Visiting the children's museum in Gurgaon in early September. This exhibit allowed you to make a body shape out of yourself.
 
Our first weekend outside Delhi was to the Mudfort, traveling with five different families. As usual, it was a lot of fun! This year they set up dinner for us in the atmospheric courtyard.
Our second weekend outside of Delhi was to a hotel called Shaheen Bagh, near Dehra Duhn. Traveling with three other families (Kennedy's, Caputo's and Rosenfields), we had a great time. The kids got a big slice of some time with nature.
We visited the Bengali part of town to see preparations for Durgha Puja- a big Bengali festival. They were making lots of idols out of clay and straw, which were (during the festival) were taken to the river to be submerged.
A beautiful hike with Zoë and friends near Shaheen Bagh.
 
The 3rd annual Oktoberfest was a bit hit. As with last year, hammerschlagen was very popular.
At Oktoberfest, we had about 8 different homebrews from about six different homebrewers.
Running on weekend mornings has been a lot of fun this year. We often run to India gate.
Shortly after returning from the US, Robyn got Bells Palsy. Subsequent tests showed that she had gotten Lyme Disease while in the US, probably while we were biking and camping. a long cycle of Doxycyline seemed to take care of things.
Zoë expressing her unhappiness with some decision we made. Very cute!
     
 
 
 
 
 

[MAY 7, 2013] IN MID APRIL I ATTENDED NCTM WITH THE ENTIRE MATH DEPARTENT AND AT THE END OF THE MONTH WENT WITH SOME OF THE SAME PEOPLE AND A FEW FAMILES TO REVISIT THE WORLD'S OLDEST ZERO in Gwalior.

Visiting the National Conference of Mathematics Teachers (NCTM) with all five of my colleagues was awesome! I had never been, so it was fun to be with so many math teachers in one place. There were thousands of sessions, so it was easy to find lots of interesting sessions. It was especially cool to hear presenters whom I have seen at TED talks or read their books. The conference was in Denver, so it was also fun to see our friends Mike and Maryann who live there, as well as to check out Denver itself. Dave and I did a microbrewery tour there which was a lot of fun.

A couple weekends after getting back, Robyn, Zoë and I headed to Gwalior to see the world's oldest zero. This was a repeat trip - we made the same trip last year at the same time. It was fun to see the zero again and the Taj Hotel that we stayed in was awesome. The kids particularly enjoyed the pool.

     
 
 
 

[APRIL 2, 2013] FOR SPRING BREAK THIS YEAR, WE HEADED TO THE ANDAMEN ISLANDS. I've been wanting to go since we got to India, but they are so far away - which is of course also part of the fun!

The islands were beautiful and we got a 2 story cabin just off the beach. I SCUBA dived for a couple days and got my advanced certification. Robyn started her's with Liz, but unfortunately got a cut in her foot which developed cellulitis. Once we got back to Delhi we had to put her in the hospital for a week so she could get IV antibiotics, but she is ok now. It's not a vacation until someone is in the hospital!

Anyway, other than Robyn's cellulitis, the islands were great. Beach 7 in particular was beautiful. Chris and I took Zoë and Rory over one morning and spent a few pleasant hours bobbing around the waves with the kids.

     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[MARCH 23, 2013] IN FEBRUARY I FINISHED CROSS COUNTRY SEASON, VISITED A LION SANCTUARY, SPENT A WEEKEND IN JILLING (AGAIN) AND WANDERED DELHI WITH ROBYN AND ZOE.

Cross Country season wrapped up in mid-February, which means I have a lot more time now. The team improved quite a bit from last year, with our JV boys placing a respectable 4th. Next year looks promising!

The weekend Cross Country finished I headed to Jilling with some friends. As usual, it was an awesome escape from Delhi. We spent three days hiking the panoramic trails and ridges and also playing lots of music back at the hut. Great weekend!

It's that rare time of year in Delhi where it's actually pleasant to be outside. So, Robyn, Zoë and I have been walking in parks on the weekends, particularly in Lodi Gardens. We also made it down to old Delhi, where we visited the Jain Bird Hospital. The hospital was interesting, though it had these crazy bird paintings on the walls, which we never did figure out!

At the end of February, we spent one weekend at Laksh Farms, just an hour outside of Delhi. That place is going to be one of our new regular Delhi escapes! Despite being so close to Delhi, we felt very far away. There was tons of space to run around, lots of farm animals and bon fires at night. The food was very tasty and almost all grown organically on the property and the rooms were very cute. Zoë and I got to milk a cow for the first time - an ambition I've had for 40+ years!

Early March was high school minicourse. I took a group of kids to a river camp on the Ganges, near Rishikesh. It was a relaxing week with just the right amount of activity. Each day we rafted a half day, and then spent the balance of the day relaxing at the beautiful beach camp.

Eight hours after returning to Delhi, Robyn, Zoë and I flew to Diu in Gujarat (Western India). Diu used to be Portugese, but was not that interesting. Our real goal, however, was Sasan Gir National Park, where we spent the next three days. Sasan Gir is the last place in the world that lions can be found outside of Africa. We were very lucky and excited to see lions on all three of our safaris. Apparently, people normally see them every 3rd safari or so.

 

 

     
   
     
 
 
 
 
 
 

[JANUARY 26, 2013] ROBYN AND I CELEBRATED 18 YEARS, DAVE AND I RAN THE MUMBAI MARATHON and Zoë and Robyn performed in the faculty musical "Annie".

A week after returning from Winter Break in Southern India, Robyn and I booked a bed and breakfast for our 18th anniversary. The B&B was a charming place that overlooked Humayun's Tomb. The place had a great rooftop with a view, where we had our meals. Friends took Zoë for a sleepover.

The next weekend I met Dave (a friend from college) in Bombay, where we ran the Mumbai Marathon. I was pleased to have a personal best. I beat my previous best time by about 5 minutes despite being 11 years older. It was a beautiful day. Dave and I also enjoyed Mumbai itself. We went on several "Reality Tours" (Dhavarati Slum tour, Mumbai by Night) and enjoyed the cafes and restaurants of my favorite Indian city.

Last night I got to see Robyn and Zoë in the faculty musical production of "Annie". Both had bit parts but had a lot of fun, particularly Zoë. The play was great, but I'm also happy they don't have rehearsal any more!