Thursday, May 9, 2013

Happy 2nd Birthday Chaya and Anjali!

Chaya licking the powdered sugar

The girls turned 2 on May 9. We were happy my parents were here to celebrate with us. On their birthday, I made them some star pancakes and cut up strawberries like hearts. They were very excited about the powdered sugar I sprinkled on the pancakes! ;) We gave them some presents too.
Grandmaman and Chaya, Anjali and mommy


Chaya (she loves tattoos!)

Took the girls to the park

Snack time with grandmaman

Opening mommy and daddy's presents

Memory game!


Opening some presents

Unwrapping some books from a friend


Happy Chaya

Running in the front yard

Anjali

Chaya

With grandmaman

Sisters

We had their birthday pool party the following saturday, and invited a bunch of friends with kids over. Everyone had a great time. And we were quite relieved that the rain didn't end up falling like we anticipated. The weather was perfect, the pool a little chilly, but we had lots of fun. My dad and I made a bunch of salads and finger foods, and I made their sandcastle carrot cake. Since we had just come back from a week on the beach, I thought a beach themed birthday would be fun.

Friends at our party!

Our twin boyfriends!
Pool fun!

The kids didn't mind the chilly water!




Happy splashing!

Such a cutie

The girls did pretty well with a house full of people. They are still very very shy, and not always comfortable around people they don't know.. Even some people they know! Anjali did not like it when we sang "Bonne Fete" to each of them, she kept saying "Non!! NON!", whining and crying. It was kind of funny. ;)
Preparing the cake!
Let's get this party started!

My sandcastle carrot cake!
BONNE FETE!!!

Eating their cupcakes

The boys REALLY liked the cake!

With my birthday girls

With friends

Pretty ladies, pretty  babies!
Grandpapa and Chaya



They loved their new cats!






Tuesday, April 30, 2013

A week on the beach

Me standing on the balcony
 
Me on the balcony with our dogs

My parents visited us for a little over 3 weeks, and we decided to rent a beach house on Dauphin Island, Alabama. Lots of people had been there and told me how beautiful it is, only 3 hours away, I really wanted to go. I had always dreamed of staying at a house on stilts on the beach! And we were lucky enough to find one that allowed dogs!



Prosanta and the dogs on the beach

Grandmaman and Anjali

Daddy and Anjali



My mom and saggy butt Anjali

My mom and Chaya in the water


We stayed for a week, and had such a wonderful time. It was so nice to be on vacation, to have Prosanta there every day, all day, playing with the girls. We had fun cooking, walking on the beach, playing in the sand, bird watching, the men went fishing, it really is a beautiful place. It's a small barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, right off the shores of Alabama. Our house was about a 2 minute walk to the beach!
My mom and the girls, under the house

Chaya

My parents

The girls eating some fries
Reading time

The girls were a little hesitant about going in the water. I can't blame them too much, the water was a little chilly, plus it was VERY windy almost every day. The nicest day was the day we left! And that's the only time some of us actually went in the water. Chaya was the bravest of the 2, she wanted to go in the water, in our arms, and didn't mind being almost fully submerged! They didn't like the strong wind on the beach though, the sand actually sometimes hurt your legs.

Anjali running in the waves

Grandmaman and Anjali
My dad feeding the gulls their leftover bait
My parents walking with Anjali

We saw lots of beautiful birds, a few dolphins, some crabs, turtles and some cool insects. My mom and I went walking with the girls at the Audubon Bird Sanctuary, one afternoon. We saw a few huge centipedes, that the girls were very interested in. We also saw 3 turtles in a lake.

Prosanta getting a little work done, while the girls play on his iPad



Visiting a zoo

Great Blue Heron

Grandmaman with the girls on the beach (asleep Chaya)

Me and Chaya in the water

Sleepy Chaya

Running on the beach


Relaxing..


We visited the Estuarium, which is a nice public aquarium, with cool exhibits with the local fauna. The girls really loved that, and got a few stuffed animal souvenirs, an alligator for Chaya, and a sting ray for Anjali.

Playing on the balcony
Date night for Prosanta and I!

Audubon Bird Sanctuary
At the Estuarium
We want to go back to Dauphin Island, maybe making it a yearly family vacation spot. But next time, I want to go during the summer, when the ocean's a bit warmer.