Bobby and Tim come over!

My good friend from college Whitney came over with her two little boys Bobby and Tim. The boys had fun playing at the park down the street while Whitney and I had some time to catch up. It was so good to have them at the house!

Ian's Birthday party

A few weeks ago, Jaidan's friend Ian turned two and had a fabulous party at Paradise Pond, an indoor playground in Grapevine. Jaidan had fun in the bouncehouse, the bicycle ride and of course, the cars. There was also a huge slide that we both decided to go down and we ended up hitting our heads and I burned my hand against the plastic as we came down. These playscapes can be pretty scary! Now Jaidan says "Slide - ouch."

And down the slide he goes!

It's not a party unless there are cars to play with!

Riding the bicycle merry go round

Aafke dressing up like a car! I tried putting Jaidan in this - but he isn't into dressing up.

Happy Birthday Ian!

Yes, I'll have cake!

Sweet Sofia

Chicago!

Okay, so I am backtracking here - sorry, but I want to have a memory of recent events which I haven't had a chance to post. We were in Chicago recently for my cousin Parag's 50th birthday. He and his wife Chris went all out to celebrate. They rented a Hummer limo Friday night, which took us to an exotic Mediterrenean restaurant downtown. This place, Alhambra, was amazing. The food was great, and so was the entertainment, which consisted of belly dancers and flamenco dancers. This night was adults only - kiddos stayed home with the grandparents. We had fun family time during the day though. Jaidan met his cousin Carina for the first time (my cousin Ami's daughter). She is almost two years old and she is a sassy little cutie. Carina and Jaidan had a blast playing together. We took the kids downtown to Gino's pizzeria for some Chicago-style deep dish pizza and took a walk on Navy Pier. A fun weekend, we always have the best time in Chi-town!

(L-R) Manish, Gita, Nisha, Chris, my cousins Parag and Ajay in front of the limo

The nice ride downtown!

Parag and the belly dancer doing a birthday dance!

Jaidan taking in the sights at Navy Pier

Carina looking cute in her hat and pink coat!

Beach Blogger

Ahhhh Cancun. We have just begun our relax-cation in Mexico. We have been so busy these last three weeks, I haven't had time to post updates. But I have a little downtime now! :-) This was a long awaited trip for us.. First getaway for Manish and I together in three years. That seems like a lifetime ago, especially because the last trip we took was before Jaidan was born! Looking forward to a weekend of R&R!

View from our bed as I type - not bad..

A Day out with Thomas!

We spent last Sunday afternoon at the Grapevine Vintage Railroad for the Thomas the Train event. There was Thomas & Friends themed entertainment, including storytelling, music, arts and crafts, and train tables set up for the kids to play with. We ended the day with Jaidan's very first train ride! The weather was unseasonably cold, but that didn't put a damper on Jaidan's excitement!

Jaidan picked out the tatoo himself - his favorite train is Mike the engine

A blacksmith shows off his wares

Jaidan petting the goats at the petting zoo

I let Manish help out here. Petting zoos gross me out.

A magician performs

An electric train display

These conductors took their job seriously

"Smoke" coming out of the engine

OMG it's Thomas! Kids were shrieking with excitement. It was funny.

Posing with the conductor

His expression cracks me up. He couldn't contain his excitement!

The conductor comes by to take our tickets

Jaidan gets a "Junior Engineer" certificate