Along the Mississippi - Shadow Falls

Fall is one of the most beautiful time in Minnesota, its when the nature is set ablaze and colors burst from each little crack in the scenery. The temperatures are often moderate and perfect for hiking. If you are from out of town and would like to experience Minnesota, there can't be a better time than Fall.

Bike ride to a destination...

Last weekend, we took a family bike ride for lunch. Bike rides have become an integral part of summers ever since our, then, five year old transitioned out of training wheels. And now our daughters love biking around the block when we work in the yard or go on extended bike rides with us exploring new trails through known neighborhoods.

If you are a parent, you might know how tough it is to teach kids about healthy habits and the special challenge is for them to make the right choices when they are surrounded by tempting unhealthy choices and parents aren’t around to guide them. So I try to device subtle ways to educate them about energy consumption, bodily or otherwise and how each little choice matters.

Paris Themed Birthday Party!

This year she wanted her birthday party in a barn with horses, but since its winter in Minnesota and I was a little nervous about half a dozen girls giggling around and goofing off in horse stables, I steered the conversation in a different direction. And Paris came to my rescue one more time… it was going to be a Paris Glam Party. 

We designed the invitations ourselves and got 5x7 prints from the local pharmacy photo shop.   

Happy Halloween folks!

2013 was a special Halloween for us; it was the first time that DH agreed to dress up. I had picked up a skeleton suit for him but he wasn’t sure and so I had not planned anything either so when at the last minute he slipped into the costume, I had to come up with something really fast. And besides an angel and a witch, a girl with long dark hair can always bank on dressing up as Frida Kahlo. A warp around skirt and a shawl that DH had picked up in Spain and a few accessories later, I was ready.

A skeleton, a kitty cat, Frida Kahlo and a fortune teller.

The girls chose their own costumes, a cat and a fortune teller. I wanted to make the cat ear and tail myself but when I found the whole Cat kit in Target for five dollars, I knew my time will not be worth it. So it was store bought (sacrilege), I know.

The fortune teller was a combination of skirts for layering effect and a scarf that we had picked up during our last Paris trip. Rest was accessories from our dressing tables and jewelry drawers…

p.s. sorry about the noisy picture... its a phone picture but I really wanted to share now and not wait for pictures from the really camera :-)

Fall = Apple+Raspberry picking season

I feel blessed that we live just a few miles from tons of green spaces, parks and a few orchards and farmers as well. It makes taking breaks from routine very easy and enriching; and what that means besides other things is that on a beautiful Fall afternoon over the weekend right before the lethargy from an elaborate lunch sets in, we can escape to the nearby apple orchard and soak up the sun and inhale fresh apples and raspberries.

I sure love it that the girls know their favorite variety of apple by name and can often pick it right from the trees.

We ended up picking almost 15 lbs (7 kg) of apples and 4 pints of raspberries. That’s more apple than what we’d have gotten from the grocery store but it’s so fresh, it will last a couple weeks. Besides DH plans to make some apple Jam and my younger daughter wishes to try making homemade apple sauce.

This year the raspberries are really good. I ate right of the shrubs almost as much as I picked. This was the very first year when we got to pick the pink and yellow raspberries. Now my green smoothies have been tinged pink

DH made a quick raspberry tart and it needed a few more minutes of setting but we were too greedy to wait and gobbled it all up. Even though the filling was a little runny, the taste was just perfect...

Visiting the Art Institute of Minneapolis

The Minneapolis institute of Arts is a wonderful place to spend time together as a family. We visit there frequently specially during winter except that this past winter was warm and excluded the need for constant indoor weekend activities.

We love going there on Target Family days since they have many art related activities going on throughout the day and keep kids involved. Remember our recycled material dragon fly?

On our last visit to the Target family day at MIA, the featured artist was Pablo Picasso and since my older daughter Somu studied about him in his art class, we were all excited about visiting on this particular day. We made portraits using strips of paper, some hand torn other precisely cut depending on what was available to use. 

Mamma walking dog on a sunny day

Somu enjoying an Ice cream

We made portraits of our dancing girls

The featured exhibit these days is the restoration and rediscovery of the statue, Saint Paul, the hermit. 

It is a beautifully carved piece and worth a visit, its only there till the 15th April so if its on your list, you must visit there soon. 

After the visit to the special exhibit, we visited the gallery on third floor to see modern pieces from mid century.

We also spotted a Georgia O 'Keeffe 

The other very interesting feature there these days is the pop-up park. Had it been a regular winter, it would have been a killer display but since the weather outside is already very spring like the greenery of the plastic grass failed to make an impact but still the joy of watching two little girls kick off their boots and run around in the grass, even if its plastic, is priceless. 

And the real treat was this dragon car situated outside in the street side parking. 

Even though its not a regular feature of the museum but it shows to tell about the interesting people that make this place charming... 

Berrilicious Summer...

It aint summer till its strawberry picking season...
Luckily we managed to get out to the orchard a few times this summer to indulge in this delicious luxury...

And what a day to be posting these pictures on, yesterday was the coldest day in history of Minnesota in July. We barely touched 60F...

common grounds... library

I am blessed with a family who love to spend time at the library and since we spent many evenings there its only fair that I share a few pictures...

The terrace with river view...

The fiction bookshelves...

The foyer...

An enthusiastic bunch...

Our first born and book lover...

Our second born, remember I had mentioned something about her pushing all buttons within her reach...

It was a berry nice day

We went strawberry picking this morning. It was partly cloudy and the sunlight was sieving through the clouds. It was just about perfect for picking strawberry and having a picnic. We made it back to the hay-ride fine but while waiting for other passengers got drenched in the rain. Here are some pictures:

Both girls loved the berries and kept eating them till it was all gone. I refrained myself from eating too many even though they talk about antioxidants and fibers.

Then this evening, I painted my thumb green and spent some time with my long neglected plants. I had a few seeds lying around the house and I seeded them today though I don't know if its the right season for them...

LOOK...

Look, my girl made this bowl at the uptown art fair at the Northern Clay center booth.
We picked it up this week after they baked it for us. She is totally a Daddy's girl but I can proudly say that she has a crafty bone