Hello Everyone!
I hope you all had a great 4th of July Weekend! I did too! We went to Michigan for a few days and also had guests over.
Here I share my eleven days of July.
July 1-3:
July 1st was the last day of summer school before the long weekend. On July 2nd, my mom’s best friend (Pooja aunty) and her son (Adi) came from San Francisco, California. We hadn’t seen them in almost ten years! The day after they both came, my mom got to catch up with Aunty while I played with Adi. Adi is a couple of years younger than me and likes books. The grown-ups ate lunch while My Mom, Pooja Aunty, Adi, and I went to the park. Near the Wirth park swimming park, there was a place where we could get some food. Since I ate some lunch, I got myself a lemonade while Adi got a pizza and lemonade since he didn’t eat at home. Then, we went to the playground while we played on the zipline, the carousel, and the swing. It got really hot so then we went home. Adi played on his iPad while Pooja Aunty suggested she would paint my nails and I chose light pink and yellow. I liked the colors while my mom suggested she would invite her old colleague for dinner. It was the day before the fourth of July and people were practicing fireworks on the other side of Brookfield. The kids and I all played outside. The next day I was heading to Michigan. We go to Michigan every year 2-3 times. Last year, we only went once because of Covid. Some of my parents’ old medical college classmates and friends live in the Lansing area and we like to visit, or they like to come to our house in Wisconsin. Most of them have children who are younger than me. I’m pretty close to Serene. Serene is 10 years old and loves to bake. Her younger sister, Samiara is really funny and is nice to me. I normally spend nights at their place since it’s so much fun. My dad and I were the only ones to go since my mom had some work stuff to do on the computer. Pooja Aunty and Adi would come the next day as they were going to visit a friend in Madison.
July 4th:
In the morning, I got all my supplies ready as we were traveling to Michigan. We took pictures holding the 4th of July flag, ate breakfast, and headed to Walgreens for snacks for the long drive. We got two bottles of water, two bottles of coke and two bottles of Gatorade and for snacks, my favorite chips. It was a long ride, so I kept myself busy by going on my phone, reading, or looking out the window. We reached Michigan at around 4:30 in the evening. As I entered Serene’s house there were a couple of kids playing around. I greeted the Aunties while I hung out with Aryav, Opal, Serene, Samaira, Arohan, and Diya. Serene had made purple cupcakes with the girls. Soon all the dads went to play golf. It was the fourth of July and everyone was wearing red, white, and blue. We were going to have a party at Sarvesh and Manas’s house. They are a couple of years younger than me and have a cool playset and lots of cool stuff. We ate dinner there, played on their trampoline, played on the playset, ate snacks, and got fireworks ready. My Dad said that the fireworks he bought with the Uncles could go up to 100+ feet in the air! I was so excited. Last year because of Covid, we couldn’t have big fireworks so we used the old ones from Diwali with our neighbors and also lit up sparklers. The grownups decided to play some music either Bollywood music, Nepali music, and American music but mostly Bollywood new songs. There were a lot of mosquitoes so the kids had to stay inside until it was time for some fireworks. Serene and I and a few other fearless kids went on the playset swings or monkey bars to watch the fireworks. The adults stayed on the balcony. I was pretty nervous and scared that the fireworks would come to us but no, it was so much fun. It was a long day so we got home. My dad would be sleeping at his other friends’ house but I decided to stay at Serene’s place. We shared a room while we watched youtube, talked, laughed, and fell asleep. I had my retainer on and wanted to take it off so badly but I couldn’t as my teeth won’t stay straight.
