Annika's 5th birthday
I gave Annika the option of having a party in school or at Fidgets for her classmates.
She chose Fidgets and I am ever so glad she did!
I booked the party just a month ahead of time one afternoon when we took the kids there to play. The booking process was quick and efficient, and they took a 10% deposit to confirm the date.
We chose a Saturday morning ( 10am-12pm) for the party. Fidgets opens at 9am and they allow party guests to come at opening to start playing! The package included food and drinks for 20 kids as well as 2 hours use of the party room with 2 party hostesses. I added on food for 10 adults.
One week before the actual party Ms Hidayah called me to confirm numbers and to get a guest list. She also emailed me the food menu with the items we had chosen earlier.
And that was it! All I had to do was to prepare the birthday cake and goody bags ( if I wanted ). They also allowed us to buy helium balloons but we didn't get around to doing that.
Annika is very specific about what she wants. She told me " rainbow cake" , theme was to be "Frozen" ( again! ). No negotiations about the theme.
So we had a rainbow cake with a " Frozen-esque" theme: basically Frozen- blue fondant, Elsa and Anna figurines, ( at least I made a fondant Olaf lookalike), and stuck some fondant snowflakes, marshmellows dipped in rainbow sprinkles and scattered mini marshmellows all over. So simple! And Annika declared " it ( was ) the best cake ever !"
The party was a breeze! We turned up at 930 am, and they had the room all ready for us to use. The room was large too, and comfortably fit the 20 kids and over just slightly over 10 adults. They gave me the party itinerary so that we knew what would happen when. Everything was very well executed. They entertained the kids with party games, then got them to sit down and have lunch--they even served the kids individually! That was new-- I've been to Fidgets parties in the past ( before they renovated ) and that didn't happen. There was plenty of ice water for everyone -- a really nice touch! I'm always thirsty at parties and there never seems to be any cold water around.
The 2 hours went by really quickly and at 12noon it was basically over. Fidgets allows the party guests to continue playing till 6pm when they close! A few of the guests stayed back to play, and I think most kids left by 2pm. We left just after 130pm.
The bill came up to just over $1k, and in the overall scheme I was happy. Doing it ourselves wouldn't have been any less, plus the stress of having to entertain and cater. Fidgets also has themed parties, baking parties so yes, I would most definitely have another kids party there again !
Monday, July 27, 2015
Thursday, July 2, 2015
June holidays 2015
The month went by too quickly as usual.
This year was the first time we had 'June' holidays in our household.
Madison had the entire month off from school so it was a reprieve from early mornings for her.
Week 1:
As soon as the holidays started she fell ill with a viral fever. That took a week to get over. Of course that viral fever hit all 3 kids so we had a house full of sick, grumpy and fighting kids. That was memorable.
Fortunately she recovered in time for a planned playdate with Nadine, whose mum was so kind as to take a day off work to entertain her and another friend. She got to visit Pat's schoolhouse, make pizza then hang out at their pool for the day. Lucky gal.
The 2 girls got to try out an art session at the Singapore Pinacotheque de Paris, a new art museum at Fort Canning Park. We were invited by the art director and the girls had a wonderful morning session there. They were starving by lunch too, so the 3 of us had a nice lunch at the cafe at Hotel Fort Canning afterwards, and the girls proclaimed the chicken rice there the 'best' ever!
Week 2:
I signed Madison up for 3 days at Abrakadoodle's holiday art camp. This was a 3 day canvass workshop, so she got to draw and paint with acrylics. At the end of the camp she had to present her work in front of parents and the other kids, and that was a bit of a shock to her. Public speaking isn't really a strength in our genes. ( I can sympathise with this one )
The afternoons were spent hanging out with the cousins at grandparent's house. Being holidays most of their afternoon activities were suspended so I'm not exactly sure what the kids were doing all afternoon.
On the Saturday ( 13th June ) Chris and I went to meet Annika's school teachers for an update. Turns out we have a few mild issues on hand with her enthusiasm in school. I think it's probably because she's not motivated and not challenged enough. I told her teacher it is her responsibility to teach Annika to read, because when she can read she would have more control and ability to do things for herself. ( like her sister ! whom she probably compares herself to )
Week 3:
Madison got to go to another 3 day art camp at Abrakadoodle with 2 other friends. This week was a "Camp Build it" so they got to make stuff at the sessions. On Monday afternoon we had a playdate with Lilian and her kids. It was my birthday gift to Isabelle so I treated them to an afternoon at Fidgets then dinner at Turf city. Actually what happened was that the adult cousins ( Chris, me, Lilian, Geok and MunHon ) got to chill out at Pasarbella while the kid cousins hung out at Fidgets. This was with thanks to my helpers who kindly supervised the kids.
Tuesday morning was art camp with Mia and Jiaen, then after lunch I dropped her off at a classmate's house for a playdate. I'm so grateful to these mothers that actually take time off to organise these things during holidays!
On Thursday ( 18th June ) Madison, Annika, Elizabeth and Victoria were treated to 2 days at Legoland! Chris, Munhon and Pa drove over to JB and they stayed over night in one of the suites.
Saturday 20th June we had a little party at Timor to celebrate Liam's 2nd birthday. He's quite terrified of large crowds and mascots, so it was just us and the cousins ( with Mia and Issy ). I hired a small bouncy castle for the kids ( which was pretty crap if you ask me but it was $200 ) but the kids had a ball! We brought out the inflatable pools and were blessed with incredibly hot and dry weather for the afternoon.
