A Little Here, A Little There

Back In Action

Okay, it's been another hiatus from the blogosphere. Last week was a really crappy week with everyone being sick. And it's really hard to take care of two babies (actual baby + husband) when you are sick. Then came the weekend and we were totally busy with Halloween stuff. I was kind of bummed that I couldn't find any good haunted houses around here. Plus, Halloween is just not Halloween when it's like in the 70s. Urghh...

Anyways, this Halloween was mainly focused on our little budding flower but next year I'm determined to get either a Pirate Costume or a Greek-ish Costume or an Egyptian Costume. The costumes are sort of non-sexy but if I'm to take Alexay out to kid-friendly places, I'm sure they wouldn't want to see me dressed like this. I'm actually tempted toward the Pirate costume because that's one costume I have never worn yet in my 25 years of life. I'm even contemplating Alexay wearing this, so we'd match.

In other news, we've booked our annual 1 week trip to Squaw Valley. I'm a big skier and I can finally get back into the racing season this year since I was preggie last year. We always stay at Squaw Valley Lodge and Squaw, in my opinion, has the best terrain in the entire Lake Tahoe region. I really want to go up to Vancouver for some skiing someday. We've also decided that Greece will be our destination for next September. Now I just have to buy tickets, reserve hotels, and figure out what we are going to do. But, I definitely want it to be low-key. Last time when Karan and I went to England, we stayed for 2 weeks and did so much that we came back to the States 15 pounds lighter and in need of another vacation.

Bon Voyage in the Works

This past weekend my parents mentioned how they wish they could be closer to us so that they could spend more time with their grandson. After about a half hour listening to why we should move back to Wisconsin, my mom said that Karan and I should take a vacation next year and leave Alexay with them for a week or two. Now, that got the wheels in my head turning and I decided that my mom had an extremely brilliant idea.

So, Karan and I are now planning a 14-day vacation somewhere in Europe. We have a number of options (in no particular order):

1. Visit Prague, Poland, and Budapest. Both are inexpensive places to visit and I'd have the bonus of visiting and staying with my family there and seeing a lot of my old haunts. Poland is a beautiful country and Eastern Europe in general is passed up by many who venture to southern and western Europe instead.

2. Greece - I've always wanted to visit Greece. I'm thinking of an itinerary like this:

• Fly into Athens and then spend two days of exploration there
• Take a boat down to Santorini and spend a glorious and relaxing 3 or 4 days in Oia. I'm thinking of us staying here: http://www.chelidonia.com.
• Take a ferry down to Crete and spend 3 days there.
• Take a ferry back up to Athens
• Excursions to Olympia and/or Delphi
• Fly back home from Athens

3. Italy - I'm not sure about the itinerary here. We're thinking of Venice, Florence, Tuscany (i.e. like visiting the medieval village of Siena), and Rome.

4. Turkey or Egypt - these are places I have to visit before I die. Karan is not sure now is the right time to go because of all of the things happening in the world in regards to terrorism. Oh hum....

Of course my in-laws in India are begging us to go and visit. Karan hasn't been back to visit his homeland since 2000 and his nanima is calling us everyday and asking us when we are going to come. If we go to India, we would have to take our little Alexay since they are all dying to meet the grandson (and great-grandson in the case of nanima). Karan is Indian and has no worries about vaccinations, etc but when I saw the list of vaccinations I (and most probably Alexay) would have to get, it makes me cry. I know we have to go there eventually since that is where my in-law family resides and Alexay also has to see where part of his heritage is.

Anyways, lots of options and it's too difficult to decide. We're aiming for next year September. Although it seems like plenty of time to prepare, I really want everything booked before the new year.

Any suggestions?