Majorca.

It was our 15th wedding anniversary last week. Fifteen! Feels like yesterday when I insisted I wanted pineapple rasam in my wedding menu. As usual, Hd and I started planning our anniversary trip months in advance. After exploring several options, including the Moon and the Mars, we got practical and decided on 4 days in Majorca. Except for Barcelona, we have nt been to Spain at all and it seemed like a good idea. And it was indeed a fantastic trip. The kids had a blast too. Ashu and I went Parasailing and it was amazing. We were total beach bums for a couple of days. Drove to Cap de Formentor one day and enjoyed the breathtaking views. 

Hd also gave me a huge surprise by giving me a little blue box! I almost fainted at the sight of the box tied up with the satin ribbon. Forget whats inside, just the box thrilled me to bits. Sigh! This is how labels and marketing affect the vulnerable, I guess. And I am not even a jewelry person. But then its Tiffanys, so there! :) 

Thank you, Hd. Love you loads. Heres to many more. And I don't mean just the anniversaries! ;)

37.

It was my "Happy Birthday" last week. Why does 37 seems so much older than 36? Antu gets a kick out of telling "When I am zero, you were 30 Amma and when I was one you were 31, when I am two you were 32,... ". She can't wait to turn 7 so that our ages are in sync once more.  Little joys of life! I told Hd to stop buying gifts for the sake of buying and get me a bicycle instead and he obliged. I realized I have never had a brand new cycle. I always got my sisters bike while growing up. And once I got my Kinetic Honda in college, there were no more bicycles. We bought an used rickety cycle here in Swiss a few years back which we sold when it looked like we were moving to the US! Between breaking my leg 2 years back and Antu being quite small, we four never cycled together as a family. Hd and Ashu used to go once in a while and Ashu enjoyed biking a lot. Then last year Antu took to cycling quite a bit too and this year seemed perfect for the four of us to go biking as a family and the new mountain bike could nt have come at a better time. We set out with our bikes on Saturday. Spring is almost here and it was a beautiful day. While Ashu and I rode like the wind, the two slow pokes lagged much behind. We managed about 10 Kms and loved it. The last 500 metres to home is totally uphill and I almost died. I found a better bike trail without much uphill and tried it out the next day and loved it. Thanks to Hd for the great gift.

Ashu made me a beautiful bead necklace with bottle caps as lockets and her photo and mine in each of the bottle caps and I almost cried when she showed me and wore it proudly the whole day showing it off to everyone. Antu made me a necklace too and showered me with hugs and kisses the whole day. She even refused to go to her BFFs house for a playdate and stayed home with me. Hd took me out for a fancy dinner and we had a great time. A very good friend had a birthday breakfast for me with a few friends at her house and I felt like a school kid going to school on her birthday wearing "colour dress"! It was a great day. Antu was very curious about our "in sync" age and asked, "How old will you be when I am 50, Amma?"  "I will be 80", I said. "And when I am 80?" "She will be dead, Antu", answered Ashu quickly! That kid will do anything to get out of a math question, I tell you.

Breakfast in France, Lunch in Italy and Dinner in Switzerland.

Last year when it looked like we might move out of Zurich, we started writing lists of things to do before we move. Hd and I had a long list of places to see, Ashu wanted to go to a theme park with her BFF and Antu, of course, did not want to move and refused to make lists. Smart one she is because she's the only one who got what she wanted! :) Anyway, one of the things we wanted to do was this day trip where we drive around and see three countries on the same day. We have technically done this before while driving back from Austria or Germany or France. (Even 4 countries at times if we include Liechtenstein!) But we also wanted to sightsee and relax and enjoy the trip. When a friend suggested we go to Geneva region and go to France and Italy, we thought it was a great idea.  The kids had never seen the Chillion Castle in Montreux so we decided to make a weekend trip. 

We drove to Montreux from Zurich on a Saturday, visited the castle, ate a packed dinner there and then drove on to Chamonix in France and stayed in a most charming B&B with a view of the Mont Blanc. When we got up the next day, the weather was awful and it rained non stop and we could nt even see the mountain because of the fog. The couple who ran the B&B cooked us a scrumptious French breakfast and we ate home made breads, cereals and crepes. We read and played board games and lingered there for a bit before driving on through the Mont Blacn Tunnel. (11 kms long and a bloody 41 Euros one way to pass through it!) 

Once out of the tunnel, we were in Italy and the sun was shining and all was well with the world! :) We continued to Aosta, parked our car there and roamed around the charming town centre full of Roman ruins. We window shopped, people watched, walked in to churches and of course found a great Pizza place to fulfill our "Lunch in Italy" plan. After a fantastic pizza and bruschetta, we found a shop which was selling "Gelato in a Stick" in all kinds of flavors and colors. Slurping on it, we got back to our car and started driving towards Zurich, wisely skipping the tunnel and taking the longer, scenic route instead.

While we were debating whether to go home and eat a home cooked meal for dinner or stop at a restaurant, the girls voted for a Mexican restaurant and we planned to stop in Bern and have dinner there. Around 7.30 pm, we reached Bern and parked our car near the city centre and were walking towards the Mexican restaurant, when we crossed a restaurant serving Swiss food! The universe had to conspire even for a silly whim of ours, huh? We high fived each other and entered the restaurant with our cameras ready! :) Fondue was out of the question since it was not yet winter but we lucked out with a fantastic selection of Rosti! They had a special Rosti menu with 12 kinds of Rosti and half of them were even vegetarian! (Thank you, Universe!) 

Thus a trip we decided on the last minute without much planning turned out to be one of the most interesting weekend trip we have ever had! I strongly recommend.

Confusion.

Before I know, its going to be a brand new year again! The second half of this year has been Crazy! Around June/July, Hd decided he needs a change in his job location and sent feelers out in his company and before we knew what hit us, it was Destination Chicago! (We are still in Zurich. Wait for the full story!) Antu was in tears because she was going to miss her teacher, her friends and the house! Ashu was in her "whatever" mode and I was having a break down! Come August, we told friends about our move,  informed the school that we were leaving in October, gave notice to our house, cancelled all the kids activities, started disposing/recycling/selling/giving away stuff and international movers were coming to give quotes! Friends were even planning farewell parties! And then everything came to a stand still mid october because Hd got another job offer here and he was keen to take it. For about three weeks, we could nt do anything. I was planning an india trip in Oct which did nt happen. Our house was rented to someone else already! I could nt inform the school yet because we did nt know what was going to happen! Sigh! It was pure torture! Hd was walking in egg shells around me because if looks could kill, he would have died a thousand times!

