Athletics

Evan participated in this year's ES Track and Field Event... seemed to enjoy his events: Long Jump, shot-put and the 200 meter run. The kids trained for about six weeks and then competed by grade level.

Audrey continues with her horse skills 2 times per week at the Delhi riding club. Lesa rides with her now for most of the sessions and seems to enjoy the mother-daughter time, despite the occasional fall. Evan and I enjoy the rides as well, we get to relax, read and drink a cup of chai with Ms. Beeru, the club's proprietor.

Last week, the kids started up again on the ES swim team at the American Embassy School. The are both drilling a few day a week after school on four strokes:  freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and breast. Evan's favorite is the breast - he has one of the top three times for this stroke...

Audrey definitely prefers, freestyle, and is the second fastest on the team.

Archery!

by HouseBoy

Evan had a second chance to learn more about archery with the Cub Scouts this month. Delhi's Pack 3060 organized an Archery Training session at the US Embassy for our four dens.

Safety training, and archery techniques were reviewed and coached by two Scout-certified "Range masters." We also had the assistance of three embassy US Marines. The marines were on hand to provide range safety and archery tips for the boys.
Evan's group showed incredible improvement over last year's session. He and his fellow scouts demonstrated good technique and consistently hit their targets with accuracy.

Because the boys have grown stronger and taller, they were able to draw back their bows with greater ease and confidence. As a result, Evan and his den-mates spent a lot more time concentrating on targeting and stance.

By the end of the morning, the archery targets looked like swiss cheese! It was a great way for us to spend a cool, Springtime morning in New Delhi.

Ranthambore!

by HouseBoy

Audrey had her first big trip without parents a few weeks ago... 3 days and two nights with her fellow 5th grade students on Safari in Ranthambore National Park.. The kids rode on the early morning train for the six hour journey to the park. They all stayed in several local hotels and enjoyed tasty Indian meals.. Although it was short, their trip was packed with activities. The 5th graders visited with area school children, learned about regional dance and art and they ventured out into the jungle on three separate safaris. They rode in large open "canters" like the one Audrey photographed below.

Our family has traveled out in the early morning on four separate occasions in three different National Parks in India (Sariska, Periyar, and Jim Corbett) to see tigers, but have never actually spotted one. Ranthambore is famed as one of the best places to sight the illusive Bengal Tiger (the world's largest cat), and for Audrey the park didn't disappoint!  And she has the photos to share her experience with us!

Audrey snapped this beautiful photo of a large tigress who happened to wander within 20 feet of her cantor. This female was on the prowl, in search of a meal for the day.
It was a great trip for the AES 5th graders, filled with wonderful memories for Audrey to cherish.

Evan's Tenth Birthday!

by HouseBoy

Evan celebrated his birthday this past weekend - it was BIG number ten, and was the fourth time we organized birthday festivities for him here in India! We managed to pull together a whole weekend of activities with some of his best friends. Audrey and two of her good friends helped out with some of the activities.

Everything kicked off with a big sleepover.  Two of Evan's buddies, Louis and Dylan came over for the night. Audrey and her friend Emma joined in the fun as well. The girls were a huge help - they baked a cake, wrapped gifts, made cards and went on several trips to our local market for snacks and supplies!  Our local rickshaw driver was a very happy guy, because the girls used him several times throughout the day to haul their many bags of goodies. The evening ended with a movie and the new FIFA 12 game on the Wii.

Day two took us to a Sports Restaurant called Underdoggs in one of the swanky malls located in Visant Kunj. The party kicked off before noon. Nine kids had the place to themselves until the lunch crowd started rolling in. Underdoggs is full of games - table tennis, pool, darts, foosball, shuffleboard, carem, video games (wii, ps3 and xbox) and, the unforgettable "sumo" wrestling.

As with many things in India, safety is not always the first consideration - Sumo wrestling was conveniently set up next to the dart boards, alongside a floor-to-ceiling length plate-glass divider. To compensate, we strategically placed parents to keep kids from smashing into walls and getting poked by flying darts.

There were no injuries, and the kids looked hilarious, in their foam, latex and Velcro suits. Think "Michelin Man meets Sumo Wrestler" costumes. There was more bouncing, flopping and tumbling than actual wrestling. But everyone had wide smiles!

The party ended with double chocolate cake from our favorite bakery - Red Moon and plenty of snacks (some of which were accidentally raided by boys from an adjacent birthday party...)

It was Monday morning, after the dust had settled. The kids were getting ready to head off to the morning bus and school. Evan's face got very serious and then he smiled: "I had a really good weekend. I think that was the best birthday party I've ever had!"