Gardening flower bed - Miss Haana did a project at school that got her interested in growing her own vegetables. This was back in spring. We made a couple trips to the nursery, but didn't get anything. Then I found a youtube video for building your own flower bed. Papa and she made a few trips to the nearby lumber store and for supplies to build it all. Over the next few weeks, they built the flower bed, got several bags of soil and mulch, laid it out, got seeds and finally planted them later in the summer. We now have a few small tomatoes plants that have tiny green tomatoes hanging in there, 2 okra plants growing crazy, several cucumber plants but no cucumbers yet, a couple basil and an Indian variety of basil called tulsi, I got from the temple. Miss Haana has been diligent about watering them through the scorching summer.
Wooden toys - Everyone month we get a package for miss Haana that is a project for her to build. It's called a tinker crate. These are science and engineering projects, with all supplies included. She loves them and it is quite cool. One of these crates came with an ad for a woodworking project. I thought we could try that. We now get packages every month with pieces of wood and supplies like nails, hammers, screws and even paints and stickers for finishing up. Last time she made a lime green quarry truck (after some frustration).. it was promptly adopted by Bobby boy!
Violin orchestra - Miss Haana has been learning to play violin for awhile. Last year I had an idea that little miss Haana might like to play violin as part of a team -an orchestra. But last year I didn't do anything about it. This year, I got my act together. We downloaded the required music she needed to play for the audition. I spoke to her teacher, and they practiced the pieces for several weeks. Finally, on the last day for submission, she recorded videos of herself playing the pieces required for the audition. And then, we waited. And waited. And waited. Several weeks later, we got a response. She made it into the youth orchestra! Super excited!! We texted her teacher, and he was really pumped up too!!
Animation and editing - Little miss Haana has been drawing quite a bit lately. Occasionally on the laptop too. But over the summer I let her loan my laptop and she got adobe fresco software on it. Then she found a course offered by one of the artist she really liked online. We bought the course and she enjoyed every bit of it! Suddenly she was practicing all day on the laptop and coming up with really expressive faces! Seeing her progress, i finally relented. We created an instagram account for her to post her art work on. Her handle is suhaana.balak. Do follow her!
Animation - in June, I had an opportunity at work to recognize and celebrate my team and what they were able to accomplish. I thought of doing something funny and creative. I thought I will check with little miss Haana. I told her I want to do a video with animation using avatars for my team members. This was her turf. She told me about this website that can help with that. She worked the entire day or two, helping me make the creative content, edit and put finishing touches on everything. It was a big success at work, and everyone loved it!! Big thanks to my new intern, although she now says I owe her $$!
Hang out with grandparents - this year we had something that we hadn't had for last several years due to covid. Grand parents. My parents came for just one a month in the spring. Over the summer Raj's parents came to visit. Bobby boy loved hanging out with grandparents and so did little miss Haana.
Combat training - Over the summer I had little miss Haana try a class for combat training. I wasn't sure if she'll like it or will it be intimidating to her. They practice skills that will be useful in real life situations using a combination of martial arts and street fighting elements. The school I found teaches krav maga- a style of combat training used by israeli military forces. Little miss Haana liked her initial class. I signed her up, but I was still waiting to see if this is something she'll stick to. It's been a few months and she still really likes it! I'm glad!
Loving Bobby - Little miss Haana hanging out with Bobby and playing with him has been one of the highlights of my summer! Every evening she would wake him up from his nap by entering the bedroom with a resounding "gooood mooooorninnng!!" (Even though it would be 5pm or so). And then she'll pick up a feather and rub it in his face saying "feather in your face! Feather in your face!". And for some bizarre reason, the boy will sit up in his crib, just woken up from his nap and laugh out loud!! They are an odd bunch, aren't they!!
