Philly family visit!

Roby's parents, Pappa and Mummy, recently visited us for 2 months to help me with Owen while Roby went on several business trips. They are SO helpful, everything from cooking (I pretty much ate chicken curry with Naan, Biryani, and iced chais for 2 months straight! Which is good for Olive, since she'll hopefully have a taste for Indian food like Owen does!), cleaning, watching Owen, re-arranging the garage, painting the nursery and Owen's new room, shopping, crocheting Olive two blankets, landscaping, etc. Wow! What would I have done without them? While they were here, we celebrated my birthday, Pappa's birthday, our 5th wedding anniversary, Mother's Day, Father's Day and their 40th anniversary! Alot of celebrations going on!

For part of their stay, Roby's brother Rony, sister-in-law Rani, and our nieces Isabel and Anngelina drove down from Philly for a week and a family friend Jose Uncle, his wife and daughter, Alicia, flew out. We had quite a full house there for awhile, but had a fantastic time hanging out and doing some touristy things. Chattanooga isn't called the Scenic City for nothing!

Summer fun with Ammachy

Aboard the Southern Belle river boat on the Tennessee River

Rani is due a few weeks after I am! Everyone predicts they are finally having a boy, but we won't know until August!

The captain blew the horn just as I tried to snap a pic of the proud grandparents!

We took the kids to Coolidge Park, and they absolutely loved playing in the fountains, although Anngelina and Owen were a bit more apprehensive and needed their Daddies by their sides. Rony and Roby didn't have trunks with them, but it didn't stop them from having a good time!

Happy birthday Pappa!

Wow, 32 already? Crazy!

Roby and I have been married 5 years and together 8! Since we had visitors in town, we haven't yet properly celebrated, but hopefully we will get a chance to soon! (yeah right, i really envision that happening with a baby due any minute! ;)

Isabel is a budding Rachel Ray and enjoys learning about cooking. Here she is putting the mint leaves she picked from my backyard in the iced team maker. For our cookout, she also helped me prepare the potato salad and mac and cheese! I love that she has such an interest in the culinary arts!

Jose Uncle with his family

Our friends Sherine and John were recently married and decided to go on a year-long honeymoon, driving cross-country visiting various friends, relatives and sites, ending up on the left coast to live in CA for a year. What an awesome idea! They happened to be visiting relatives in Atlanta and drove up to have breakfast with us so we could visit for awhile. Good luck on your adventure guys!

Owen rocked at helping paint Olive's nursery (we primed this wall with magnetic primer) a grass green and his room a chill blue. Thankfully we are getting new carpet in tomorrow so we didn't have to worry about him spilling.

Owen loves his Appachan and Ammachy!
He was sad to see them go, asking if he could go to Philadelphia with them. While dropping them off at the airport, Ammachy gave him some money for ice cream (all grandmothers are the same aren't they? :) and he said the bill was a plane ticket so he could go too. Awwww.

April Tampa trip

Four years ago, when we flew to Atlanta to visit Bindu and Mason over the fourth of July, along with several other cousins and friends, we didn't realize it would become a tradition. The following year, everyone came to Chatt-town for the festivities, followed by Houston, then last year we all had to skip it with too much going on. This year we met in St. Petersburg/Tampa, FL. Although, due to Soby and myself being pregnant, everyone agreed to celebrate the fourth during April ;) no fireworks, but still a chill time!

We decided to make it into a roadtrip (about 9 hours) since Owen loves traveling (he would chant, "Road Pip! Road Pip! Road Pip"). We rented a house near Treasure Island beach, with plenty of room and a BBQ of course! It was sooooooooo wonderful to see everyone again and witness how much Luke had grown since their visit in November. As always, there was plenty of good food, beach time (which Owen *loved*...he still asks if we can go to the beach!), Phase 1, Madden, and chillin'. We missed those of you who couldn't make it this year, and are planning on doing either a cruise or all-inclusive Island destination next year for our trip. Unbelievably, by then Luke will be 2 years old, Owen 3 1/2, Jacob (hopefully Steve and Shan can make it!) will be 1 and Pailyn and Olive nearly 1. Wow! So everyone start saving up now for next year! We are already dreaming about it!

Day dreamin'

The gang sporting the Tampa shirts Roby designed for us!

In Ybor City (Roby spelled backwards...strange!)
And we found a rare olive there too...how fitting!


Soby and I are due one week apart, which is interesting since her husband, Abbey, and Roby were born 6 days apart!

Notice the rifle above our heads. We tend to frequent steakhouses on our trips, and there is always something interesting in our pics...last time it was a deer head!

Wedding pictures

They make such a beautiful couple!

Black Rob & Pappu
(hey, I didn't give them their nicknames :)

*The cousins*

I love when Owie wears his little Indian outfits...so cute!

*My handsome guys*

I'm always happy to see my sister-in-law, Renu

Owen & his cousin Alex are partners in crime...and look how dapper they are!

Our cousin Bindu just moved from Atlanta to Long Island.
We already miss them sooooo much.

Cousin Binoy and his girly Ryn...our roomies for the weekend.

We always have so much fun with these crazy kids!

(And Ryn impressed me with her ability to rock a sari during her first Indian affair. I still stick to the easier to manage tops and skirts...some day!)

Julie and Charley recently had baby Jaelyn, thee cutest little girl! A few weeks ago they visited cousins in Atlanta ,and we drove down to spend the day with them. Roby and Charley discussed dowries, since we are arranging Owen and Jaelyn's betrothal in 20 years...we settled on 20 cows (or cats!) By the looks of it, the cutie pair are already into each other.

Apparently Jaelyn likes older guys!

Brenda is expecting her first baby, Corinne, in several months....so exciting!

That's Brenda's hubby, Shibu, on the right. They also were in ATL recently, and we were able to visit them as well! (What's with the face, Dooney?)

Gotta love Diamond Div!

(This is a perfect example of a classic "Roby trying to ruin the shot" pic. He sticks his face with his big mouth open in the background. Many of you know of his sneaky tactic :) Dooney is thee man. A talented dancer, he choregraphed the amazing dance that many of the girls took part in during the reception. I really wanted to take part, but lived too far away to learn it. And let me just say that if anyone has seen that Indian guy dance Bollywood-style on America's Got Talent, just know that he is awful and has got nothing on Dooney!

I wish I had a video to post...Indian dances are so lovely with all the girls gracefully twirling around the dance floor in those beautiful, vibrant outfits...makes me wish we had that at our wedding, but I didn't know about them then!

Sisters Milly and Lisa have been in Roby's life forever too! I guess you could say Lis is his girl best friend, if we were still 8th graders. In 30-year-old speak I guess they are "close" :)
I finally met Lisa's boyfriend Shoney at the wedding...he has smiley eyes!

Milly, her husband Jay, Shoney & Lisa

Let's play find the vellambi ("white girl" in Malayalam)