I am happy that we had a successful Christmas weekend.
1. Both kids were finally better from HFMD, eating better, sleeping somewhat better
2. LONG WEEKEND! We had Saturday, Sunday and Monday off. For a change!
3. Social events lined up...
Friday: Lunch out with clinic staff. Dinner with Joan, Adrian and Su. We were meant to go out but it was pouring and we figured Christmas eve would be booked out so we got takeout and ate at home. The kids had a ball and Annika was so excited she refused to go to bed till close to 10pm! My fault.. I got her really excited about going to the airport to pick her Uncle Anthony up on Saturday.
Saturday:
Hung out at home, swimming, then lunch. Evening was AIRPORT excursion for the kids. Mission: Pick Anthony up. The kids were so excited! We took Madison, Annika and Elizabeth together with Warni and Maria. Good thing we brought the team. Took a while before Anthony came out from immigration and picked his bags up. The kids were running amok! Playing tag at the empty taxi queue area. It was exhausting keeping an eye on them. When we got back from the airport, turned out Geok and Munhon hadn't had dinner yet so they brought food over and we ate together at the poolside. Finished in time for torrential rains to start. That was Christmas eve dinner.
Sunday:
RAINING. ENDLESSLY. We had breakfast with the family at Dempsey, followed by PRESENTS, presents and more presents. Of course the kids had a ball ripping gifts open. This year everyone was more prudent, so the kids didn't wind up with a whole bunch of useless plastic.
Afterward, I got to watch my 2nd movie since Annika was born! Mission impossible 2. Met up with Su at Golden Village at Great World City. It was a pretty good show to watch at a cinema since it has so many dramatic effects. Some parts were pretty lame, to the point that it was probably implausible. Still... that's what movies are for.
The evening was spent with ALL the kids. Madison, Annika, Elizabeth and Lynn. Took them all swimming, then dinner at Great World City (again). It was pretty stressful, trying to manage all of them, but we did pretty well.
Monday:
It was supposed to be a BORING chill out day, but wound up to be another "kids" day. Caroline brought her boys over to swim. Now we had Joshua, Matthew, Madison, Annika and Lynn. They were screaming the place down, running round and round the pool, jumping in, getting out. The energy! Endless! We were supposed to go out for lunch, but by the time we got everyone showered and settled I think the adults were pooped.
So? PIZZA! KFC! I whipped up a batch of dino pasta with sundried tomato pesto ( just so we could be a little bit 'healthy' ). Took everything down to the 14th floor deck to eat. Fantastic. Annika was down for a nap, the older kids entertained themselves and we ate in peace. Caroline went home after lunch to nap her kids, and we took Madison out for a drive while we got Starbucks frapps.
After naps we met up yet again, this time at Bishan park. It's great when the kids are together. They are able to play together quite independently now. The adults got to sit in the sand while eyeballing the kids, then when they were worn out we got dinner at the Canopy cafe. The cafe did pretty well to keep us happy, considering there were 7 adults and 5 kids. It started to drizzle just as we got there so we had to eat indoors. We took up a big corner and were rather messy, but they were so good to accomodate us and service was prompt. I will definetely go back there again. With or without kids.
Tuesday was ZOO outing day.
Met up with Caroline and her kids at the zoo, saw a bunch of animals and then made our way to the waterplay area right at the end. The zoo visit is not complete for the kids without the de riguer visit to the water play area. It is the perfect place to tire the kids out and ensure a healthy appetite for lunch. By the time they were done for, we had no choice but to have KFC (again!) for lunch. My only grouse with that place is the lack of food choice. You either eat KFC or Ben & Jerry's for lunch. Or pack your own.
That ended the Christmas weekend, but we still had the New Year Weekend to look forward to! I love this time of the year!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
HFMD part 2
Almost 1 week has passed since HFMD struck our household.
Thankfully, the worst seems to have passed and we are all on the mend.
Unfortunately Elizabeth seems to have caught the bug despite being kept apart from the other 2 for the past week. She joined them just yesterday..
Annika is on a picky eating phase at the moment. It's really ANNOYING. I don't know what to give her for breakfast anymore. I hope it's a phase and not an enduring trait. It drives me insane having to face food refusal FIRST thing in the morning. EVERYDAY. Thankfully Madison is quite good, she's not really fussy and takes most things I give her nowadays.
I wouldn't be so fazed with her food refusal, except that she is and looks so much thinner than Madison at the same age. It makes me feel sad and bad, like there is/was something that I could have done to prevent it.
So for now, I let Warni do the meals for her, since I have lost confidence and patience with trying to get her to eat her meal.I'm hoping when she turns 2? she will get better? I rationalise that it is better for a patient person to do that and everyone be happy than for me to get worked up every meal time with her. I was like that with Madison and it wasn't a pleasant time at all.