Finally, things fell in place and he accepted the offer and luckily we found another house to rent in the same neighborhood, the school was ok with our craziness, most of the kids activities could be renewed and the girls are extremely happy that we are not moving! But there was no time to rejoice as we were moving houses and the last few weeks were so stressful. It has been two weeks since we moved to this house and finally there are no more moving boxes in the house. Its a very nice, spacious house and Im slowly getting used to it. Antu who was crying buckets that she would miss our old house is much happier here since theres more space to spread her clutter! But everyday she crosses our old house to walk to her school and says hi to it! :)

Never a dull moment in my life but alls well that ends well, I suppose! Also, my friends are still throwing me a farewell party this weekend but they have renamed it "The Not Leaving Party!" Now who would want to leave such friends and move anyway? :)

2013 began with a bang!

I cant believe I have nt written anything since the new year began! And its not like there was nt anything to tell. I could have written about my Sis and Bil visiting us during the christmas break (no it was nt a surprise this time! :), about the ski trip to Klosters which was out of the world, about the Spa trip we all went to which was even more awesome and when the good times ended with a bang when my dear husband fell down while skiing and tore a ligament or two in his right knee, ... I kid you not! Not a boring moment in my life, I tell you! Now Hd is reliving exactly what I went through last year! And its not fun! :( 

Antu's first ever Ski lessons began this year and as expected, she hates them! :)

Ashu had a blast in Klosters and declared that Klosters is the best place to ski in the whole wide world! (The pro skier in our family, my Bil agreed too that it was one of his best skiing experience!)

Hope the new year is treating you all better. This beginning of the year with a bang reminds me of someone. He used to work for my father a long time back and truly believed in the daily prediction on the daily sheet calendar based on one's birth star. If it was printed "selavu" (spending) for his star, he would immediately buy tea for all his colleagues hoping that thats the only spending he has to do and nothing big comes along later in that day! Cant fault the logic, can we? :) If it was supposed to be kashtam (tough) for us this year, I hope we have seen the worst and things start looking up from now!

Sleepless over Sleepovers.

I am alive! Last Saturday was such a big milestone for me that I decided to end my long hiatus and blog about it. Though Ashu has been asking for sleepovers with friends for a long time now, I did nothing to encourage the thought. One of my friends daughter (who is also Ashus friend) has come and stayed the night with us a couple of times but thats that. We have never sent Ashu to anyones house. And then last week Ashus BFF G's mom asked me if I can send Ashu to their house for a sleepover. Since Ashu has changed schools this year and is not with G anymore, I have been feeling very guilty to have separated them and I guess in a weak moment, I said yes. Ashu was over the moon, of course! So on the big day, she packed a bag with her pajamas and tooth brush and skipped and hopped and went to their house in their car. Around 8.30 pm when I called, G's mom told me that they are nowhere near sleeping and watching a movie! When I asked to talk to Ashu, she spoke to me as if I have interrupted something important! Even though I was nt worried, I could nt sleep until 3 am that night! It was really strange not to have Ashu in the house. The next day Gs mom took the girls directly to a birthday party and when I saw Ashu, it was 2 pm! Hugged her tight and asked about her big day but only got monosyllable answers! When we came home and she saw the poster I had put on our door, (Welcome back! We missed you!) her face broke into a huge grin and she hugged me and said "I missed you too, Amma! So when can I go for my next sleepover?" Sigh!

ps.

Loads of stuff to tell but absolutely no interest in putting the pen to paper means only one thing - this blog is dying a slow death. I apologize to all the people who are still interested in this blog and came by to check now and then and tried to wake me up. I am here now but dont know for how long! :)

The Hills are Alive.

Last week was a long weekend here and we decided on Friday and drove to Salzburg on Saturday. A friends family joined us for the first two days. Salzburg is beautiful! We have been to Vienna before but Salzburg is so different and so charming! We reached late afternoon and walked around the old town visiting the cathedrals. The salzburg cathedral is very impressive and it has the bronze font where Mozart was baptized, which I made Ashu touch! (thottu kumbtufy if you want to know! :) Then we bought tickets and went to visit the Hohensalzburg castle. Its on top of a hill and reminded me of Rock fort in Trichy! Wherever you go, it is there! The castle tour is quite interesting! The interior was grand and the view was amazing. 

The next day we took the Sound of Music Tour. I loved it! The Panaroma Tours pick you up right from your hotel and take you to Mirabell gardens and from there, the bus tour begins. Our guide, Naomi was fantastic! She played all the songs from the movie during the tour and most of us sang along! Ashu was quite shocked seeing her mother croon "I am sixteen..." with such intensity! There were lots of interesting information about the movie, actors, locations, etc... The first stop was at Leopoldskron Palace where the children went boating on the lake and fell down. Second stop was at Hellbrunn palace where one of the songs was shot and it also has the gazebo where "I am sixteen" was filmed! The third  stop is at Mondsee where Maria and the Captain got married. It was a beautiful place where we tried the customary Apfelstrudel! Yum! Then the tour takes you back to Mirabell gardens and we walked around on our own trying to sing Do Re Mi at the exact locations it was filmed! The tour made me all nostalgic and I was making evil eyes at Hd because this is a tour I should have totally gone with my sis and cousin A instead of the clueless husband and two kids! The tour took me back 20 or so years when the three of us paused the tape recorder after every word so as to memorize the sound of music songs and rewriting "You are sixteen" and singing it together with A for Sis's birthday! Good old days!

Our friends drove back to Zurich after the tour. We visited the Mozart museums and did a short river cruise and a pizza dinner before getting back to our hotel. The next day we drove to Berchtesgaden (in Germany) to visit the salt mine. All of us had to wear overalls and go on a train deep into the tunnels and it was quite scary! The tour was very interesting though. We had lunch at the restaurant outside the salt mine and drove to Obersalzburg to visit the Kehlsteinhaus. (Eagles Nest) Its a chalet built on top of a mountain peak and was given as a gift for Hitler's 50th birthday! The location of the chalet and the views from there should be seen to be believed! The chalet is a restaurant now. One has to park in Oberslazburg and take a bus to reach the restaurant. And climb a bit from there to go to the top. Spectacular! It was 4 pm by now and we drove back to Zurich. I drove the last 300 kms crossing Germany, Austria and entering Swiss. Delightful!

