Wow.. that year went by quickly and I cannot believe that I am five already. I sometimes longingly reflect on the good old days when I was four - Ah, those carefree times when a kid could throw a tantrum without consequences. Now, with great age, comes great responsibility ... and now that my freewheeling days of unfettered naughtiness are over, I am slowly preparing myself mentally for my fives ... I might be able to sneak away for an occasional tantrum or two, especially when my friends come over for a playdate .. but I think it is mostly down to a structured life of kindergarten, homework, gymnastics, swimming, soccer, good behavior and wholesome family fun.
Coming back to the fifth birthday - I had awesome birthday celebrations both at school and home and the associated overdose of all sugary things. Just to ensure a well balanced sugar diet, my parents got cake, candy, ice cream and for good measure some cotton candy as well (My dad called it "No sugar treat left behind"). (Wasn't it the Beatles that sang "All you need is sugar")...
So, let's see... what were the big happenings since the last blog post so I can have some semblance of a Timeline here? (Since I cannot join Facebook yet (officially anyway - I have not been able to convince my mom to fake my birthdate for Facebook purposes yet), I need to create my digital timeline the old fashioned way).
We went on a three week trip to India in winter - it was an interesting experience to say the least.
After a long flight (so long that I almost ran out of Dora episodes to watch) we landed in Chennai after a brief stopover in Hong Kong (which I believe was for reloading new episodes of Dora as the plane could not hold enough to make it all the way from SFO to Chennai). We went to my dad's old college
for his 20 year reunion. I had a blast chasing monkeys, spotting deer and generally running around randomly with a lot of other kids, while my dad went back to his his old college building and sat in his old lecture halls ("nostalgia tinged with masochism" he explained... I think it is either too much Tolstoy or too much Vodka). We went to the neighboring snake park and saw more snakes than you could shake a stick at (although that did not prevent the snake-keeper from trying to shake a stick at them). We spent another day in a beach resort near Chennai and that was a blast as well. The grown-ups had a party in the evening and I think they were mostly DUI - "Dancing Under the Influence"... and I hope my dad kept those YouTube videos private - otherwise, they would probably become YT viral hits for "Devolution of Dance".
We spent a couple of more weeks in Vizag, Hyderabad and Pune visiting friends and family and old monuments and museums. Everything in India was a stimulus overload (mostly a good overload) (the sights, the sounds, the food, the weather, the people - everything was amazing, colorful and interesting).
I also started learning to ski last winter. There is something inexplicably exhilarating about sliding down a smooth slope with no control and ever increasing speed till I crash into something tangible (which is made of foam most of the time, thankfully). We have also been doing a lot of hiking after the weather turned warmer - hiking is certainly less exhilarating for me and my sister but we go along as it seems to give my parents a sense of satisfaction to find new hiking trails every week. Somehow, the combination of good weather, easily accessible hikes and quiet evenings seem to soothe their (slowly fading) anxieties of high cost Bay Area living.
So, as I settle in for an activity-packed summer (movies, swimming, hiking, biking, travel, playdates, birthday parties) and look forward to starting my kindergarten ....Sweet dreams are made of these ... who am I to disagree...
Coming back to the fifth birthday - I had awesome birthday celebrations both at school and home and the associated overdose of all sugary things. Just to ensure a well balanced sugar diet, my parents got cake, candy, ice cream and for good measure some cotton candy as well (My dad called it "No sugar treat left behind"). (Wasn't it the Beatles that sang "All you need is sugar")...
So, let's see... what were the big happenings since the last blog post so I can have some semblance of a Timeline here? (Since I cannot join Facebook yet (officially anyway - I have not been able to convince my mom to fake my birthdate for Facebook purposes yet), I need to create my digital timeline the old fashioned way).
We went on a three week trip to India in winter - it was an interesting experience to say the least.
After a long flight (so long that I almost ran out of Dora episodes to watch) we landed in Chennai after a brief stopover in Hong Kong (which I believe was for reloading new episodes of Dora as the plane could not hold enough to make it all the way from SFO to Chennai). We went to my dad's old college
for his 20 year reunion. I had a blast chasing monkeys, spotting deer and generally running around randomly with a lot of other kids, while my dad went back to his his old college building and sat in his old lecture halls ("nostalgia tinged with masochism" he explained... I think it is either too much Tolstoy or too much Vodka). We went to the neighboring snake park and saw more snakes than you could shake a stick at (although that did not prevent the snake-keeper from trying to shake a stick at them). We spent another day in a beach resort near Chennai and that was a blast as well. The grown-ups had a party in the evening and I think they were mostly DUI - "Dancing Under the Influence"... and I hope my dad kept those YouTube videos private - otherwise, they would probably become YT viral hits for "Devolution of Dance".
We spent a couple of more weeks in Vizag, Hyderabad and Pune visiting friends and family and old monuments and museums. Everything in India was a stimulus overload (mostly a good overload) (the sights, the sounds, the food, the weather, the people - everything was amazing, colorful and interesting).
I also started learning to ski last winter. There is something inexplicably exhilarating about sliding down a smooth slope with no control and ever increasing speed till I crash into something tangible (which is made of foam most of the time, thankfully). We have also been doing a lot of hiking after the weather turned warmer - hiking is certainly less exhilarating for me and my sister but we go along as it seems to give my parents a sense of satisfaction to find new hiking trails every week. Somehow, the combination of good weather, easily accessible hikes and quiet evenings seem to soothe their (slowly fading) anxieties of high cost Bay Area living.
So, as I settle in for an activity-packed summer (movies, swimming, hiking, biking, travel, playdates, birthday parties) and look forward to starting my kindergarten ....Sweet dreams are made of these ... who am I to disagree...