Too quickly the holiday season is upon us and too quickly it'll end as well. Anthony is coming to visit from tomorrow till mid January so that's really nice. Despite our differences I really appreciate him now more so than ever. He's fantastic with the kids and has alot of patience with them. It would be nice if he were living here too.
It's bittersweet that 2011 is coming to an end. So quick. My 2nd baby is growing up, and already she's losing her babyness. Madison is more than half my height and getting smarter everyday. Annika is still small but thinks big thoughts. Our parents are getting older and I get a new sense of appreciation for them everyday.
Hope everyone has a great holiday season!
Thankfully, the worst seems to have passed and we are all on the mend.
Unfortunately Elizabeth seems to have caught the bug despite being kept apart from the other 2 for the past week. She joined them just yesterday..
Annika is on a picky eating phase at the moment. It's really ANNOYING. I don't know what to give her for breakfast anymore. I hope it's a phase and not an enduring trait. It drives me insane having to face food refusal FIRST thing in the morning. EVERYDAY. Thankfully Madison is quite good, she's not really fussy and takes most things I give her nowadays.
I wouldn't be so fazed with her food refusal, except that she is and looks so much thinner than Madison at the same age. It makes me feel sad and bad, like there is/was something that I could have done to prevent it.
So for now, I let Warni do the meals for her, since I have lost confidence and patience with trying to get her to eat her meal.I'm hoping when she turns 2? she will get better? I rationalise that it is better for a patient person to do that and everyone be happy than for me to get worked up every meal time with her. I was like that with Madison and it wasn't a pleasant time at all.
Too quickly the holiday season is upon us and too quickly it'll end as well. Anthony is coming to visit from tomorrow till mid January so that's really nice. Despite our differences I really appreciate him now more so than ever. He's fantastic with the kids and has alot of patience with them. It would be nice if he were living here too.
It's bittersweet that 2011 is coming to an end. So quick. My 2nd baby is growing up, and already she's losing her babyness. Madison is more than half my height and getting smarter everyday. Annika is still small but thinks big thoughts. Our parents are getting older and I get a new sense of appreciation for them everyday.
Hope everyone has a great holiday season!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Illness of the month
IS ... (drumroll)... my most dreaded HAND FOOT AND MOUTH disease..Sigh..
It is unbelieveable!
Madison returns to school for ONE week after our holiday and manages to catch HFMD in time for the school holidays! How do kids do that?
Unfortunately there is an outbreak at her school at the moment, and even though the school did try their best to contain it Madison managed to catch it. I have to say it's probably about time, since she managed to escape the past few times.
The funny thing is that Annika was the first to come down with symptoms. She was perfectly fine when she woke Saturday morning, then when I came back from work Warni was asking me why she had some weird rash on her butt. She wasn't doing too badly but I had my suspicions already.
By Sunday the mouth ulcers appeared and boy WAS SHE GROUCHY. I think Madison had similar symptoms but she's been very good.
Today has been the worst so far, and I'm hoping it'll not get any worse. It was a really BAD screamy crying tantrumy morning. I'm stressed.Of course Annika didn't want to eat today so that made it worse. And of course there's some trouble at work with an unhappy patient. And to top it off my sister calls me in the middle of clinic just to confirm that my kids have HFMD and so do the maids need to repeatedly wipe the toys after my kids have been through them!!! I lost it at her.. so we had an argument.
Sigh.. of course now I probably have to apologize and work it out with her..
It is unbelieveable!
Madison returns to school for ONE week after our holiday and manages to catch HFMD in time for the school holidays! How do kids do that?
Unfortunately there is an outbreak at her school at the moment, and even though the school did try their best to contain it Madison managed to catch it. I have to say it's probably about time, since she managed to escape the past few times.
The funny thing is that Annika was the first to come down with symptoms. She was perfectly fine when she woke Saturday morning, then when I came back from work Warni was asking me why she had some weird rash on her butt. She wasn't doing too badly but I had my suspicions already.
By Sunday the mouth ulcers appeared and boy WAS SHE GROUCHY. I think Madison had similar symptoms but she's been very good.
Today has been the worst so far, and I'm hoping it'll not get any worse. It was a really BAD screamy crying tantrumy morning. I'm stressed.Of course Annika didn't want to eat today so that made it worse. And of course there's some trouble at work with an unhappy patient. And to top it off my sister calls me in the middle of clinic just to confirm that my kids have HFMD and so do the maids need to repeatedly wipe the toys after my kids have been through them!!! I lost it at her.. so we had an argument.
Sigh.. of course now I probably have to apologize and work it out with her..
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Melbourne trip 2011
We survived the trip!
It was pretty good actually.. despite being quite tired when we got back I felt somewhat rejuvenated. Like a good break from the monotony of life at home.