July 5th:
Serene and I woke up early in the morning and headed downstairs. Arohan, Diya, and her parents from Pennsylvania were staying in Serene’s place and were leaving in the afternoon. Shivan Aunty was in the kitchen making pancakes and waffles for us. I like waffles that are really fluffy and they are pretty fluffy. It was Opal’s birthday, and she was turning three. Serene had baked two small cakes that she was going to layer and she asked me to help her frost the cake layers for Opal’s cake. She gave me the duty of making cupcakes. I chose to make French Vanilla. I cracked eggs, put in oil, water and did the business. I like to bake at home. I hadn’t ever tried French vanilla but knew it was a good flavor. I put the liners in the pan and poured the batter in. I set a timer for 12 minutes. When I put them in the oven, sereneness was almost done. She made the cake plain white with icing from a grocery store to decorate the top and write “OPAL ” in pink. I was impressed. The cupcakes were done in no time. I put on a floral blouse and a skirt and headed to Aaryav and Opal’s house. I couldn’t decorate the cupcakes at Serene’s place so I had to decorate them at Opal’s house. I made them pink and white with rainbow sprinkles. It was too hot to be outside so we all went into the kitchen. The counter was filled with snacks, vegetables, fruits, and when we looked to the right, we saw a few platters of candy. It was a candy theme since Opal loves candy. We had lots of fun talking, playing in the basement, and stuffing our faces with candy. We mostly dug into the sour airheads which were delicious. They were my favorite. There were chocolate-covered raisins, pop rock lollipops, and jawbreakers. I placed all the cupcakes on a big platter with a few snacks. We had lots of fun the whole night. We stayed for lunch and dinner. In the afternoon, we had an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Then, my dad had to play golf so all the kids and I hung out in the basement since it was too hot outside. We were pretty tired but continued to hang around. Since Serene and I were a little older, we snuck a little candy from the pinata (Sorry Opal). Then when all the kids finally had the energy to get off the couch, we all headed out to use the pinata. We had lots of fun. We then got gift bags and the girls and I hung out on the balcony to use a coloring pad with sticks and stencils. We talked and laughed then hung out in the basement. It was a long day so we ate dinner, played with balloons, and ended the day with homemade cupcakes and a cake Serene made. Pooja aunty and Adi were supposed to arrive today but I guess they were stuck in traffic or on their way. I told everyone goodbye and we all went home.
July 6th
The next day was our last day in Michigan, but don’t worry we always get to meet up with them every alternate month or so. Serene and Samaira had to go to summer camp in the morning and would be back in the afternoon. Shivan Aunty dropped them off while I stayed in the car with them. When they left for summer camp, Aunty dropped me off at Aaryav and Opal’s house so we could spend some time together. Aunty said she would be back in an hour to have lunch at their place. Pooja Aunty and Adi had made it to Michigan last night after we had left. Aaryav woke up first and then Opal woke up. We played downstairs and when we came upstairs, almost everyone was in the living room. Opal had to eat breakfast and so did Aaryav. But I had already eaten in Serene’s house so I saved myself for lunch. Opal wanted to open one of her presents so we opened it all together since she was too small to open it herself. Adi hadn’t woken up yet since they got to Lansing really late so we played in the playroom until he woke up. We all got balloons from last night and we all decided to throw them out from the balcony. We headed back home around 12:00 pm after having lunch and saying goodbye. We got home around 5 pm and were exhausted after a long car ride. I got everything ready for summer school the next day.
July 7th and 8th
I got back to my regular schedule after the long weekend. I talked to my friends about the trip. We were supposed to go camping on July 9th but there was a last-minute change of plan. We had guests visiting us from Michigan.
July 9th
Aaryav and Opal’s family came from Michigan in the evening. I was so excited to see them. Initially, I was sad about not being able to go camping but my family had bigger plans for the weekend. Alisha aunty’s birthday was on July 10th and we were going on a pontoon. The day after was my parent’s fourteenth wedding anniversary.
I played with the kids in my playhouse for a good 90 minutes. When it was dinner time, they didn’t want to eat their food, maybe because they were too excited or because they are picky eaters. We gobbled up French fries and momos (Nepali Dumplings) and watched tv. We fell asleep a little late but woke up fresh the next morning.
