Last night, we stayed up and watched the full lunar eclipse from our back yard. It happened between 2am and 4am Pacific Time and was entirely visible from our balcony.
Here is a link on what that is: http://starryskies.com/The_sky/events/lunar-2003/eclipse1.html
The pictures at the site are better but this is the real thing!
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I have been procrastinating for a while but finally went in for an eye test as my eyes have been hurting at the end of the day.
Sure enough…. I need reading glasses. For those doctors out there, my right eye is a +50 OD and my left eye is a +75 OS. My distance vision is still perfect.
My glasses are on order, a spiffy version of Jhane Barnes designer glasses that were covered by my insurance.
I’ll be seeing better in a week! Shree
Posted in Personal | Tagged doctor, glasses | 1 Comment »
On Sunday evening the Aithals came over for dinner. You can see Asit’s post here along with a small video.
We made homemade pizza and had White Peach sangria for dinner.
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On one of the last days in the Bay Area, we went to Muir Woods redwood park.
It was a 2 hour drive from Mom and Dad’s house.
We went for a long hike and saw the redwoods. The tallest trees in the park are 260 feet with a 14 foot diameter and are over 1000 years old. The park has the tallest species of Coast Redwoods in the world.
On the way home we stopped off at the Oak residence in Orinda (from Redwoods to Oaks!). Here are the 3 boys climbing in their backyard.
Posted in Vacation | Tagged hiking, Muir Woods, Vacation | Leave a Comment »
On one of the days in the Bay Area, we went to Paramount’s Great America Park in San Jose.
Here are Mom and Anjali on the Demon ride.
Here are Vikram and Nikhil on the Centrifuge ride:
Here are all of us on the Delirium ride —a powerful spinning pendulum that will send you whirling.
Here are Anjali and Annika on the Log Ride:
Annika went on all of the thrill rides that were allowed for 48″ and under kids.
Mom (Rajani) went on all of the rides! Not bad for a grandma!
We had a great time at the park.
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We just got back from a week up in San Francisco at Mom and Dad’s house in Morgan Hill. On one of the days, we went to the Winchester Mystery House.
The rich, crazy widow haunted by spirits was told to keep building her house to ward away the evil spirits. She did this for 38 years and during that time built a 160 room mansion over 6 floors high. Here are some pictures from the tour.
The tour takes about 3 hours and covers about 2 miles of walking…. all inside the house!
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The kids just got done with Math and Science camp at UC Irvine. The boys did experiments on copper pennies. They made their own mold garden consisting of old cheese, mango skins, stale bread etc. They also built a cardboard roller coaster.
Annika also attended and made ice cream, experimented on eggs and vinegar and experimented with magnets.
Posted in School | Tagged math, Science | Leave a Comment »
This week we went to the La Brea Tar Pits. La Brea is one of the world’s most famous fossil localities, recognized for having the largest and most diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the world. Visitors can learn about Los Angeles as it was between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age, when animals such as saber-toothed cats and mammoths roamed the Los Angeles Basin.
Enough of the commercial. Here are some pictures from our visit.
This first one is one of the active tar pits. You can see the methane gas bubbling up thru the water.
The reason there are so many fossils is that the animals used to try to drink the water and would get stuck in the tar and die.
Posted in Science | Tagged los angeles, Science, Vacation | Leave a Comment »
Today we had a little excitement with a large brush fire late this afternoon right behind our house.
There were fire engines from Anaheim, Garden Grove and Tustin as well as 4 fire helicopters and 3 fire planes carrying retardant and water.
We were all packed and ready to go! Luckily the fire fighters have beaten down the blaze and all is well!
Here is a picture from the intersection of Jamboree and Pioneer.
You can clearly see the flames!
After about half an hour, the helicopters and planes started showing up.
Here is one with a fire plane.
Here is one from our next door neighbor’s house!
Posted in Tustin | Tagged Fire, Jamboree, Tustin | Leave a Comment »
Annika tested for her Green Belt in Karate today. She has been doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu every week and has gone from White to Orange and now Green.
Her instructor is Ray Cota, a 2nd degree Black Belt and teaches in Tustin.
Here are some pictures of the test:
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Annika attended the Girl Scout twilight camp this week. The theme was the Wizard of Oz. Her camp name was Toto the Dog. Anjali volunteered for one evening. Anjali’s nickname was “Diamond”.
One of the activities was to craft “swaps” and then trade them with their friends. Note all of the pinned on swaps on their hats. We made 100 swaps and traded with all of the girls that attended the week long camp.
This is Miss Annika with her best friend Samantha showing some “attitude”.
Posted in Girl Scouts | Tagged Girl Scouts | 4 Comments »
We just got back from a 4 day trip to Zion National Park in Utah.