We left on Wednesday night for a midnight flight. I was sneaky.. I doped Annika prior to the flight so she slept like a log throughout most of the flight. Unfortunately I had to carry her for most of it so by the end I was a little numb and sore. BUT.. worth it.
We arrived Thursday morning and checkout at the immigration department was horrible. Snaking long queues. Well, Annika yelled her head off and I think that got us to the front pretty quickly. Once we cleared that the rest was amazingly breezy. Chris' mum and Anthony were waiting outside so we drove straight home.
The first few days we spent just chilling out. Went to the playground next door, took the kids to the fantastic Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre and did a little shopping. The kids really loved the warm swimming pool at MSAC. And of course the playground, which perpetually had kids around. It was nice having a home there so the kids didn't have to eat out every meal.
On Saturday our travelling companions arrived. They kept themselves occupied during the day so we only met for dinner. The next day we picked up our 12 seater Commuter bus and drove down to Phillip Island to see the penguins.
Despite being summer it was chilly and downright FREEZING at the penguin parade. We had to be seated at a platform 1 hour before the birds came out and it felt really long. When the sun set the penguins FINALLY started waddling out of the water and they were quite cute. The kids had a ball watching them, but thank goodness that's done. I don't fancy doing that one again.
We stayed at the Silverwater resort at San Remo, just across the bridge from Phillip island. It was a pretty nice place. We had a 3 bedroom apartment and a studio. Chris' mum and Anthony came as well so we took the 3 bedroom unit. The resort had an indoor heated pool as well, which we used the next morning.
The second day at Phillip Island we spent checking out the various attractions. There was the Amaze and things ( crap ), Koala conservatory ( not bad, got to see quite a few koalas ), and the chocolate factory ( crap, crap and waste of $$! We paid $24 a head expecting to sample heaps of chocolate but there were a grand total of 2 samples!!)
We headed back to Melbourne after the chocolate factory because my parents had arrived that morning and were making us dinner. And an impressive dinner it was! Chai made his signature beef rendang with coconut rice, sambal kangkong, Pa made his chicken soup, we had some steak that we bought from Phillip island and there was chocolate fondue for dessert.
The next few days were spent shopping, eating, drinking coffee and more playground time. Chai's graduation ceremony was on Thursday the 8th of December. That took 2 hours and we had our celebratory dinner at Number 8 at Crown Casino afterward. That dinner took 2 hours. It was midnight by the time we were home.
Friday was exciting.. we were off to the Mornington Peninsula. This time with an even bigger group. There were 9 adults and 3 kids in the first group that left on Friday morning. Then 4 more joined in the next day, Saturday. We stayed at a rental house fairly near the beach. It had 3 main rooms, 2 with queen beds and 1 with bunkers. There was also a "guest room" which was more like an outside shack with bunkers. For all that many people it only had 1 bathroom!
The first day we went cherry and strawberry picking. Since we didn't want to spend over $100 picking fruit at each location we sent in 3 adult representatives to accompany the 3 kids each time. The others waited outside and ate fruit that had been pre picked. Everyone was famished and tired by the time dinner rolled around so we ate charcoal chicken and fried noodles for dinner.
The second day we had grand plans to go to the farmer's market, and after the hassle of getting everyone ready turns out it wasn't even on. Anyway... it was fortunate that a party shop opened next door so the kids got free face painting and balloons. We wound up going to Sorrento for lunch and then it started to POUR the rest of the day. So that ended the plans for going to the spa in the afternoon. We did have our steamboat dinner though, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed that.
We finally did go to the spa on Sunday, on the way back to Melbourne. We managed to get into a small argument with the reception staff. They were RUDE. Actually one was RUDE. The spa itself wasn't too bad. All the kids got to go into the kiddy version of hotsprings, one pool that was heated to 36C.
I think the best part of the trip would've been our last dinner with our friends. We left the kids at home to be babysat and just the 2 of us drove out to a friend's home for pizza dinner. I guess it felt like a relief the entire trip went without a hitch and we could call it a success.
All too soon the trip was over and we were on the flight back home on Monday. Again.. not too bad really... Annika complained at the start with the bad immigration queue, during parts of the flight, BUT she did sleep ( sans antihistamine) so I actually got to watch part of a movie ( then I fell asleep so can't blame her for not finishing the movie!) The service on Singapore Airlines was EXCELLENT. So nice, compared to the below average service that we received from the Aussies during the trip.
I think as the kids get older the Melbourne trip should get easier, and I'm actually looking forward to next years' trip already! We were harbouring thoughts of moving back to live there, but I think it'll probably not happen right now... I'm quite spoilt by the help and ease of life here in Singapore!
