Family Vacation to Atlanta!

Right after Memorial Day, we headed on our first summer vacation trip to join the Shah family in Atlanta!  Anu's, Divyang's, and Vivek's families joined us to visit with our Atlanta cousins, Bhavna Didi, Vandana Bhabhi, and Daxa Bhabhi for a fun-filled few days before our Shah Family Reunion began at the Callaway Gardens!

We had an amazing time in Atlanta getting all the little cousins together!  Kajal Didi took great care of us and took us to a neighborhood playground and Stone Mountain Park, and Avni Didi introduced us all to a very neat, new way of making and eating ice cream: rolled ice cream at 8 degrees Fahrenheit!

At the playground, Arjun and Vidya enjoyed "making chukri" together!

At Stone Mountain Park, a neat outdoor adventure theme park, the littlest cousins enjoyed playing in the sand and stream while the bigger cousins tried out the ropes course and rock climbing!

Even Arjun did the ropes course!

Yay Arjun! So proud of doing the ropes course all by himself!

We all enjoyed watching Yogi Bear in 4D (except maybe sweet, little Vidya who was a little frightened by some of the effects)!

Ready for the 4D show!  Watch out for Bears aka Rajiv Fuva!

We also played putt putt, took a train ride tour through the park, took a gondola ride up to the top of Stone Mountain, and the kids enjoyed splashing and getting wet in an interactive spray fort!

The kids had a blast getting wet at the spray
fort!

At the end of our Stone Mountain adventures, Arjun was inspired by Vidya to "make brown ones", and went poopie in the potty for the very first time!  Way to go Vidya for teaching Arjun and way to go Arjun for beginning your big boy journey into life without pull-ups!  I loved seeing the interaction and growing bond between these two littles!  They are so sweet and had such a great time playing with each other!

Arjun and Vidya enjoying bath time together after an
adventurous day at Stone Mountain!

Arjun sharing his love for watching the washing machine spin
around with Vidya!

Later that night, we had a very unique ice cream experience! We enjoying yummy, rolled condensed milk ice cream at 8 degrees Fahrenheit.  This was such a treat for the kids and us!  We were especially excited to take Arjun given his love for things that spin or are rolled (like the "rollos" he makes out of Model Magic at home)!

Daddies and kids watching intently as their ice cream is being
made in such a cool way!

Everyone's loving the yumminess!

Yummy coffee flavored ice cream with toasted
marshmallows, brownies, and poky!

Thank you to Vandana Bhabhi and family for so graciously hosting us at their lovely home and thank you to all the Atlanta Shah family for taking such great care of us while we were visiting.  From the delicious meals to the awesome entertainment/outings and family time, we had the best time and can't wait to reconvene in Atlanta next May for Avni Didi's wedding!

Krish Begins Balvihar at Chinmaya Mission!

This past year was a big year as we began many new chapters in Krish's life.  In addition to his Kindergarten, secular education, we were very excited to have Krish begin his spiritual education as a Balvihar Kindergartener at Chinmaya Mission DFW.  You can only start at KG, so unfortunately Arjun isn't able to attend classes till then. We are, however, looking to start a toddler class with story time introducing Hindu folklore to children between ages 2-4.  Since Arjun still has 2 years till he will begin Kinder, we hope he can benefit from this class!

Since I attended CMH Balvihar growing up and later became a student teacher, I couldn't wait for our children to join CM Balvihar too!  We had so many wonderful experiences with Chinmaya Mission this year and in Krish's Kindergarten class.  In addition to learning prayers, and the Balvihar Alphabet ("A is for Ambition, B is for Brotherhood", etc.) as part of the KG curriculum, Krish participated in many performances with his classmates ranging from plays about Swami Chinmayananda's life to presentations and bhajans performed by his entire class.

Krish doing closing prayers along with his class and teachers
on his first day in Chinmaya Mission Balvihar.

Here is a presentation given by Kindergarten about what they learn in class in addition to a beautiful bhajan sang by the children entitled "Vandana Srideva".  Krish practiced really hard for this performance!

In May, the kindergarteners took part in a play about Swami Chinmayananda's life to celebrate our Pujya Gurudev's birth centenary year!  The kindergarteners performance was based on the early years of his life.  In addition to playing the role of Ranga Swami Iyer, Krish also had many narrative parts in the play.