Week 4:
This was the week that both kids were off school. I signed them both up for a tennis camp organised by Savitar, at the UWCSEA Dover Road campus. Of course logistically it was a nightmare having to drive back and forth from Dover Road. But it was worth it. The camp runs from 9 am to 1pm with the lunch option. 3 hours of tennis and games, then 1 hour lunch afterwards. It was very well organised and the coaches are excellent. I was seriously contemplating changing their regular tennis sessions over to UWCSEA but the thought of driving to Dover every week at 730 am on a Saturday morning was very daunting. And the picking up after is almost logistically impossible unless I stop Saturday morning clinics!
On Wednesday (24th June) Liam had HIS parent teacher meeting at Bibinogs. I had to pick the girls up from Dover road, send the 2 helpers to pick Liam up and take him home while Chris and I attended the meeting. It was quite cute. The meeting was 100% Mandarin, which meant Chris probably had no idea what went on. Of course the teachers told us stuff we kind of knew, like how his language was just starting to progress and that he was just starting to talk etc etc.
The final hurrah of the holidays was a playdate at an ex Pat's schoolhouse classmate's condo. We had a potluck dinner with a few kids. It was a nice way to end the holidays.
It feels a bit sad that her first June holidays is over. Primary 1 is halfway over for her and it means she's growing up real fast! In a few years time Madison will be a teenager already... its too quick!
This year was the first time we had 'June' holidays in our household.
Madison had the entire month off from school so it was a reprieve from early mornings for her.
Week 1:
As soon as the holidays started she fell ill with a viral fever. That took a week to get over. Of course that viral fever hit all 3 kids so we had a house full of sick, grumpy and fighting kids. That was memorable.
Fortunately she recovered in time for a planned playdate with Nadine, whose mum was so kind as to take a day off work to entertain her and another friend. She got to visit Pat's schoolhouse, make pizza then hang out at their pool for the day. Lucky gal.
The 2 girls got to try out an art session at the Singapore Pinacotheque de Paris, a new art museum at Fort Canning Park. We were invited by the art director and the girls had a wonderful morning session there. They were starving by lunch too, so the 3 of us had a nice lunch at the cafe at Hotel Fort Canning afterwards, and the girls proclaimed the chicken rice there the 'best' ever!
Week 2:
I signed Madison up for 3 days at Abrakadoodle's holiday art camp. This was a 3 day canvass workshop, so she got to draw and paint with acrylics. At the end of the camp she had to present her work in front of parents and the other kids, and that was a bit of a shock to her. Public speaking isn't really a strength in our genes. ( I can sympathise with this one )
The afternoons were spent hanging out with the cousins at grandparent's house. Being holidays most of their afternoon activities were suspended so I'm not exactly sure what the kids were doing all afternoon.
On the Saturday ( 13th June ) Chris and I went to meet Annika's school teachers for an update. Turns out we have a few mild issues on hand with her enthusiasm in school. I think it's probably because she's not motivated and not challenged enough. I told her teacher it is her responsibility to teach Annika to read, because when she can read she would have more control and ability to do things for herself. ( like her sister ! whom she probably compares herself to )
Week 3:
Madison got to go to another 3 day art camp at Abrakadoodle with 2 other friends. This week was a "Camp Build it" so they got to make stuff at the sessions. On Monday afternoon we had a playdate with Lilian and her kids. It was my birthday gift to Isabelle so I treated them to an afternoon at Fidgets then dinner at Turf city. Actually what happened was that the adult cousins ( Chris, me, Lilian, Geok and MunHon ) got to chill out at Pasarbella while the kid cousins hung out at Fidgets. This was with thanks to my helpers who kindly supervised the kids.
Tuesday morning was art camp with Mia and Jiaen, then after lunch I dropped her off at a classmate's house for a playdate. I'm so grateful to these mothers that actually take time off to organise these things during holidays!
On Thursday ( 18th June ) Madison, Annika, Elizabeth and Victoria were treated to 2 days at Legoland! Chris, Munhon and Pa drove over to JB and they stayed over night in one of the suites.
Saturday 20th June we had a little party at Timor to celebrate Liam's 2nd birthday. He's quite terrified of large crowds and mascots, so it was just us and the cousins ( with Mia and Issy ). I hired a small bouncy castle for the kids ( which was pretty crap if you ask me but it was $200 ) but the kids had a ball! We brought out the inflatable pools and were blessed with incredibly hot and dry weather for the afternoon.
Week 4:
This was the week that both kids were off school. I signed them both up for a tennis camp organised by Savitar, at the UWCSEA Dover Road campus. Of course logistically it was a nightmare having to drive back and forth from Dover Road. But it was worth it. The camp runs from 9 am to 1pm with the lunch option. 3 hours of tennis and games, then 1 hour lunch afterwards. It was very well organised and the coaches are excellent. I was seriously contemplating changing their regular tennis sessions over to UWCSEA but the thought of driving to Dover every week at 730 am on a Saturday morning was very daunting. And the picking up after is almost logistically impossible unless I stop Saturday morning clinics!
On Wednesday (24th June) Liam had HIS parent teacher meeting at Bibinogs. I had to pick the girls up from Dover road, send the 2 helpers to pick Liam up and take him home while Chris and I attended the meeting. It was quite cute. The meeting was 100% Mandarin, which meant Chris probably had no idea what went on. Of course the teachers told us stuff we kind of knew, like how his language was just starting to progress and that he was just starting to talk etc etc.
The final hurrah of the holidays was a playdate at an ex Pat's schoolhouse classmate's condo. We had a potluck dinner with a few kids. It was a nice way to end the holidays.
It feels a bit sad that her first June holidays is over. Primary 1 is halfway over for her and it means she's growing up real fast! In a few years time Madison will be a teenager already... its too quick!
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