Merry Christmas!

YeY!

It’s that time of the year again …

when Bell’s are jingling

the Children are waiting

Santa is travelling

And the world is Celebrating…

Yes… its time for another beautiful CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

Cheers & Joy, Always!

Wish upon a star!

Cousins Connect!

Everytime they are together,  I see a bond so pure and so special. A bond with no hangups and no complications, only love and joy. Although they are poles apart, I believe they will always be connected by the heart.

Cheers & Joy, Always

Connected !

All we have is TIME!

Hello,

So as you can see I am trying to get back into the groove and post more.. Still Time to get to my normal self, click more and share even more…

Speaking of Time, I am spending a lot of it with my lil wonder and he inspires me to share something very special with you all out there.

All we have is Time with our lil ones, 

It’ll fly and they’ll grow 

All that will remain are memories 

Of moments spent sharing Joy, Making magic and Spreading Happiness. 

So make the most of those moments

They are never going to be enough

& I promise not a single moment with them

Is ever gonna be waste of your Time

Because when you measure your Life’s worth

They definitely will be the treasures you Cherish the most!

Happy Days!

Cheers & Joy , Always!

Spare Moments! {WPC}

Hello,

With a few moments to spare today, I decided to work on some images from a few weeks ago. I clicked these moments while my son and my niece enjoyed their spare moments doing exactly what kids were born to do. It’s perfect for the Weekly photo challenge- Spare.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Joy, Always!

Joys of Childhood

ALPHABET PLAY – WPC

Hello everyone,

I am back with another Weekly Photo Challenge-Alphabet. I was anyways about to share these images of my son playing with the huge “be.WELCOME” placed at the Atomium in Brussels. He wasn’t the only kid around having a ball on those alphabets.

Cheers & Joy, Always!

Jumping all about Brussels

Welcome

“O” Is it?

L for Love !

Pretty Princesses!

Hello Everyone…

Writing about my European Swirl has been on my mind ever since I got back. But somehow work, festivities and family, all have demanded more from me. So, this week I finally decided to start working on my photographs & while sorting them out I found pictures of Rose & Noah.  And then they took over!!

The two princesses who my little munchkin befriended while in Black Forest, Germany- Rose & Noah. We only spent a few hours together, but they made a mark on my son. He still remembers them very fondly. Who wouldn’t? Just look at them. Rose , the elder one was pretty, calm & composed as against Noah, who was a perfect brat. In being exactly who they were beautiful little girls, they captured my heart and of course my photographer’s eye. And I am so very pleased to blog about them. Love em, that’s all I can say!

Stories from Europe to follow soon.

Cheers & Joy, Always!

Beautiful Rose

Yeah… Gottcha !

Sitting Pretty

Me Naughty…No No NO!

What did you just say?

Turning Two!

Hello,

My niece is turning two today and I am so happy to be here with her. Here’s to her turning two and spreading joy and happiness all around.

Happy Birthday Sweetness!

Cheers & Joy, Always!

yeeey!

Celebrating

The runner

Happiness

They are Magical!!!

I don’t think anyone can ever deny this… There is something magical about Children and they do fill up our worlds with Joy and Happiness. Here’s to that sparkle in their eyes, the naughty grin, the innocent face and sweetness filled within!

Cheers & Joy, Always!

Magic Magic Magic!

The Toddler Travel Diary!

Hello all!

They say traveling broadens your horizon. But what does traveling with a toddler do?

I know, I know!! It doesn’t look good huh!

Before this vacation, I had my doubts about it too, and I read my share of “How to”, “To Do” and of course “Dos & Don’ts” on vacationing with a toddler. My 2.5 yr old boy ain’t a fussy traveller, but he still is a toddler with his share of tantrums, mood swings, emotional outbursts etc. I got a lot of articles on how traveling / vacationing with a toddler is no vacation at all. Or on how to make it easy and all that jazz. I also found some great content on being prepared for everyday and for a rainy day. There was a lot more but I had run out of patience & time too.

