I’ve been asked many times what I was up to in the last 5 months . And each time, I’d say, “Nothing…just regular routine…nothing new”.
But thats not all true, of course 😀
A LOT happened in the last few months . I’ve been meaning to do individual posts for all of them but since I’ve put them off for so long, I regret that I don’t remember the entire sequence of events. I’m quickly jotting down the remnants of those events in my collapsing memory. So here goes (In no particular order. That would be too cruel on my poor brain) –
The twins finished Kindergarten with flying colors. Well, they ought to ! After all, they spent an entire 12 months doing just KG! ( Their session started in India in the first week of July ’13 and ended here in Chicago in the last week of June ’14).
Their teachers were pleased with the English, Math and overall obedience of the two . I howled and wailed that they must have got my kids mixed up with someone else’s but they wouldn’t listen. To prove their point, they gave the kids medals for perfect attendance and slapped a certificate at me which declared me the parent of the month!
I kid you not!
I got The Egg. Though hand-painted and exquisite, it kind of epitomizes what I really deserve!!
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We finally had Summer!! Not the dusty, hot summer of India, but a quaint, dainty summer which lasted exactly 90 days. The temperature never dipped enough to make you sweat, unless you ran or did some major physical activity ( It was hot enough for the Americans to shed their clothes and their inhibitions, though!) Overall, it was the Spring of India passed off as Summer of Chicago.
The sunny weather was the perfect opportunity to make use of the swimming pool on our terrace top. The twins splashed and jumped and had the greatest time of their lives. Whenever we entered the pool area, people already in the pool would look at the twins, grin and decently come out one by one. So the kids had the pool to themselves most of the time (The people here can be really, really kind towards kids). I did my best to teach them to swim, but they were too enamored by the water to pay me any heed 😦
The other water source was the beach of Lake Michigan. Enough sand was dragged back home for me to make my own private sand castle.
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The twins undertook the Summer Reading Challenge to read and record the amount of time they read each day. It was a wonderful way to spend the summer vacation and the twins loved the visits to the library which was conducting the challenge. Apart from selecting books, they had book-reading sessions, crafts, lucky draws, etc each week. The twins won books and binoculars in the lucky dip 🙂
The library also conducted workshops on puppet-making and introduction to the insect/reptile world (which was seriously good). They got to touch real live pythons and alligators and black widows !
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The BF’s parents came down for a visit and it was YAY! time all around 🙂
After a long time, I could take a siesta without worrying about the kids. The moment the kids spotted their grandparents at the airport, they forgot they had a Momma or an Abu. For the next two months, they only spoke to Dada and Dadi. Just as well 🙂 . Sometimes, it is good to have the kids off your hands, even if its for a little while !
Once the in-laws came, it truly felt like home once again 🙂 . Me and the MIL would cook together, all of us would have our meals together, there would be talks and discussions, jokes and spats, just like old times. I think I spent more time with them here than all those years back in Pune when we would all meet for hardly a couple of hours each day!
The in-laws would go for long walks around the neighborhood. FIL made more friends around the area than people I know!
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We finally visited the Niagara Falls.
It was Amazing! In fact, “Amazing” doesn’t even begin to cover the experience! It was mind-blowingly magnificent!
The power of nature at its best!
The twins drove me nuts on our drive till the falls. It was a long way and they were rather fidgety, being unused to getting strapped to their car-seats. The lack of movement, couple with the long distance made them eat the brains of the only person on their row. Me!
Lui : Mumma, have we reached?
Me : No, not yet.
Shobby : When will we reach??
Me : Maybe in another hour.
2 seconds pass by.
Shobby : Mumma, have we reached?
And so the loop went on. Somewhere towards the end, I lost my head and asked the BF to pull over. “Anything wrong?” he asked. “Yeah, I just want to leap off this window and jump into that river below”, I said. The in-laws found it funny! But of course! They weren’t the ones enduring those pesky , ranting, whining kids!
The torture was well worth it! One look at the falls and I realized the insignificance of our existence. Tonnes of water cascading down the gorge, the terrific sounds, the multiple rainbows over it, it was too beautiful! Almost exhilarating, yet bringing us down a bit. Nature’s creations are supreme. Nothing man-made can come any closer (SubhanAllah).
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Since the In-laws were with us, we made a trip to the Water-park capital of the world – Wisconsin. I thought the title was exaggerated, but you have to visit the place to believe it! I think I have never seen so many water parks (and I’m talking about really large ones here) on one road! The resort we were staying at was called Kalahari, with a jungle theme and loads of indoor/outdoor water rides and an indoor theme park. The indoor water park even had temperature controlled water, so it wasn’t cold, a little on the warm side. In the toddler’s section, there was actual warm water flowing/splashing around!
We had great fun there. Even the MIL got down into the pool to play water basket-ball 😀
The Kalahari trip was by far the most entertaining. Apart from the time we spent in the water, we all also got to do a lot of indoor fun activities like the sky-walk, go-carts, bowling, ferris-wheel, climbing walls, carousal and a dozen other arcade games. It was nearly midnight before the twins agreed to be dragged back to our rooms!
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The in-laws visit also gave us an excuse to go sight-seeing around Chicago, something we’d been putting off for reasons unknown. We covered all the tourist sites, except the museums. The kids aren’t too fond of museums yet and they get irritable if we spend too much time on one! So we did the rounds of Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountains, Architectural Boat tour (Where they take you on the Chicago river and give a brief description/history on the landmark towers/buildings in downtown), Magnificent Mile and the likes.
Overall, it was an amazing two months, not only because the parents were with us, also because we got to spend a lot of quality time together as a family. Thats precious 🙂
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And then, the school started! The kids are in Grade 1 now, older and much wiser than before. They give me enough reason to take refuge in my blog once again 😀
Thats it folks. A quick summary if there ever was one 🙂
I’m a house-wife, still. I did get my work permit, but didn’t have the time or inclination to hunt for a job. InshaAllah, with the in-laws back home and the kids back in school, this might just be the right time to think about a profession again.
So wish me luck.
Adios.
Wowie!! Seems like you had a lot of fun!! Nice 🙂
All the best for the job hunt 🙂
Thanks for the wishes Deeps 🙂
Parent of the month, eh? Should’ve been parent of the year or the half-decade. Your kiddos are just too sweet.
Awww…thats so sweet of you Pal. But the kids do good on their own, not because of me 😦
The pics are all so cool. Sounds like you’ve been having a great time, such a big difference from your hectic life when you worked here–makes me so happy. And yay! You’re thinking of working again… I hope you find something that you can enjoy doing while you still make time for home and family and other things that matter to you. xoxo
Yes, I’ve relaxed for too long, I guess 🙂
Its time to get back to business 😀
This kind of productive summers and education system which you also mentioned in one of your previous post, actually urges me to experience the west at least once. Not for vacation but living there for sometime. And Mom of the month, that’s a nice gesture from, must be very encouraging for parents 🙂
And I never thought they have formal school uniforms also 😛
This place is really vacation-worthy!
Not that we don’t have vacation spots in India, but the work-life balance here allows the luxury of multiple vacations 🙂
About the uniforms, the school does have a dress code (for which i’m immensely grateful). A friend of mine whose daughter goes to another school, goes nuts buying new clothes because the ‘other’ kids in her daughter’s class “always wear something new all the time” 🙄