Highlights from Karol and Jerry's visit to us

Here are some photos of the Hippo Tour around Singapore from the first day they arrived. Jet lagged, they went around like troupers, and didn't complain once! :)




We live right near the famous Shangri-La hotel, so we posed Karol and Jerry for a photo.

We went to the Jurong Bird Park one afternoon and had such a fun time. It was one of the only places we haven't taken the kids here, and they loved it!! Such huge exotic birds throughout the park, but their favorite spot was where they got to feed the little Lorey birds.

Jerry made an instant 'friend' and it wouldn't get off of his shoulder.

The kids were nervous at first, but then loved seeing them up close and personal. They didn't want to leave!



We relaxed and swam by the pool, and Karol joined in on the fun!


Maddie certainly loves to be silly with her PopPop!

We celebrated Jerry's birthday at Cafe Iguana and surprised him with some chocolate goodness after dinner!

Here is the view from Sentosa Island-wish you were here!!

We had such a fun time when they came and we hope they make plans to come again next year (not sure Karol will be on a flight for 22 hours again, though). Hope you liked a little glimpse of our time.

Happy Easter!

It didn't FEEL like Easter today, as we were swimming and lounging by the pool-but the Easter Bunny DID come to Singapore! It felt more like July for us, not March. The Holidays still don't "feel" like Holidays for us, as we are used to telling which Holiday is coming by the weather and seasons of New England. That being said, we certainly enjoyed swimming on Easter Sunday. THANK YOU EASTER BUNNY!

Karol and Jerry come visit us in Singapore!

Karol and Jerry (Brian's parents) arrived in Singapore on March 8th and will have to go home on March 18th. Needless to say, it has been a great trip and the kids are sooo enjoying them being here. We are having a fun filled time, exploring all that we can fit about Singapore into the time they are here.

We started out the first day, Saturday, with a double-decker bus tour (called the HIPPO tour) around most of the island. It gave them a great overview of most of the highlights and cool areas. The next day we walked up and down Orchard Road to do a lot of window shopping, and then took Jerry out for dinner for his birthday at Clarke Quey (pronounce "Key") -it's a cool area with lots of great places to eat (and drink). On Monday they did a walking tour of an area that used to be spice plantations, called Emerald Hill, and now has great little houses that you can go into. On Tuesday we went to a museum (Asian Civilization Museum) and explored the Raffles Hotel area and had Singapore Slings!!!! On Wednesday we spent the whole day at the kids school, exploring SAS. They got to see the kids classrooms, toured the entire campus and then we ate lunch with Maddie. Jerry commented that the kids eat better there than at most restaurants (and it was a lot less expensive). :) We went to Chinatown on Thursday , which they enjoyed...lots of sights, sounds, smells there, and then we went into the oldest Buddhist temple in Singapore. Friday we went to a traditional "Hawker Center", like an outdoor food court with amazing food from all over the world. That afternoon we picked up the kids from school and took them to the Zoo and Night Safari. Yesterday we went to Sentosa, a fun little island attached to Singapore that has great beaches and things to do. Phew...lots to still see and do with only 3 days left!!!! :( Tomorrow we are exploring Little India, looking forward to it.

It's been great having them visit, as it also makes me more familiar with some areas that I've only been to once, or never explored before. :)

Here are some photos from this week.

Happy 6th Birthday Grant!

Grant turned 6years old on Feb. 21st! And his lost his FIRST baby tooth all in the same week....he is growing up so fast. He celebrated at school with cupcakes with his class, and that weekend we had a big Pool Party for him. It was so much fun and all his friends had a blast swimming for hours together. Happy Happy Birthday to Grant!

Chingay Chinese New Year Parade!

Traditional Lion Dance at Singapore Zoo

Kindergarten Chinese New Year Video

Chinese New Year Celebration at Singapore American School

Gong Xi Fa Cai! That is Mandarin for HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The kids school celebrated the New Year with a traditional Lion Dance, a parade through the school, and fun games/songs put on by the Chinese department. Brian and I went to Grant's parade and watched as all the Kindergartners sang a New Year song in Mandarin chinese. I have a video of it, and I will try to upload it later. So cute to hear all of them speaking/singing in a different language. It was a great celebration and both Madeline and Grant have learned so much about Chinese New Year, their traditions/beliefs, etc. Grant loves Mandarin so much that he is now enrolled in extra Mandarin language classes afterschool 1 day a week at school. It is so cool that they are learning a second language and learning about other cultures and beliefs. :) Happy Chinese New Year from our family to yours!

