Monthly Archives: April 2009

Eggstra Special

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This was my first event as the Chair for park and rec. I have to say, I felt very good about how things went! I’m lucky to work with such a good group of people. Each of them bring something different to the table. Combined…what rock-stars! I gave everyone a ‘gag’ gift to get us started. We changed things up this year a bit. We actually had the Easter Bunny outside. What a hit with guests! I don’t think the bunny was ever so popular! By being outside, it naturally encouraged children to gravitate towards the Bunny in a non-threatening environment. Parents also commented about how they liked the natural setting. Some kids simply waited in line to say, “Hello” to the Bunny, while others posed for a picture. I think it meant a lot to parents that they didn’t feel obligated to purchase a picture as well. They could simply take their own. Coborn’s Delivers certainly delivered!! They donated 500 water bottles for the event! Target donated 2 of the 4 bikes we gave away. Denny’s donated three $10 gift certificates and 29 buy on get one free cards. We had some great volunteers as well. Plus!! As an extra bonus, there was no snow on the ground this year! Now that’s something to be HOPPY about! My camera battery died half way through the event, so I didn’t get many pictures. However, I was too busy being the body guard for the Bunny to shoot. ha,ha. I felt like I worked for Disney, “Please form a line and the Bunny will be happy to meet you! He’s been busy laying all of these eggs for you to find!” All in all, there were about 1500 people in attendance this year. Pretty cool!

Ashish and the boys couldn’t attend this year. Nishad had J’s 4th birthday party to attend to from 10a.m. to 1p.m. in Plymouth. Ashish dropped him off and he and Tiger spent the day together. He took Tiger to a park in Plymouth and out to lunch. Tiger soaked up all the attention from Daddy. It’s the first time the two of them had been out by themselves. This was the first time we’ve ever trusted anyone with Nishad without us. J’s Mom said things went well- they all had a lot of fun! They are a wonderful family and I feel blessed that the path we took in life has enabled us to meet and connect. Tiger and Ashish made it back in time for the Pinata. Tiger even took a few swings at it. ha,ha! 🙂
Back to school next week for Nishad! What an amazing break- despite the snow. At least it melts within hours now and doesn’t linger around. We have another busy week next week. I have two photo shoots scheduled in the evenings and a park and rec meeting. Have a great week!

Fairwell, Auntie K!

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Auntie K headed back to Chicagoland today. Nishad asked why she went back to Chicago. I explained that her mommy missed her. He said, “That’s okay, we can pick her up tomorrow then.” We had a great time with Auntie K. We’re so blessed to have such a loving, caring, active and amazing person in our life. We love you, Auntie K!

Nishad did some sewing activities with Auntie K. There was a puppy that he sewed. Auntie K was quick to point out that it was an activity for 5 to 6 year olds. Nishad has excellent fine motor skills – especially only for a 3 1/2 year old!

Speaking of which, Nishad will be fulfilling the 3-year cycle, with his last year being Kindergarten at his Montessori School. His Kindergarten year will be Tiger’s first year of pre-school. Most of the kids in our actual neighborhood that we know of are older than him, so they will all be attending a year ahead as the Minnesota cut-off date is September 1st. We’ve also decided that we will open enroll him as we prefer to send him to a district closer to Ashish’s work. He’ll be entering 1st grade in the school year 2011/2012. That’s not too far off! Amazing how time flies!

We were invited over to a friend’s house in the afternoon for a lunch/play date– for all involved. Nishad was a little confused as her son’s name is the same as a boy in his class (I didn’t realize that until he filled me in on his thoughts in the car). I sure feel blessed with getting to know so many wonderful people lately. The boys played and I got to catch-up with a pal. She’s originally from Michigan, so we relate on a lot of topics. Very neat.

After I head to swing by City Hall to set-up for our Egg Hunt!

Circus

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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

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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

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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!