Beijing and Farewell

Last week Grandma D and Aunt Heather stayed in Singapore with the kids while Matt and I enjoyed a quick vacation to Beijing.  We enjoyed ourselves and packed lots of sight seeing into our short trip!

Highlights of our trip...The Forbidden City...

Tianamen Square...

The Great Wall...

A Jade factory...

Olympic village, bird's nest, etc...

Learning about Chinese tea at Dr. Tea...

Over the weekend we had an extra day due to a public holiday (Hari Raya).  We enjoyed spending time with Grandma D and Aunt Heather during their last weekend here.  We went to Mac Ritchie to try to spot some monkey's but there were no monkeys out this weekend :-(

We are sad to bid farewell to Grandma D and Aunt Heather and are very thankful they came to spend time with us.  The Diamond trio will miss you!!!!!!

ROAD TRIP!!! well, sort of...

We rented a car (minivan) for the weekend so we could take a road trip to Malaysia.  Intentions were good, but we aborted the mission and didn't get quite as far as we planned...but alas the adventure was entertaining.  We loaded up the minivan (a Toyota Picnic) and Ainsley was SO excited she was about to burst.  She packed a suitcase full of legos, strapped on her sunglasses and brought along a bag of snacks.  She is the self-proclaimed map (think Dora) and literally could not wait to get on the way to Malaysia (or as her Singapore accent says, "Malaysher")...

So, we reached the border to Malaysia in a mere 20 minutes.  That was the easy part.  The part that wasn't on the glossy brochure was the twins that hate car seats and screamed their little heads off, the two hour wait to get through the border checks/immigration, the road system once we got across the border, and the delay in schedule that pushed up to lunch time and nap time.  After a brief stop at a gas station in Johor to let Ainsley go to the bathroom, we headed back to Singapore :-)  Jack and Kara fell asleep on the way back to Singapore and gave our ears a needed rest.  Ainsley continued to have the time of her life, despite all of the drama rich in the adventure.

Sunday we enjoyed getting together with some Texas friends to watch the UT/Rice game.  The kids loved playing in a new house and wore themselves out.

Sunday evening we took Barb and Heather to our favorite Indian restaurant in Little India...

We continue to enjoy having Grandma D and Aunt Heather with us.  The kids are LOVING it and we are having loads of fun.  Ainsley says, "Aunt Hedder" ... so cute.

Field Trip

This week Ainsley's class took a field trip with the kindergarden class to a local radio station.  They met dj's, learned how the radio works, and recorded their own voices.

The pre-tour learning:

Ainsley listening intently (notice her friend Luca to the left looks like an older Jack):

One of the dj's explaining how the radio plays music:

Ainsley and her classmates recording their voices:

All the children singing a song:

Ainsley's good friend Hugo is no longer at the same school -- he has moved on to the French school.  Ainsley enjoyed seeing Hugo at his birthday party this weekend:

Birthday Party

Today we celebrated my 37th birthday!  We had a great day and I could not be happier :-)  Matt bought me a new pair of earrings and let me take an extra long nap.  The kids were ecstatic because they got to have cake!

All of the kids are doing great!  Jack's eczema is finally improving.  We took him to an allergist and discovered he is not allergic to anything, he simply has sensitive skin that gets irritated easily.  He is so much happier now that we have it under control.

Ainsley spent the week in this bunny outfit, even though it was way too small.  She even ate carrots to really play the role of rabbit - I was excited that she was voluntarily eating carrots!!!

Kara (aka "Loo Loo") has some crazy hair!!

Silly in PJ's

A little bit of silly just before bedtime.  Jack is wearing pink pj's because it was the only color of footed pj's we could find in his size.  His eczema is still really bad and we are trying to keep him from itching all night.  Ainsley insists on wearing footed pj's when Jack wears his.

Just being silly and doing what daddy says to do for the camera...

National Day Holiday Weekend

We enjoyed a long weekend for the National Day holiday!  We enjoyed spending time as a family and took lots of pictures.

Friday the kid's school had a party -- the kids performed a short program of songs about Singapore and then enjoyed playing with their friends and parents.  Ainsley enjoyed her songs, but both Jack and Kara ran off of the "stage" before it even started.  Oh well!

The parents waiting for the show...

Jack and Kara's class -- Kara ran to us immediately and Jack ran back and forth (see him in the foreground of the picture?) and after about five laps Matt coaxed him in to re-joining his class...

Ainsley belting out the Singapore tunes...

Kara ignoring the activities...

Ainsley's Singapore tattoo...

After the school performance we enjoyed a lunch at one of our favorite spots, Shiraz.  They serve shawarma and it is located halfway between home and MMI...

Matt enjoys a beer...

Jack often wears some of the girls stuff, but this is one of our favorite looks.  He likes to wear Ainsley's black patent shoes, complete with a flower on the toe...

Jack and Kara playing in the house...

Matt and I often have date night once a week and Ainsley asked this week if she could go with us.  So the three of us went on a date to have Mexican food.  Ainsley likes to help Matt hail the taxi...

She was SO giddy about going out with mommy and daddy!

Cheers!  (yes, that is a virgin margarita!)

Ainsley took this one...

Date night at Margaritas!!

The girls playing dress up (notice Jack in the back playing with his cars)...

This is Jack's newest truck.  Poor Jack has a horrible case of eczema.  It is really bad and we are doing everything we can to help him feel better.

The kids were playing in the curtains and having a blast.  You can see Jack's eczema has spread to his face in this picture :-(

A friend of ours invited us over to enjoy their very cool pool!

We ended our holiday weekend at one of our favorite restaurants - Khansama in Little India...

Have suitcases, will watch movie!

This was totally un-staged.  They found their suitcases in the closet, decided how they wanted to use them, and daddy caught it on video.