Mostly Cozy: Photos and Adventures

Baby is scooting and rolling around the floor. Boo and Ji are running through the sprinklers. I'm still in my jammies, listening to Baby gurgle and sing. James is fixing our vent covers since it's June and we're freezing from the air conditioning upstairs.

A few days ago, my brother-in-law told me that I might have more than four readers. That was sort of exciting news. So, sitting here in our cozy living room, I decided I should share some photos and thoughts from the last few weeks.

Halfway through May, we celebrated James's thirtieth birthday. In the spirit of Abbie Hoffman, he declared it was the Never Trust Anyone Over Thirty party.

We are fortunate to have good friends and family who are amazing artists.

Our friend Jeremy is a balloon artist extraordinaire. (He's the famous Balloon Guy.)

He also created this life-size portrait of James as the circus strong man:

If you want to see something even more impressive, watch his Balloon Bag End video.

Our friends Jen and Mark, who are both professional illustrators, came and created terrific caricatures for our guests:

Their oldest daughter decided to join in the fun.

You can see how they really captured their subjects.

James's sister Elisabeth is a fantastic henna artist (and photographer) and shared her talents.

Boo's fortune telling booth was wildly successful.

She would have her guest close his or her eyes and hold out a hand while she cracked open a fortune cookie and read the fortune. The guest was then given the fortune and the cookie. She came up with the idea herself. I'm so proud.


James decided he and I needed to man a booth for Limericks. Who doesn't want to be the subject of a bizarre, possibly insulting, poem?

James was the much more prolific limericist. I roamed around a lot, and I'm much slower. James's genius is quite unparalleled. Here's a sample:

Mark gathers and hunts at DI
With his weapon: a very sharp eye
He'll find games or a toy
From a girl or a boy
Who'll come home from their mission and cry.


Pin the tail on the pinata is all the rage this year. . .

 

Followed closely by pinata futbol.

 

 Which one is the real James?

All in all, it was a truly fantastic party.

If having a big party weren't enough for May, we thought we might as well spend some time with our family in California.


Boo and Ji spent the first day in Pawan and Mahavir's pool.

Uncle Mahavir was a good tiger with Ji and taught Boo games on his phone.

Our adventure day was at the Los Angeles Zoo. (I know it's not the San Diego Zoo, Dave, but we couldn't put our children through all those extra hours on the road.)

 

 

 

Mona's wedding was awesome, of course.

 

 

 

The newest family members were glad to meet each other.

Brothers together

Boo adores her Aunt Lizzy

Uncle Paul was as dedicated a photographer as the one they hired.

Grandma and Bapuji with Baby

Nacheter Uncle, Harjinder Uncle, Surinderpal Uncle, Kulwinder Auntie, Mohinder, Bapuji with Baby, Bacheter Uncle, Balbir Auntie. Quite a group!

Mona and KP, the bride and groom

Beautiful sisters: Sheila, Janice, Vilo, and Susan

Pawan has assured us she's kidnapping our children. (James is supposed to be photoshopped out of this picture.)

We went north from the wedding and spent time with our newest nephew.

 

And Grandma Vilo is always the best storyteller.

 

We spent Memorial Day in the magic of Muir Woods. It is a faeryland.

 

 

 

 

My little geese in the goosepen tree.

 

 

 

It was a fantastic two weeks. Needless to say, we were exhausted and happy by the time we returned.

We are indebted to the family who let us stay in their homes and so generously invited us into their lives.

We are looking forward to more adventures this summer. :)