Salzburg was full of mozart and music! There were people playing violin at every street corner. Ashu told me that she wished she brought her violin! I wish too! The money collected could have at least paid for her museum ticket! :)

French Riviera.

We were off to South of France last week and had a fantastic time in the coast. Seven days of bliss. We stayed in a beautiful apartment in Nice with swimming pools and the girls had fun. It was very hot during the day so we did the beaches only after 5 pm. While it is completely a pebble beach in Nice, its sandy in Antibes and Cannes. Mind boggling really since they are so close to each other and yet the beaches were so different!

Monaco was so pretty. A funny thing happened. I was entering Monaco in the GPS while driving from Nice and the damn GPS just would nt recognize. We just went in the general direction and once we were in Monaco I tried again to find some place and it did nt. I thought it went kaput and then the light bulb hit me. I had the country selected as France and I had to change it to Monaco! duh! The Oceanographic museum and The Exotic Garden in Monaco are must see.

Ashu enjoyed the Matisse museum and seeing his works kept repeating "This is easy! I can do it!" loudly much to my embarrassment! :)

We went to Marineland in Antibes one afternoon and man! did we choose the hottest day ever! The killer whale show was worth it. The entry price is ridiculously expensive though!

The medieval villages in Vence, Grasse,... were simply beautiful. The cobblestone roads, the narrow alleys, restaurants, cute shops and galleries,.. It was so nice to just walk through the numerous alleys!

We visited a perfume factory in Grasse, the perfume capital! One would think that the perfumes would be cheaper to buy there but no sirree! It was an interesting tour though.

Cannes is so beautiful. We visited the Palais des Festivals and took the customary photo standing on the red carpet! Not as glamorous as you think since you are sharing screen space with a dozen other strangers!!! The beach is great. Anitbes too. But Nice is the best since its all pebbles and no mess! :) And the kids loved to throw the pebbles in the sea! Win-win! But be warned that the kids will collect pebbles in all kinds of shapes and sizes and insist on bringing them home! I was just glad that I did nt bring my mom to this trip. She would have sure emptied the beach and brought all the rocks home!

Driving around the coast means lots of toll booths. We set the GPS to avoid Toll after the first day and that was the best decision ever. Not only did we save money but also drove through more picturesque roads with spectacular views!

I kept nagging Hd that I wanted to ride a jet ski the entire week and at last on the very last day, we found a place. Ashu was quite shocked! "Are you going to ski", she asked me with a worried look! Grr.... Hd and Ashu went first to test the waters and God! Was frustrating to look at them! Hd should get an award for the slowest jet ski rider ever! Then it was my turn and Ashu who was ready to ride again realized it was with me and wisely refused! The rat! I had fun though I realized why Hd was so slow. The sea was so rough since it was late evening and could nt go in a straight line at all! I kept going in circles! Thrillingly scary! I had no watch on me and did nt know how much time has passed and the guard had to come and escort me back! So it was paisa vasool! :)

We survived on pizza, pasta or panini for every lunch. Managed to cook dinners with very limited supplies in the apartment. Was so nice the four of us sitting in the spacious balcony and eating and chatting. I realized how relaxing it is when I don't have to do everything by the clock. Dinner was at 9.30 and kids went to bed at 10.30. We all got up late, had breakfast and stepped out only to find a restaurant for lunch. It was a true vacation. At home, Im such a stickler for time that to get the kids to bed by 7.45 means that  everything has to work like clockwork the entire day and its so stressful. 

A week flew by and I hated to leave. Hd tells me, "We are going back home. To SWITZERLAND! And you are sad?" Hmph! Whatever!

Ski Break!

Just when I was thinking I should write a post about how much I am enjoying skiing this year, I went ahead and broke my leg! Never a dull moment in my life, I tell you. Long story short - multiple ligament tear and meniscus tear in my right knee! *bangs head* This happened last Saturday when Ashu and I were skiing at Hoch Ybrig in a glorious weather! Two more families were with us and it was all fun in the morning until I fell down. The damage to the knee was not due to the fall but the way I rotated my knee. Hoped it was a bad sprain and tried to be in denial. But on Sunday morning, I could nt put my leg down.

Sunday - Hospital, X ray, kids at a friends house, dinner sent by the friend. A huge cast. (removable, thankfully) No fracture. Crutches!

Monday - MRI in the evening.

Tuesday - MRI reports. Ligament tear in two places and a meniscus tear. Physiotherapy suggested for now. Friend sends lunch. Cousin (college going girl!) comes home to help.

Wednesday - Hd drops the kids, drops me for physio, picks me up later and then goes to office. Cousin picks up Antu, makes lunch. Hd picks up Ashu and comes home. Cousin leaves after dinner.

Thursday - Hd holds fort. A friend picks up Ashu in the evening and drops her home. Friends visit. No horlicks bottle or mosambis!

Friday - Physiotherapy again. Hd holds fort. Cousin comes in the evening. I get a new Knee brace to wear during the day.

Saturday - Hd takes Ashu to a birthday party. Cousin and he make lunch. A friend sends dinner. Cousin leaves.

Sunday - Hd makes lunch/dinner. Takes Ashu skiing.

Monday - Hd drops the kids, makes lunch, picks up Antu at noon, works from home a bit and now off to pick up Ashu and then directly to the airport to pick up my SISTER!

Oh God! This was one of the toughest weeks in my life. Seeing Hd running around like a headless chicken and not able to help hurt more than my torn knee! God knows what I would have done if he had nt pulled through! And some dear friends and not to mention my little cousin! Sigh! I owe them big! Ashu too. She is an awesome helper. Fetching me stuff a million times and taking care of me. At one point, she hung a bag around my neck and put the phones, remotes, book, ipad, etc... and asked me to carry it everywhere! Guess she got tired picking up the phone! Antu is more keen on stealing my crutch though!

My mom will come as soon as she gets her visa. Sis decided to come and help until mom arrives. Family is a family for a reason, I guess. Me - I am just hoping that physiotherapy works and I would nt need surgery! And why oh why the right knee? Does nt the Universe know that we are screwed if I don't drive?

Bye bye, 2011.

Last day of the year already! 2011 was sure in a hurry. We seem to spend December either in India or in the US these last few years and I can get used to this tradition. Much fun is being had here. We came back from Tahoe and whaddayaknow, I enjoyed skiing and even got decently better at it. On the last day, sis, Ashu, Hd, Bil and I skied together and I loved it. Bil and Ashu were zooming past us every time. I can't believe she's the same timid girl I see in Zurich. Thanks to Bil, her confidence really soared.

