Stories with Grandma

The 3-year old and 4-year old classes at Alex's school were treated to a story time last week with Captain Book (aka Grandma!)

 

 The kids were so happy to hear some stories and despite some distractions (like the sanctuary getting set up for the fall festival and workmen installing lights) they were enthralled.

Crowd participation was encouraged!

Look at the smile on Alex's face :)

The puppet show was a hit as well. The kids were talking about the "pumpkin thief" all afternoon in Alex's class.

Thanks, Grandma, for such a great time!

Little Inventors

I am constantly amazed at the things these kids come up with day to day.  Some are clever, some are funny, some are downright ridiculous, but I love the imaginations on my boys.  Ben has run a pretend school in his closet for months now and he loves office supplies or "classroom equipment".  Even that gets put to new and better uses regularly.  Last week he made his own folders with paper and paper clips.  

Outside:

 

Inside with a handy pocket:

After Alex went in his room looking for a playmate before 6am both Saturday and Sunday, Ben made a sign for the door.

 

In case that wasn't clear enough, there were further directions behind the stop sign. (Loose translation:  Alex do not come in here.  Mom and Dad come in here)

 

Ben has moved his desk light into his classroom to use as an overhead projector.  The sheet on the board has the kids' homework listed.  I also noticed a bathroom pass and a library pass off to the side.  This kid is serious!

 

Alex, meanwhile, has been running a restaurant.  Not sure exactly how the gun factors in but I pity the person that complains about his cooking!

The kids asked to sleep outside in their tent and I opted for an easier, air-conditioned option.  Playing in the blanket-tent for a while seemed to fill the void.  One day we'll camp out in the backyard but I like my sleep too much to give into that just yet.

The kids got these bendy tubes at Toys R Us and have used them for all kinds of things.  Weapons (naturally), megaphones to talk to pedestrians when we're in the car, and more recently, as mega straws.

 

 

 

 Watch the effort that goes into sucking water through that thing!

Naturally, this game led to water all over the floor.  Which led me to push them outside.  Which led them to use the hose to fill up their cups.  Which led to very wet clothes.  Which finally led to two naked boys on the trampoline with bendy tube belts. (keep in mind we haven't met the neighbors in that house behind us....I'm sure they think we're awesome)

In the great quest for frogs, the boys decided that leaving frog food, a snare, and a net out would somehow trap one.  Much to their disappointment, no frog has fallen into their trap yet.

 

 The boys taking a break from trapping with their other frog lovers, Presley and Sariah.

Ben finally realized he can scale the door frames.  The first time he got the top and looked down he said, "How did I do that?"  And Alex is just a photo crasher.

 

 

This is a most beautiful sight to a mom - a little boy who decided he was sleepy during the mandated rest hour.  He rarely sleeps anywhere but in bed or in the car, so I was surprised to find that his quiet play had turned into a lovely nap.  What a great idea!

 

Dewberry Farm

Columbus Day was a school holiday for Ben and we found out Dewberry Farm, which is normally open to families on the weekends, would be open to the public. Ben loved it last year for his field trip and Alex has been asking for a chance to visit, so the kids and I spent a great day there together.

 

 By chance, we ran into our friends Jack and Emma and enjoyed visiting the animals together.

All of the boys loved the baby chicks.  Alex promised me he'd take care of one if we could just bring it home.

Next, we were off to the pumpkin patch.  Ben and Alex loved it but you wouldn't know by their faces....happy faces would have made it too easy to get a great picture!

(time out to discuss how Mom is taking too many pictures)

 Potty break!  Not sure if they really needed to go or if it was just the excitement of a porta-potty.  Boys!

Finally, a cute picture so we could move along!  We hopped on the hayride back to the other rides.

I think this cow train was their favorite.

This is about the 8th time they drove past me and waved.  Lucky for them, there was no line so they could ride over and over.

They were dying to do the corn maze.  I like mazes on paper but I'm not a huge fan of wandering through mazes with two young boys.

 

 "Come on, Mom!"

It was only a matter of time before this happened....their giggles gave them away!

The morning started out chilly but it warmed up quickly once the sun came out.  Time for a snow cone break.

All those spigots behind Alex were different flavors so kids could mix as they pleased.  It's a great idea but not necessarily the best day to be wearing a white shirt.  In the end, the boys didn't even want the ice, they would have been happy with a cup full of syrupy flavor.

Next, they did some climbing in a big castle and obstacle course.

They had to make several trips down the big roller slides.

And they loved the black mamba.  Kudos to the owners there for thinking of turning a big plastic pipe into a huge swing and tunnel for the kids.

Every great day should end with sunburned cheeks and blue lips!

Singapore Weekend

Matt just wrapped up a long business trip that included a week in Singapore.  Naturally, I was a little envious of a trip to one of my favorite cities in the world, so with the help of wonderful grandparents that were willing to keep the kids and some Singapore airlines miles that were going to expire, I was able to drop into the Lion City for 3 days.  Add in two more days for travel (22-23 hours of flying each way - not for the fainthearted!) and it was a nice, long weekend.  I've made some long trips for the weekend before but this one definitely gets the trophy!  Unfortunately, as it always seems to happen, I don't have any pictures of us with our friends but I have several to share of the weekend.

I couldn't believe how much parts of the city had changed in the three years since I was last there!  Marina Bay was gorgeous, the casino is finished and the Gardens by the Bay have opened.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner at a restaurant and brewery overlooking the bay with our friends Dirk and Christina.  I also got to spend some time catching up with my sweet friends Julia and Suasti, but nearly everyone else from our days there has moved on by now.

 

Another change I couldn't believe  - the Holland Village MRT stop is open and running!  It was under construction the entire time we lived there.  I would have used this so much.

Naturally, I had to stop at breadtalk for a cheese bun before I wandered around shopping while Matt went back to his favorite place for a haircut.

The botanic gardens hadn't changed a bit and still remain one of my favorite places in town.  I enjoyed a stroll through the grounds and was reminded of just how much I can sweat there.

I was also happy to see that people still do tai chi here in the same place.  It felt like I was just there yesterday.

The food was just as wonderful as I remembered.  I ate and drank as much as possible in the short time I had there!  After all that sweating, 100 plus and some calamansi juice were greatly appreciated.

 

Newton Hawker didn't disappoint, although I should have taken the picture before we devoured the barbequed squid.  We also had baby kai lan and roti prata.

A little pepper crab (below - and a little gross looking in the camera flash but oh so good), chili crab, and cereal prawn from Long Beach seafood fit the bill one night, too!  I also had some mee goreng and kway teow but didn't get my beloved bowl of laksa because there was no time to squeeze in another meal.

 Our hotel was on a quiet street off Orchard Road so we were able to walk a lot.

The view towards Orchard was lovely.

We caught the tail end of the Mid-Autumn festival, when lanterns and mooncakes are everywhere.  I brought some back for the kids, although the lanterns were definitely more appreciated than the lotus paste mooncakes.

It was fun taking a spin through Chinatown to see all the decorations and do a little shopping.

 

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend and I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to enjoy Singapore again.  It was a treat to fly that far and change timezones without the kids!  Although they were never far from my mind because Singapore will forever be the place where we enjoyed our babies.  I passed few places that didn't have some memory associated with one of the boys when he was small, especially when I walked past Gleneagles and remembered the joy of Alex joining our family and the American embassy across the street where we took our newborn to get his passport.  Singapore is also the place that gave me a lot more confidence as a woman and a mother because leaving my comfort zone to live in a foreign country forced me to get over a lot of my fears and insecurities if I wanted to enjoy the experience.  And I did.  I loved my time on that little island and will always treasure the memories made there.  

We also brought home one last souvenir to remember Singapore and complete our new dining room.

 

I flew back several days before Matt and I was pretty wrecked from all the travel and crossing 26 time zones in a few short days.  Luckily, there were lots of hugs and kisses waiting for me on this end, as well as a free pizza party at the park two houses down to celebrate National Night Out.  Guess who enjoyed the cupcakes?