Stratford Family

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Instagr.am by now, its on the go photo journaling at it’s best. I use my iPhone snap away, add a filter (or not) and post. I of course took photos on my Nikon on our trip last week during Spring Break to the desert, but these were all pretty fun ones. I don’t nearly share all of my IG photos on FB, I don’t want to overwhelm people with “hey look what I’m doing now!” But I figure if people are on Instagram then they want to see lots of photos.. anyhow here is my little photo journal.

Above we stopped to say hi to the roadside dinos, below lunch in Hipster Heaven at the ACE

I just love the evenings in the desert!

mirandashanti is my profile name on Instagram, hope to see some of your photos on there too.

We took a quick weekend trip to Arizona a couple of weeks ago to visit my good friend Jill and her family. Jill and I swam together and even though we don’t talk on a regular basis we can always just jump right in without missing a beat – I love that! I also love that our kiddos get along and we all had such a great time visiting their beautiful home. Jill arranged a couple of great activities for us, the first of which was horseback riding. Now the experience was great, but it didn’t quite live up to the website description of informative  guides and delicious bbq. When I asked for a helmet for the girls they looked at me like I was crazy, could I really be the first one to ask for a helmet for my six year old who was being hoisted solo onto a full size horse?! Charlotte handled her horse really well even when he got a little rambunctious. Despite the fear of my eldest being thrown into a saguaro cactus we had a fun adventure.

Our next cool adventure was our first architecture tour as a family. We toured Frank Lloyd Wrights Taliesin West which was his winter home and architectural school. It was freezing,threatening to downpour, and we had 3 kids 6 and under with us for an hour and a half tour – we had low expectations to say the least. Amazingly we all lasted the 90 minute plus tour and the kids were perfect! True to form Charlotte was front and center most of the tour and actually seemed to enjoy it! A very informative guide left us hoping for more of these types of tours soon.

Thanks for the hospitality Olsons! Until next time Az.

I am remiss not to have mentioned it before but it really took a village of help in order for me to be able to get away from home and the kiddos for 11 days. My husband took this on without question, have I mentioned lately how fantastic he is? I also had several friends and family who helped take care of the girls while I was away. They were taken such good care of and had so much fun I don’t even think they really missed me all that much! So a HUGE thank you to Sarah, Nancy, Erin, Ali, Kim, all the giggling polka dot ponies who took Charlotte in for camp and of course Greg!

From Agra we kept our driver with us and he took us to Jaipur. The road has recently been re-done and it was good to get out of the cities and see a bit of the small towns along the road side. On the way our driver shared with us the 3 keys to driving in India;. a good horn, a good break and good luck! During the 3.5 hour drive I made a list of all of the things I saw: camels pulling flat beds of goods and or people, trucks with packed overflowing with goods, a truck bed with several tractors, brick making in fields, crops – mustard, beets, potatoes and more, tractors going the wrong direction on the highway, there were small towns or villages every 5-10 miles, bulls tied up in front of homes of businesses, cows roaming, bamboo scaffolding rickety holding up buildings in progress, dung patties a plenty, toll stops every 30-45 minutes, at the rest stop that had decent bathrooms we also did some shopping, many motorcycles with 2-4 people on them (generally men wear helmets- woman and kids do not), hut style houses, some brick homes – some colorfully painted and plastered, roadside restaurants with outdoor seating, as we got closer to Jaipur there was lots of stone work for sale – carved decorations you might see at the gates and in gardens and home of the wealthy, many people carrying sacks on their heads, roadside markets with fruits and other goods, herds of goats and a few herd of sheep, the nicest buildings seem to be the schools, little speed bumps to slow traffic as you approach and pass through each town, some cars jam packed with people – we saw one car similar to an Isuzu jeep that had 20-25 people in and hanging on the back of the car. Quite a lot to look at!