Got back and soon bils bro, sil and their daughter, S left. Ashu was much saddened. They both had a blast together for 10 days. Made it up for not having the Utbt family here. Though I prepared the girls and told them not to ask for Chula and Meija, I had a lump in my throat when I came here and realized that they are nt going to be here this time. Sigh.

Met blog friend, Reva for the first time yesterday and was blown away. Was telling Hd that he can never ever ask me what use my blog is anymore after that scrumptious meal at her place. She's a master baker and that's an understatement. Lovely house, lovely family, awesome dinner and amazing dessert. Such cute gifts for the girls too. How can some people do it all? Thanks much, Reva. You are a sweet heart.

Non stop shopping and restaurant hopping happening here and at this rate, I'm going to look like a beached whale very soon. Hope 2012 knocks some sense into me. Happy new year, folks. Hope 2012 begins with a bang for everyone!

Location: Lake Tahoe.

Me: How could you do this to me? To your own little sister, that too! That Ski lesson was the one of the toughest thing I ve ever done!
Sis: How could you do this to me? You left Antu with me!
Me: Ok. We are even!

Yes, folks! Arrived to the US of A last week to spend the Christmas Holidays with Sis and Bil. And where do they take us? To Lake Tahoe for skiing! And Bil's brother's family have joined us too and they live in Colorado! I guess we were all destined to learn skiing in California, of all places! Im writing from a cozy cottage surrounded by mountains with a killer lake view. Its bliss. I only wish I dont have to go to the stupid Ski lesson tomorrow! Especially falling on my back and struggling like a cockroach in the beginner level while Ashu and kids even younger than her are zooming past in the intermediate level! Not fair!

More later, folks! Happy Holidays!

The One in Which Ashu Loses Her First Tooth.

Just when I started to focus on Antu again, Ashu had to lose her first tooth and steal her thunder! The much awaited milestone arrived finally this weekend! Ashu has been really impatient the last one year seeing all her friends lose their teeth one by one and her's were nt even wobbly. Around 6 months back, she was thrilled to announce that one of her lower front tooth is teeny-weeny wobbly even though I could nt feel a thing. More like wishful thinking, I assumed. A couple of months back, I did see it wobble a bit and we were all eagerly waiting for the big day! Two days back I saw a new tooth sprouting behind the wobbly one and it looked really weird. By this time, the wobbly tooth was hanging by a thread so to speak and I asked Ashu if I can pull it. "No way!, she screamed. She wanted the tooth to fall while in school so that she can go to the nurse and get a cute little box to put it in. I wanted it to fall while shes home because I wanted to witness the grand event, of course! And finally when it did fall, it had to be on a Saturday while she was attending a birthday party and I was nt even there! A friend dropped her home after the party and Ashu was all excited to show something and while I was thinking that it was some cool return gift, it was her tooth! awww... I had to blink back tears. It does hit you, this losing the baby tooth business! sigh!

Before you ask what the tooth fairy gave her, let me answer you. The child does nt believe in fairies. I told her that she ll get a gift only if she believes in them but nothing could shake her resolve.

How do you know, Ashu? They may be real. Try putting the tooth under the pillow and see.

Amma! Its the parents who give the gift. Not the fairy! And I need the tooth. I want to take it to school on Monday.

You believe in Krishna, dont you?

Yes. But he is GOD. Not a fairy! Also I saw a tooth fairy book in the fiction section in the library. It means its not real!

Check and mate.

I found the box with the tooth safely tucked in her school bag. Decided to surprise her and put a CHF 5 coin in it. She found it this morning and came and thanked me. I told her thats an advance amount for all her teeth and she is nt getting any more money. "But Amma! The upper tooth is bigger. You need to give more money for it when it falls down." Holy guacamole! I need to plant a book on money in the fiction section right now!

All about Ashu.

Ashu had quite an eventful week with a Violin Recital and an Indian group Dance, both at her school! Remember how last year she danced for O Re Kanchi? It was a mix of "Mukunda, Mukunda" and "Radha kaise na jale" this time with one boy and 8 girls! We had less then a month, we could meet only once or twice a week and add to it, I was the only one choreographing and making the kids dance to my tune since my partner in crime from last year has moved out of Swiss! What an uphill task! It was so difficult to even fix a date when all of us were available. At one point, I just gave up and asked Ashu if she wants to dance alone or with Antu. She refused instantly and proclaimed, "group dance or no dance, Amma!" Sigh! The things we do for our kids! But once we managed to meet, things started working out. We took turns and practiced in each others houses and after a while, I even started to look forward to these things just for the yummy food and chai! I think I behaved more or less like a circus animal trainer! The moms loved me and the kids sort of warmed up to me towards the end. Much like stockholm syndrome, I guess! Everyone was admiring me for my immense patience with the kids and I felt like a fraud! Why is it so easy to be patient with other peoples kids? The d day was last Saturday and the kids did me proud! It was so cute to watch them do the moves and try to be in sync. Though the day before the dance was when Kolaveri went viral and I had an acute case of earworm and was *this* close to actually playing this song instead of Mukunda for the kids to dance. Not that they would have known the difference! ;)

Coming to the Violin recital, it all started a couple of months back. Ashu was stubborn that she wanted to learn the Violin. She kept asking us last year too and we thought she was too young and I did nt have the time or energy to cart her to yet another class! But when I learnt that theres a class she can take once a week in her school during lunch recess, I jumped at the chance. At least, I dont have to drive her around! One fine day, we took her to the store and rented a Violin. Thats where I learnt that there are actually different sizes in violins and one always rents Violins for kids. Ashu was a happy camper. We also bought her the recommended book and a stand. And of course I threatened Ashu with dire consequences if she did nt practice regularly just before we paid the huge amount! One can always dream! The classes started soon and she quite enjoyed them. After a few classes, I had no idea what she was doing so I decided to attend classes whenever I could along with her. So much for less driving around, huh? But that helps both of us. (Poor Antu though who has to sit still for 30 mins!) A month alter, the teacher informed us about the student recital which happens in November every year and asked Ashu to choose a song she wanted to play. She chose A Mozart Melody. (popularly known as Twinkle, Twinkle!) Poor little thing practiced it almost every day for a month! Of course, I had to be a Tiger Mom at times but then who am I kidding? It is who I am! The improvement you see is tremendous though. It amazes me what one can do with practice. (I am there with her in every class but theres no way I can read the notes like Ashu does.) The teacher was also going to make a group of kids play a few songs and Ashu was part of it. There was much excitement on the day of the recital. (last Tuesday) Choosing something formal to wear, shiny black shoes, cameras charged, proud parents in the front row, the works! Ashu played beautifully and the group recital was very cute too. Some of the middle school kids were amazing! Unbelievable talent! Wonder how many hours they practice every day! ;)

There is nothing to look forward to now and Im wondering what to do with all the extra time I seem to have since yesterday! Pay attention to my poor neglected second child, you say?