July 10th
The next day, I got up and ate breakfast with the kids. At around 10:00, I had to go to my swimming class at Wirth Park. I know how to swim but just need to practice because Covid may have made me lose my swimming abilities but luckily I didn’t forget. I promised Aaryav and Opal we would bake a cake after swimming. We swam a couple of laps and waited for my father to pick me up. When I got home, Aaryav said “Ugh you’re so wet”. “I was underwater for 30 minutes obviously”. I said jokingly. I went up to take a shower. I put on shampoo and conditioner, put on some clothes, and headed to the kitchen. Since it was a good day out, I went to the sunroom with the kids to make the batter. We cracked the eggs, measured the oil, put it in water, and whisked it away. I whisk the mix a lot so the cake gets fluffy. I decided to make a bundt cake for Aunty since it is her favorite and most of the adult’s favorite. I put it in the pan and put it in the oven for 35 minutes. We cooled the cake and watched tv. When my mom came home, she decided to make some lunch for the family. An hour later, Alissa aunty came and I knew the cake needed to be decorated and cooled so I took it out, flipped it, and put in some sprinkles. It was hot and tastes the best when it’s lukewarm. We then put it back on the pan lid and ate some lunch. My mom made rice, lentils, and fish. We were going on a boat on the pontoon. Alissa Aunty was home and eating lunch with the grownups and would possibly be near the kitchen to get helpings and stuff so we went to the dining room behind the table and got my rainbow customized sprinkles. “Put sum mowe” Opal said, eating the sprinkles off the hot cake. I put more while the siblings ate them joyfully. I couldn’t help but eat some too. We put red, orange, green, blue, and purple on the tips of the cake. It looked delicious. I wanted a slice so bad but I had to wait. Alissa Aunty asked me if I wanted to get some stuff with her at her house and Walgreens. She handed me a huge bag of hot Cheetos. First, we went to Aunty’s house. If you didn’t know, she has a cute tiny Shih Tzu named Leia. Leia is really cheerful when she sees someone and she always plays with me. When I opened the door, she started jumping around. We gave her some dog beef stew while she ate cheerfully. “Do you have any Doctor Pepper?” I say petting Leia. The answer was no. So we went to Walgreens to get Dr. Pepper and Root Beer. We all got dressed for the pontoon. Aaryav and Opal were in the sunroom and my dad was asleep in a silly position and snoring. They stared at him. “Should we wake him up”? I asked. “I don’t know,” Aaryav said. He then woke up. He was pretty tired I guess. It was time for Aunty’s surprise. We asked her to close her eyes. We put a wrap around the cake to make sure it didn’t look like a cake, when we showed it to her, her eyes lit up. We cut the cake and put it in tiny containers for the boat. We all ate a slice and headed to rent a boat. It took a while to get seated. I sat down on a chair that rotated round and round. I sat with Aaryav while Opal got a little scared and fell asleep. My dad and the other uncles were going to take turns driving the boat. We ate and took photos. We ate hot Cheetos and cut aunty’s cake. Then we realized, WE FORGOT THE KNIFE!!!!! Luckily we got some plastic cups and spoons and put our cake serving on the cup and ate the cake upside down. It was delicious. I got to ride the boat for a little bit then we all talked, ate, and laughed some more. We went there for 4 hours. When we got home. Leia came to my house and we ate dinner and called it a day. The next day was my parents’ anniversary.
July 11th:
For my parents 14th wedding anniversary, I made triple berry muffins and it was a good day for surprise because my parents were out. Mom was at work and Dad was playing golf. My dad got home early so we distracted him by asking him if he could go to Dunkin to get donuts and lemonade with boba for me. We got everything ready. We took pictures with Shailu uncle’s family and enjoyed the muffins. I saved some for Serene and Samaira when Aaryav and Opal would get home. They had to leave for Michigan but luckily we got to celebrate the morning with them by looking at wedding photos and eating a good lunch. We would see them soon in about a month or so. A couple of hours later, my friends Lili, Sophie and Mia and my mom’s friend came for my parents’ anniversary. We had biryani for dinner and had my favorite, carrot cake. I couldn’t find a good anniversary gift for them but luckily they enjoyed the day with my home made muffins.
It was a fun 11 days of July and got lots of things done!
I’m looking forward to the rest of the summer break!