Driving into Jaipur we noticed that the roads were better kept, there seemed to be city service that were improved from our previous cities in terms of trash collection and cleanliness as well. Once in the city we made our way to our hotel which was a lovely old palace converted to a hotel. It is one of the few nice hotels within the city walls and I would highly recommend it. The Samode Haveli was quaint and charming and the service was great. We ate several meals at the restaurant there and were very pleased, they even had live music at dinner to add the the atmosphere. I had to laugh as Nadia and I actually got table side Indian tech support logging onto the wi-fi network on our phones.  After a quick check-in with tea, we dropped off our stuff and were out to see some of the sights with our guide Gautam Jopat, yes he’s on facebook and we would highly recommend him! We started at the Jantar Mantar a world heritage site with ancient clocks and instruments to tell the seasons and astrological signs. From there it was a short walk to the City Palace where there is actually a royal family living there. It was honestly not the most exciting site, but we’d seen some pretty spectacular ones so not too surprising that it paled in comparison. There were many workers preparing for a wedding there that evening, but unfortunately we were not asked to attend. We did a bit of shopping and returned to the hotel for a nice shower and dinner.

The next morning was our elephant ride!! This was another highlight of the trip, I took a video which mostly features the shrill excitement in my voice as we got on and started our ride. Way too embarrassing to post here but I have to say is was quite a fantastic experience! Disclaimer the elephants are checked out by a veterinarian each morning and are only allowed a specific number of trips and the elephants seemed well taken care of and happy. (I did feel a little guilty about it after the fact) Mid-ride there were people running on top of these walls that were about 6 inches wide and 30 feet off of the ground taking photos and then they developed them and had them ready by the time your were done touring the fort. Also while I was taking a couple of shots with my iphone the neighbor elephant driver asked for my phone and took a couple of pics for us too! These were taken by Gautam for us with my camera:

The elephants took us on about a 10 minute ride up to the Amber Fort. We once again had a very informative tour and enjoyed all the lovely details. The screens you see in many of the forts and palaces were built so the women could see out without being seen. The patterns so pretty and the view from the top of the hill just gorgeous. There is an ancient wall built on the surrounding mountains which we were told is second in length to the great wall of China.

One of my favorite shots above from the trip, this lady was taking a break from sweeping in the Amber Fort. We saw many people sweeping, in the monuments, on dirt roads, the thing is we didn’t really see them sweeping the dirt into a container to be removed – just sweeping with handmade brooms.

After our tour we went to lunch, then went to a fabric store where we saw the block printing in action which was neat – I bought a new beach blanket and some napkins and placemats with an elephant print of course.

After a bit more shopping we headed back for an afternoon of relaxing at the hotel where Lisa and I took a private yoga class which was great. Another nice dinner at our hotel before waking early to catch our flight for the last leg of our trip.

Of course one of the main reasons one travels to India is to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. On our third morning we woke up very early to embark on our train ride as recounted in my overview of our days in Delhi. After a very pleasant train ride we made it to our hotel to check in early and have some time to relax. We had made a reservation at Esphahan at the Oberoi Amarvilas which is the nicest hotel in town. So we got all dolled up and had a nice dinner at the swanky hotel. The Oberoi is truly a spectacular hotel there!

The next morning was the big day to see the Taj! Everyone had told us the best time to go is early in the morning when it first opens so we awoke early met our driver, Rarjeesh and guide Sopash (Bharti or Paurvi please correct me if you think these spellings are off!).  After our first half van/tut tut ride we made it to the line around 7 am, we only had to wait 20 minutes through the security line and we were in. Ok you hear so much about this spectacular monument, but truly is does live up to the hype in real life. It brings tears to your eyes when you walk through the gate to see it for the first time (yes Anne and Andrea tears!).

Did I mention it was Valentine’s Day?! A perfect day to see this monument that emperor Shah Jahan built for his *favorite* wife. Really the buildings he built surrounding for his other wives are like dirty tents in comparison! Our guide was so informative and taught us the history of it all. Built in perfect symmetry it truly is awe-inspiring. The minarets create an illusion like they are slightly tilted inward, but actually they tilt slightly outward so if they were ever to fall they would not fall on the main building. People used to be able to go up in the minarets, but they have them closed as too many broken hearted would jump to their deaths from them. It was a misty morning and although is sort of added to the mystique of the place it wasn’t the best for photos, but hey we got some pretty good ones anyhow!

Apropos for Valentine’s Day two love bird eagles were nestled up.

