Time flies and the little boy who was watching "Max and Luby" is now a 10 year old!  The following piece is written by Ashir himself. This is a travelogue of our recent mini vacation. Enjoy !

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Our RV Trip to Monterey Bay Area

By Ashir Rao

An RV or a Recreational vehicle is almost as big as a truck and is also known as a motorhome. True to its name it actually is a “home” on wheels.

Our RV, though a medium sized one,  was equipped with all the amenities of a small home : three beds to sleep 5 people; dinette; kitchenette with gas stove, microwave and a sink; couch, bathroom with shower; a/c; heating and a lot more.

We rented the RV from Cruise America which is one of the largest RV rental companies in North America.

My dad had never driven an RV before, but you can learn a lot online; he saw a number of RV videos and by the time we went to get the RV from the rental location he was ready.

We got the RV one day before the trip and I accompanied my dad to the rental place. After signing some documents we went inside the RV with two people who showed us different features. My first reaction on getting into the RV was “amazing!” - it was so big from the inside.

On the way back to our home, I sat in the front seat and helped my dad navigate. My dad very carefully and slowly drove the big RV and didn’t seem to have much trouble. I was scared anyway.

Before we set off from home the next day, we had to pack a lot of stuff. A. LOT. We had to pack things like food, blankets, toiletries, clothes, and many other things.

Finally we took off with RV loaded up with our things and our super excited selves. It took us about an hour to reach our first destination, close to the Monterey Bay.  This was a place called KayakConnection where we went on a kayaking tour of the Elkhorn Slough. We saw sea life like sea otters, seals (Gerald), sea lions. And a lot of birds. I was wet and covered with sand when I came back!

Our first meal in our RV was sumptuous. My mom cooked the meal when we arrived at the KOA Holiday RV camp. It was Rajma Rice, and Aloo Curry with Roti. Mom had a stove to cook on. It was just like food at home. We ate on our dinette table right inside the RV.

We explored KOA; it is a big campground with parking for hundreds of RVs, log cabins, small and somewhat bigger cabins.  

Close to where we were parked there was a clubhouse and place where kids got together and played. There was a climbing tree with rock climbing equipment, a giant bouncing trampoline,  a mini-golf course and much more. We also played ping-pong and had a great time. We weren't playing a competitive game; we only did a few rallies.

Since we were only exploring the first day, we actually did those activities on the next day.

After a hearty dinner, we got ready to sleep in our exclusive beds right inside our RV.

On the first night in the RV we forgot to turn on heating and it got VERY cold. VEEERRRY cold! However, I was under thick covers, so the effect was somewhat lessened. It was windy and the  RV shook from the gusts, as if there was a minor earthquake. Though it felt like a home from inside, the RV also shook whenever someone got up, because, after all, it's just a car on wheels.

The next day, we did many fun activities. We started off with the 9-hole mini-golf course. The wind was blowing so hard, the ball kept on getting pushed back!

We also went bike renting and I rode a banana-peel bike, which is a unique bike that allows you to lie down almost flat and pedal. I also did an activity called stomp rocket, where you had to stomp on a rocket launcher that fired rockets made from foam. At night, me and my dad played ping-pong again. This time we played some real and competitive games.

I won once, and my dad won twice. That would change soon!

The night was somewhat quieter as most people had left the park and the wind had also let up a little, we slept better.

The next day, we went to the beach. The beach was about 5 minutes away, and we parked on a cliff that overlooked the great, vast Pacific Ocean. When we got there, we ate a hearty lunch, consisting of dal rice and english butter fudge. I watched a movie called The Phantom Menace, which was the 4th installment in the Star Wars series. After I finished the movie, Dad came back from his run on the beach. We then went on a walk on the beach. We talked about stuff and played in the waves. When we got back I tuned in to the radio to listen to the Warriors game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The sound was crackly, as we were very far away from the radio station. The Warriors won, which made them 2017 NBA champions. After that, I read some books, and Dad listened to an audiobook about Genghis Khan and the Mongols. The book I read was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which is the 6th installment in the series. By then it was early evening, and it was time to go back to RV camp.

At the RV camp, Dad and I played played a three series game of ping-pong. I won this time! I think I have a flair for ping-pong !

We went back to the RV and packed to return home the next morning.

All in all, we had a blast in this RV trip. We did fun things that we wouldn't get to do anywhere else! We went kayaking, did activities at KOA, went to the beach, and, best of all, played ping-pong. Renting an RV was an excellent decision for my family and I hope we have many more vacations that are just as fun as this one.

