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S & I watched The Christmas Chronicles as M & JP head out this evening to watch the Ballet Forklorico in Castillo de Chapultapec. She enjoyed it and it was a great wrap up to Christmas 2023!

S had a seemingly sudden meltdown on the way back from her roller skating class asking for a ‘Hello Kitty Donut’. She hopped off her bike and said she won’t ride it until we got her one that very instant. M told her we could talk about it once we’re home. The looming thunder clouds didn’t seem to budge her too. M seemed to have had a word with her and that somehow changed her mind - a bit. Finally she did succumb, however vehemently showing her immense dissatisfaction by bawling and walking her bike home. ...

Every kid should be taught the surgeon’s knot. Ever since I started using it to tie my shoe laces, not once has it failed!

Appa’s been mentioning Luray Caverns for a while now, so we decided to head there this weekend. He did pretty well despite his knees giving him a tough time. ‘Oh so worth it. Simbly beautiful’ - his words! While at it, we got our annual national parks pass and decided to do the scenic drive in Shenandoah. S had a terrific time hopping on top of the car and addressing the wilderness at almost every pull-over area. ...

This labor day weekend, the fam VRBOd a pretty nice woodsy property in the Poconos. It’s been years since some of us have met! The adults had some great time together just winding down while the kids literally brought the place down. The property had direct access to the Beltzville lake and almost everyone took to the water. A first of kinds…The kayaks weren’t the best maintained and a couple of us did take some falls in the water. Life jackets came in super handy! So thankful I learnt swimming early on. This weekend did bring out the outdoorsy flair from everyone. ...

As I walked up from the basement this early morning, I got to capture this beautiful picture of the light from the laundry room ’lighting’ up the lamp from the Kolam. We performed Appa’s Satabhishekam today. His sisters could attend the ceremony in person and a good bunch of family zoomed in. Until yesterday, we weren’t even sure we’d make it in time for the event. Phew! He’s turning 86 this year! Several circumstances pushed this celebration until now and we’re so glad we could make it happen today. Highlight of the event was undoubtedly the veda recital at the end of the ceremony. Wish we recorded it! ...

[caption id=“attachment_37938” align=“aligncenter” width=“1200”] Sinhagad at a distance. This picture is from on of my previous hikes.[/caption] Sharp at 0600 as we finally reach the road that winds up to Sinhagad, Ankur and I take a moment to savor the twilight chill. The last 7.5 hours has been nothing short of mesmerizing and rewarding. Just as it was twelve years ago when I did this hike with a much larger group. ...

‘Urbanization’ peeking in quite adjacent to the Hauz Khas fort. This beautiful reservoir and the surrounding wooded area sealed the deal! Spent quite some time exploring around here this evening. Can’t wait to introduce M&S to this place.

Over the last few months, I have been able to drastically reduce the digital clutter with two key tools - Anonaddy and KTN. Anonaddy lets you spin up email aliases on-the-go and sever them as needed. KTN let’s you subscribe to newsletters in your feed reader via RSS. Pretty cool concept and I love how easy it is to use! Highly recommend!

That’s one neat, much-needed reminder!