Happy holidays.. Christmas weekend

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!