FIN

Consumerist Kids

It takes a lot of life experience to know that most of the tangible things in life can be bought, if you know the price. The price may not necessarily be in money, but almost anything can be bought or sold one way or the other.
The Generation Z learns this lesson faster than any other, thanks to constant stream of advertisements washing over us 24x7.
During one of his aggressive phases, Ashir was angry at me.
"Ashir, you are going to clean this mess now and go to bed" - I said.
"No I will not"
"I will count till 10"
"NO COUNTING.." - He shrieked
"One, Two.."
"NOOOO , I will kick the numbers"
"What?"
"You cannot kick the numbers, I am counting.. Three Four.."
"NOOOO I will kick you"
"What did you say?"
"I will kick you out" - He was furious
My jaw dropped - "What? You will kick me out? I will be sad and not come back"
"OK, I will get a new Papa from the Papa Store"
I was shocked. He looked at me for a few seconds and realized immediately that he has said something terribly wrong. He came to me running, held my face with both hands and said.
"Sorry, Papa, I will clean now"

Max and Ruby

Max and Ruby is his favorite show these days. It is cute but I think it has done a lot of damage lately.
Ashir has always been obedient, he has his own mind but he had always come around to reason, talking and in extreme cases threat of a timeout. But lately he is becoming more and more stubborn. Initially we thought that this is just part of growing up and he will be fine but then after further investigation we concluded that it is this cute bunny show that is the culprit.
Max and Ruby is about a little rabbit Max and his elder sister Ruby. Ruby tries new things and acts like a early (rabbit) teenager, while Max is equivalent of a 2 old boy. He doesnt speak full sentences yet, just one word at a time. So if he needs to drink water he will say "Water".
The twist is that Max is also a whiz with almost every gadget, he can drive a toy car, fly a remote controlled airplane, shoot darts with accuracy and much much more.
Ruby tries to control him but he always does something opposite, at first it looks that it will ruin whatever Ruby is trying to do but in the end the genius Max prevails, to the delight of his fans he always proves right and actually saves the day for Ruby.
So Ruby the elder is always wrong and Max the younger is always right.

We realized this connection when he was throwing tantrums the other day. We always eat on a little dining table in the kitchen, but today he was insisting to eat in his play room.
"Upstairs" - He pointed up
"No Ashir, not now, let us finish our dinner and then you can play for a while"
"Upstairs"
"So will you not eat today?"
"Upstairs" - he pointed to his food.
"No mister you are not getting your food upstairs, we have our food here and then we go up"
"Upstairs" he said sternly.
"No. Eat here or no food"
"Upstairs" - He began to cry
We were puzzled, but then connected the dots when we saw an episode or two of Max and Ruby, he was acting out Max, hoping that in the end he will be proven right.

I think even though the rating agencies give a "C" rating to some cartoons, they should also look at the message these cartoons are conveying. On our part we will block M&R and see if that makes a difference.

Bad 11

We all got a flu shot yesterday, he obviously did'nt like it. Today after breakfast he was counting with mommy when he said.
"8,9,10,11,12...... can we remove 11?"
"What do you mean?"
"Can we have 12 after 10?"
"I don't think so, but why would you want to do that?"
"I don't like 11. I got a shot on 11"
We all laughed.
Mommy asked - "But what will we do with 11"
"We will put it in the bad number box"

Remembrance Day

It was remembrance day and when Ashir came back from school he had a poppy sticker on his shirt.
"So what happened today at school"
"Nothing" - Standard answer when he doesnt want to talk, his eyes were set on his toys
"Where did you get this sticker then?"
"Oh this was given at the assembly"
"Assembly?"
"Yes, the teacher told us about soldiers"
"Soldiers?"
"Yes, when soldiers die they go to war"
"What?"
"And when we die we all go to the same place"
"What, did your teacher tell you this?"
"Yes and then teacher gives us this sticker"
"Oh OK"
"But mommy?" - came a puzzled look on his face
"What is a soldier?"

Onety

Ashir is learning to count and recognize numbers. He had a good handle till 30 and then his Mommy took him all the way to 100. Looks like he developed some logic in his mind to recognize the numbers pretty fast.
Yesterday, Neena asked me to test his number recognition. I started writing on a practice white-board and he did pretty well... until...

I wrote "49"
"Forty Nine"
"Good", now I wrote "64"
"Sixty four"
"82"
"Eighty Two"
"97"
"Ninety Seven"
I was wowed, then..
"13"
"Onety-Three"
"17"
"Onety-Seven"
I understood his newly built logic and then wrote
"40"
Sure enough came the expected answer
"Forty-zero"

Frown lines

Children have an innate ability to understand expression. Even when he was very young he understood not just sounds of different moods but also facial expressions. Recently he has started reacting to expressions, even when not vocalized.
"Ashir turn off the TV, enough of Max and Ruby" - I said.
"Ok, one last, please" (Standard negotiating tactics)
I frowned but knew that since he is going to do some letter recognition practice, it may not be the best time for confrontation.
"OK last one, after that we will do letters"
"OK..remove those lines" - he said smiling
"What lines?"
He came to me and touched my forehead
"These lines"