Indian Summer

What a summer it has been. 4 weeks down South, in Chennai and Bangalore. The highlight for me was the sheer and very satisfyingly large number of people I managed to catch up with - friends, relatives and cousins. The highlight for Ads was no doubt the wonderful day he spent ogling all kinds of wild creatures at the Vandalur Zoo, in company with his beloved Chennai Thatha (my father). The highlight for Y - well, who knows what it was? - but she got spoilt rotten by everyone, and that must have been it!

Ads was the cynosure of many eyes at the family wedding that we spent three whole days in, not only because he was one of the youngest kids there, but because of the ease with which he would launch into a conversation with just about anyone. His natural shyness put aside temporarily, he won many hearts (especially those of the older crowd) by expressing his interest in the Ramayana and Indian mythology. He was a source of much amusement when he swaggered into the venue one day, swinging his toy gadai (mace) above his head! It warmed my heart to see him running around the hall with third cousins, sitting in a great-aunt's lap listening to the story of Vaali and Sugreeva, and perhaps glimly understanding that his "family" is a lot larger than he thought it was.

Caveat: All this hob-nobbing with extended family is all very well when you get to do it once or twice a year.I have the liberty to gush about it on this blog. But it would drive me mad if I lived in Chennai and had a family function to attend every couple of weeks. Have been there, done that, you know :)

Anyway, even Y has lost a LOT of her stranger anxiety and is much friendlier to people now.

What else did we do?

The three of us spent 5 days of "quality time" with S's parents at Ooty. Grandparents and grand kids had their fill of each other and enjoyed the sightseeing and the tons of activities that the resort laid on for guests every night.
I caught up with many dear friends, and the children got to know new uncles and aunties who showered them with affection and gifts! 
My dad and I took Ads to his first ever movie in a theatre. The movie was "How to train your dragon" (3D). Hard to say which one of us enjoyed it more, but it led to a fresh resolve on my part to take Ads to age-appropriate movies on a regular basis from now on. My dad also took Ads to the zoo in Chennai, an experience he talks about all the time.

I shopped. We all ate too much. Kids ate way too many sweets. Ads watched too much TV.

We all missed S, stuck in the Delhi heat and missing out on all the fun, particularly as his birthday and our 10th wedding anniversary fell during this period.
As we count down to the last few days of the summer break, and wait to be reunited with daddy dear, I am busy soaking in the terrific Bangalore weather and hope that Ads enjoyed his holidays as much as I did!