Madeline in the SAS Variety Show

Madeline in The Singapore American School Talent Show

Madeline tried out before Christmas for a Talent/Variety show at her school. It was for only 3-5th graders. Over 200 kids tried out, and only 93 kids made it, and we found out that Madeline made it a few days before we left for the USA to go home for the holidays. She was thrilled and excited! :) Her dance studio helped her choreograph a song that mixed Glamorous (by Fergie) and a song from CHICAGO the musical. Maddie worked very hard for 1 month to learn the dance for tryouts, and then worked very hard over the holidays to perfect it and memorize it. When the kids returned to school in Jan. they had about 10 mandatory rehearsals, and 3 of them were full dress rehearsals. The director, Donna Coughlin, was amazing and organized and taught the kids the "ins and outs" of a show. The kids became such good friends and had a great appreciation for what goes into a production.

The variety of acts that the kids preformed were truly amazing. There were kids who played the piano, comedy skits, solo singing, group singing, a kids rock band, dancers, violinists, etc etc. These kids were all so talented. A great group of kids. Not a "painful" show to watch either (unlike some of those dance recitals in the past-yikes) ha ha ha. A great mix of talents and truly truly talented bunch of kids. Madeline made some great friends in the process and feels more comfortable at this big new school she is at. :)

Christmas in Vermont

Christmas in Vermont with family

Upon arrival in the USA, after Madeline and I recovered from a horrible stomach virus, we headed to Vermont to be with Karol, Jerry, and Great-Grandma Gladys. They flew in from St. Louis to spend the holidays with us. It was so great to see them and spend so much time together. There was a TON of snow, but the kids didn't want to play in it (they've become wimps with the cold now).

Above you will find a slide show of some of the photos of Christmas in Vermont. The time flew by too fast, and they flew home on Dec 28th. We headed back to NH to spend time with friends and enjoy being back in the states.

Traveling home to the USA

On December 20th we headed home, a 20 hour straight flight via Singapore Airlines. We had a great, non-eventful flight. The kids were sooo good; watched movies, played games, slept and ate a ton of food! Singapore Airlines made the whole flight peanut/nut free for our little Madeline, and made her special food that was safe. It was so wonderful. They only slept about 5 hours for the whole flight, but they kept themselves busy so it didn't really bother Brian and I too much. We were thrilled to land in NYC and see SNOW!!

Candyland Express Event!

Candyland Express!

Our AWA Children's Committee had our Christmas Event last night, after months of working really hard (and our committee consists of only 4 other girls, including myself). Our theme was Candyland Express! We hired 2 open-top buses to drive down Orchard Rd.-the main downtown/shopping area and view all the Christmas lights. We also had games and entertainment that went along with "Candyland" -you know, the kids game?! We sold out all the tickets in 2 days, we only had enough room for 150 people, and it turned out to be a great evening!!!

Here is my girl as Princess Lolly and her friend Katie was a Lollygirl too. They ran a Lollipop Lucky draw game, pick a lollipop from the tree and if yours had a colored dot on the end of the stick...you won! FUN FUN!


We held the event in a hotel lobby/room that already have a life-sized Gingerbread house built in it! It was amazing! What was even more amazing was seeing all of the Christmas lights downtown. I don't think I have seen a city decorate like this in the USA!!! We live downtown and have witnessed the preparation of the lights, but all of the committee members and families used the last bus at 9:30pm to go on the tour that we worked so hard on. It was amazing to see all of the lights on and the amazing ways that the buildings were decorated. I will post a slide show of all the lights, so you can see. Enjoy!

Tour of Little India in Singapore

The AWA (American Womans Association) here in Singapore does tours of local areas every month. This month they did a tour of Little India so my friend Lori and I signed up. We both felt like we really haven't "explored" much, and we are both new here-it was a perfect opportunity.

I did not realize how big the Indian community was here in Singapore. They began to arrive in Singapore as soon as the island was established as a British trading post in 1819. 7% of the population is of Indian extraction, and the Little India area is just beautiful. Full of bright colors, wonderful restaurants, and very friendly people.

Here are a few photos of our amazing fun tour of Little India. We toured a Wet Market (like a farmers market), some great stores, a few Temples, and then had a great lunch to end the tour. Looking forward to more tours that the AWA has planned.