It's been a while since a blog post and that in part reflects the busy summer that we have had. Here I summarize the summer of 2010.
Summer started with the kids month long stay with their cousins in San Diego. It was the first time they have ever stayed without either parent and both of us had second thoughts after the trip was booked. Veena appeared to have more of an issue staying away from them then the otherway around.
Nishanth had his stint of tantrums and Neetu continued with her habit of sidelining him and making him an outsider resulting in constant conflicts among the kids.
Malini deserves an outstanding ovation for managing 4 kids between 4 and 8. The trip was most remembered for the time they spent and played with their cousin. For a couple of weeks after they returned they would re-enact in full drama fashion various events during their stay over there.
Mali achema now became their favorite while Rajesh Valiacha came to be known for the games he played with them after work.
Overall it turned out to be a memorable trip lasting about 4 weeks. Their trip culminated with our visit to San Diego over the memorial day weekend.
Lego Land, Sea world and beaches were some of the trips we made during that time.
Any guesses as to what is swimming towards Nishanth?
World Cup soccer was also in full swing while we were in San Diego, so most of the free times were spend playing soccer in the back yard. Myself and Abhi against Neetu, Arjun and Nishanth. Abhi was a goal keeper and he loved that role.
Rajesh put on his Chef's hat for a grand BBQ and we also celebrated Mali's Birthday.
Once home they spend the next month of summer vacation going to their school where they were enrolled in a Summer camp. Contrary to what I thought would happen, they seemed to be so interested in the activities there that it took absolutely no prodding to get them ready in the mornings.
The sadness of the end of the San Diego trip was blunted by the
highly anticipated visit of KK & family.
KK followed by Anju was the order of preference for the kids.All of us made a trip downtown, while the kids played in City Garden, Valiamman, Amaiy and myself took a stroll around to the arch. For Anju it was her first time at the water fountain and the excitement in her face told it all.
Towards the end of Summer camp, my parents finished their stay in CA and returned. The downside of their trip was mom was came down with fever and she seemed to recover just enough to fly back.
The next big event of the summer was Anju's birthday. A year has gone by and it won't be long before she is referred to as Anju from "Anju Baby" in our conversations with the kids. KK's house was packed with Anju's grand parents, her Valiacha & cousin, mama and wife, our family with my parents. The celebration was grand and KK and Suni went to great lengths to make it a memorable one.
What's summer without catching
a few caterpillars feeding them and hoping they turn into butterfly's after what he considers is playing with them every evening?
Dad found small chores around the house to keep him occupied while the kids were at school.
Celebrating my birthday. Yes, that is Mali with us on her unplanned trip to STL.
The following weekend was another trip, this time it was to New York to meet our cousins who in the kids mind only existed as fictional characters. They have never seen them so it was a trip that was ripe with anticipation.
It was a memorable trip the house was full of life with 7 kids, who for the most part got along well. The girls outnumbered the boys, girls mostly played amongst themselves while the boys did their part to irritate them. When things got out of hand, I usually became the bad guy to watch all of them unite for kids against me brawl.
From left to right: Joslyn, Reena, Nandita, Nishanth, myself, Rajshree and Kela with Kyle's head at the bottom.
Ladies pose (like cursive
letters)
during our late night tour of Manhattan.
A game of carom board over at Rajesh's place after a grand
BBQ lunch prepared by Jasmine and Rajesh.
Harish and Janice were gracious hosts and planned activities while uncle and aunt made sure the entire family was thoroughly fed. We laughed our gut off at a comedy club and followed up with a couple hours of bowling while the grand parents watched the kids. It was one of the those evenings that will stand out when we recall this trip. We made a tour of Manhattan at night and took the kids to the statue of Liberty the following day.
The downside of the trip to NY was that mom's fever returned and she was pretty much resting at home the whole time while we were there.On returning from NY she came back to normalcy only after a visit to the ER resulting in hospitalization and treatment of the fever through antibiotics.
It's now back to school time. Phew..! I am glad they are back in school. 1st and 3rd grade here they come as I watch another page being turned in our life.
The other program they participated 
in was to dress up as the 10 avatars of lord Vishnu. Nishanth was the turtle, Vaibhav the dwarf, Pranav the fish, Achu - Mr. Mammuti was the lion and Sidharth the Boar. I forget who/what the rest were.
Myself and Veena were MC's for the program 
and we seemed to have performed a much better job of it then the expectations we had set for ourselves. The only issue I had was being a Malayalam program we fired away in English, and so far I haven't heard of much complaints.
