Uncle Tom, Auntie Lyanda and Claire

Sometime, about 3 weeks ago, our friends Tom, Lyanda and Claire came to India for a long family vacation and we had the please of housing them here on their first night. Last week, they returned to Chennai after a memorable trip through Southern India and found their way back here to our flat by the sea. Kaia really loves to have visitors and when they come with 7 year olds in tow, he’s in heaven! Our guests spent most of their final days here (actually Uncle Tom is staying on another 2 weeks to work with Indiamama’s project) shopping and getting in their final fix of local flavors, but Kaia was still able to spend a lot of fun time playing with Claire and being his happy self. Claire was really great with him and offered glimpses of what life might be like with two children—the tender sight of two little creatures sharing a book or a laugh just melts your heart. Kaia was really sad to see Lyanda and Claire go, as were we all. Sometimes in the storm of Indian intensity you can lose your bearings of those things familiar and comfortable. Being with them and remembering our lives in Seattle—and our imminent re-engagement—was very therapeutic.

Why I Love this Time: “Papa, want to see Culaire.”