We were allowed to go inside but you weren’t supposed to take photos inside and do to the hazy morning it actually quite dark inside. The detail from the inlaid precious and semi-precious stones to the intricate Koran writing, marble carvings were so beautiful. We had to wear little shoe covers, but we were allowed to touch the building which was pretty cool.

After much wandering and photo taking we moved on to our next destination the Red Fort. Here we had another good tour as well.

Since of course we do belong at the swankiest place in town we headed back to the Oberoi for cocktails at sunset with entertainment and a view of the Taj Mahal, pretty surreal and very fun!

And the slideshow of one of the spectacular days of our lives!

Namaste! Since returning from India Monday night everyone has been asking me for photos, well the problem is I of course took a zillion and with extreme jet lag I’ve had a hard time getting to the photos. So I decided to break the trip down into smaller parts so I didn’t have to go through all of the photos at once. First up Delhi. We had only planned to spend one day and night in Delhi, but flying with my lovely companions who all work for British Airways and hooked me up with one of their friends benefits (HUGE thanks Debra!!!) we ended up leaving a day early to get better seats. Let’s take a moment to appreciate these better seats shall we – business class is fantastic! The food! The ability to stretch your legs when flying 20+ hours is the best! I was so spoiled and the problem is I will never be able to afford these seats on my own, sigh. Thankfully I fully appreciated them on this trip.

Cast of characters: Most of my friends and family know Lisa who is a crazy Brit whom I met through our local moms group about 6 years ago. She was my roomie and the planner of the trip – she did a great job finding us nice hotels and organizing us. She has travelled nearly the world over and India was left on her list of places she wanted to go. I have always wanted to see India so this is how we ended up on the other side of the world. Nadia is lovely and fun, another savvy traveller and lived many of her years growing up in South Africa.  Narine is the sassy blond who is commonly referred to as Princess Narine. She was born in Armenia and is picky eater like me – so we bonded over fear of Indian food! Although we didn’t know each other well before the trip we got along great and have some stories we will never forgot. I felt like such an American travelling with these three dual citizens, in fact no one could figure out where we were from with all the slight accents going on.

Ok so after our never ending plane flights we arrived in Delhi at 5 am or so, thankfully we were able to hop on a bus with the flight crew to our hotel and thus were eased into the culture shock a bit. After a nice nap at the hotel we asked the concierge for an idea on where we should go – since we hadn’t planned to spend much time in Delhi we hadn’t done a ton of research. Thankfully he had the perfect recommendation the Surajkund Craft fair that was taking place for two weeks. We hoped into the first of many insane taxi rides and immersed ourselves in the culture. I have to say I am quite proud of us for jumping right in. This fair had rides, singing, dancing and artisan booths – thousands of Indians were there and we only saw a handful of westerners. We got our feet wet with a little bargaining but mostly just soaked it in. I’m glad we started in Delhi as it was probably my least favorite of the spots we visited and if it hadn’t been for this fair I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. Delhi is dirty and has a distinct smell but the culture is rich and vibrant! It is hard to describe a trip like this in words so here are some photos and then a slideshow at the bottom.

Many people asked to take photos with us, so we decided to ask as well.

Some people would put herbs around the eyes of babies and kids, thought to  improve eyesight. Lovingly we referred to them as eyeliner babies.

After our exciting adventure we went back to the hotel and cleaned up for dinner. We went out to dinner with a couple of the pilots from our flight to an Indian restaurant called Punjab Grill right around the corner, I had some Veggie Biryani which was not too scary or spicy and we had a nice visit.

On our second day in Delhi we hired a guide and a driver which is really a must. It is a crazy crowded city and we would have never been able to navigate on our own. Our guide Sunil was very nice, spoke great English and was knowledgable. We started at the Qutab Minaret for a very nice tour (pictured above), next we went to the largest Mosque in India called Jama Masjid – we donned slippers and cover ups to go in – such fashionable ladies! Next we took a quick stop at the Presidents house and drove by the government offices and ministries. We saw the park Rajghat where Ghandi was cremated and there is a little memorial to him there. After a busy morning we went to lunch at a pizza place called Flavors (I know! Pizza in India, but it was good and at least we didn’t go to papa johns or dominos)

After our lunch we did a bit of shopping then visited Humayun’s tomb, which was the pre-curser in architecture to the Taj Mahal.

