Day after Mother's Day, the Day before my Mom's birthday. Though we went back to Chicago for Ashish's IT convention, in which he was a guest speaker, our fist stop was to pay respects to Grandma Wanda. She passed on January 23rd of 1992 from an aggressive form of breast cancer. I was 17 years old, a senior in high school. We brought her grave site the most beautiful flowers we could find. Oh, how she loved her garden...

This was the first time Baby Arun was there- the second time for Nishad. We were back last May for Audrey's wedding. Little did we know that we would be back again- almost exactly 1 year later!

I still cry at her last resting place. But, I cry for a different reason. I cry tears of joy because I know she is watching over us all, she is happy- and I feel in my heart how proud she is of me, Ashish and our boys. I know that she lives on in Nishad's vibrant spirit, Arun's smile and my laughter.

Mother's Day!

THE Perfect Mother's Day! May 11th.

This is the holiday that I use to attempt to avoid. All the commercial Mother's Day 'stuff' reminded me of the one thing I didn't have and wanted most- my Mother. Ironically, my mother's birthday is also on May 13th.

The year I became pregnant with Nishad, that all changed. I did a little tap dance right into the card section and bought every mother that was of inspiration to me a "Happy Mother's Day" card. It's not that I don't miss my Mom. Like the moon and stars, feelings come in cycles. However, being blessed with Motherhood has also given me a new perspective. I now understand that, like the caterpillar that evolves into a beautiful butterfly, it was not an ending for my mother- but rather a new beginning. Just as the boys and Ashish have given me...a new beginning.

The boys gave me a beautiful heart pendent that was thoughtful and symbolic. Then they took me to the most awesome place for breakfast! French Meadow Bakery in Minneapolis. http://www.frenchmeadow.com/ It prides itself in organic ingredients...and it was the best French Toast ever! Ashish ordered the breakfast burrito- which I also sampled. I plan on ordering that next time!

After breakfast we headed to Madison Wisconsin. We were heading to Chicago for Ashish's business conference, and planed to stay over for the night. We toured the most impressive gardens at the Olbrich Garden's. http://www.ci.madison.wi.us/Olbrich/Outdoor%20Gardens/outdoor_gardens.htm If you are ever passing through, you need to check them out. It's free, and they often have concerts. Get there a head of time as parking is limited.

I'm so glad I was able to share this day with my boys and Ashish.

Festival Of Nations

Another great Saint Paul Festival- Festival of Nations!
http://www.festivalofnations.com/

Festival of Nations should be called Festival of food as there is a lot of it! Unlike the International Children's Festival, you do have to pay to get into the Festival of Nations, and food isn't that cheap. (We were rather disappointed with the Indian food, but the Hungarian food was great!)
Nishad sampled everything we did- and liked it! He got out with me and danced on the dance floor. I paid a $2.00 for the worst kolacky ever. They just aren't like Vesky's back in Berwyn.

There are plenty of cultural performances and demonstrations representing over 90 countries. Pretty impressive!