Anyhow, we are back now & when I sit back and reminisce about our travels, I can only smile and say, “It ain’t that bad people!”. In fact, it can be a lot of fun. He/she can be the perfect travel-minder, making our vacation amazingly enjoyable. All we need to do is, shuffle between our needs to Travel & Explore and our child’s need to Explore & Play.

So, other than all we had read & absorbed and of course experienced from earlier trips, we also did all this to make it special for our sonny bunny.

To start with, whenever possible, we would indulge our little one with a trip to a nearby park/play area. He loves his swings/slides & looking at him play just made us happy. The Brussels Park, Amsterdam Vondel park, Cologne Zoo, Munich English Gardens all worked perfectly for us.

Sand Play @ Brussels park

Happiness in a Swing – Vondel park, Amsterdam

Well, both hubby & me do enjoy our bit of sightseeing and we did all we could to make it enjoyable for him too. Each day our itinerary would have one or more kid friendly attractions. Informing him about the places he would see, and what they were about, a day in advance kept him excited all along. The Atomium, Mini Europe & of course Auto World worked perfectly for all 3 of us in Brussels, & the BMW museum took the cake in Munich.

At times we selected sites preferable to each of us and visit those on our own.

Learning his Alphabets -Atomium, Brussels

The dream machine- Auto world, Brussels

Yey- I can Drive- Olympic Stadium, Munich

We let him binge on ICE-CREAMs & WAFFLEs & CHIPs & CHOCOLATES whatever kind of food, whenever he wanted! Slurp!!!  It kept him happy & satisfied on the food front. No fuss about how many fruits or veggies or nutrients or blah blah blah. Just Eat what you like kinda thing.

Ice-cream Love!

We went along and did his thing, like he did ours. Swinging in the park in Amsterdam, cooking Pizza in a playhouse in Munich, riding a toy train in Cologne & Climbing the staircase of the church a million times, we’ve done it all.  We went wild and crazy with him and I wouldn’t be lying if I say, ” WE LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT”.

Father & Son- Joy in Brussels!

Crazy Mama & Sonny- Amsterdam

We helped him make a lot of new friends. He had a ton of fun interacting with them and learning from them.

New Girlfriend & Miffy – Amsterdam

Hello Mr Goat- Zanse Schans

And most important of all, we just let him be. He was happy, just playing with his car or running about the streets.

Driving a matador on the streets of Brugges

Standing Tall

20 days travelling with him was a breeze. There were momentary ups & downs, but I wouldn’t count them against the billion smiles we shared. All in all, it was about striking a balance between all our needs and demands on a day to day basis. Our plans changed everyday, but we kept going on and on.

Here’s all I have to say on this topic. Hope this will in someway be useful to you. Enjoy!

Cheers & Joy, Always!

ENJOY not just EAT your ICE-CREAM!

Hello!

I know I know … My post title is a bit weird… But don’t judge my post so soon. It has a lot more to it than you think.

On a sweltering summer day, I handed my son a cone of Ice-cream. He spent a good long hour not just eating, but enjoying every bit of it. So, I started clicking while he was busy doing his thing. Thats when I realised how important it was for him to savour every moment of the Ice-cream eating process. Enjoy not just the taste, but the brain freeze, the crunch and all that it had to offer. That’s when it struck me… Holy shit… My son was busy enjoying not just his ice-cream but his Life at that moment.

That’s how simple Life is. There’s a reason why many wise men advice us to never let our inner child die. Never let that feeling of wonder and amazement and true happiness fade away. It is in being a child that we truly live a moment in Life.  That’s when we let go of our hangups and just live.

Thank you son, today & everyday, for making me realise how much I need to grow down. How in being you, you are turning out to be my biggest teacher on how to Enjoy not just LIVE my Life.

Cheers & Joy, Always!

Enjoy Life