Manali Trip

We are all set for our Manali-Rohtang-Kullu-Palampur-Chandigarh trip. We started at around 3 from Delhi and no wonder before we even crossed Delhi, we had to make a stop (all those with kids will know WHY?)

First official stop was at Haveli in Karnal, Very nice place.

Then the long journey started. We stayed in a hotel on our way to Manali. Man those mountains sure look scary at night.




We stayed in Naggar Castle hotel in Manali. It was Naggar's kings palace. It is a nice place though it is crowded in day time with visitors who come to see the palace.
It has a good view of the but you the Beas river is far away from the hotel.

Next day we went to Rohtang Pass.
The road to reach there was very very scary.
It was like a single lane from our regular roads and traffic comes from both ways.

View was breath taking.
Let me make my snowman ... ha ha mine is ready

Skiing was so scary then it was fun...

Ride to India

Finally we are on the plane to India. It was hard (it still is!!!) to believe that we were leaving US for good. It just felt like we are going for vacation and will come back within few days (sometimes I wish that was true) . It was a roller coaster ride in all the packing and answering questions from them.

Plane Journey - They both loved the plane ride. We three took the KLM flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam and then from Amsterdam to New Delhi. We had connecting flight from Delhi to Bhopal. Chintu came to drop us off at the airport.


Fun at the airport.

Sarthak's Birthday 2008

Finally I am 5 year old .... Sarthak

Sometimes he becomes soooo sad that he will never be elder than his Didi. He is happy that is coming closer to her age though not realizing she is also moving up. We celebrated his birthday at his school and went out to chuck e cheeses on April 25th 2008. We gave a big party on April 26th 2008, inviting everybody for their blessings. Here is a glimpse of all the occasions -

At School

Cake was bought from Costco and all the kids in school loved it. Seen in picture is Gabriel with Sarthak. On the right is when all his friends sang the prayer before eating the cake. His teacher is Mrs. Steaphine Mendicino and Mrs. Hardwick.

Chuck E Cheese


Fun in Chuck E Cheese which ended with an ice cream cone at cold stone creamery.






BIG PARTY


Power Ranger Cake Princess Cake for Didi.

Party was organised at Palace Restaurant in Atlanta on April 26th 2008. Kids played Mini golf as the birthday game and had fun. Thankfully nobody cried for not winning a prize. Friends invited were Siya, Soham, Shayla, Kartik E, Kavya, Karthik, Rithvik, Kartik K, Shubhangi, Nidhi, Anika, Amoli, Aryan, Vahini, Suchet.

Sanskriti's Birthday 2008

She turned 8 on March 18th, 2008. She is getting more matured, understanding day by day. I am so proud of her (minus the whining part LOL). We had a birthday party for her in our home on the very same day (instead of celebrating it on the weekend). All of her friends had a BLAST.
They played musical chairs and pop the balloon tied to their left leg. Sarthak cried for not winning any prizes. Here are some of the pictures of the kids enjoying their time....


Invited Friends - Vishal, Arjun, Prakul,Vineet, Manasi T, Madhurya, Divya, Sandhya, Manasi G, Esha, Aayushi.



Cutting an Ice cream cake is little hard... but LOTS of FUN ...










hmmm I didn't knew my fingers are so Yummy....









My Return Gift was THE BEST Part of evening ... I just love cars/trucks,planes/bikes or in fact anything that moves and has wheels.

Moving to India

Finally it is decided that we will be moving to India on June 9th,2008. There are lot of mixed feelings, I am happy, glad, delighted that I would be moving to my own country where I grew up, will be closer to my mom and my in laws family. At the same time I am scared, depressed, frustrated, confused whether this decision to move back is right or wrong. Scared for kids, how will they adjust (life in India will be like a turmoil for them, I am crossing my fingers and praying to god everyday for them and their health which is main concern), Depressed as I would be leaving my home which I made as first home after marriage (tons of memories with it, would have to leave everything behind), frustrated because I see all good things here for us (good school, good education, nice exposure to outside world, for us wonderful jobs), confused for all the obivious reason in world. On top of everything I would be SAD to leave everything behind here.

Sometimes I wonder, After marriage I came to an unknown country with an unknown man (I knew him for 21 days) with 2 suitcases to an empty apartment but I was not scared, I was happy to start my own little home. And now after 10 years I am moving back to my own motherland where I grew up, where I know most of the stuff but still I am very scared. 10 years can make a big change in anybody's life.