Jack's First Day of Montessori

Thanksgiving, Tree Trimming, Family Fun

What a busy and fun weekend we had!  I was in Sydney for work all week and didn't get back until late Thursday night so we celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday, which worked out well since Friday happened to be a holiday in Singapore (Hari Raya).  CC and Pa were able to spend Thanksgiving with us this year, which was a special treat.

Once again we pulled out the very sad and comical $35 tree (that is Sing dollars, so even worse than it sounds).  Good thing the kids have no idea what a nice tree or a real tree looks like.  Ainsley and Kara both hung ornaments and every day is a struggle to keep everything on the tree :-)

Saturday afternoon was the annual MMI performance (Ainsley's school).  This year she was old enough to participate and was very excited.  Each class from four different centers put on a show.  The picture below of her class on stage is a really bad picture and you can barely see her, but she is the blonde pigtails in the front.  She did a really, really good job.  We were very proud of her.

We ventured to the Botanic Gardens this weekend to let the kids enjoy the outdoors and do something fun.  We love the Botanic Gardens, it is a beautiful spot and a nice place for the kids.

Kara and Jack checking out a pond  with fish and turtles...

The waterfall, a favorite for all three... (Ainsley is on the other side in the first picture, then Matt with all three)

Checking out the turtle...

Ainsley taking water to Jack...

This week is Ainsley's birthday...big girl is turning 3!

Early Thanksgiving

Today we went to a potluck Thanksgiving picnic at Pasir Ris park, sponsored by the American Women's Association.  The park is really nice and great for kids -- lots of grass, open space, and lots of playground activities.  We will still celebrate Thanksgiving at home this week with family, but it was nice to share the tradition with some of our friends and visit a new park!

Family photo (the black line on Kara's face was a whisker that was going to be a cat painted on her face but she decided she didn't like it)...

 Ainsley got a bunny painted on her hand, which she was very proud of...

The bouncy house was the hit of the day.  Ainsley spent most of her time in there and only came out to eat and go to the bathroom...  (in the background you will notice water and on the other side of the water is Malaysia)

This photo sums up Jack these days - I can only get a picture of the back of him because we are constantly chasing him!  He is NON-STOP and goes in every direction you don't want him to go.  He hates being in the stroller and hates to be told "no" when he is headed in a specific direction.  We find he gets angry at us for saving his life every day :-)

Family Outing

We found another Mexican restaurant we like in Singapore - it's called Cafe Iguana, located in Riverside Point.  We enjoyed a nice dinner by the water and then took the kids on a boat ride that went past Riverside Point and Clarke Quay, past Boat Quay and the Fullerton, and then finally to our friend the Merlion.  I didn't get pictures of the boat trip because I was busy making sure nobody went overboard.  The pics below are from Riverside Point.

Kara's 1st Day of School!

Halloween Pictures

Halloween was lots of fun for all!  Our apartment had a parade for all of the kids before embarking on trick-or-treating and then we let them knock on a few doors for candy.  It is hard to trick-or-treat in our building because waiting on the elevators takes an extremely long time when everyone is trying to get up and down 27 floors at the same time.  The kids still had a blast and Ainsley and Kara enjoyed eating candy afterward.  Jack didn't care much for the candy but he enjoyed the adventure!

Jack is Walking!

It's official - Jack is walking!  After a false start and return to crawling, he has now committed to walking and has given up crawling.  Now, if he could only get more time alone, away from his sisters, his life would be complete :-)

 

Kara went to Sunday school with Ainsley today and we caught this cute picture of them walking together:

 Cute pic of Matt, Jack, Ainsley, and CC watching Shrek:

Ainsley hosting a party in her house, and among her 20 or so animals, Jack was cordially invited:

Tomorrow Jack and Kara will be 16 months old!  Jack has 12 teeth and loves to say "bye bye" when he is about to walk away from you.  He doesn't have many other words but he is definitely understanding more words.  Kara has lots of words and has started to potty-train herself.  We have done literally nothing, but suddenly she started telling us she wanted to go to the potty and uses it once or twice a day.  She even poops on the potty!  We guess it must be from watching Ainsley, since she wants to do everything big sister does.  It feels a bit early so we don't push it, but if she asks to go to the potty we take her.