It was a full day and we headed to bed early in anticipation of our early train the next morning. Oh and what a morning it turned out to be! We arrived at the Delhi train station around 5:20 only to be told that our e-tickets weren’t good enough to let us in the building, and of course being so early in the morning the office was closed! UGH, we threw our luggage on the top of a rickety cab and made our way to the tourism bureau, of course they couldn’t print us boarding passes with less than an hour to go before departure, double ugh! We begged pleaded and then finally decided to go back to the station to make our way in. As we got out of our cab we were mobbed by porters wanting to carry our bags for tips, being in such a frantic hurry at this point we let them and what do you know no one was even at security asking for boarding cards. So with much frenzy we made it on the train with a few minutes to spare, haggled with the porters over their tip, and sat down – still nervous they would ask for boarding cards when they came for tickets. Well of course we had been given the run around and our e-ticket was just FINE! It was a harrowing morning but safely on the train which was quite pleasant (Bophal Shatabdi) we were happy to relax on the way to Agra.

And of course the slideshow, the one of Lisa looking grossed out is after our first public Indian bathroom experience.

If you follow along with our travels and adventures you know how much we love our visits to Idaho to see Greg’s grandmother, connect with nature and  get some seriously clean air flowing through us. It is refreshing in many ways, a true vacation – we are so spoiled to be able to take these trips and are truly thankful for the time we get to spend there. This was our second winter trip and we did many of the same things as last year; sledding, some time up at Schweitzer mountain resort, watching the eagles and relaxing. My favorite activity we did this year was go on a sleigh ride. A two horse open sleigh with jingle bells, picturesque snowy landscape and it was as idyllic as it sounds (oh other than C asking every 2 seconds how fast do you think we are going now? how many miles per hour?) In fact the whole trip could only be improved by the decrease in the number of slightly annoying questions like when are we going to BE THERE??? I’m sure this is some serious karma coming back at me as we only travelled by car growing up and spent lots of time on the road to various swim meets through out California.

The girls are both great plane travelers and thankfully P conquered her fear of the airplane bathroom! It is hard to narrow down such a great trip into a blog post, so here are some highlights.

One of my favorite activities is watching for the eagles. There is a tree just out in front of the large windows in Gigi’s house that overlooks the lake and the eagles like to perch there as they hunt for breakfast. Unfortunately it was pretty windy for several days, so there wasn’t as many eagles in this spot as last year. It’s pretty ridiculous but I actually strained my neck the first day we were there from too much eagle searching.

Both girls got into the sledding fun this year.

Somehow P ended up under her sled above!

Charlotte the adventure climbing the rocks that are usually at the waters edge, it was pretty cool to climb down from the dock and explore the snowy rocks.

Onto the Sleigh Ride! We went to a great ranch between Hope and Sandpoint, called the Western Pleasure Ranch, so awesome! And if you too would like to experience the beauty that is northern Idaho I would recommend this spot. They have cabins and a few rooms above the lodge. We took our sleigh ride with Raley our driver, Buster the dog and led by horses Bud and Velvet.

After the ride we went into the lodge for popcorn and cocoa. This place was a great little slice of American goodness, it made me want to don some cowgirls boots and a hat and stay awhile.

And up to the mountain. Both girls did two days of ski school and one day with Dad. Charlotte is completely fearless, to the point that drives massive fear into her Mother. She ended up going on the lift and skiing a little tree lined course with bumps and little jumps called the Enchanted Forest. Pfeiffer also did great on the little bunny hill.

It was a great trip, thanks for stopping by the blog to check out our adventures. We hope you 2012 is off to a great start!

In addition to all of our beach days we had some other great experiences on our trip.

On our second night Grandpa surprised the girls with a music, hula and fire dancing show on the patio. This family was so talented and friendly.

The girls and Grandpa waiting for the surprise.

Tahitian drumming and dancing.

And of course the show-stopper the fire knife dance.

We also went on a small hike to the Queen’s Bath which was about our speed for hiking (if you could call it that!) with the girls. Charlotte is always ready for the next adventure:

Big thanks to Uncles Mike and Jeff and Aunt Brittney for helping to wrangle the girls and prevent them from falling!