Cappadocia & Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey was never in my must-visit list while HD has been planning a trip there for the past 4 years. This summer before I returned back from India, he went ahead and booked tickets for us for the October break. Although I love to see new places, I am not a happy traveler. So I kind of resigned to the fact and started researching the place, buying books, booking hotels, etc... But nothing I did made me prepare for the fantastic place that Turkey turned out to be. I fell head over heels with the landscape of Cappadocia, could nt get enough of the crazy city that Istanbul is, did nt want to check out at all from the interesting places we stayed and went crazy shopping! Sometimes its good to be proven wrong. I said sometimes, OK?

Day 1:

Leave Zurich. Land in Istanbul early evening. Run from pillar to post to get an entry visa. (All of us had a valid US visa which entitles us to get an entry visa.) There was a separate counter miles away in a dark corner where visas are issued for Indian passport holders. So if you are going, don't stand in the regular line and the counter accepts only cash in US dollars or Euros. Then we walked to the domestic terminal and caught our flight to Keyseri. A shuttle bus from the hotel met us in the airport and it took an hours drive to reach the town of Goreme where our hotel was! And what a hotel it turned out to be. We knew it was a cave hotel when we booked but who knew it was an actual cave! Since it was close to midnight and it was raining cats & dogs, we just crashed.

Day 2:

The volcanoes which erupted some 10 million years ago have given a unique landscape to Cappadocia. (The land of wild horses.) The whole place looks like its made of sand dunes except that they are rocks. They are called Fairy Chimneys and in ancient days, they were converted into churches and monasteries and a place to store food. They are mostly hotels now! Our room(!) had four levels. Few steps down to a small room with twin beds. A dangerous wooden ladder up to a huge room with low seating around the three walls, musical instruments (drums and ouds) in one wall, loads of small windows and holes with a view to die for, another set of steps to a small sit out with a single bed, guns and swords in one corner and daggers on the wall, then a few steep steps(lined with pots) to the bedroom with a double bed, a corner desk and a bathroom. The sink and the WC was quite jarring in this set up, I must tell you. I was half expecting a hole in the floor!!! The entire decor was so rustic! Plain white curtains on the windows on a rope held up by pegs, a big, torn, metal sieve as lamp shade, rusty daggers and swords on the wall, round port hole like windows here and there on the wall, nooks and shelves carved out of the rock wall, old paintings, broken vases, visible electrical wires from here to there, hand made sheets,... Amazing place! There were no doors except for the main door. The kids were using the place like a jungle gym climbing here and there.

After a hearty breakfast of Turkish pancakes (it was like stuffed naan), we half-heartedly left our cave, rented a beaten down car from the hotel and explored the Goreme open air museum, rode a camel, ate lunch, shopped, drove around the colorful Devrent valley, passed Pasabagi and saw the mushroom shaped fairy chimneys and then came back to the hotel where the cook had prepared a wonderful vegetarian meal for us. The kids were ecstatic to be back in the hotel room and more exploring happened by banging the drums! "This place is better than Disneyland, Amma", exclaimed Ashu. "Much, much cheaper too", I added! :)

Day 3:

We joined a tour (Yama tours, FYI. And yet we lived to tell the tale! :) There were ten of us in total (three young girls from Singapore and three old Turkish ladies) with the driver and a guide. We did the south Cappadocia tour from 9.30 am to 6 pm. They took us to the Derinkuyu Underground City first. It was simply wow! Its the largest excavated underground city in Turkey. Almost 100 feet deep with 11 levels. We went down eight levels and it was like a maze. If the lights went out, that's it! That would be the end ofus! Even with the light, I would nt know how to find the exit without the guide! Most of the places, we had to bend and walk. The kids had no problem though! This was like another game for them! I got claustrophobic in exactly 10 mins and just wanted to get out. But had to bear it for an hour! And can you imagine more than 10,000 people living here between the 5th and 10th century for more than three months during war time? And we only got to see 10% of the city. The mind boggles!

From there, we drove to the Ihlara valley. This was a part I was unsure about since this involves climbing down 360 knee breaking steps, then a 3.5 km walk on a rough terrain alo

ng the river to a restaurant in Bellisirma where lunch has been arranged for us and that's where our bus will meet us. And it was past noon already and we had a little problem called Antu in our hands. But God bless her, she was a total sport and God bless Hd who walked with her the entire time leaving me and Ashu to enjoy the breathtaking views peacefully. Also to be blessed are gummy bears, caramelized almonds, chocolate chip cookies and the good weather! After a nice lunch and trying to understand the old ladies who spoke no English, (they either asked how old Antu was or wanted to buy her from us, I'm not sure! ) we got into the bus and drove to Selime to see a Monastery. Hd took one look at the dangerously, steep climb and wisely decided to sit near the entrance with Antu and the three old ladies. Ashu and I climbed up with the rest. It was like rock climbing! After seeing the narrow paths in the underground city and the steep rock climbing here, I'm thinking that there is no way there were any fat people in the 10th century here! The views were amazing from the top. Then we drove back to Goreme stopping briefly at the Pigeon Valley. Hd bought some pancakes to go and we checked out of the hotel and got a ride back to the airport from where we took a plane to Istanbul. As usual, we checked in our hotel close to midnight.

