Winter holidays in Southern California

We started our winter holidays at home with presents

 

But quickly joined family in Southern California for some good eats..

and gaudily decorated beach houses.

 

We spent the next several days hiking and bouldering in Joshua Tree National Park

Here is Kirin blending in with the rocks

See if you can find Kirin below..

The amazing night sky from Joshua Tree (through the lens of an iPhone)

Thanksgiving in Visalia and Sequoia National Park

 We spent Thanksgiving with friends in Visalia and Sequoia National Park

Our only requirement for the house was that it would have a hot tub, which we made frequent use of

We also saw some tall trees though were a bit unprepared for the cold!

Fall outings in the bay

 Saw the new electric Caltrains at an event in San Francisco

Navratri time

   

Halloween with a Potassium-Iridium-Indium element (KIrIn) and a monkey

Ice skating at the winter lodge and in union square

  

Milan in his first school play

Fall photo shoot

Summer Birthdays and First Day of School

 Kirin turned 8 and Milan turned 11 over the summer and thankfully still put up with my baby quilt photos without too much grumbling

First day of middle school (6th grade) for Milan - riding his bike to school!

 

First day of 3rd grade

Epic Summer 2023 Trip to India

 We had an epic trip to India in June/July 2023.  It was Kirin's first trip and Milan's first that he remembers.

Early on in our trip, we visited Elephanta Caves.  This involved taking a ferry from the Gateway of India and dodging the monkeys who wanted to steal our things (the one pictured took a member of our group's water bottle!)

Milan got to indulge his passion for public transport - we rode the Mumbai local trains, an overnight train from Valsad to New Delhi, the Mumbai and Delhi metro systems, and a double decker bus along Marine Drive. 

 

(Some of us were happier than others after having slept on the train all night)

 

Subway aficionados may know that the Wheaton metro station in Maryland has the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere (230 feet).  Well, it turns out the Janakpuri West metro station in Delhi has the longest escalator in India (51 feet), so we had to ride it.

We got the best seats on the double decker bus, front seats on the second level, which gave us a panaramic view

 

 

When Milan heard there was an AC version of the Mumbai local trains, he knew exactly what he wanted to do on his birthday

 

 

In addition to the monkeys, Kirin enjoyed seeing a baby camel and the cows in Dharampur 

 

 

We did some sightseeing in the searing Delhi heat

and then visited the iconic Taj Mahal

 

 

Of course, these photos leave out the most important part of our trip:  spending quality time with family.  We enjoyed seeing everyone after many years and look forward to visiting again!