We took many trips a few miles down the road into Hanalei, such a great little town.

We of course had to partake in shaved ice, I personally don’t really get the desire and had myself a delicious Kona Coffee milkshake.

In addition to all the exploring, we enjoyed a lot of downtime hanging out at the house.

The girls set up a snorkel rental store:

Look at this beautiful girl- growing up!

The second house we stayed at had really beautiful grounds – if you ever plan a wedding in Kauai this would be a great spot!

Such a memorable trip – thanks again Allan and Nancy!!

Mahalo Kauai, until next time….

We had the most amazing trip and going through the photos makes me a little sad that we aren’t there anymore; there is something special about Kauai and I felt the Aloha spirit for sure.  We stayed in Haena which is a small little town just past Hanalei on the North Shore. Now in my opinion a vacation is to truly get away so this was my ideal little spot and I plan to return to Haena. Greg’s family gave us all this trip as a Christmas present which was beyond generous – Thank you! So we got to enjoy some great family time with The Stratfords (we missed you Katie!!!!). The girls Greg and I spent most of our time on the beach, which was perfect. We were steps from the sand on Tunnels Beach and I made the most of it with morning jogs and nighttime walks and livin it up in the beautiful sunshine in between. Charlotte became an expert snorkeler; we saw lots of pretty fish and on our last day we got to see Turtles!

So this post will focus on our photos from beach adventures:

The SUNRISE (taken from my iphone)

Charlotte and I took walks looking for shells, exploring the reef, and seeing what was around the next point. We ended up staying at 2 different houses, the second house was in a more secluded area where there weren’t as many beachgoers which was a nice change from Tunnels.

I loved boogie boarding as a kid and since we usually go to the bay with no waves when we go to the beach so it was fun for the girls to catch some real waves (albeit very small!)

Above and below iphone photos

Here is a Monk Seal taking a nap on the beach – how cute is that?

Mike and Brittney built a super cool sandcastle!

And of course the most gorgeous sunsets each night!

We’ve been back for 2 weeks and its about time I put a post together on our great adventures in Idaho before we begin our next vacation (to Kauai!). Yes I know we have been spoiled in the travel department this year!  This summer is busy, but full to the brim with fun. So here is a brief walk through of our Idaho trip and then a slideshow at the bottom.

Greg didn’t make it this trip, with his recent journey to the Bonnaroo music festival and our upcoming Hawaiian vacation we decided he should probably fit some work in. But next summer we really hope to find a way for him to work from Idaho so that he can join in the beauty and fun (also b/c going on vacation with 2 rambunctious girls is a lot of work for Mom!)

Two docks down is a lovely family from Arizona who have girls the same age as ours – we played with them a bit and of course the only thing better than being on vacation is a playdate on vacation! They were so welcoming and have tons of toys! I even, get this, drove a quad with P on the front and C on the back – I was a bit nervous, but it was a great way to go deer watching and I was quite proud of myself for being daring enough to do it.

Here is C jumping off their dock, first jump in the lake this trip.

A new thing we did this year was to go check out the driftwood yard where everything washes up.

We gathered some rocks and driftwood to take back to Gigi’s to paint for some craft time.

Deer watching and (shh!) feeding is another one of our daily activities in Hope.

This is one of my favorite photos of the trip a mama and her 2 babies (like me!) taken from my iPhone

Here are some of my favorites from just hanging around Gigi’s house, with 10 full days there we didn’t have to rush off to fit in all the fun each day which was so great. It is such a peaceful place and I must admit I often over schedule our day to day lives at home so one of the best parts of this trip was just having no plan and slowing down.

Above building a town out of rocks and sticks. And below “helping” in the garden.

Grandma’s raspberry bushes were about to explode with goodness, but our last few days we got some yummy ones.

Of course we love to take Gigi out for adventures while we visit, we visited some of her friends and went out to eat and even saw some music at the local hotspot Beyond Hope. She put on the greatest outfit – love the color!

Neighbor Phil took us out on his boat which was beyond fabulous! He is quite the tour guide showing us castles and beautiful homes all along the lake and then we went into Sandpoint, the bigger town near by and had a beer and walked through town. I love being up in Idaho, but a boat makes it that much better, so fun!

