Pictures!

It's been a busy 10 days since Stacey arrived! So busy that I had nearly 200 pictures but I've pared it down to my favorites, of course. Stacey has about 50 more of just the food we gorged ourselves on the entire time she was here, so maybe I'll dedicate a post to local food another day to make everyone drool.

First and most importantly, what have the boys been up to? We took the liberty of going through the box of goodies Aunt Stacey brought while she was still asleep the morning she arrived and the kids had a great time playing with all the new things.

Ben was (and still is) infatuated with his card that plays the dancing hamster song. Alex got one with Grammy and Grumpy singing happy birthday but it unfortunately has been the subject of a few fights already and takes some special work to play.

He was also a big fan of his new crocodile slippers.

Ben's first introduction to pez...let's just say they didn't last long!

All kinds of interesting new things at home and Alex still loves to play with the washing machine. He has rewashed several loads already since there is no way to childproof it. Probably a good thing since I caught him eating dirt today and spitting it all down his shirt...might not hurt to wash those clothes twice.

We went by a wet market and picked up some fun local fruit for Stacey to try. Ben loves rambutans and I just think it's funny that my 3-year old knows the word.

Mangosteens are pretty good as well but we don't eat those as often.

My crazy boys...Alex carries his blankie everywhere if I let him (I'm trying to restrict blankies and pacis to the crib before he has a lifelong attachment) and he loves that the elephant's trunk makes a perfect carry handle. Ben has noticed Alex carrying a blankie and has decided he wants a blankie everywhere, too.

Hi, Aunt Stacey! The boys had a great time playing with her and Ben requested her to read books twice a day, although I was still tolerated in the room. Unfortunately I didn't take nearly enough pictures of her with the kids because we were always busy doing something.

Alex is so close to walking! He's taken a few steps here and there but doesn't have the confidence or balance just yet. It's coming quickly so it's only a matter of time until he's running all over the place. I'm hoping we may be out of this house first because of the big stair hazard in the living room.

Yep....still playing with the washer! And now with company.

I thought this picture was hilarous! Alex loves to climb on the little bench and play so I told Ben to go sit next to him. Ben interpreted that as sit on Alex. A dozen pictures later this was the best I could get.

Aunt Stacey left at 3:30am this morning (ouch!) so we found some kiddie entertainment this afternoon to get out of the all too quiet house. Loewen gardens had a singer performing for the kids so after Ben exhausted himself on the big trampoline (netted and padded, don't worry grandparents!) he had fun singing and playing with all the kids. He looks so serious in the picture.

So what did we do with Aunt Stacey? Everything!! Tons of eating - chili crab, barbequed squid, oyster omelettes, dim sum, lots of thai, sushi, cereal prawn, and laksa, just to name a few. We went to the botanic garden, zoo, chinatown, arab street, holland village, Equinox at the Swissotel, the Singapore cricket club, and took side trips to Langkawi, Malaysia and Bintan, Indonesia. Since it was her second trip here we skipped some of the more touristy things but I think we pretty much covered most of the island and a few others!

Here are the highlights...Langkawi had enough pictures to require a post of its own!
The botanic garden

It's definitely my favorite place in Singapore because it's beautiful and calming and has some of the most amazing orchids I've ever seen.






Yesterday we took a day trip to Bintan and got to ride the brand new ferries that cut a good 10 minutes off the 55-minute trip.

It rained all the way over but the skies cleared up and we had a perfect day to enjoy this lovely, relaxing beach at Angsana.

A look back toward the luxurious Banyan Tree resort.

We whiled away the day under this umbrella looking out toward the powdery sand and swimming in the crystal clear water. What a way to spend our last sister day!

I've sadly let Stacey go home to her husband and real life but we thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend so many days together. I already regret not taking enough pictures but the best part was just getting to hang out like we haven't really done since our college days. Love you, babes!

Alex's Birthday

Catching up a little from the past few weeks, our baby turned one! Here are a few cute pictures while we were waiting in the car for everyone just before his birthday. Both are very typical of Alex. A big, happy smile...

...and a mouthful of food!

On the big day we had a little celebration with a mini cake for Alex and cupcakes for the rest of the family.

Alex didn't know what to make of the singing and the candle so good thing he got a little help blowing it out.

The first taste...and the jury is still out...

...still not sure....

Smiling for all the cameras!

But Alex needed coaxing to try the icing and finally gave up on the cake completely. We were all shocked that he didn't want to eat any of it, even a plain cupcake. He settled for cheerios instead while Ben ate two cupcakes. Not what I expected for his celebration but we enjoyed Alex's birthday regardless.

A few other things we during Grandma and Grandpa's last few days here included a trip to the fish spa for a fish pedicure. What's not to love about dipping your feet in a pool of fish that want to nibble the dead skin away?

And Grandma and I took Ben to his first movie. Ice Age 3 was really cute and Ben was great for about an hour, then got bored and played with my phone until the movie was over. He ate popcorn and a hot dog and talked out loud to the screen whenever something caught his attention. Good thing we went to the 10am showing full of kids his age!

I'm slowly catching up on pictures and will get updated with Aunt Stacey's visit soon!

Aunt Stacey Is Here!

We sadly bid farewell to Grandma and Grandpa Kirkham late Monday night at the airport but were so excited that about an hour later Aunt Stacey's flight landed so we got to bring home another visitor! Talk about perfect timing. We're sad that Uncle Jason wasn't able to make the trip this year but it's sure nice for me to get to spend some time with my sister since we haven't had this much time together in years. We're off to Langkawi, Malaysia tomorrow to relax for a few days at the beach, then I promise an update with tons of pictures from all the visitors.

And an update on Alex's birthday: I am convinced that he is not my child. He tasted the icing on his cake and then wouldn't touch it. Wouldn't even touch a plain cupcake! But he ate his cheerios. This is the kid that will say "mmmmm" while eating broccoli. We can't possibly be related!!

Happy Birthday Alex!

I can't believe our little baby is already an entire year old! Where has the time gone? We are so fortunate to be blessed with a sweet, happy, good-natured little boy. Alex is so much fun and such a joy in our family. We see a little more of his personality each day and so far he is a curious, determined, loving boy with an enormous appetite and hot temper if he doesn't get his way sometimes.

Here is a look at him starting at 3 weeks up to today:

We look forward to letting him tear into a cake today and celebrating our precious little Alex!

Animals of Singapore

It seems like we've been doing all kinds of animal-related activities with Grandma and Grandpa, besides eating lots of good food and playing with the boys. We took Ben to the zoo this week and he was so fascinated with his fan that he barely looked up for the first hour.

Ben and Grandma outside the probiscus monkey exhibit. Those are some ugly monkeys!

We enjoyed the beautiful white tigers and watched one cool off in the pond.

The other two were just relaxing the morning away.

I thought this was an interesting new addition since our last trip to the zoo, right after a man was killed by the tigers. In the tigers' defense, the man jumped the wall, swam across the pond, climbed up the cliff, and started beating them with a broom. What else were they supposed to do?

We loved the pygmy hippo mama and baby! The baby was too dense to float but too young to swim so he stood on his mom's nose for air.

Ben provided a little perspective on their size. The baby was about as big (and probably as dense!) as Alex.

The free-ranging orangutans are always one of the best attractions.

This was my favorite of the day - feeding the giraffes. The keeper called them over and we were second in line.

Ben laughed and laughed at the long tongue and fed the big guy carrots and apples.

Afterward Ben refused to look at any other animals until he'd been to the bathroom and properly washed his hands. Such a little clean freak!

The best ride of the day!

This was the biggest komodo dragon I'd ever seen...he had to be at least 6 feet long.

We watched the Asian elephant show and saw the big gals demonstrate their strength and training.

Ben fed them as well but got a little freaked out this time by the big trunks grabbing at the food so I ended up giving them most of the fruit.

The next day Ben went to the bird park with Grandma, Grandpa, and Daddy (no camera) and passed out in the car on the way home. This was his first nap on the couch in years!

Yesterday we took the cable cars from Mt. Faber to Sentosa. The walk up to the top of Mt. Faber was really pretty but the name is slightly misleading - it's really just a tall hill because there is nothing close to a mountain here.

The guys enjoyed the sights for a minute.

We caught one of the new glass cable cars so we had 360 degree views in all directions, including down!

It was a pretty ride over some forest and through Harbourfront center.

On the other side of Harbourfront we saw the cruise ships and the construction site for Universal Studios, which is coming along really quickly.

After the cable cars we walked through Underwater World and let Ben touch everything in the open tanks.

He got to feed some of the tropical fish and big goldfish in big tanks with smart little feeding troughs out to the side.
Behind Ben is an arapiama, one of the world's largest freshwater fish. This one was at least 5 feet long, so remember these things are in the water next time you take a dip in the Amazon.

Check out these amazing seahorses! The two yellow ones in the center are leafy seahorses and the brown one to the right is a weedy seahorse.

The jellyfish tank had some pretty cool lighting.

The highlight of the aquarium is a huge acrylic tunnel with a moving sidewalk but Ben was so engrossed in the walk that he barely looked at the fish. You never know what's going to interest this little guy!

We're having so much fun with Grandpa and Grandma here and are trying to fit in as much play as possible because they leave on Monday night.