Sunday, October 30, 2011

Hiatus in Hong Kong Day 1


This is the holiday the kids have been begging and waiting and pleading to go on...Hong Kong Disneyland.  We finally made the trip over their Fall Break at school.  We stayed at the Disneyland Resort to get the full Disney feel.  Graham, Bryce and Layne could not be more happy to be there.  To add icing on the cake some of our very dear friends, the Reids, joined us and that made the trip even more memorable.

I took nearly 1000 pictures over the course of 4 days.  I am pretty sure whoever looks at this blog does not want to see 1000 pictures of my darling children in Hong Kong, so I am attempting to narrow it down and post a blog for each day we were in Hong Kong.

Day 1:  Disneyland October 26, 2011

We spent the first day checking into the hotel and exploring the grounds before we headed off to Disneyland.


There was a huge maze on the property that the kids played in while the dads checked into the hotel.  The maze was quite adventurous and I just kept listening for screams of children lost inside. 
Bryce

Austin and Graham

Layne and Katie



Hello Disneyland!

Since it was close to Halloween the park was decorated for the event.  Even the characters wore festive outfits.





Planning their events for the day.

Waiting in line.

Crocs!

Bryce scared of the crocs!

Layne is frightened as well!

Bryce thought she was being sneaky and tried to steer the boat.

Katie, Bryce and Layne headed to It's a Small World!

EXCITED!

HAPPY!

Soaking it all in.

Graham, Bryce and Austin were the only ones who would ride on Space Mountain multiple times.

Graham's favorite ride!


YUMMY!

Daddy and Graham waiting for the parade to start.


The girls were chosen to participate in the parade!  They loved it.

Tea Cups








The night ended with a spectacular fireworks show.  The kids all agreed that it was the best fireworks show they had ever seen.  All in all day one was a big hit!  Bring on Day 2!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Sunday Sparkles



Fall Break is just a few days a way and the children are anxious for it.  So we thought since this is a short week we would end our Sunday with sparklers.  Sparklers are aplenty here in Singapore as the Indian holiday Deepavali is on Wednesday. 




 Of course everything cannot always go smoothly...Bryce accidently grabbed the burnt side of her sparkler and blistered one of her fingers.  However, her pain did not last long and rejoined the fun very quickly!






Saturday in Singapore


Saturday, October 15, 2011

One Saturday afternoon we ventured towards Marina Bay to explore a bit of Singapore.  Our first stop was the Ben and Jerry's Chunk Fest.  The kids were eager to go because they knew they would get some ice cream out of the adventure.  For those of you not from Singapore should know that a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream is between 20 and 30SGD (16- 24 USD) depending on which grocery store you are shopping. With that said my kids rarely get Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  We stick to Nestle in our household.  They had ice cream, dunking booths, bands and other games for the kids to enjoy.
Watching a local Singaporean band. They actually enjoyed it as they have never seen a live band.
Eating their beloved ice cream.  I know you can't see it but behind me are about 6-7 people taking pictures of the kids.  The papparazi was in full effect that day.
Ainsley, Bryce, Liam, Graham and Layne  








After the festival we headed for a stroll around the bay and visited the Merlion.  The Merlion is Singapore's mascot.  You can find Merlions throughout the country.

In the background you can see the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the Singapore Flyer.


 Once we finished at the Merlion we headed to Little India for some dinner and the lights of Deepavali.  Little India is crowded most days but the Indian holiday of Deepavali is coming up next week so Little India was even more crowded.  However, it is neat for the kids to experience the happenings in Singapore.  The lights are beautiful and the food is delicious.



Blurry crowd in Little India because everyone is moving through the markets so fast.
 These next few pictures are just some that I thought came out really well and spent some time editing.
5 friends

Girly girls!




Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Merlion

Saturday, October 22, 2011

and another month goes by...

Another month has zoomed by and I can not seem to keep this blog updated more often than once a month.  I hope to do better but honestly with the holidays looming around the corner I do not see that happening.

 Here are the latest happenings and events for the Doffing children...

The kids celebrated UN day at school at the end of September.  It is a huge event at their school.  The kids dress up in clothing that represents their country.  Their school is very diverse and see a wide range of costumes.  The parents also bring in dishes from their home country to share with the class.  I am pretty sure the parents enjoy the food more than the students!  Bryce requested lemonade, Layne wanted Mac and Cheese and Graham with no surprises wanted popcorn chicken. 

My biggest accomplishment that day was juggling 3 events at the same time.  Needless to say I was exhausted at the end of UN Day!







In early October Bryce needed to have bilateral hernia surgery.  It was just a day procedure but still anything that requires anesthesia is stressful.  Bryce was so brave and handled everything much better than her mommy did.  She just missed a couple of days of school.  I would say she bounced back rather quickly.  


 Pumpkins were plentiful this time around in Singapore.  They were scarce last year so the kids were excited to go to the Pumpkin Patch at school this year.  It is not quite the same as Texas but they still enjoyed picking out their pumpkins.






 After the pumpkin patch the girls and I rushed off to soccer for Layne.  Saturday mornings are packed these days but we always find the time for soccer. 

I hate to say it but I've turned into a soccer mom.  Layne may be the only American on her team and is the only girl so I am sure the other parents don't appreciated my enthusiasm for my little girl.  She.is.good! 
 So while, Layne was schooling those Singaporean boys in soccer, Bryce was on the hill modeling!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

A month in...


We are a month into school and I think we are finally into a good routine.  It was a little tricky the first couple of weeks but we have survived the first month of school.

Figuring out how to get 3 kids ready in the morning in the shortest amount of time proved challenging but we have accomplished getting out the door in under 30 minutes with no tears.  Most days.

Graham is enjoying second grade.  So far the homework has been minimal and he whips through it pretty quickly.  He seems like such the big kid these days.  He is even choosing to read chapter books on his own instead of video games.  This makes me beyond happy.  

He started football season.  He practices twice a week so that keeps him pretty busy.  It is still flag football here.  No tackle until we move back to Texas.  Graham will pick basketball and Taekwondo back up as soon as football is over. 


Layne slid right into Kindergarten with no problems.  She has really adapted well and LOVES going to school.  She is doing gymnastics, ballet and soccer.  Her schedule sounds full but if I left it up to her she would be doing piano and taekwondo as well.  She has been doing soccer since we moved to Singapore and she has really come a long way!  I am thrilled she loves it.  She doesn't even care that she is the only girl.


Bryce has settled into Kindergarten as well.  Working out her sleep has been the most challenging but we did.  She needs the most sleep out of all the kids and once I figured out the "right" bedtime our morning became easier and school became enjoyable.  Sometimes she will go to bed as early as 6:30pm.  As crazy as that sounds she often goes without complaint as she is just so tired from her busy day.  Bryce is doing gymnastics and ballet.  I want to put her in some kind of drama or singing as that is where she excels but I think 3 after school activities may a bit much for her.


As for me I am finding plenty of things to fill my days while the kids are all at school.  Graham wrote at school what he thinks I do all day and he wrote...goes to the gym to exercise, teaches our helper how to cook, and works on the computer.  He is partially right so I will let him continue to believe that I actually teach someone how to cook...it's laughable!  I am just thankful he did not say goes shopping and lunches everyday.

We even still make time for fun every once in awhile.  Even on a school night.

We recently celebrated the Autumn Moon Festival with lanterns and moon cakes in our neighborhood.  It was at dark and most kids went in their jammies as they had to go straight to bed as soon as the parade was over.
Graham, Katie, Layne, Bryce and Maddie with their lanterns.