Holiday Travels Part 4: Kulkarnis in San Jose

Among all our adventures out and about in the San Jose area, we also managed to have a great time at home to. The Kulkarni grandparents (Ajji and Ajja) always know how to generate a ton of giggles! And there was another opportunity for Maya and Dada to dance to great music. Plus Maya got to show off a song that she learned in her music class.

Plus there were tons of great toys to play with - Maya loved my old Lego collection:

She hung out in the kitchen with Ajji:

She did yoga with Ajja:

All in all, a very fun trip!

Holiday Travels Part 3: San Jose

We had a TON of fun with the Kulkarni family during our visit to San Jose. Again, we got to spend time with grandparents, aunt and uncle, friends, and more. And again, we enjoyed some great weather - no snow and no freezing temperatures!

We started with a celebratory dinner at an Italian restaurant; there was lots to celebrate, including a successful PhD defense for Eric, an engagement for Chethana and Eric, and birthdays for my mom, my dad, and my sister Chethana.

Maya enjoyed the food:

As did we all:

And Maya enjoyed wandering around the restaurant in her new tutu:

We also had fun meeting up with old and new friends, including the Martin family:

And the Sandhu-Makker family:

And the Wong family:

Of course there was lots of fun at home too, which will be in the next post!

Holiday Travels Part 2: Gaye Holud in Houston

For the gaye holud event in Houston, we got all dressed up in our Indian clothes:

Maya showed off her henna design next to mine:

One of the traditions at this event is to feed the bride and groom sweets after they've been garlanded with flowers:

Maya was a bit shy during this part of the festivities but was happy to share smiles later on with her aunt:

She also enjoyed dancing to the Bollywood music playing during the party:

A lovely night for a lovely couple!

Holiday Travels Part 1: Houston

Our trip to Houston to visit the Husain family was SO much fun. We got to spend time with grandparents, aunt & uncle, friends, and more. The weather was beautiful, so we took advantage of it for some outdoor activities.

We went to the zoo, where Maya enjoyed making monkey noises at the lemur exhibit. She was also very excited to pet a goat:

And we looked at some giraffes:

Went on the carousel, which was fun while it was spinning, and less fun once Maya realized the ride was over and we'd be getting off the ride:

During Maya's naptime the next day, I went out with Srimoyee to get henna done in advance of a Gaye Holud:

When Maya woke up from her nap and saw our beautifully decorated hands, she wanted some henna too:

All of this culminated in a beautiful and fun pre-wedding event that is a Bengali tradition, which will be the next post!

It's Been a Long Time

The last six weeks have been a blur! In December we went to Maya's last music class (*sniff*), met a new baby, went to a fun football-themed birthday party, opened tons of presents, mailed out 70 holiday cards, delivered another 30 cards, and baked 3 dozen holiday cookies. This was all before we got on a few airplanes to visit family in Houston, San Jose, and Los Angeles. We all got sick by the end of the travels, but that's probably to be expected.

Without further ado, here are some pictures from our pre-travel adventures. First, kids + bubbles at Maya's last music class:

Next, meeting new Baby Max:

And in the next post: the start of our holiday travels!

Celebrating a Football Birthday

I realized I forgot to post pictures from Maya's friend Ryan's birthday - he turned four in December. He had an awesome football birthday with a truly talented balloon artist. Maya got an amazing monkey balloon:

Zach got a football balloon:

Saru got a football player balloon hat:

And the birthday boy Ryan got a football with a goal post on his balloon hat:

Maya seemed to enjoy herself:

Definitely a fun party! :)

Mmmmm Chocolate

After Thanksgiving we felt like we hadn't eaten enough sweet stuff so we decided to join our friends on a tour of the Taza Chocolate Factory. Let me just say, it was AWESOME. Totally worth the money. We are so lucky to have an artisanal organic chocolate maker so close by and open for tours.

Before the tour started, Zach and Maya took a look at a large cacao pod:

We were asked to wear hairnets for the tour since we'd be going near their chocolate-making equipment:

All along the way we got free samples of their delicious chocolate, which they make bean to bar. They even had samples of hot chocolate, which made Maya pretty happy:

Later that night, we went out to celebrate our friend Saru's birthday. After dinner she got a huge slice of chocolate cake, which we all sampled. Maya got an ice cream as well, which of course she loved:

Overall, definitely a fun holiday weekend!