Krish with his proud teachers - Maduri Auntie, Sridevi Auntie, and Lata Auntie
Krish and the Kindergarten class Play

Fall Fun at the Dallas Arboretum Pumpkin Village!

As is our fall tradition, in October 2015, we took the boys to visit the Pumpkin Village at the Dallas Arboretum.  It is such a lovely spot to get some festive fall pictures of the kids and family!  In addition to the vast array of pumpkins and gourds displayed, the Pumpkin Village also contains a hay maze and Cinderella's carriage for the kids to play around in!  This year we focused on the boys and their relationship.  It was definitely fun and peaceful!

The kids have a blast every fall when we visit, and we always look forward to our next visit to the Pumpkin Village!  

Sweet Brothers!

Texas!

Sweet brothers!  There's nothing sweeter to see
as parents than the bond between you children!

Arjun's 3 Year-Old Interview!

A neat idea we learned from Krishna Kaki is interviewing the boys based on the same series of questions every year on their birthday!  We have not been as consistent about it but hope to do so starting this year!  Here is an interview of Arjun right after he turned three!

Arjun Learns how to Read!!!

Back in January of this year, Arjun began reading!  Just like his brother, he has such a thirst for knowledge and learning!  He loves reading books, often times reading upstairs near the bookshelf all by himself while Mommy works with Krish.  Right after he turned 3, he began asking me what certain letters spelled wherever he would see them, i.e. on cereal boxes, signs, books.  He would try to sound them out phonetically himself and then just ask me.  We would sing many phonics songs together in our long car rides to and from Krish Bhai's school so I knew he was ready to start reading!

So in January, we started with three-letter words, and Arjun began his journey into literacy! Daddy and I are so proud of him and his love for reading!  We hope to continue to foster this love in our daily activities with him.  I will update on his progress from here on!  (He currently reads four-letter words as well and is very familiar with a lot of his favorite words such as "truck"!)

Eenie Meenie Miney Moe!

I caught a cute video of Arjun last year on Daddy's birthday repeating a new song he just learned at school!  They really do soak things up like sponges at this age! My little Cutie Pie!

Krish Loves Basketball!

One of Krish's all-time favorite sports has always been basketball!  He has loved the sport since he was two!  Currently, he loves playing it and watching it.  I remember when he started watching the NCAA Championship for the first time with Daddy right after he turned 4 years old!  (That's when we discovered what a wiz he was at math--calculating the differences in the scores in his head in a matter of seconds!  Often in the double digits!)

Since then, he enjoys watching the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers play in addition to the Mavericks.  He also watches the NBA Playoffs and Finals with Daddy.  He recently picked up a new show, called Dunk Kings, that inspired him to start creating his own special dunks on our 4-foot basketball hoop!

In addition to watching basketball, he, of course, loves to play basketball!  He has been playing since he was two, and when he was four, he started a dribbling drills class that he participated in biweekly for almost a year.  Ever since then, his passion for playing the sport only increased, and we all couldn't wait for the time to come when he would play on an actual team! 

Krish developed a love for the game at a mere age 2!

My little baller!

Krish the Swish!

4 years later, playing with his classmates on the Hornet Swarm!

Krish, in action!

Some videos from Krish's Dribbling Drills Class with Coach Moussa!

Well the time came this past year in Kindergarten when his grade formed a Greenhill KG team, the Hornet Swarm, through the YMCA league in the winter.  We were all very excited and Daddy even became the team's coach!  Krish had an amazing season and start to the season!  In his first game, he scored 18 points, and their team's record for the season was 7-1.  Needless to say, both Daddy and Krish were so proud, and so were Mommy, Arjun, Dada, Ba, Nana, Nani, Tanya Masi, Tricia Masi, Atul Masa and Mr. Alfredo!  (All who came to watch Krish play throughout the season).

The Hornet Swarm!
From left to right: Joshua Chen, Philip Turner, Rehan Menon, Cannon Beatey,
Krish Shah, and Miles Raskin

Here are some clips of Krish in action from this past season!

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6 - Greenhill KG Team 1 vs. Greenhill KG Team 2! Highly anticipated game of the season where the GH KG teams face off! Hornet Swarm vs. Mavs

Game 8

The summer season is about to start this Saturday and the Hornet Swarm (under Coach Shah and Coach Jackson) have been practicing all summer already.  Everyone can't wait to play so stay tuned for regular, live updates!