Day 4:

Back to civilization. This hotel was the opposite to the Goreme one. Spacious, classy, nicely done, a sofa bed for Ashu and a baby cot for Antu, room service, TV(!),... the works! And after the glorious weather in Cappadocia for the past 2 days, it was wet,wet,wet in Istanbul! It rained non stop the entire day. After a long and elaborate breakfast, we reluctantly stepped outside in the rain and were shocked at how cold it was! Even though four different people had asked us to take a taxi from the hotel to the Sultanahmet area, we tried to take the public transport, gave up after half an hour and took a taxi! Istanbul looked like any Indian city. Including the traffic! We walked around Sultanahmet, gasped at the long line in the pouring rain outside the Ayasofya museum and quickly ran inside the Blue Mosque instead. It was closed and entry was nt for another two hours! We walked around the shops and found an Indian restaurant for lunch. Antu went to sleep in a while so we took a taxi back to the hotel.(after bargaining with the driver!) Late evening, we walked around the Beyoglu area where there were shops, shops and more shops. Ate Turkish pizza and sandwiches in a small restaurant. I drank gallons of Ayran (buttermilk) everywhere! Just yum!

Day 5:

Today we decided to actually see something and walked out after breakfast to catch a taxi! And whaddayaknow? It was the Sunday of the Eurasia Marathon in Istanbul (the only marathon in the world which includes two continents!!) and the entire Sultanahmet area and the connecting bridge were out of bounds for cars and trams! So we walked and walked for an hour in the bitter rain there. We never could take the stroller for Antu because we forgot to take the rain cover for it! She walked mostly and Hd and I (OK, mostly HD. Fine, he did all the time!) carried her the rest of the time. We ran to straight to the Ayasofya (the Church turned Mosque turned Museum) and stood in the long line munching hot, steamed corn! The line moved quickly and we were inside in no time! The interior was breathtaking! I could nt get enough of the magnificent dome and the mosaics and went camera crazy! We spent close to 2 hours there and went out for lunch.

It was Destination: Blue Mosque after a full stomach! Long lines here too but it was nt a long wait. Ashu read the Dos and Donts listed there and wore her scarf over her head and kept it like that until we got back to Zurich! Talk about Rules Ramanujam! The interior was breathtaking here too and I sprained my neck soaking in the beauty of the domes! It was prayer time soon enough and we were asked to leave. It was still raining but the trams started running! So we took a tram and then a funicular back to the hotel. We had cracked the public transport system by now! After recharging in the hotel room, we stepped out for dinner. A nice dessert place beckoned and we decided to make a meal out of it! Amongst us, we devoured a crepe with sugar, a crepe with peanut butter(!), waffle pizza (waffle coated with chocolate sauce and topped with strawberries, kiwi, apples & bananas! Sinful!), strawberry frappe and a pancake with vanilla ice cream! I'm not telling who ate what, got it?

Day 6:

Thankfully, it did nt rain this day! For once, I could take photos of the kids in Istanbul without their jacket hoods! We went straight to the Topkapi Palace! This was the highlight of the Istanbul trip for me! The huge palace is mind blowing! In one of the rooms, the entire wall, window panels and the doors of the cupboards are completely inlayed with mother of pearl. In another room, there are floor to ceiling rare blue tiles with little fountains in each window and beautiful stained glass windows. (Its the circumcision room, if you want to know!) The courtyard and the terrace and the pool and the view of the Marmara sea from the top,... I could go on! And the Imperial Treasury! Oh. My. God. Where do I begin? The spoonmaker's Diamond? (86 carats. pearl shaped. surrounded by 49 smaller (yeah right!) diamonds. Fourth largest in the world.) The Topkapi Dagger? (The golden hilt has three large emeralds and a golden watch with an emerald lid!) The golden candleholders? (which were taller than me each weighing 48 kg in GOLD and decorated with 6000 diamonds!) Or the Privy chamber? (which houses the staff Moses used and a clay foot print of the Prophet Mohammed among many other things!!!!) One has to buy a separate ticket for entry to the *ahem* Harem and it was totally worth it! Don't tell my grandma I said this but if one had to be a concubine, one had to have lived in that era! That's all I'm saying! We had a ridiculously expensive lunch in the restaurant inside. But then we were surrounded by history so I'm not complaining!

From here, we walked to the Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest and largest markets in the world! Think Ranganathan Street in Madras and multiply it by hundred! Both my camera battery and Hds phone battery died right about now so good that we were nt tempted to leave the kids hands and take photos instead! I'm sure the Turkey Paatis from Cappadocia would ve put a stall right there with "For Sale" signs on them!! We walked for an hour in circles, bargained for cheap handbags, fainted at the price of the original looking but fake brand items, wowed at the gold jewellery and bought the kids magnets and dolls and costumes. We had just enough money for a cheap dinner by the time we came out! The kids had pasta and we had falafel wrap. And Ayran, of course!

Day 7:

Our last day. We had to leave for the airport at 2.30 pm and the hotel agreed for a late check out. It was nt raining this day either and Hd suggested the Bosphorous cruise (it takes one to both the Asian side and the European side). But we did nt time it properly and decided to let go. I got a super haircut instead so I was a happy camper! (Are you thinking beauty parlor on a vacation? That's Turkey for you! And I went from super expensive Swiss!) We walked around the Eminonu area and had lunch at a place near the hotel and rushed back to pick our stuff and get a taxi to the airport. It was 9.15 pm when we came back home. Ashu immediately made a card which said "Welcome Back" and stuck it on her room door and kept marveling at it!

* Ashu counted 66 cats in the streets of Istanbul.

* The kids did nt fuss at all about food.

* Every day Ashu ate corn flakes with milk, a piece of toast with nutella, a hard boiled egg and a glass of warm milk for breakfast. I don't know this girl!

* Not that they ate everything in the restaurants but they surely did try everything.

* Cappadocia is not at all stroller friendly and I would nt advise parents to take kids below 3.

* The 2 days in Cappadocia, we saw only 2 other tourist kids! Both girls and around the same age as Ashu & Antu.

* Hot air ballooning is very popular in the Cappadocia region. But not suitable for kids under eight.

* Istanbul has lots to offer kids.

* Ashu: "Did you know the Sultan had 300 wives, Appa? But its not allowed now!"

* Things are cheaper outside Grand Bazaar.

* The Turks are the most helpful people.

* The hotel staff bent backwards to help us with anything.

* The sweets! The baklavas were to die for!

* The place you read about before a trip and the place you actually see and then reading about it after you come back! Im amazed how different they are!

* I am so going back!

The One in Which Ashu Reads to Antu.

