The Canadian Rockies

We just got back from a 6 day trip to the Canadian Rockies. Cataloging the main points of the trip here.

Day 1 : Left from San Francisco and arrived into Calgary. We stayed at the Residence Inn Marriott in downtown Calgary.

Day 2 : Left for Banff after breakfast. Arrived into Banff and visited the Johnston Canyon. We took the trail to the lower falls. Then visited Mount Norquay and stopped over a few vista points on the way.

Day 3: Took a day trip to Lake Loiuse and Moraine Lake (about 45 mins from Banff). Also visited the Takakkaw falls. Took the trail to the bottom of the falls

Day 4: Took the gondola ride to sulphur mountain. Visited Lake Minnewanka and Vermillion lake and Bow Falls.

Day 5: Drive to Jasper. Stop over at Peyto lake and Columbia Icefield (Athabasca glacier) and Bow lake.

Day 6 : Day in Jasper. Visited Maligne Canyon, Maligne lake and Athabasca Falls.

Day 7: Drive back to Calgary and visited Mistaya Canyon on the way.

Fantabulous Big Sur

It's a shame that we have lived in the bay area for over 10 years and it is only now that we visited a fabulous place like Big Sur. Why isn't everyone making a big deal about this place? We hear about Monterey, Carmel, Yosemite but not much has been said about Big Sur. Well, the place was a real treat doubled up with great weather. We enjoyed a small hike to the pfeiffer water falls, made sand castles on the pfeiffer beach and enjoyed the plain old playing with kids in the green meadows of the park. We stayed in the Big Sur Inn lodge which is in pfeiffer state park surrounded by beautiful mountains on either sides. One of the main attractions of the area is Point Lobos which unfortunately we missed this time around. But I am happy in a way 'cos that just gives us a reason to visit this fantastic place again.

Proliferation of 'Twins'

Some 10 years back I barely knew one or two families who had twins. Over the last 5 years I have known a few more. But lately the twin phenomenon seems to be going strong. Here's what I mean:
1. I worked for OSAF for 3.5 years and during that span 4 of us had twins
2. I take the kids to MyGym and among some 12 kids there are 2 sets of twins and the instructor herself has twins.
3. My kids are enrolled for a Music Class and among 8 kids there are 2 sets of twins
4. At ParentsPlace and last Friday I met 2 other moms with twins (among 15 kids)
5. Our local Mothers Club playgroup (ages 2-3) includes 2 other moms besides me with twins.

Is it that just because I have twins that I have begun to take notice of more and more twins around me or there is really some phenomenon going around that cannot be dismissed?

3 is the new 2

In case you have been too busy to notice, let me tell you 3 is the new 2. Being in various classes all week with the kids and being part of the local mothers club, I meet lots and lots of moms and there is one pattern that stands out clearly. More and more families are going for 3 kids. Yes, brave ones indeed and I applaud them. I have also met moms who are having their third kid in late 30s and early 40s. I have tried prodding them to figure out what exactly motivates them to extend their families beyond 2. I haven't found a general answer except the fact that these people are just family oriented people. They enjoy babies and kids and as soon as their older kids grow up they miss having little ones running around at home and that's part of the reason. Having 2 toddlers at home, I can completely relate to them but it would take a lot more convincing to get me to have a third. I mean just the amount of work involved and support required single handedly tilts the decision in favor of no. In the past I have worked for a company in the mid-west where having more than 2 kids was the norm. Everyone around me had at least 3 or more kids. Yes, some even 5 and these are people of our generation. It is true that beyond a point, there is economy of scale but there is certainly a delta of work that must be done by parents.
Anyhow, kudos to those parents who are going for larger families. Especially kudos to Casey, who is having her third baby anytime this week while her older twins just completed a year 2 weeks back.

Wild day with Thomas

If you have a 2 year old, you probably have heard, seen, worn and eaten anything and everything resembling 'Thomas the Tank Engine'. What's a silly looking train has the kids by their wits. My 2 year olds' first toddler toothbrush, toothpaste and underwear had Thomas on it. And it doesn't end there, next comes t-shirt, shoes, books, bag pack and what not. So when a friend mentioned that Roaring Camp in Felton, CA was having this event called 'Day out with Thomas' I naturally jumped on it. It was a dream come true for the kids, actually getting to ride on Thomas and hearing some of their favorite tunes. Of course, for the $18 that they charged us per ticket they could have made the whole experience a lot better than just a simple train ride through the redwoods. Everything else was an add-on. The place was packed with parents and kids dressed in all kinds of Thomas ensemble. The place is fun besides the train ride too. There are jump houses, clown shows, hay stack structures, playdough and bubble stations. The kids had a smashing time. Needless to say, we came back home more tired than the kids.

5 dump trucks and counting..

5 dump trucks, 3 fire engines, 3 diggers, 2 front loaders, 1 cement mixer, 1 bull dozer and more.
You can tell there lives someone in this house who loves anything and everything TRUCKS!!

What's up popcorn?

What's up with the different varieties of popcorn? What's happened to the simple old fashioned regular popcorn that we used to get. I visited a grocery store recently to pick up some for our movie nite. All I wanted was just regular popcorn.
I had to choose from:
1. movie theater butter style
2. blasto butter
3. light butter
4. kettle corn
5. caramel corn
6. unsalted and fat-free
7. 100 calorie
8. organic
9. buttery garlic
10. 94 % fat-free
11. fat-free
12. salt and cracked pepper
13. cheddar popcorn
14. Low-fat and low-sodium

Couldn't they just have one that is labeled "Regular"?