Join the Circus like you wanted to when you were a kid! Off we went to the Shrine Circus on the ground of the State Fair. Who knew the Circus would last so long? It started at 10:30a.m. and we finally walked out at 1p.m.! We had perfect seats and the boys, Kelly and I enjoyed it.
MOA with a twist of Guthrie
Nishad’s best friend’s Mom works at MOA. Since J’s birthday is actually on April 1st (no joke!) J’s Mom invited us to spend J’s special day with him at the park at MOA. The night before, we thought it would be fun to go and pick out some balloons to give to J in celebration of his 4th birthday! The next day, we were rushing out the door and we forgot the balloons! This, after listening to the lady in the balloon shop go on and on about Nishad’s eye (yes, he has another bump that we are treating- poor guy). I finally had to tell her to stop as he already feels self-conscious enough, please don’t draw additional attention to it and make him feel worse. I called J’s Mom and said we may be running late as we were going back for the ‘surprise’ for J!
We finally reached MOA when I opened the back door to get the stroller out- and you can just guess what happened! We had our own little celebration for J right there in the parking lot as we watched the balloons float away up, up and away…until they were no longer visible. Nishad looked at Kelly and I with such disappointment. We stopped off and picked J up two birthday suckers on the way to meet him. All was well again.
Nishad and J had so much fun riding all the rides together. They are so cute together! Watching them gave me a case of the smiles and giggles! It meant so much that J wanted to spend his actual birthday with us! This was the second time that in a week that we were able to hang out with them. J’s mom had everything set so that the boys could ride everything for free- a perk for working at MOA, I’d say! It was time to say goodbye and hello to lunch and then nap times. We had a great time though!
Kelly and I had to rest up as we had tickets to see “By the Bog of Cats” at the Guthrie in the evening. It was great to get out like old times and really tear into a play. The best part was analyzing it with her. It really made me feel like I wanted to get my hands dirty and direct it! Overall, it was a good play. However, for a show that is closing in 4 days, it wasn’t as polished as we expected. There was a beautiful view on the 9th floor. We took some neat pictures. We got home really late. I don’t think I recall my head hitting the pillow- I just passed out!
Origami with a side of Children’s Museum
Sound the trumpets and belt out a “C” note busting with vibrato; Auntie Kelly flew in to MSP from MDW today! She gave her job notice at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC a month back and it was finally time for her to ship out. Her Mom and Brother drove to NYC to help her move. She headed back to Chicagoland to stay with her Mom. In 6-weeks she’ll be off again to MA to create and design costumes for the summer Shakespeare Theatre Company there. She’s already received a phone interview from Dayton University and now…they are going to fly her out for a face to face interview. Of course, all expenses paid (isn’t that the only way to travel?). I have a feeling when they see her and get to know her, they won’t let her escape back on to the plane! Good things are headed her way. Meanwhile, a visit to our house was certainly in order!
Being that Auntie K loves sushi, after she landed we headed off to Origami in Minneapolis for lunch. De.lic.ious! Nishad enjoyed using the chop sticks. Kelly had the biggest bowl of noodles I’ve ever seen. Tiger had fun with noodles. I enjoyed the salmon/cream cheese/cucumber roll.
After we headed to the Minneapolis Children’s Museum to get our sillies out. Arun had fun in the Aunt hole and sliding head first down the slide repeatedly. Nishad enjoyed the stamp work in the art center and “construction zone.” I thought Kelly would get up and show all the kiddies how to rock like a rock star, but she was tired by that point (like the rest of us)! We couldn’t leave without a trip to Candyland for some popcorn~ That perked everyone up again!
The Three J’s






The three J’s paid us a visit today! J and Nishad are the best of friends. The go to school together. He’s going to be 4 this Saturday! Of course, Nishad is really looking forward to his birthday party! His younger brother turned 2 a few months back, so Arun had a little buddy to pal around with as well! Us Mommy’s gel well together. Everytime I see her, I can’t wait to hang out again…
Many laughs, “construction zone” sounds and moonpies later, we took a walk to the dairy farm a few blocks away from where we live. Every Monday should be like this one! What an awesome way to begin the week.
SPRING!




On the first day of Spring, it snowed here in the morning. Just a grazing- enough of a joke for Mother Nature to pull on us all to remind us that there are things you can control, and other this that you can merely control your reaction to. Which is what Arun and I did from the front window. We chuckled and giggled…we knew the snow wouldn’t last for long with the temperatures approaching 40-degrees. Ha,Ha! As a matter of fact, we already were grilling.
I love the lot that our house is on. During the Spring we can see all the baby birdies, ducklings, watch the mink and the beaver in the creek and hear all the great sounds to go with it. Soon, Nishad and Arun will be chasing stray frogs from the creek. In the Summer, our yard is screened by trees which adds a wonderful element of privacy. This was something that really attracted us to this house. In the Autumn, we witness all the changing colors reflected in the creek. In the winter, it appears as powder sugar coats the trees that line the creek. Just beautiful…and I’m not a fan of winter, so that says a lot!
We bought Nishad a new big boy bike this past week! He passed his little toddler bike down to his baby brother (who is ecstatic about it!). His new bike is a construction zone bike (what other bike is there for a boy to have?!) complete with a dump truck helmet. He’s pretty proud of his bike. This Spring was the right time to make the transition too. Now over 44-inches tall, his legs needed the room to pedal.
We seem to be just clearing the woods of a nasty run in with the stomach flu. I was so happy that the boys had such a healthy winter~ and then it got them at the end. At least, to this day they haven’t had any earaches…I’ve heard some pretty awful stories about that this winter. My heart goes out to any baby that is sick. Nishad’s fever was pretty high. Thank G-d that he is now ‘back to himself’…I’ll keep him home from school as a precaution. He’ll go back on Tuesday.
We have quite the busy week ahead of us. I’m not sure I feel rested enough to dive into it! I’m coordinating a staff appreciation luncheon at Nishad’s school that I am very excited about. There are some phenomenal teachers/people at Nishad’s school. What better way to say “thank you” to those who enrich our children’s lives so much? I made flower invitations for the teachers in the color of lilac and sage. Each teacher will be take with them a little envelope of wild flower seeds to plant so they can continue to bloom during the summer and remind them of how much they are appreciated. I think it will be fun, and I’m enjoying getting to know some other parents through this adventure.
Arun also has his 16 month appointment (a month late…oops!). Ashish is taking the morning off and we’ll drop Nishad off to school, go to Arun’s appointment and then have breakfast together and hang out for a bit…just with Arun. I also have a photography booking this week that I am looking forward to! I just created the most gorgeous baby announcement for Rocco! He’s ADORABLE! I also created a promotional postcard for Chicago Makeup Professionals to be used at the Chicago Bridal EXPO. It looks pretty awesome! I think they’ll get lots of inquires. This Friday marks the last day of school for Nishad before Spring Break! We found out some wonderful news last week!! Kelly is coming to visit us on the 31st through April 3rd! We always look forward to visits from Auntie K!
The Egg Hunt is quickly approaching as well. We have set-up on the evening of the 3rd, and the hunt is on Saturday. Which, after being the chair for 3 months now (3 meetings), I think I’m finally starting to settle into the role and feel a bit more comfortable with Ronald’s Rules. It felt odd at first because I’m the first chair that had to be so ‘structured’ and on top of everything, we are now moved to the chambers. So, I really have no one before me to learn from or use as an example. I do feel support from my peers and I know that they understand. I do feel like our meetings are going well and we are getting more done. I also feel like everyone is heard now or has the opportunity to take the floor. I was pretty nervous my first couple of times! Though one side of me did want to just belt out a high note or two…haha.
Nishad actually has his best friend’s 4th birthday party to attend on Saturday, so he, Ashish and Arun won’t be at the Egg Hunt. We’ll have our own in our back yard! You can bet you’ll get pictures too!