We stayed at the Desert Pearl Hotel which I would highly recommend for traveling families.
The first day, we did a moderate 3 mile hike called Emerald Pools. There are three pools – Lower, Middle and Upper. There is also a wonderful little waterfall. The hike to the upper one is a bit challenging.
On the second day, we hiked a trail called Canyon Overlook.
This was by far the best hike that we were able to do in the park. There are some tricky paths with some strenuous climbing but the views are truly amazing.
The last day we were there, we took it a bit easy and had the kids participate in a ranger program.
While the kids were in class, Anjali and I went for a hike up the Watchman Trail.
This was about a 2 hour hike round trip to the top of a nearby peak that provided views of the entire Zion valley. This is a picture from the trail. On the left is the West Temple and on the right is the Altar of Sacrifice. Note the blood red stains down the side of the mountain.
Finally, here was our favorite breakfast spot in the park – the pancakes were the best. It is the Spotted Dog Cafe!
Posted in Trips, Vacation | Tagged hiking, Vacation | Leave a Comment »
We went rock climbing again yesterday. Annika would go every day if we had the energy to take her,
Here are some pictures of the three of them.
This first is Annika top roping on a shorter wall. You can see Vikram in the foreground free-climbing next to her (without a rope).
The second picture is Vikram also using a top rope technique.
The last picture is Nikhil at the very top of the wall. This is one of the harder climbs in the gym. He is about 50 feet up.
Posted in Kids, Rock Climbing | Tagged Kids, Rock Climbing | 3 Comments »
This week, Anjali took the kids to Newport Beach for the day. They went with their friends, Zach, Belle, Sam, Brandon, Ryan, Andrew and Adam.
The beach is about 20 minutes from our house and the waves are perfect for their favorite activity “Boogey boarding”. This is almost like surfing except with a foam board that is easier to learn!
This is Nikhil above Boogey Boarding.
Below is Vikram:
This is Annika after she caught a big wave that took her underwater!
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Last week, Anjali and I went to Ayushee’s graduation from Oxford Academy. She graduated with distinction and received several scholarships to the school of her choice, the USC Medical Program.
After the graduation ceremonies, we went to The Melting Pot for dinner.
Congratulations to Ayushee!
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Annika had her open house for her dance class she has been attending this year.
Annika is on the far right. The choreographer/ dance instructor is Nakul Dev Mahajan.
Here is his website: www.ndmdance.com
Posted in Kids | Tagged dance, Kids | Leave a Comment »
Last weekend we went on a 2 night campout in the high desert in a town called Valyermo. The weather was warm, day and night. The campsite http://bigrockcreekcamp.com/ was a former movie star hangout during the Prohibition period and is now used as a family campsite complete with olympic size swimming pool, tennis court and other recreational activities. The 15 or so scouts and families participated in a rope walk, high altitude zip line, tomohawk throw, fishing, BB guns and hiking. Their favorite was the scary stories and smores around the campfire.
Here is Nikhil going down the Zip Line. It is 480 feet to the bottom:
Here is Vikram climbing to the top of the launch pad:
Here is Annika navigating the Low Ropes course:
Posted in Boy Scouts | Tagged Boy Scouts, scouts. webelows | Leave a Comment »
I just got back from a business trip to Geneva. We had the most amazing food every night including dinner at Patara, La Perle du Lac and a winery. Patara is an expensive Thai restaurant next to the Angleterre hotel. The Pearl is a wonderful Swiss restaurant overlooking the lake at the end of downtown geneva.
I also had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours at the Patek Philippe watch museum. If you have the opportunity to visit, it is well worth the 8 Franc entrance fee. It is 4 stories of watch making history. Included is the world’s most expensive watch – sold by Sotheby’s for $11 million and has 24 complications; everything from moonphase to stop watch to some pretty esoteric stuff. 
I also saw my very first Ferrari Enzo driving down the street. It was a black Enzo zipping down the main Quai du Mont Blanc.
Posted in Trips | Tagged Geneva, trip, Vacation | 1 Comment »
Last weekend we went to a puppy birthday party for one of Annika’s friends. There were 8 puppies and about 20 little girls. Annika had a great time and wanted to bring one of the puppies home.
Posted in Friends, Kids | Tagged dogs, Kids, pets | 1 Comment »
Today we went to Solid Rock Gym in Lake Forest. All three of the kids are getting to the top of the wall.
The first one is Annika coming down.
The second is Nikhil coming down the wall.
We’ve been going for about 3 weeks now.
Posted in Rock Climbing | Tagged Kids, Rock Climbing | Leave a Comment »
Khare Family Adventures 