Right from the minute your child starts recognizing alphabets, you are waiting for that awesome moment when your child starts reading books. "Will she be an early reader or late reader? Will she be interested in books at all? How is she doing compared to her peers in India? Will she be like a certain gifted child who goes through books like we go through tissues in this house? Will she retain what she reads?" Dont tell me you never thought along those lines! It cant be just me! And when the said child is nearing 6 and is nt memorizing the Encyclopedia like you wanted her to, you tell yourself, "Well! Whats the big deal! When they are older, they are all going to end up reading and discussing the same teen fiction crap anyway!" What? Thats just me?

Coming to the point, Ashus reading hit an all time high a month back. I think the two month summer vacation did some magic. She was found reading all the time. Begged for "just one more book" before bed time, she not only read the reading book her teacher sent home, she read the note the teacher sent for the parents as well. (And she actually read "read" as "red" when it was used in past tense! I was amazed!) And just when I heaved a sigh of relief and was wondering when to introduce Harry Potter to her, something unexpected happened.

I sent Antu to bed around 7.30 pm today because she had nt napped in the afternoon and was very sleepy. Ashu was sitting next to me on the couch and what else but reading! I heard Antu calling Ashu and told Ashu to go check on her and come back. Then I got busy in the kitchen and around 8 pm, went to check on the kids thinking that Ashu also went to sleep. And what do I see? This.

Antu asked Ashu to read to her, it seems. So she brought the table lamp from the other room, plugged it in their bedroom, kept the lamp on the bed and reading to her quietly! I think the day she starts reading with a flashlight under the blanket is nt far away!

Elm.

This Sunday, we drove to a place called Elm which is a little over an hours drive from Zurich. I found out that that place has a kids friendly hike and made up my mind to put Antu to walk. It was also mentioned that the trail was stroller friendly so we took ours anyway. We parked at the Gondola (cable car) station and took the Gondola to go up. There was a nice play area up with trampoline, jungle gym, sand pit, swing, slide, a gold digging activity in the sand, etc.... The location was just breathtaking! The huge swing was just at the edge of the cliff and it was amazing to see the kids swing back and forth with a view to kill! One of the mountain peaks has a small hole and twice a year, when the sun sets, the light shines through this hole directly into a church, it seems! The kids had a blast in the play area but it was terribly hot. We had a sphagetti lunch at the restaurant there and started walking towards Tierliweg, the kid friendly trail.

Cows welcomed us and the noise of the cow bells were really deafening! Most of the walk was through the woods so we were nt roasted in the sun. And whenever the trees parted, the views were spectacular! The trail was too rocky to push the stroller with Antu so she was replaced with our backpack on the stroller. I guess they mean that the trail was friendly for mountain-friendly-strollers and not our "sort by price and choose the cheapest" stroller! Little Miss Antu walked the entire 1 1/2 hours without any complaint! The only reason being that there were wooden animal sculptures every 200 metres or so and that kept motivating the kids to keep walking! It was wonderful to see Ashu and Antu spotting the animals first and shouting excitedly, Ashu making me write a list of all the animals (more than 20), guessing what the next animal will be, debating if the animal was a pig or a bear(!), etc... etc... Not to mention the jokes. Like I suddenly screamed, "Look a Gorilla!" and when Ashu excitedly looked, I was pointing at her dad! She was nt thrilled, if you want to know!

I don't know whats with Hd and pushing stuff off the mountain slopes. This one time, he let his sledge go on its own and I had to hike back while he went doubles with Ashu on the second sledge! Another time, the canopy on the stroller slipped and flew down the slopes. This time, he was coming behind us with the stroller and the backpack and suddenly he says "pudi, pudi!" and what do we see? The stroller and the backpack are flying down the slope!! Thankfully, it hit a rock and stopped and he ran to get them! I was thanking the Lord that Antu was not on the stroller and at the same time rolling on the floor laughing thinking what hes going to push the next time! If ever Kamal Hassan remakes Guna, I think HD ll make a good body double for him in the last scene when he jumps off a cliff! I would love to watch that! Now thats a happy ending! Abirami, Abirami! (Sorry cant quote Guna without saying Abirami, Abirami! Can you?)

After a well deserved ice cream, we decided to go down to the car park. And thats when the adventure began. One can either take the Gondola back or rent something called Trottinett which is a Mountain Scooter and go down 5 kms. Me being me, of course I wanted to ride the Trotti while Hd and the kids took the gondola. I was riding like the wind soaking in the amazing views and wondering if I should have brought Ashu with me since the Trotti guy said we can ride with kids when I braked the front wheel instead of back and next second, I hit the gravelly ground hard on my chest. My right elbow and both my palms were totally scraped! Bloody, dusty mess I was! Shirt torn, hand bag torn! I should ve been quite a sight for sore eyes! But I managed to get up and continue the rest of the way in spite of my bloody palms. Hd who was waiting downhill armed with a camera took one look at me and was horrified! Thankfully, everything was just surface wounds and nothing deep and no broken bones. Phew.

Whats life without a little adventure, huh? So what if I could nt hold the tooth brush the next day or that I had an important school meeting to attend the next morning and shaking hands with a few people was just cruel? It was totally worth it! :)

Real Muffins, Fake Cupcakes and Tiramisu.

Ashu's birthday celebrations seem to be extending for a long time. Since her school was closed for Spring break until the 1st of May, she had a small celebration in her class after the school reopened. The usual "going around the Sun 6 times", showing her baby pictures to her friends and teachers, eating cup cakes, etc... I baked rainbow cup cakes and they came out awesome thanks to the gel food colors Sis sent from the US. When I baked the rainbow cake last year, I did nt have gel food colors and even though the cake looked good, the colors were nt really vibrant. And I was quite apprehensive about making cupcakes because all that effort of mixing colors in four different batches for a simple muffin seemed tedious to me. But it turned out pretty easy actually. I had nt told Ashu that it was going to be rainbow muffins and when she got up in the morning and saw all the muffins, the expression on her face was priceless. Guess us moms are suckers for punishment just for that look on our kids faces! Whether its taking them to Disneyland during Spring break or baking rainbow muffins at midnight which are going to be half eaten and thrown in the trash by most of the kids!

