Taking a break..Beach Time

As usual, the second day of Chinese New Year is always our family time together after a busy day of visitation on the first day.

We slept till we all stirred naturally. For a change, we didn't go to the zoo as we always did for the past 2 years. We headed this time to the beach for sand and water play!

We kicked start the day with our favorite Carl's Junior for breakfast!

Keren had already had hers at home so we gave her little biscuits. She's happy.

Well, Daddy decided to just let her try some 'real' food and gave her a hash brown. The very first time taking fast food. The verdict. Oooooo….all too good…"why I had to wait so long for this?" Thereafter as all who expect, she didn't want her biscuits anymore.

Love the funny expressions of my kids. Cheeky Abel...

Great companionship!

The kids had real fun trying to build a wall to stop the rising waters together with their dad!

Keren was quite happy on the mat watching. She did dig some sand with her bucket and spade for awhile but …..

Guess what happened? The rising tide washed over her feet and she cried big time! She sure didn't like the waves...

Busy September Hols..

Well, I wasn't quite prepared for holidays. Being a Stay At Home Mom has made me realize homemaking is such an arduous job, worse than teaching. Every moment is full of something to do, be it washing, cleaning, cooking, coaching the kids, playing with baby and a whole lot more. There's never much time to think. However, looking back, we were almost out every day of the week despite Daddy being in reservice! Looking back, we actually revisited many of these places we had went before when they were much younger.

Holidays kicked start with the long requested visit to the Night Safari. We went together with the children's school bus mate which mad the trip even more enjoyable for the kids. Sometimes, it's really the company that counts.

 Monday, we went for Alice in Wonderland show at United Square. It was a real big boo coz there was no show at noon due to some organized tea party. So we went to Nei Nei's place to take a nap before returning for the afternoon show. Surprisingly there were not many people and we even had a photoshoot with the cast.

Tuesday, we went to the zoo with our church mate. Seriously, I was thinking of aborting the plan coz Keziah didn't sleep much of a wink the night before, waking up at 2 am, complaining of a pain in the left cheek. It did look a little swollen. I tried to sweep it aside and ask her to get some sleep but she just didn't and continue to whine till I gave her a dose of Neurofen before she settled down. We did see a doctor the next morning and he diagnosed it as mumps. Somehow still the impetus of going to the zoo seem to dull the pain and she still insisted on going. So we went.

Wednesday, it was off the the airport to try out the new play area, The Canopy. Seriously, it's far to small to interest me in paying for it. Since I had it free, why not?

I challenged to the kids to the slide which Keziah had some fear of since the last time she went as she didn't know how to exit. They got hooked on it after the first try.

 Thursday, it was to Jacob Ballas. We had fun spotting all the interesting plants like this calabash. Along the way we saw figs that were fruiting and mushrooms as well.

 Nothing beats the play area and sand. Though they really wanted water play, I just wasn't keen to get wet. However, I must say the water play area was a little disappointing. Not as great as before.

Friday, it was home with 婶婶 for some drawing class while Mommy took a break to catch up with some pals.

Saturday, we took off to the Science Centre with Daddy since it was a break from piano class. The kids sure had fun playing around with all the equipment.

 Our first trip to the Omni Max Theatre since our days as kids. The kids' first documentary show too!

Whew! It was a busy holiday after all….

The Port of Lost Wonder

After hearing all the raving over the new water play that opened at Sentosa, here we were to explore. It was a warm, sunny day. Our kids were so excited when it comes to play and can't wait to get in.

 We were there early and the gates weren't open yet. So we went round to get some pics. Look at the poses!

 We were all 'tagged' to enter. However, we were a little upset our little Keren had to pay when she can hardly play much.

 Wet and wild time!!!!!

 We met Keziah's friends from the Disney Princess Pagent and the girls had a whale of the time playing.

Keren too had a dip in the waters with Daddy.

