Preschool! (updated)

Our first week of preschool went off GREAT!

Malaika acted like she's been doing this school thing all her life. Total pro! She posed with her butterfly backpack like a little model - why wouldn't she when her mom and grandpa and her dear anna (with his McQueen camera in tow) went click, click at her every move. Yohan also sent her off to school with some brotherly advice, "Now don't get your backpack broke-d!"

Ranjit and I dropped her off at Teacher Martha'a class and she settled herself with playdoh and coloring and waved us a quick goodbye. No tears, no fuss! Our baby is a little girl with a confidence about her that is quite amazing.

Yohan's first day in the 3's class was quiet. He was quite thrilled with Teacher Sheryl's super-hero/ rescue toys. He came home with a rock that he decorated and that he is to carry in his pocket - a symbol of God who is always with him.

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Yo's First Musical Composition

Yo came up with the words and music to this "song" all by himself, and in this video he is also accompanied by his very own backup vocalist.

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Videos from Mika's 2nd birthday

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Videos from the Maui trip

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Playing in the ocean

The aquarium

At the Garden of Eden on the Road to Hana

Parasailing. Unfortunately we don't have a video of us, and this is right before we get strapped in.

Malaika Turns Two Maui Style

Our baby is two years old! Unbelievable! We can't stop marveling at how quickly she's become a little girl with her own little personality and a rather impressive vocabulary. She may be little but there's definitely no scrimping on spunk and cuteness with this one.

What better way to celebrate Mika turning two than re-live our Hawaii trip with a luau party. Friends and family gathered at Rood Bridge Park and I must say everyone looked quite tropical and vacation-y. Malaika knew it was her party and was quite thrilled with several aspects of the morning - her pink tutu, the swings in the park, everyone singing Happy Birthday and blowing out her candles, the fruit skewers and the marshmallows in her icecream.

For the record, when dada asked her what she wanted for her birthday, her one word answer: Pink.

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Maui

Last week the Narjalas were in another world - far from the daily routine and Portland's grey skies, on the sun-kissed beaches of Maui.

It's not easy to capture five days of lazing in luxury in words. Let's see....essentially we ate, swam in the ocean, went sightseeing, ate some more, swam in the pools, took naps, and decompressed. Sandhya and Bhasker mama joined us on the trip but had a much more adventurous agenda. We were quite content to look at sharks swimming over our heads - in the aquarium. To our credit, dad did some snorkeling and Ranjit and I actually went parasailing - five minutes of feeling like a bird, except I had scuff marks from gripping the harness so tight (kids, when you grow up and read this, know that your dada was a brave man that morning, packing a double punch by beating his trepidation of heights and water).

A super vacation and a real blessing to see beauty in the vastness and yet the incredible detail of God's creation.

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Dancing, Story-time, and Piano-playing

The kiddos goofing off.

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