Tag: <span>family time</span>

A date night for parents of young children is not a right, it is a privilege. A few weeks ago someone asked me if Evan and I go out for a date night every weekend since we live close to family. I had answered that we do not, and felt that I had to explain why not. True, we have able and willing babysitters and are surrounded by many exciting places to be, culinary and otherwise. But, we don’t go out often because the kids are only going to be this young for so long and we relish our time with them. We also enjoy taking them out with us, introducing them to the city living, and lastly, going out can be pricey. That being said, once in a while, a date night is a necessity.

I had taken a 4:40 AM (that is not a typo) train to DC last Monday to attend a conference on data fusion. As excited as I was to start up business travel, I was (rightfully) dreading the train ride up. It was, just as I expected, as dreadful and draining as I imagined and… and then some. Not being able to stay away from the girls for too long, I came back Tuesday and made a day-trip to DC on Wednesday. All that travel, plus maintaining a household had left me drained and longing to have a few hours of adult conversation, to be served on, and to linger over a glass of wine.

But before there was date night, there was plenty of quality family time. In case you don’t know by the look on her face, she means to do something mischievous!

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Sophia tried out roller skating courtesy of Alex’s old skates and Eliza, as usual, was keen to observe how they worked.

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We delighted in the summer’s warm weather and the city’s green spaces having discovered a new (to us) community garden. So inspired by the beautiful summer’s bounty there, we are thinking of getting a space and doing a bit of gardening ourselves.

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And then there is this crew. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. I longed for the day that Sophia and Eliza would walk hand-in-hand and we could go for a walk on a whim and without having to bring a stroller, too.
EvanandKids

Life

Said Pablo Picasso and such is the case where I work. We dream up pie in the sky ideas and work hard to make them real. Every day is different, every project unique, and every achievement immensely satisfying. Computer science is one of the most exciting and dynamic fields today. It is at the epicenter of our economic output since everything and everyone uses computers. Chemists, biologists, physicists and even quantitate financial analysts need to know computer science. The hour of code is a hugely successful effort to bring computer science and programming to tens of millions of school aged children.

The United States is not able to produce enough computer scientists to satisfy its growing demand and it is everyone’s duty to inspire children to choose professions in one of the many STEM fields. In doing my part, and also because I am always excited to share an experience with my nephew, I took Alex to my company’s take your child to work day. The event, dubbed a Tech Expo was geared toward children aged 10 and up. The bring your child to work day did not include shadow time. Instead, children were whisked upstairs to a series of cool demos and talks about what the current state of the art is that we (myself and the people I work with) are working on, and what lies in the frontier. Demos included 3-D printing technologies, programming with raspberry pi, the bleeding edge in electromagnetic research, and renewable energy. The sessions were hands on and the children had a chance to try all of the technologies for themselves.

I am a firm believer that learning does not always take place inside a classroom while reading a textbook. My nephew missed a day of school but I am certain that he learned much more that morning at the Tech Expo. He learned that research and failure go hand in hand, that you can dream big, work hard, and persevere. He wasn’t the only one learning. I learned that there are few greater pleasures in life than seeing young minds churning with creative ideas and thoughts. I couldn’t have asked for a better day and a better companion. Oh, and of course, he had time with his cousins as well… and some ice cream. It is summer, after all.

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Life Moments