BFF on Crutches

My child is back on crutches!  She sustained a sprain two year ago around the same time, and got another one this week.  At her track meet, she and her friends were walking the grassy fields and she missed the dip in the field forcing her ankle to twist.  She limped to the couch in pain and eyes filled with tears.  Luckily X-rays showed no sprain and she'll be back on her feet in a matter of a week or so.  But the sprain came the day before the school's big BFF event, a school-based fair with carnival rides and fair food and games.  Of course, she did not want to miss the fun.  With much hesitation, we let her go.  She was luckily aided by two friends who promised to stay with her all night and help as needed.  All-in-all, she had a great time.  And more ice, elevation and rest helped mend all the "overdoing" she did at the event.

Stone Mountain Hiking

Our family has become quite fond of hiking and today we went to the amazing Stone Mountain.  The mountain has about 600 feet of granite stretched across it.  We hiked up to the top at 2300 ft elevation and included 11,700 steps and 53 floors in a 5.5 mile Stone Mountain Loop starting at the lower parking and going all around.    We heard the flowing waters of the Stone Mountain Creek, stopped at the Hutchinson Homestead consisting of a historic log cabin, barn and blacksmith shop; and then went to view the 200-foot waterfall.  We stopped at a nice family-owned Mexican restaurant called Azabache in Elkin and drove through historic Elkin downtown.  All in all, it was a favorite kind of day. 

White Water, Hiking and Family Time

My brother, sister-in-law and our adorable 3-year old niece came to spend Spring Break with us.  This year both of the kids had a different Spring Break with only a long weekend overlapping.  So we made the most of it by going to the US National White Water Center, hiking, park dates, lots of meals and just good old-fashioned family time.  At the White Center, even those of us with a faint heart went on the white water rapids.  At the first round of the river down, we had a little girl fall out of our raft but we were able to pull her up.  We made it to the first bend and felt good about it, even completed the second.  We were frightened, but luckily we had a great guide who told us when to paddle right or to the left, when to get down, when to lean.  Our confidence grew because we were in such sound hands.   But at the third round, we lost our trusted guide overboard and our courage fizzled fast.  Luckily he was a strong swimmer and came back.  We also did the Adventure Obstacle course, our brave Ashna did the Canyon Crossing all by herself.

Our hiking was intended to be at Crowder’s Mountain, but the mountain’s ironic name was “crowded” and we had to go further to Kings Mountain in SC instead.  Not a problem; however, as we had a great time there with a picnic and play time at the park, too.    As all good vacations do, it ended fast but we were fortunate to have family time, with perfect weather and lots of activities to do!

We had a great time with a toddler in the house.  She is sweet, so mature for her age, and fun as anything to be around.  She waits patiently while we take our time cooking and eating family meals, taught us how to color again, and kept perfect track of all of us.  We miss her dearly and can’t wait for another visit.

Ashna Goes to Washington DC

Our little girl got to go away for a few days on a school overnight field trip to Washington DC.  The kids and escorts left early Thursday morning and returned late Saturday night.  The field trip was about $300 but priceless to our daughter as she had much fun.  I guess it's nice to get away from parents and hang out with her three roomies.  And of course, she called home as little as possible, free of any burden apparently.  The main attractions were covered including going to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, watching the changing of the guards at the Arlington Cemetery, taking photos in from of the White House, and visiting the US Capitol, and more.  The kids favorite being the tour of the Newseum as it was the coolest.

The tour covered the Memorials to pay respect to Roosevelt, MLK, Iwo Jima, WWII, Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean war veterans.  Meals were at various places like Union Station, Smithsonian Food Court, Regan Building food court, and at the famous Magil's Buffet Restaurant.  A final trip was made to Mount Vernon to see President Washington's original home before heading back to our home.  We got to view the moments through our daughter's eyes with the over 100 photos she took in a course of three days.  Glad she had an amazing time and what a good school she goes to provide such a wonderful learning opportunity.  Her only regret was missing out on the cherry blossoms blooming.

Nuv Yug Festival Dances

Our darling daughter danced away at the Nuv Yug Festival held at the Charlotte Park Expo.  A group in Raleigh hosts the festival there every year and this was their first time in Charlotte.  With choreography by our fabulous dance teacher, my daughter and her group performed Dhoom from the movie Dhoom 3 and Balam Pichkari from the movie, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani.   Aside from our dances, there were so many amazing talents there, we love Charlotte and its strong cultural connection. There were food vendors and plenty of shopping stalls afterwards to check out.

South for the Winter

The holidays were quiet for the first few days as Ashok was working the entire Christmas week.  But as soon as he finished we headed down south to visit historic St. Augustine and our very good friends in Ocala, FL.   St. Augustine is a quaint little city and one of the oldest establishment in the United States.  In 1513, Ponce de Leon claimed it for the Spanish crown and called the area Floridan.    We toured around downtown, drank water at the famous Fountain of Youth and then did a little shipping at the Tanger Outlet nearby.  After that, we hit Ocala and a fabulous few days with our friends and rang in the New Year with them.  We have fun everytime we see the Vaghelas and are blessed by them as our friends.  Upon returning, we visited the Kelty's and congratulated them on their 7th child announcement.   They are the best parents and we're glad they are bringing in another loved one in their care.  We also enjoyed having Akshay home for the holidays but now sad to see him going back to school.

Dupont State Forest

Our fortune took us to the perfect timing to view the luscious fall colors of the NC mountains by hiking them at Dupont State Forest. It was about an 1.5 hour drive from our place towards Asheville in Hendersonville, NC.  We went hiking with friends to see High falls, Triple falls and Hooker falls (smaller) . Bridal Veil Falls is a little further hike away but so worth it. Bridal Veil, High and Triple falls were featured in the Hunger games and Last of the Mohicans.  We went into silly mode to re-enact some scenes from Hunger Games and threw in a pose for the Bond girls as well.

Our friends planned the whole trip with perfect logistics provided each step of the way, a picnic lunch there and a lovely dinner afterwards.  Our fortune brought us more than the perfect fall colors, it brought us wonderful people in our lives!