Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia~Spring Break 2011

We drove into the capitol city of Malaysia and headed to Kuala Lumpar (KL) for Spring Break this year.  It was about a 4 hour drive.  It was a relatively easy drive...until it came time to stop to use the restroom.  Most Asian countries have squatters instead of toilets.  Don't ask me why because I don't have an answer.  If you don't know what a squatter is Google it.  Fortunately in Singapore there are squatters and toilets in public restrooms.  The unfortunate part is that because there are toilets here we as a family are NOT proficient at using squatters.  So what should have been a 5 minute pit stop turned into a 20 minute lesson on how to use a squatter.

Good times I tell you. Good times. 

All I have to say is THANK goodness I carry a small package of antibacterial wipes.

We got to our hotel mid afternoon and just explored around the hotel and the attached mall.  We had an early dinner and an early bedtime because Monday morning was the big adventure to SUNWAY LAGOON.  This is a monsterous themepark that has a waterpark, animal park, and multiple amusement parks.

March 22, 2011

So the kids and I headed to Sunway Lagoon.  They loved it!  It was perfect.  Luckily for us, the American school holiday did not coincide with other international schools or the local kids in KL.  It was like we had the park all to our selves.  They never had to wait in long lines, could ride the rides over and over again and really just do as they pleased. 

This is Graham coming down the waterslide all by himself.  Layne really wanted to do it as well but was just a few centimeters too short.  So ice cream made her happy while Graham went down the slide multiple times.

I went with Graham down the bigger slides as it was a 2 person ride.  Again the girls enjoyed more ice cream and cheering us on.

We did the water section of the park all morning, then had lunch and a quick change and headed to the animal park and then off to the rides. 

This is one of the longest pedestrian suspension bridges.

This is what the kids looked like after the long walk.  HOT and SWEATY.  We just finished watching someone bungee jump off the bridge.  You can see the little umbrella behind.  That is where people jump.

I also found it humorous that the amusement park section of the park was western themed.  We had to travel across the world to feel at home...cowboy hats, cowboy boots, horses and YEE HAWS everywhere.

The four of us coming down the log ride.

Day 1 of spring break was a huge success.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed it.  I was pleasantly surprised that all 3 kids did great as we stayed at the park from open to close and no one had a meltdown.

Disney on Ice

March 17, 2011

Bryce and Layne kicked off their term break from school to watch Disney on Ice.  They could not have been more excited.  This was their first time to see anything like this so it was fun watching them get ready and anticipate the show.

We went with Bryce and Layne's good friends here in Singapore, Katie and Riley.

In preparation for the show we had to have all the necessaties ie...Tinkerbell hats, popcorn, drinks, cotton candy and lots and lots of singing!

The show consisted of the basic Disney characters to introduce the 4 main events: Cars, Little Mermaid, Lion King and Tinkerbell. 

The only movie they had not see was the Lion King.  So I let them watch it the day before we went to the show.  I had seen the Lion King numerous times but some how I did not think my kids would react to the death of Simba's dad, as Bryce calls him the King Lion.  Lets just say there were tears from all 3 of my kids. Tears and lots of questions...Layne kept telling Bryce not to worry that there is always a happy ending in these kinds of movies and that the dad would be back.  Needless to say the movie opened up a dialogue on death for many days after watching the movie. 

But I digress, back to Disney on Ice!

I'm glad I let them watch the movie so that when they saw it at Disney on Ice they weren't so shocked by the death.

Of course, anyone that knows Bryce knows how much she loves the Little Mermaid.  She sang the songs at the top of her lungs.  The poor dad in front of her probably heard nothing but Bryce's sweet little voice the whole time.

Layne realizing the show is over...



Gymnastics

 Bryce has started taking gymnastics.  She is built for gymnastics.  Tiny and strong.  So far she enjoys going to class.  She is very willing to try everything and accepts help and guidance well.  They do alot of strength training and coordination type excercises and circuits.  All those things will benefit Bryce as she continues with gymnastics.

Bird Park

The kids and I spent last Sunday at the Jurong Bird Park.  This is our second trip to the park.  I love going to the zoo and seeing the animals but this park is dedicated to birds. 

Only.Birds.  penguins, flamingos, parrots, macaws, hawks, owls, pelicans, and a whole slew of others.  you get the picture.  birds.

I find birds to be loud, unpredictable and basically smelly.  But the kids asked to go so off we went.

Fortunately, as we walk through the bird park we do get to see beautiful scenery. 

The kids just loved looking at all the lilly pads and trying to spy frogs leaping from pad to pad.  They could hear the frogs croaking but no sightings.

We also rode the train around and the kids received bunny masks.  Why bunny masks?  It is the year of the bunny and we just celebrated Chinese New Year a few weeks ago.

Our first stop off the train was feeding the birds.  Graham was excited about it.  Bryce wanted to try it this time but Layne wanted nothing to do with feeding birds.  She was afraid they would land on her head.

The kids really enjoyed the bridges throughout the canopy of the rainforest.  We were lucky that it wasn't crowded yet because they just ran and played as if they had the bridges all to themselves. 

The park also has a man made waterfall.  It was beautiful.  I really wanted a nice picture of the kids together.  Looking at the picture below you can tell I did not get one.

I am not even sure what Graham is doing with his hands...

JOYful~Wordless Wednesday

Odds and Ends and WAY Behind

I have been blogging since the girls 1st birthday back in 2007.  So that is almost 4 years worth of pictures and videos here on this little site. 

Did you know you can run out of picture space???  I did not until recently.  I used up all my "free" space.  So I had to purchase more space.  It did not cost much but it took some effort to do hence the procrastination of pictures and updates.  So tonight on this last night in February I am going to be better at updating all of you or maybe it is just my mom who continues to check in on the blog.

So without further procrastination...

Bryce and Layne celebrated Chinese New Year at school by giving a little presentation dressed in Chinese attire.  They looked adorable in their dresses and sang songs in Mandarin.

Sisters on their way to school~ I absolutely adore this picture of the girls.

After their performance at school

Graham has taken up Taekwondo.  He is really enjoying himself and has asked to continue with the class.  He even walks around the house practicing his arm movements.

Graham also lost his second tooth.  He lost his first tooth on Christmas morning.  One day I will get around to downloading photos from our trip to Texas over the holidays...maybe.

You can see the hole in his gum from the fallen tooth but his new tooth had already grown in behind the baby tooth.  Now we wait for the 2 front teeth to fall.

Scolded

I have been scolded by unnamed people for not blogging regularly.  Hopefully these pictures from today will suffice as I get more motivated to organize all the holiday photos.

Since our return to Singapore from Texas the kids have enjoyed riding bikes and Graham's new sport of ripsticking.  The weather here has been cool for Singapore standards. I guess that is the benefit of it being the rainy season.