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.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Grandmaman and grandpapa visit us!

Sitting on grandmaman's lap watching a video
We had a wonderful 3 week visit with my parents. They got to spend a lot of time with the girls, and finally they feel more comfortable with my dad! He was able to play with them, hold them, and almost make them laugh! They are still a little shy with him, but it was SO much better than last time. 

After having lunch on the LSU campus
Going to see some ducks

At the BR Zoo

Chaya on my dad's shoulders looking at the giraffes
Brushing the goats
My dad was a happy man at the LSU Biology crawfish boil!
Peeling away the crawfish for the girls, couldn't keep up!
At a free music festival in Lafayette, Festival International
At Festival International

My mom consoling overwhelmed Anjali

Chaya running! At Festival International

Anjali and her proud grandparents


The girls having fun

Chaya

Running in the puddles in front of our house (Anjali)

Dad and Chaya

My parents running in the puddles with the girls

Grandmaman and Anjali
My dad and Prosanta

My parents and their dog Wood

Took my parents to their first ever cajun dance!

At the cajun dance

My parents and our friend Ralph, at the cajun dance

Our neighbor and friend Dolly, Prosanta, and our cajun dance friend Jeanette

Mother's Day 2013! The girls are wearing the beautiful dresses my mom sewed them.

Mother's Day brunch
Grandmaman and Chaya

Having fun in our backyard

Took my parents to New Orleans on their last day

This washboard guy was funny ;)

Anjali looking at the Mississippi river

Happy boys with their cigars

Having some beers ;)

Me and my man

Playing on the St. Louis Cathedral lawn, New Orleans

Cafe du Monde, the girls didn't even try the beignets, all they wanted was the powdered sugar!


Beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde, New Orleans
Family photo at the Vieux Carre, New Orleans