DC Trip With Akka (Day 1)

Lakshmi Akka stayed with us for only two weeks. So I could only take her to one out of town trip. We chose Washington DC (Orlando was a close second). Our friend Gurpreet picked us and dropped us at strategic locations; otherwise, in two days, given how much we had to walk in DC, it would have been impossible to go to the places we went. Just as I forewarned Akka, she only got a flavor of Washington; two days is just not enough. We stayed with Gurpreet. We visited Gerald and had dinner at his house. Pictures from the trip (Day 1):


First stop, the Supreme Court...

...at the U.S. Botanic Garden...

...at the National Museum of the American Indian...

...President George Washington's signature from one of the exhibits from that museum...

...touching a piece of the moon at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum...

...at the Gemini (IV I think) capsule exhibit...

...at the Lunar Landing exhibit...

...Kepler's book from 400 years ago...

...at the Arlington National Cemetery. Close to 300,000 people, mostly military veterans and their families, are buried at this place.

President John F. Kennedy Gravesite. Note the eternal flame near the head.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Gurpreet, Gerald and Shan at Gerald's house. We were late for dinner after a busy day of sight seeing; but we made it. We three were classmates at REC. Gerald and Gurpreet were batch mates in various labs and myself and Gurpreet were final year project mates. We had a lot to converse. Gerald's wife Annie had prepared a nice dinner for us. Their son Adrian, now four, is such a sweet kid. That's it for the first day at DC.

DC Trip With Akka

Lakshmi Akka stayed with us for only two weeks. So I could only take her to one out of town trip. We chose Washington DC (Orlando was a close second). Our friend Gurpreet picked us and dropped us at strategic locations; otherwise, in two days, given how much we had to walk in DC, it would have been impossible to go to the places we went. Just as I forewarned Akka, she only got a flavor of Washington; two days is just not enough. We stayed with Gurpreet. We visited Gerald and had dinner at his house. Pictures from the trip in a short while...

Srinidhi loves to read. Every morning when he gets up, we have to read to him for at least 30 minutes on the bed! Same thing at night, when he goes to bed. In fact, we often had to force a stop after an hour or so. He will want it more even at that point! During the day time, it is very easy to get him off the TV, if at all he is watching, by simply tempting him with a book.

Veena gets close to 20 books every Tuesday, when she goes to the library. We read each one at least few times. In each lot, Srinidhi picks four or five favorites that we end up reading again and again and again ... In this particular lot shown, his favorites were, Jeremy Kooloo, Honey Bunny Funnybunny and Raccoons and Ripe Corn.

ஸ்ரீநிதிக்கு புத்தகம் படிப்பது மிகவும் பிடிக்கும். தினமும் காலை எழுந்தவுடன், படுக்கையிலேயே, குறைந்தது 30 நிமிடம் நாங்கள் அவருக்கு படித்து கொடுக்க வேண்டும். இரவு தூங்க போகும் போதும் அதே கதைதான். பல சமையங்களில் ஒரு மணி நேரம் படித்து கொடுத்த பிறகு, நாங்கள் கட்டாய படுத்தி நிறுத்த வேண்டி உள்ளது!

ஒவ்வொறு செவ்வாய் கிழமையும், வீணா லைப்ரரி போகும் போது, இருபது புத்தகம் எடுத்து வருவாள். அது அனைத்தையும், அடுத்த செவ்வாய்க்குள் படித்து முடித்தாகிவிடும். சில புத்தகங்கள், ஸ்ரீநிதிக்கு பிடித்து போய், பல பல முறை படித்தாயிருக்கும்.

ஸ்ரீநிதி டீவீ பார்ப்பதே குறைவு. அப்படி பார்க்கும் போது, ஒரு புத்தகத்தை காண்பித்தால், டீவீயை நிறுத்திவிட்டு ஓடி வந்து விடுவான்!

 Karthikeyan said...

இந்த இனையதளம் மிகவும் நன்றாக உள்ளது, எனக்கு மிகவும் பிடித்து உள்ளது. ஸ்ரீநிதி மற்றும் அனைவறையும் இந்த இனையதளத்தின் மூலம் பார்க்கமுடிகிறது மிக்க நன்றி. மேலும் நல்ல தகவல் தரும்படி கேட்டு கொள்கிறேன்.


அன்புடன்,
கார்த்திக்கேயன் மற்றும் அம்மா.



This website is looking nice; we love this site very much. You did great job.


Love,
Amma and Karthik

August 11, 2005 1:33 PM

I had an early morning interview for my US citizenship. It was a pleasant experience. It is a very busy day at work, so, that's it for today.

How does the brand new PTCruiser look in my driveway? ...Nah... it is not mine; I got it as a loaner when I left my MDX for service :-)

Srinidhi, being a perfect gentleman (!), does not want to disturb Aditi's dress :-)
ஜென்டில்மேன் ஸ்ரீநிதி, அதிதியின் டிரஸ் கலையாமல் அமர்கிறார்!

Anaga, Aditi and Srinidhi.
அனகா, அதிதியின் அம்மா.

Anaga's mother and Lakshmi Akka. Since Lakshmi Akka knows many languauges (Tamil, English, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada (and even Punjabi and Sanskrit!) she didn't have any difficulty surprising our friends by speaking their language); she didn't know Malayalam, to surprise Veena :-)

லக்ஷ்மி அக்கா அதிதியின் பாட்டியுடன். அக்காவுக்கு பல மொழிகள் தெரிந்திருப்பதால், எனது நண்பர்களிடம் அவர்கள் பாஷையில் பேசி ஆச்சரியப் படுத்தினார்கள். அதிதியின் பாட்டியுடன் பேசுவது மராட்டியில்.

Sybil and Johny Peters celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary yesterday. They are the lovely couple we have here in Charlotte as our family. (Picture : Shan, Veena, Sybil Aunty, Lakshmi Akka, Johny Uncle and Srinidhi on Thursday.)

Charlotte Malayalee Prayer Group met at their residence yesterday for the celebration.

Sybil and Johny Peters in prayer.

Susan talking to Jacky and Niz.

Kunjumol Aunty and Veena.

Susan and Roy Peters celebrating their parents 25th Wedding Anniversary.

Their Family had come from as far as New York and Ohio for the celebration.

Kids had so much fun for hours. This was one of rare moments some of them sat in one place for me to take a photo.

We ended the celebration with great food and a nice large cake. Congratulations to the Peters family, we wish you many many happy years ahead.