We also had unexpected house guests the next week which Ashu thought was in her honor! We hardly have house guests and the kids were super thrilled. A very dear couple with their 2 daughters were on an Europe tour and stayed with us a night before going to Italy. Even though the friend claimed she was here to do laundry(!), we were excited to see them after ages! Ashu asked me yesterday if we can invite S and S for a playdate this week and I had to explain to her that they are in Italy now and will be going back to India and international play dates are nt the norm. Yet. :) The next day we had a small "cupcake" party at home with 2 girls who missed Ashu's birthday party. (Yes, you can say that again - Im a sucker for punishment!) Sis had sent a fake cupcake decorating kit for Ashu and the three girls went crazy making fake cupcakes while Antu and I were gobbling real banana muffins! Antu made sure to ask me "Is this real? Can I eat this?" though! Atta girl! The fake cream looked so real that whenever I got a bit of my cream in my hands while helping them, my first instinct was to lick it!!! Had to warn the girls a dozen times not to lick although Im sure a bit of it did find its way to their stomach! Well, a little bit of glue does nt harm anyone. Or does it?

The weekend was busy with back to back birthday parties for Ashu. What a busy social life these kids have! (And why does April/May have the most number of birthdays, anyway?!) And we had friends over for dinner on Sunday. And Ashu expected them to stay overnight! I made Tiramisu for the very first time and though it came out yummy, it was too much coffee for my taste especially since I dont drink coffee. Got to dilute the coffee more the next time I make it. Funny that when I was googling for Tiramisu recipe, I had to google "how to make coffee" because I did nt know the how many spoons of coffee powder to add to a cup of water to make the coffee! Yes, Im that girl who does nt even know how to make coffee that the Mothers-In-law love to complain about!! Come to think of it, I dont how to boil an egg either! I mean, I did nt! Have I told you how this one time I tried to boil an egg in a "microwave"?!!! God rest its soul! And I mean the microwave here! ;)

Disneyland.

We went to the Disneyland in Paris and came back home yesterday exhausted and bankrupt. What a money pit! The kids of course had fun but the way Antu was enjoying in the hotel lobby and thinking that that was Disneyland, we could have easily fooled Ashu too and could have had a cheaper vacation!!! Hd and I had been to Disneyland some 9 years back and I remember how excited I was and how much I enjoyed the make-believe world! And when we planned to go during the spring break as a birthday gift for Ashu, she was ecstatic. A few of her friends have been there and she had a general idea about the place. For the past one month, we talked about nothing but Disneyland. At last the D day arrived last Wednesday and after a hearty breakfast and a packed lunch, we piled the kids in the car and took off. Eight hours and a million "Are we in Disneyland yet?" later, we arrived at the Dream Castle Hotel. The hotel lobby was like a theme park in itself with loads of coin operated rides and games and Antu screamed "Yay! Disneyland!" and dived head first into the ball pit! Like I said, we should have taken a hint and had our vacation just there!

The next morning all excited we drove off to the theme park. Ashu spotted the castle and was in high spirits. We parked our car in the huge parking lot and walked and walked and walked some more to the entrance only to find the entire world and its uncle standing in line to get in! Spring break and Disneyland! What was I even thinking?! We entered and took the sights in and all excitedly I was showing Ashu everything. Straight to Fantasyland of course and we began our marathon "standing-in-line" with the Snow White and the Seven Dwarves ride. To say that Ashu was terrified would be an understatement! Such a jujube ride but she got so scared because it was dark and when the evil queen turned around, she was a witch! I think its time to toughen up the kid with some real Kollywood masala films! When we went and stood in line for the Peter Pan ride, the entire time we were waiting(which would be 45 minutes!) she kept saying "I dont want to go!" But of course she loved the ride and wanted to go again once we were done! I told her that theres no going AGAIN in Disneyland and that happens only in the hotel lobby! Antu of course was a total daredevil throughout. She wanted to go on the Carousel and even that had a 70 minute waiting time! Promised her that I ll take her on the carousel in the park near our house and ran away! We had some lousy lunch and stood in more lines and went on more rides and just before 4 pm, came back to the Main Street and plonked our behinds in the hard ground so as to save seats to watch the Disney Parade which begins at 5 pm. While the dad and daughter duo walked off to explore more, a sleeping Antu in her stroller and me with a heavy back saved seats for them while inhaling secondhand smoke! (Welcome to France!) I am sure this was Thirupathi Venkatachapalathy's plan of secret revenge on me when I got so annoyed standing in lines for hours in Thirupathi this one time long, long ago and swore I would never go there again! (Sorry Balaji!) Antu woke up in time for the parade and the sheer joy in the kids faces when they saw the parade was almost worth it. I said almost! Then we went on the most awesome ride ever - The Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. That was the only ride we went on again the next day too! After a dinner of fries and hot chocolate(Naanga Vegetarians kettelaa?) we left the place finally at 10 pm after twelve straight hours. We all slept even before our heads hit the bed.

The next day was almost rinse and repeat except that we spent half a day in the nearby Walt Disney Studios which was relatively less crowded and was loads of fun. Hd had also reserved a table for us in one of the restaurants where the Disney characters came to visit. So Ashu was in heaven and armed with an autograph book and a pen, hounded Mickey, Minnie, Woody, Pluto, Goofy, etc... for their signatures. We also met Sully and Buzz and Ashu had this fantastic idea that she can sign all their names by herself, why wait in line! Excellent point, I thought! We bought a fastpass for the Buzz Lightyear ride and went on it again taking turns since Antu was napping. There was a mile long line even to get the fastpass! We also managed to lose Antu for 10 seconds which felt like an eternity and madam was cooly walking off with another family! May be she was trying to tell me something! And the polar opposite Ashu who thought she got lost even though I was watching her and burst into tears! Sigh! What an odd pair of sisters! We "showed" the kids the Disney Store and quickly vamoosed out of it! Pagal kollai! The kids were also good as gold and did nt open their mouths. I did want to buy a costume for Ashu after seeing every other kid walking in a Princess costume or a Peter Pan costume but Ashu was very particular about what she wanted and would nt settle for anything less and lucky for me and unlucky for her, the stores there did nt stock it! Phew. Because if they did, we would have to sell our car to pay for the costume and walk back home!

The third day we drove to the city and showed the popular sights to Ashu from the car. We only stopped near the Eiffel tower to take a few pictures and then proceeded to Saravana Bhavan for lunch. Parking was a nightmare there and the customer service even more nightmarish! Hd literally had to restrain me from punching that sorry excuse of a waiter! At last we left around 5 pm and around 10 pm, decided to break the journey and stayed in a hotel on the highway and came home only the next day. We also experienced a hail storm which came out of nowhere and surprised us. Wonder whats with us and hail storms. Happened once before too. Anyway, we had a good break and the kids had super fun. Parent trap or not, we ll always have Disneyland! :)