Happy Birthday to Dada!

We celebrated Dada's birthday last week with a few different meals. First up was a feast from RedBones:
 

Maya really seemed to enjoy the side of beans:

As well as the mac n cheese:

We also had a delicious dinner at Rendezvous in Cambridge a couple days later:

And he got a tasty home-cooked brunch a couple days after that!

Yoga, Dancing, and Dosas

For some reason, Maya was constantly doing the downward dog yoga pose while we were in LA. Maybe she was inspired by the laid-back SoCal lifestyle? I don't know. Anyway, I thought she looked adorable, especially when Chethu Auntie joined her, so I took a photo of it:

She also spent some time dancing to Madonna with her Chethu Auntie and Uncle Eric: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha2KBg_JQX8

Maybe this was all in preparation for the tasty dosa lunch that followed. We were joined by family and friends, including the adorable Baby Colette, who is Eric's niece. She hung out with us at lunch:

After lunch we took a couple group photos. Here's the first one (L-R back row): Bhuvana, Chethana, Chithra with Colette, Rama, Jessica. (L-R front row): Krishna, Eric, and Matt:

And here's the second one (L-R back row): Chethana, Chithra with Colette, Rama, Jessica. (L-R front row): Keith, Krishna, Eric, and Matt:

Nothing like delicious food and great company - two of life's pleasures!

Brunching and Playing, LA-Style

I wanted to have the quintessential LA brunch while we were there last week, and fortunately my sister and friends humored me with this request. We all met up at The Alcove in Los Feliz, which I'm told is a hipster neighborhood. The menu and the setting were very Californian - lots of fresh flavors in a beautiful tree-lined courtyard. Plus we had a great conversation, full of laughs and smiles:

Of course, by the end of the meal, Maya was a bit tired:

And then a meltdown started:

Fortunately, after a nap she was happy again, and we went to the park to play with some family and friends. One new friend was furry:

And Maya got to hang out with Uncle Naeem and Auntie Srimoyee:

She convinced Uncle Eric to take her over to the swings:

And then hung out there happily for a while:

And finally, playing peekaboo with Ajja was fun:

Life's a Beach

Despite the weather not being extremely warm in LA, we took a trip to the beach in Santa Monica. We started with a bit of lunch on a blanket, during which Maya showed her doubts about the beach:

I took her in the sand and the water, which she hated. This is totally different than last year, when she loved sitting at the water's edge. She did cheer up after sitting in her grandpa's lap and playing with her ball for a few minutes:

After that we went walking on the pier, which included a carousel. She loved riding it, though you can't tell from this photo:

She was very sad when that ride was over, but seemed to cheer up afterward while walking on the pier:

Santa Monica is definitely one of the nicest parts of LA!

Beautiful Flowers in the Garden

During our trip to LA, we took the opportunity to visit The Huntington Gardens. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and we all enjoyed ourselves. We spent a bunch of time in the rose garden:

Maya seemed to be excited by all the plants:

After this, we saw beautiful orchids in the conservatory:

Then we saw the beautiful lilacs:

Then we saw some beautiful flowers in the desert garden:

All of this was quite tiring:

A fun outing in the midst of beauty!

Playing at the Park

We just got back from a trip to LA, where we met up with lots of family and friends. We stayed with my sister in Pasadena and discovered a lovely park right around the corner from her apartment. We literally went there everyday, and Maya was all smiles every time:

It'll be fun when the weather is warmer here and we can go to the park more often!

Walking and Playing Ball

As I catch up on blogging, I'm finding more photos that I haven't posted. Anyway, Maya has become more confident with walking and standing, which is great since I was really worried about this. Here's a photo of her standing up and enjoying the springtime weather:

On the topic of springtime weather, we took advantage of the beautiful day and took a walk in The Fells:

Obviously, Maya loves looking stylish in her Hello Kitty sunglasses: 

I'm just glad we haven't lost them yet!

And finally, here are a couple video clips of Maya playing ball with Dada:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DXXg0eRjaU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0Se_polHDA