It was pretty good actually.. despite being quite tired when we got back I felt somewhat rejuvenated. Like a good break from the monotony of life at home.
We left on Wednesday night for a midnight flight. I was sneaky.. I doped Annika prior to the flight so she slept like a log throughout most of the flight. Unfortunately I had to carry her for most of it so by the end I was a little numb and sore. BUT.. worth it.
We arrived Thursday morning and checkout at the immigration department was horrible. Snaking long queues. Well, Annika yelled her head off and I think that got us to the front pretty quickly. Once we cleared that the rest was amazingly breezy. Chris' mum and Anthony were waiting outside so we drove straight home.
The first few days we spent just chilling out. Went to the playground next door, took the kids to the fantastic Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre and did a little shopping. The kids really loved the warm swimming pool at MSAC. And of course the playground, which perpetually had kids around. It was nice having a home there so the kids didn't have to eat out every meal.
On Saturday our travelling companions arrived. They kept themselves occupied during the day so we only met for dinner. The next day we picked up our 12 seater Commuter bus and drove down to Phillip Island to see the penguins.
Despite being summer it was chilly and downright FREEZING at the penguin parade. We had to be seated at a platform 1 hour before the birds came out and it felt really long. When the sun set the penguins FINALLY started waddling out of the water and they were quite cute. The kids had a ball watching them, but thank goodness that's done. I don't fancy doing that one again.
We stayed at the Silverwater resort at San Remo, just across the bridge from Phillip island. It was a pretty nice place. We had a 3 bedroom apartment and a studio. Chris' mum and Anthony came as well so we took the 3 bedroom unit. The resort had an indoor heated pool as well, which we used the next morning.
The second day at Phillip Island we spent checking out the various attractions. There was the Amaze and things ( crap ), Koala conservatory ( not bad, got to see quite a few koalas ), and the chocolate factory ( crap, crap and waste of $$! We paid $24 a head expecting to sample heaps of chocolate but there were a grand total of 2 samples!!)
We headed back to Melbourne after the chocolate factory because my parents had arrived that morning and were making us dinner. And an impressive dinner it was! Chai made his signature beef rendang with coconut rice, sambal kangkong, Pa made his chicken soup, we had some steak that we bought from Phillip island and there was chocolate fondue for dessert.
The next few days were spent shopping, eating, drinking coffee and more playground time. Chai's graduation ceremony was on Thursday the 8th of December. That took 2 hours and we had our celebratory dinner at Number 8 at Crown Casino afterward. That dinner took 2 hours. It was midnight by the time we were home.
Friday was exciting.. we were off to the Mornington Peninsula. This time with an even bigger group. There were 9 adults and 3 kids in the first group that left on Friday morning. Then 4 more joined in the next day, Saturday. We stayed at a rental house fairly near the beach. It had 3 main rooms, 2 with queen beds and 1 with bunkers. There was also a "guest room" which was more like an outside shack with bunkers. For all that many people it only had 1 bathroom!
The first day we went cherry and strawberry picking. Since we didn't want to spend over $100 picking fruit at each location we sent in 3 adult representatives to accompany the 3 kids each time. The others waited outside and ate fruit that had been pre picked. Everyone was famished and tired by the time dinner rolled around so we ate charcoal chicken and fried noodles for dinner.
The second day we had grand plans to go to the farmer's market, and after the hassle of getting everyone ready turns out it wasn't even on. Anyway... it was fortunate that a party shop opened next door so the kids got free face painting and balloons. We wound up going to Sorrento for lunch and then it started to POUR the rest of the day. So that ended the plans for going to the spa in the afternoon. We did have our steamboat dinner though, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed that.
We finally did go to the spa on Sunday, on the way back to Melbourne. We managed to get into a small argument with the reception staff. They were RUDE. Actually one was RUDE. The spa itself wasn't too bad. All the kids got to go into the kiddy version of hotsprings, one pool that was heated to 36C.
I think the best part of the trip would've been our last dinner with our friends. We left the kids at home to be babysat and just the 2 of us drove out to a friend's home for pizza dinner. I guess it felt like a relief the entire trip went without a hitch and we could call it a success.
All too soon the trip was over and we were on the flight back home on Monday. Again.. not too bad really... Annika complained at the start with the bad immigration queue, during parts of the flight, BUT she did sleep ( sans antihistamine) so I actually got to watch part of a movie ( then I fell asleep so can't blame her for not finishing the movie!) The service on Singapore Airlines was EXCELLENT. So nice, compared to the below average service that we received from the Aussies during the trip.
I think as the kids get older the Melbourne trip should get easier, and I'm actually looking forward to next years' trip already! We were harbouring thoughts of moving back to live there, but I think it'll probably not happen right now... I'm quite spoilt by the help and ease of life here in Singapore!
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