Negative tide day

Friends notified us that yesterday was "negative tide day" and a rare occurrence that coincided with sunset time!

The weather was perfect and there were more than 2000 people in Half moon bay to walk the tide pools and show kids the little critters that are found in the few hours where the water recedes far back (things which were 6 feet underwater come to within a foot of water levels during a 2 hour period)..

We walked 2+ miles with the kids on slippery sea weed, kelp, gravel and barnacle covered rocks to see some amazing little ecosystems!

Here are some photographs..

The pelicans and gulls were enjoying the critters as well, albeit differently! They celebrated tide pool day as early dinner day!

When the water receded there was a 500 feet stretch of sand that was almost a marsh glistening in the sunlight..

Snails and mollusks everywhere in all kinds of colors, trying to hide under the rocks, but not fast enough.

This fish was well camouflaged in a very small tide pool. An older experienced tide pooler?! pointed it out to us as we were asking him "there is nothing there! what are you photographing?"

What looks like an ugly bag is a living creature which shrinks to the touch and supports a zillion other organisms that are piggy back riding on it..

We saw four different starfish, a chocolate brown starfish..

A red and gray softer starfish (softer to touch)..

An orange starfish

and a pink starfish

We also saw some sea anemones that were simply gorgeous!

We made our way back out of the tidepools towards the rocks to enjoy what was definitely  one of our best sunsets to date!

When you have a whole bunch of kids on a beach all excited and hyper the energy level of the place is up a few notches and that adds to the experience.

Just wished that the tripod which was in the van had also been lugged around to capture the colors post sunset. Another day, another time!

This is the best I could get with a high ISO sin tripod.. It was too wet and slushy with kids and dogs running around to place camera on anything and try a timer shot.

The time spent at the beach and the tide pools was worth it. It took us an extra hour to get to the beach because of traffic and we also spent one hour getting out of the parking lot to the freeway! So if you do plan on doing this next year (or the next negative tide day), get there at least two hours before the low tide starts and make dinner plans in one of those beach side restaurants and drive home with less traffic later.

If you have kids in the under ten age group, the tide walk is strongly recommended!


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Black Friday..

We went shopping yesterday. All day!

Either looking at what was there or actually buying things that were part of the plan.

We spent a lot of time with the four of us not throwing tantrums, all smiling and happy, eating out, checking out things to the point where it was our best day in a long long time that we can remember.

Daddy got an iPad, to replace lugging the laptop and power cord around office and for future travel. To complement it, we now have a futuristic keyboard that opens out like a Nissan Z from below the iPad. Way cool and nerdy!

The kids got some clothes and the boots they have been bugging us for the last six months..

Mommy got herself a hair clip for 3 bucks but was content with it! So we will leave it at that.

We as a family, are thankful for black friday!


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Growing up and Growing old

On a cheeky note, we all grow older at the rate of one year per annum but we grow up at different rates...

Case in point, the 25 something crowd of more than 20 guys who happened to be in the theater last night for a show of "Mayakkam Enna". Had gone to watch the evening show with Balaji last night and it was a full house.

Mayakkam Enna (you can watch trailer here) is a movie by Selvaraghavan with his brother Dhanush as the hero. If you thought this was some feel good, masala romance movie that targets the twenty something youth, you may be mistaken.

It is a visceral movie about a group of friends growing up and growing old based on the circumstances they face in life. Some deal with the hand they are dealt with courage and conviction while others simply struggle to pick up the pieces. Selvaraghavan does a fantastic job of creating vivid images of the characters with all their idiosyncrasies and Dhanush stands out as an actor. The heroine steals the show throughout the movie. A first timer to Tamil movies, this girl can act.

It is a treat to watch a heroine in a Tamil movie get a chance to show her acting skills as opposed to just showing herself for a change.

Went to the movie without knowing anything about the movie. Had not heard about the storyline, the cast, nothing. Just that Sangeetha watched it the previous night and said "you will like this movie because there is a lot of good photography in the movie".

Came out loving it. Sad part was that the crowd of guys totally spoiled the movie going experience. They simply could not handle the serious scenes and would start making loud ridiculous comments to the whole theater which was not much different from little kids who act out to crave attention.

Was telling Balaji that one needs to be a husband and or a parent to understand "the growing up" aspect of life and clearly this crowd was not ready for it.

This movie was 80% tragedy, 20% happy go lucky and another bonus 10% if you managed to connect the dots between the two.

A must watch for a mature audience!


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Ups and downs

Lets see..

+ in last 6 days?

Come back to reality nice and smooth after a nice trip to Hawaii

Dinner with friends and relatives over weekend

A beautiful Photo book in the process of delivery, thanks to Shutterfly

- in last 6 days?

Two trips to the hospital to take care of pus in hand

Way too much antibiotics than this body can handle

No yoga in 15 days


Think we should call that even!


Did try Yoga in Hawaiian bay waters..

Could not resist the chance to pose..

But right now a poster child for "man with PMS" aka Yoga withdrawal..


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Three days in Paradise

The pictures say it all..

Unique flora and fauna, waterfalls galore, pristine beaches, lava everywhere, active volcano within sight...

A long weekend well spent with the family of 10 people including a personalized snorkeling trip at Kealakekua bay (gateway to the gods)!

This trip will be cherished for a long time to come. We celebrated Jr. and the FIL's birthday in Hawaii's big island.

More later. For now it is time to catch up on the routine!


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You must be bionic or something..

Or so said the Nurse last night at the Kaiser emergency room..

In a surprising turn of events, the surgical scar in the right hand had a small rip and pus started coming out.

Worried that the right hand was rotting on the inside, a trip to the hospital regular care ended up being redirected to ER.

Two hours later the doctor looked it up under a lens and lights and said

"your body is not degrading the bio-degradable sutures. instead it is attacking the small pieces left with white blood cells"

Apparently not uncommon!

They pulled out a small suture piece and cleaned it up and sent me home with antibiotics..

Interesting, to say the least!


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Birthday month, here we come..

The first grand bash of this month was done today!

The girls turn(ed) 9 and 6 on either side of this weekend!

The kids had a great time with all their friends and played in a Gym. They love this place so much that they want to keep having their birthday parties here year after year.

The best part of this birthday?

The kids have turned a major milestone this year. They have learned the art of emotional blackmail. They called their "Bombay Thatha" on the phone repeatedly and said "Grandpa, you have not been here for a single one of of our birthdays. Please come at least for this one".. etc. etc. This happened repeatedly over many weekends that Grandpa gave in and booked tickets for a short 3 week trip!

In other words, they have succeeded in making their puppy face technique work on another male member in the family. Needless to say, it always works on me.

Now we just have to wait for Daddy and Mommy to turn 29 and 29 in another two weeks!


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