Capturing the little moments of our little one…One thing we noticed, she didn't crawl out of the mat. Guess the grass was simply too prickly!

The cheeky smile..

Aside from the water play, there were organized activities such as storytelling time, parrot show and craft sessions. Seriously if you were to ask me if we were to go again, I guess not as the area was simply too small and crowded even on a weekday.

Disney Princess Pagent

Keziah was selected for the Disney Princess Pagent during the makeover at Vivo City. In preparation for the event, the organizers actually had 2 full day of rehearsals to teach them an opening dance and cat walk. On top of it, the kids must perform a 3 min talent show during the competition. Keziah definitely enjoyed the dancing and making new friends. Guess it was Mommy who's the one feeling tired shuttling around.

Though our little girl didn't win any prizes, aside from the consolation pack, it was a good experience for her.

June Holidays: Botanic Gardens

It's never easy to keep kids home during holidays when you see them 24/7. Nothing beats bringing them out. Mommy arranged with Aunt Jo to take a little walk and we met at Botanic Gardens new MRT station to begin our mid morning walk. Yes, Mommy with all three kids!

It's good to have the kids back to nature, feeling the greens. We were talking about the different flowers and the different leaves (ranging from shapes to network and parallel veins). The kids even requested to head for the old tree for a climb. They were a little apprehensive initially, especially Abel, when they got on the tree as there were other more abled foreign kids hurrying them. After some encouragement, they each made a mark today by conquering their fears, reaching a new height in tree climbing.

We literally walked from one end to the other end of Botanic Gardens and amazed how the kids weren't complaining any bit. Finally we took a bus from outside Gleneagles Hospital back home!

Princess Time with Pals

It was a Thursday packed full of activities. We were early at Di'dier's place for craft time! Aunt Susan taught us how to do decoupage on canvas bags. It's surprising how it was. All you need was decoupage glue, pretty napkins (serviettes), sponge and varnish. Look at our pretty works!

 After lunch, we headed down to Vivo City for the girls to have a make over. We met up with Ting Gu Gu and Raelyn as well. A princess dream!

The pals!

The process….Our princess interestingly chose to be dressed up as Cinderalla. That's coz Ariel's attire was too exposed, showing the belly. Just so amazed she would feel so at this young age. Good for Mommy!

Our princess was all done!

Meanwhile, there were some fringe activities by Abbot. The kids created little crafts and dabbled with color blending in milk.

The wait for the makeover was long and Abel simply sat down to watch the game show that was on while Mommy was busy with Keziah. Guess what when Mommy peeped over! He was on stage playing the game, sorting out the foods into the different food groups. Just amazing how much guts this little one has and his attentiveness to pick up via hearing as he got everything right!

Children's Art Season @ SAM

This time round the activities at SAM was really engaging for the little ones. They had so much to create and express themselves.

First, the kids got to create their own clay magnets from everyday objects such as key, clips, pegs @ Everyday Wonders...

 Some ideas to kick start the creation.

Their very own little pieces.

 

We went round too admiring at the art from these simple tools.

 Next, in the activity room, they colored and cut their little trees. They were meant to add on to the wall of art but our kids just wanted to bring their pieces home.

They also imitated the artists that created the Echoes-Infinity-The Forest using powder paint that fades with time as visitors walk over, reminding us the transient nature of life. It wasn't easy using these powdered paint as it smudged quite easily.

 The kids had loads of fun in Dress Me up, putting on the attire that they wished.

 At the Art of Imagination, the kids could unleash their imagination and simply draw and add to this creative mash-up, rearranging the boxes anyway they liked.

There was also origami time at Grow a Garden in the Dark where the curators taught the little ones simple paper folding to add on flowers, leaves and butterflies to the 'garden' that comes alive in the dark.

 We never left the place without taking a picture with Walter!

Since we were already out, we decided to head down to the dinosaur exhibition by Science Center at Plaza Singapura. They were simply excited to be there, joining in the coloring activities and game show that happened to be on.