In addition to all the fun around the lake we went up to Schweitzer mountain where we were in winter. There was some music and crafts and the local specialty Huckleberry Lemonade.

Love this pic, you can see the Lake Pend Orielle in the distance

Of course there was playing on the dock, going to the beach in Sandpoint, visiting the library and the pantry in Clark Fork – yeah you get the idea another great trip – thank you Grandma and thank you Hope Idaho!

And here is the slideshow:

10 families, 20 kids, s’mores, campfires, a beautiful setting, perfect weather – we had another great trip this past weekend! The last of our travels in May took us to Yosemite. We went last year with a slightly smaller group and convinced a couple more families to join us this year. Most of the families we met through our Long Beach Moms Group that I joined when Charlotte was 3 months old. It is truly an incredible group of people that we have been so lucky to be a part of. It was like a 3 night all day playdate for the kids and they were in heaven running and riding their bikes all over the camp. Charlotte the little social butterfly went from tent to tent playing and chatting and riding her bike constantly. Pfeiffer played with the girls and loved being the “baby sister” with Taylor and Larissa. We stayed at Housekeeping Camp again this year and I would call it camping light. You get a structure with a double and twin bunks to sleep on and you have electrical outlets. So yes this wimp brought a heater and a coffee maker! Minus Charlotte falling off the top bunk the first night (thankfully no injuries!) it all worked out well. The other FAB thing about this group is we split up the meals for breakfast and dinner so you only have to cook one big meal and then are fed extremely well for the rest of the trip.
We had a whirlwind May with 4 weekend trips and although I won’t plan a month like this again we are very lucky to have visited some of California’s most beautiful areas. Greg said last night as we looked through some pictures that we packed in a lot of great memories into one month – it’s true! Hopefully the girls will remember this crazy yet crazy fun month. If not we will have lots of pics to remind them.
After about a 6 hour drive the drama arriving into Yosemite Valley is spectacular.

You drive through this tunnel:

And BAM! you are greeted with this view

Takes your breath away!

The first afternoon we hit the beach and got the crazies out after the car ride. The girls remembered playing on this tree last year and we excited that the natural jungle gym was still there.

This group had LOTS of girls!

On Friday we took a hike to Vernal Falls Pfeiffer barely took 10 steps at a time so Greg and I would trade the camera for her and each got quite a workout getting her up to the lookout bridge. It will be even more fun in a year or two when both kids can take little hikes (on their own two feet!)

There was this moss growing on all the rocks on the hike – I like this design that someone did in it.

Once to our destination we sprawled out for a picnic lunch, I’m sure we left a good meal for the squirrels too. The kids had a great time climbing on the rocks.

The crew taking a break

We had some good adventures around Yosemite Valley, but hanging out at camp was the best.

Thanks to my friend Andrea for sharing some of her pics, of course I still took a lot of photos, but my zeal for capturing every detail had waned a bit by this trip.

Saturday we took our bikes around the valley. Charlotte rode her own bike 5+ miles and was such a trooper – me on my cruiser with P on the back in the seat made me feel like a trooper too! Our first stop was at Yosemite Falls which were huge this year from all the rain. So pretty! Noisy and wet too, of course P was in her own little world dancing and singing around – she had no idea where she was, but she did enjoy herself, well as long as she was balancing on rocks or being carried during the walking part.

Yes we still hike in pink.

I think I will do another post on P’s crazy faces she is into these days…

Next we rode the bikes to Mirror Lake (or is it pond?)

The kiddos had a good time running out to the little sandbar and playing around in the freezing water.

After a group of bigger kids charged through the water and out onto this rock of course our little ones needed to do it too. Thanks to Jenny for helping out!

Greg is the nature photographer and he took some great ones:

After all this traveling my kids of course asked where we are headed to this weekend – home thankfully! With all of these road trips I think my best tip is to always have some bags on hand – for carsickness, trash from the endless amount of snacks their tiny bodies seem to require, snacks too I guess. But with all our experience we are certainly no experts – we got the car packed up and ready to go only to have it not start – oops, forgot to unplug the dvd player – rookie mistake I tell you!

And now for the slideshow: