Singapore

We were "forced" to spend two days in Singapore so we could get our visas processed and updated in our passports.  I was actually a little disappointed it went so quickly!  

This little Singaporean was beyond excited to finally see some sights on the little red dot that he could remember.  We started on Orchard Road to see some of the beautiful landscaping and malls.

Next stop, Jurong Bird Park, one of our favorite places.  The Lorrie Loft is always so much fun.

These loud rainbow lorikeets also reminded us of Perth because we'd hear them fly in by the hundreds to roost in the trees in Cottesloe.

Matt's little friend was pretty opinionated and a bit aggressive.  Thankfully, Matt was his favorite person and the only one with bites!

 

The world's tallest manmade waterfall

We had to hit up Newton Hawker stand and unbelievably, the owner of our favorite stall was still there AND remembered Matt's name!

To make sure we all stayed awake, we went to the night safari as well.  I had never seen it so crowded!  But that definitely kept us up and ensured we slept well that night.

On Monday, Matt had some appointments so the kids and I went to Marina Bay.

Alex couldn't wait to see the Gardens by the Bay and of course...

...Marina Bay Sands.  He researched it and built a model for his Challenge class last year and has been counting the days to go see it.  Next visit, hopefully we'll spend the night there and check out the pool on top!

The kids were thrilled with all the escalators in malls and MRT stations, and especially loved having an MRT car all to ourselves.

Personally, I was pretty happy with a nice bowl of laksa and a lime juice.  Singapore will always have a special place in my heart!  (and my stomach)

Time to Go

All too soon, we found ourselves enjoying our last night in Texas.  Only one place to go in a case like that - Tex Mex!  We know of a Mexican place in Jakarta but it won't be anything like this:

One last dinner with our parents and grandparents.  We will miss them so much but technology should make this move so much easier than the first one.  I didn't get my first smartphone until we moved back to Texas in 2011 so even texting will make life so much better.

Naturally, we had to load up on Blue Bell as well.  One more thing we'll miss and look forward to seeing next time!

Friday morning we loaded up our 13 suitcases and four backpacks and headed to the airport.  No strollers or pack and plays anymore and two kids who can be responsible for their own stuff - traveling has gotten so much easier!  Our first stop was Singapore, where we would get our Indonesian visas updated in our passports.

These two boys were pretty excited for the flights...

...and even more excited when they saw their seats.  I think Ben spent the first hour of the 13 hours to Tokyo investigating every single button and switch.

Alex was a huge fan of the ice cream sundae cart.

After a few hours in Tokyo, we had another 8 hours to Singapore.  We got very little sleep on the first flight and we all crashed on the second.  Alex barely moved for hours!

Finally we arrived in Singapore around midnight on Saturday and piled into a Maxi Taxi with all of our luggage.  Thank goodness we didn't have one more suitcase because it wouldn't have fit!  Then it was off to the hotel and a much anticipated sleep in bed.

More Summer Fun

 We had a lot of fun in between all the work that needed to be done over the summer.  Alex worked like a madman on his birthday Legos, even though we had to disassemble most of them to move them.

Grumpy rented a pontoon boat on Lake Conroe so we could play on the water one perfect summer afternoon.  The kids couldn't wait to go tubing.

Huge smiles from everyone!

The kids got pretty adventurous and tried lots of different tricks...

 We even tried some kneeboarding and each of us got up but it was a pretty bumpy ride behind a pontoon.

It's hard to beat cool water on a hot day!

We also tried Top Golf for the first time with our friends the Malones.  The kids had never golfed more than putt-putt and they both did pretty well.

This guy has a great golf build...hopefully he can learn a real swing and not confuse it with his baseball swing.

Fun times for all the kiddos and the adults!

Ben spent plenty of time loving on his buddy, Maxwell.

Loving Some Cousin Time

We were so excited to get one last visit in with the cousins before the big move.  Ben was able to convince Carter to start jumping in the pool to him for the first time!

 

 I love the bond between these boys :)

1..2..3..JUMP!

The kids bought some silly string at the grocery store so naturally a big, messy battle was scheduled for the backyard, but first Ben wanted to "puke some string".  Boys.

I think it was successful!

The kids loved riding the golf cart to the pool and back.  Such a great way to transport wet little boys.

And naturally we had to update the group shot.  I sure wish we could slow down time a little bit.

Ben was so proud of his selfie with Carter!

Moving Out and Moving On

As exciting as it is to be looking at an overseas move, there is no easy way to say goodbye to home.  Texas will always be home to us and our house there was filled with 6 years of happy memories and watching our boys grow up.  It was hard to pack it all up and leave.  Not to mention that it's a major process - I had to sort every inch of the house into 12 suitcases, a small air shipment, a 40-foot container going by sea, or storage.  Plus tons of things I gave to a local charity or pawned off on neighbors.  My conclusion - we have too much stuff. 

Matt left for a two week trip to Jakarta and the kids and I checked into a hotel so I could wash everything, clean out the fridges, and dry the washing machine before they were packed.  It was also nice to leave the chaos like this in the evening and sleep in a quiet place that served us breakfast.  The dining room was ground zero for all things storage.  We love all that furniture but we didn't have the space to move it or room in the rental house for formal dining.

 

 It was a 5-day job for 4 movers to pack and load everything.

It always interesting to watch everything disappear into boxes and wrapping and we always hope it comes out the same on the other end.

This was my little corner for the week so I could be out of the way.  It was pretty chaotic organizing everything in the house, keeping the kids occupied (but I was so thankful for grandparents and friends who did so much to get them out of the house during the week!), and keeping quite a few appointments. I thought I might lose my mind when I found out my credit card had been hacked and I had to cancel it (pretty interesting trying to pay for a hotel in cash) and that we had to find some way to get Ben into a specialist in 3 days for his medical clearance, but with a lot of prayer, a few tears, dozens of phone calls, and some deep breaths, it all fell into place.

Alex's room became the kids' hideout once it was packed.

Ben offered to travel this way.  I said no.

On Friday, the big day arrived and I prayed and prayed that everything we planned to take would fit in this container!  After hours of loading, every single box and bed fit with barely an inch to spare. God is good!!  Hopefully we'll see it all again in early October.

Grumpy took the kids home that afternoon and I spent several more hours cleaning and checking everything else.  It was nice to have some quiet time walking through each room and thinking of all the happy memories we've made in this place.

We came back as a family to grab a last few things and see the empty house.  At first, the kids thought it was pretty cool.

But empty rooms make for sad faces :(  Alex cried the rest of the afternoon.

Our sweet neighbor Rosie suggested we take one last picture in front of the house and I'm so thankful for this one!  

Quite a difference from 2011!  She was a wonderful home sweet home and she will be greatly missed...but new adventures await.