Playtime

Having the playroom located just off the kitchen enables me to listen in on the games and conversations that go on between Priya and Sanjay while they play. I must admit... a lot of it I have grown to ignore, but when I choose to listen it's often quite amusing and entertaining.

Having grown up for the most part without the internet, without TV remote controls, without cell phones and without cordless phones... I wonder how the kids of this electronic gadget (for lack of a better term) generation will turn out. Back in the day when we played, our games were limited to bike riding, dogs, store, school and war (essentially a little more aggressive form of "tag"). Recently I overheard Priya talking to Sanjay about her extravagant boat. She handed him something and said, "This is my card and it has my website on it. To enter my pool you just put it in here then push this. To enter my restaurant, you swipe the card here, here and here". I mean, really... where does she come up with this stuff? At least, we won't see them wearing leg warmers and stirrup pants with winged hair... or will we, since fashion usually runs in cycles?

Regardless of the generation, boys will be boys...

Priya: What does sprake-ey mean?
Sanjay: Sprake-ey means "Daddy's dead"
Priya: Then I'm not going to play with you if there's going to be any deadness.

Father's Day In Pictures

Our pictures give you a glimpse into how the day unfolded. I would have to agree with Priya that "Daddy is as strong as an elphint, as sweet as an ice cream cone, as smart as a scientist and as fun as a puppy".

And, here he is watching football with the remote control in hand...


Hope you had a great Father's Day Daddy! We love you.

Girls Weekend In Denver

Mom had a little get-away this weekend. Thanks Daddy! It was spent in Denver with a couple of close friends of mine. We originally were looking at a spa weekend in Utah, but settled on a local trip instead. It was a weekend filled with adventure, relaxation, shopping, relaxation, movies, relaxation, dancing and, oh yeah, more relaxation. We spent a lot of time at the hotel pool reading and napping, some time shopping, a short stint at the hotel spa, some mornings walking, a night out on the town and some time flying in the wind tunnel at Denver's SkyVenture. We also managed to squeeze in a trip to the theatre to see "Sex and the City" with bottomless popcorn and soda... a perfect girls weekend chick flick. We even met real live wedding crashers, Tonya and Mike, who were also staying in our hotel... popular for its weddings and receptions especially in June. I believe there were 6 different wedding events happening on Saturday night alone.

Anyway, it was a fun little trip and here are some mementos to share...

The Origin of Language

Priya is always guessing, always analyzing, always wondering, always thinking. And, I think a ride in the car gives her a quiet place for the mind to wander. After reaching the Target this morning, this is the conversation we had in the parking lot.

Priya: I always wonder why they call things things.
Mommy: Oh, you mean where things get their names?
Priya: Yeah, like vehicle?
Mommy: Good point... I still haven't figured it all out.
Priya: But, I know why the Thunderbirds are called that. Because they sound like thunder and they fly like birds. Why are they called birds though? They should be the Thunderjets.

She has been picking out nuances in Sanjay's speech for a couple of months now. It's a fun trick for her to ask him to say, “I think”. When he does, it comes out more like “I stink” because he can't form the “th” sound yet with his mouth and this always sets her into a fit of laughter. She even hears differences in Pappy's accent. She recently asked me “Why does Pappy call water, 'wuh-der'?”. With her keen observation skills and our position as primary role models, we must be even more careful about our word choices.

Tooth Fairy Mishaps

After such an uplifting day yesterday, Priya awoke to great disappointment this morning when her tooth was still under her pillow in a plastic baggie... the Tooth Fairy never exchanged it for a few coins last night. How dare her?

This is how I find out. I pulled my car in the garage this morning with the radio blaring and all I see is the house door opening, Priya standing there with great concern in her face, lips moving telling me something very important, but through the glass of my car windows and the loud tunes I couldn't make out what it was she was saying. Yikes, the Tooth Fairy forgot to come.

Somehow, last night I knew I was going to forget. When I tucked her in I thought to myself... go get the money now and lay it by your bed so you don't forget... then my laziness got in the way and that never happened. I got too busy uploading pictures and blogging about our fun day at the park yesterday instead. And, now I'm paying for it. The problem with this scenario is that you have to think quick... there's no time to prepare a grand explanation of why she didn't come for the tooth. Then, of course, I'm thinking, "What has Daddy already told her? Should we be giving the same story?"... oh man, I'm in trouble. I didn't have a viable excuse like my friend, KO, over the winter when this exact thing happened to her. Luckily, it had snowed the night before so of course, it's hard for the Tooth Fairy to be out and about in the snow. How about my friend Susan? Her story is believable too. The Tooth Fairy can't honestly be expected to go on a hunt for it in the car.

What was I going to tell Priya? She'd been talking about it all afternoon how she was going to wake up with money... how the Tooth Fairy had once left her 3 dollars (Really? Not this Tooth Fairy). The best I could come up with was that it was because she was sleeping in the trundle bed last night, not her regular bed and so that threw the Tooth Fairy off. She got confused, of course. But, maybe tonight if you move back into your own bed, she'll find it. I found out a minute later that Daddy gave a whole different story... something about it being a test for her to see if she would move the tooth out from under her pillow. Either way, both of these excuses are a little shady and Priya wasn't convinced. We'll try again tonight... hopefully the Tooth Fairy won't disappoint this second time around.

It's Days Like This...

that make me feel so guilty about my job as full-time Mommy. In the summer, without the schedule of school and the freezing cold temperatures, full-time Mommy also means full-time vacation. So, while Daddy works tirelessly almost every day to keep us financially secure, we are out playing... being kids... including Mommy. I feel so fortunate to be able to spend days like this with them while they are little, but at the same time I wish we could be sharing more of these days with Daddy. The few weeks of vacation he receives as part of his benefits package at work just don't cut it.

What exciting thing did we do today, you ask? Well we spent the day in Santa's Workshop at the North Pole. It's a great little amusement park not too far from us that is geared toward the little kids. Its luring array of little-people Christmas-themed rides, a North Pole that is always frozen no matter what time of year, a candy cane slide, a visit with Santa Claus himself and a ride on Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer make this park irresistible to young children. There is something wrong however with hearing "Little Drummer Boy" and sitting on Santa's lap when it's almost 80 degrees outside.

We planned to spend the morning at the park, a quick stop for our picnic lunches and maybe another half hour or so after that before we skedaddled out of there... but we were having so much fun that we nearly closed the place down at 5pm. No one wanted to stop; every single one of us, including the adults, wanted to ride "just one more ride". What's more, the park wasn't crowded at all so we stayed on for 2 or 3 rounds at many attractions. You can see all of our pictures from today... if you have some time on your hands.

The kids will remember this day for many things:

• Priya lost a tooth in the spinning ornament on the white Christmas tree attraction
• Sanjay was terrified in the Haunted House that he thought had "good people in it"
• Priya rode the Tilt-A-Whirl without giving the thumbs down (indicating to the ride operator that she wants it to stop so she can get out)
• Sanjay insisted on riding something that I warned him against and unfortunately had to bear the entire thing with his eyes closed since it was on a timer and the ride operator couldn't stop it for kids in fear... I felt so bad for him
• Waiting for Santa to come back from lunch so they could put in their requests for Christmas
• Falling asleep in the car on the way home from sheer exhaustion

I will remember this day for one thing:

• Spending precious time with both of them and playing like a kid again myself

Airline Fees

Last week, my good friend KO was talking about the airlines and how they are trying to make up for rising fuel costs by adding more random fees for things like checked baggage, in-flight meals, extra legroom and choosing an aisle or window seat. I must say, it's getting a bit ridiculous, but hopefully it won't get as grim as this cartoonist projects. :)