(no)Cycle Day

The food at Konark with friends kept us engaged and we got to the Cycle Day much  too late, armed with helmets and all. But still managed to have some fun...

Holiday Special

To cap a lovely week, Anushka was thrilled to receive the Tinkle Holiday Special Issue. It is larger, glossy and rich in appearance as compared to the regular Tinkle.It has a mix of historical and fantasy fiction. There are interesting activities as usual- a detective play, a maze and the new welcome additions are the Riddles and the Word Play. The Vampire story and some of the art is pretty YA looking. Tinkle Holiday special features a behind-the-scenes take on the stories by its writers and artist. The Suppandi story is longer but  there is no Shikari Shambu or Amar.
Overall, a must have for the slightly older Tinkle fan!!
Anushka's rating: IIIIIII ( full power)

**************
The girls went for three weeks to  a friendly neighborhood camp which turned out wholesome and varied in coverage. Very homely too. Am glad also because this afford some respite for my folks.

Both kids attended the swimming class for a fortnight and can manage well in the big pool. All thanks to Appa for motivating Adi who thankfully did not catch a cold till the last day of class!

S hosted a couple of creative bdays- Charlie and the Chocolate factory and Thomas.The girls were on a sugar and more high from them

Adittys

Adi is a very keen domestic help
But as she was getting in the maid's way, I exclaimed" Adi is this all you know? To Sweep..."
Promptly she replied' NO. I know mopping too!"
*********
She created a complex pattern and said "Mine is complicat'or' ."
*********
She was happy to carry the home made caramel popcorn to a party.
On the way back she said- "I think maximum I ate. And Anush."
*********
On play habits; " I more or less played with A."
Implying she played most of the time with A

Goonj resonates the Language of Love

Had a great weekend  catching up with ST friends- first Lav from Mumbai and then P from Chennai. What fun it was. Also had a session at Hamleys and indulged in some shopping while at it

********
Having done all that it is time to remember the not so ( materially) fortunate and share all the excess  we accumulate: books, toys, clothes, bags, games, anything (without an expiry date),  that we can be generous enough to give away to kids in rural India.
While this can be done through out the year, the best time is RIGHT NOW!
Just before schools reopen.





The organizers of the campaign (  hosted by Johnson’s Baby in collaboration with Goonj )  have collection centers where the items may be deposited. Those who are interested can give a missed call to 1800 267 6767/1800 267 2222 and they will be guided to the nearest collection center where they can give away stuff that were purchased with great care for their own children who have now grown up and/or have no use for them.

Call the nearest collection center and give away less needed clothes, toys, games and books and gift less privileged kids a smile ....Go here online to find the nearest collection centre.

Adittys

Saw Hawa Hawaii- very nice and moving and deep- Adi quips" Movie was nice amma. It was a littl sad but ..."

Met up with Adi's little cousins. " This one is like a doll and the other one is like a teddy bear" she says

Like her sister in Chennai, at four years, she loves the water but is petrified by the swimming lessons!!

Number March

Number March by Nalini Sorensen is very well conceived. It challenges kids to relate their day to day lives to numbers and look out for interesting connections.

I did not even know there were 4 prongs on a fork but the book highlights such fascinating facts and trivia related to counting - ranging from planets to  history to animal life. The book has universal appeal as the references are not limited to just the Indian .

The creators have a teaser page with partial zoom in illustrations for each number- a 'hide' and 'reveal' style-  to encourage  kids to guess the answers for each number.

Kids also enjoy the march rhyme and counting the kids in the march past.

The colourful illustrations by Shraddha Pimputkar did not delight me as much as the ones in FunOK's earlier Alphabet Dress up. But my kids thought they were super cool and they are the intended TG.

The magic of this book will win kids and their parents over . The launch event was planned as a fund raiser for the Bal Asha Trust. The team planned on raising Rs 1 lac for the home and ended up with nearly 3.5 lacs. Its been their biggest fund raiser to date. Very inspiring. Here are the photos

Did you know? Initially the team had worked on numbers till 20 but the book was becoming too long so they stopped at 12. Perhaps there will be a Sequel???  So that we can get hold of interesting information like 'a rhino is pregnant for 15 months' and that 'there are sixteen pairs of spokes on a bicycle wheel' .....and so the Numbers will march on..........

Great going Preeti and team!! March on to success.
 

If you really need any more reason to buy this book, part of the proceeds go towards charity.

A mommy picture book treasure hunt for Bubble Ink

I am honoured to be a clue giver on Bubble Ink's latest Initiative

Going on a book hunt!!

This book is as much about a mother's love and indulgence as about a child's exuberance for his mother's cooking and eagerness about sharing it with others.

A beautifully illustrated rustic story, it also highlights how generosity begets unexpected rewards.

If that is not enough food for thought, then flip the book and see the recipe at the end of it.

*********
The tale is from Africa and the dish shares the name with a runaway hit of a cumulative tale.

Bhoomija's Vishaka Hari- Gallant Hanuman

Completely inspired performance that the girls stayed awake till late, to watch. And for once, I was happy they did not sleep on time.

Packaged in a nine yard sari, very articulate in English, this young 'maami' storyteller and singer connected so well with the audience which ranged from 4 yrs olds to 80 year olds.

We attended the Jagriti session and from my mom to Adi all were mesmerized.

She had with her a lady ghatam player who also was brilliant!

Of Mangoes in C'mani and Coffee in Coorg

We went to Navy's bumchum's farm in Chintamani to enjoy mangoes and climb trees. The girls had fun and so did we.

Last time we got to feel a velvet poochi.
This time, here is a closer look at the basket flower and the tall shoot of aloe.

 
For my bday, we took off to Coorg and stayed at a homestay called Berrylane in Ammathi
A fun- family- Nature's bounty kind of trip:
Monastery at Byllakupe- Dubare- Vintage car exhibition- General scenic trek

And I bumped into Preeti Vyas of FunOK Please and Gayathri the Kutoohala founder!

Time flies

Here is Anush in the poolajaddai...was nice to see the girls wear paavadais...the phase where they loved them is sadly over...