Summer Holiday's
June 18 - July 8
My first flight from Singapore to the states alone with the boys. This is a long haul for sure...and to get to Kansas makes it even longer because it takes 3 flights to get there. If we were flying to New York or even to Dallas it would be about 3-5hrs shorter. We actually met up with one of my Chinese moms at the airport but she was so lost an flustered because this was her first time flying with her son alone that we didn't have a lot of time to chat. Her poor husband ended up talking to me on the phone to tell me that he was worried that she was going to miss her flight so I rushed her to her terminal. We flew on Japan Airlines and I must say I was quite impressed with their little dinner/lunch meals. It wasn't overly tasty but it was well presented. They are apart of One World so the planes are the same as AA but the service is like you are in Japan. The boys were up for the first flight and then got to play in the play area in Tokyo while I did a little shopping for some gifts for the family. It was crazy because the first flight was on Japan Airlines with Japanese staff...the second flight was AA with American staff and the difference was so huge! As soon as I heard the flight attendants talking at the check in desk
I was instantly annoyed. American can be so rude and condescending its unbelievable. I don't even think we realize it. I only really noticed it since we have been away from the states. But for example someone on the first flight had a problem with their bag and they were keeping the people behind them from passing. The flight attendants were nice and patient with the guy and helped him with his bag. On the AA flight there was someone who was lost or trying to change seats I didn't know but the flight attendants were talking to him like he was 2yrs old...talking slowing and repeating themselves in a short tone. I was just blown away buy the difference....just crazy. For this flight I was able to get the boys to sleep on the second flight (12.5hrs) which was good because we were up so early I knew that they were tired. I only got about 4.5hrs sleep but it was good enough. Someone on the plane had an allergic reaction and that was a little dramatic because he didn't speak English but it seemed to be a false alarm or they were able to give him a epi pen or something because there was no more talk about it later. There was some crazy turbulence when we were about 3hrs from Dallas but otherwise smooth. After a quick stop in Dallas we finally made it to KC. The boys were so excited to see TT it was so sweet. Lino told me on the last flight that he was excited to see TT and I asked why. He said because he knows TT loves them and he loves her...so sweet. The boys were actually really good on the plane and I am very thankful for that because that is a long ass flight to have to deal with bad ass kids. So I think we were not to jet lagged but I was messed up with the dates because we left Singapore on Tuesday morning and made it to Kansas Tuesday evening. I had told TT that we would be there on Wednesday so when I texted her Monday night to say we were on our first flight to Tokyo she was confused...thankfully she is a master at managing crazy schedules so she was able to adjust to her sisters poor communication :-) When we got to the house I made the boys do a few laps up and down the street to burn off some energy and Lino was not happy about it but since they had been sitting for almost a day I don't think it was too much to ask. And just as soon as I praise Lino for being good he goes and looses it in a flash, he was so over doing laps that he just got down right rude. I had to ignore him because I was to tired and didn't have the patience to talk to him...I was going to go straight for the jugular. Uncle Pete stepped in and tried to have a man talk with him...it sort of worked but Lino still gave me the mean eye when he finally came in from his laps. They both needed to burn off steam so I didn't let it phase me. The first couple of days in KS we just relaxed. I went to work out with Frederick, TT, Morgan and Uncle Pete...it was pretty good...I should have gone back a few more times to get a workout plan while I was there but I was to lazy. We ended up renting a car for a week because Nana had to work so we would have been stuck in the house the whole week. The boys rode the bikes that TT had even though they were too big for them. The bike that Lino should have been riding I had Shaun on because it was the smallest bike and Lino was on Morgans bike because Morgan was on TT's bike...hot mess. They didn't ride them much because there is a lot of construction over by TT's house and because in order for them to get on the bikes they need help and to get off I have to grab them or else they fall off. One day I took the boys and Morgan to the trampoline park one day and we had a good time. I think I paid for 1hrs but we ended up staying for over 2hrs I think. I was actually having a good time too other than the fact that my old lady bladder was threatening to explode on me every time I jumped but I somehow was able to concur it. Morgan was constantly trying to challenge me in different jumping moves. Some were not so bad and some were crazy. We came up with this crazy jump where you jump with your feet then bounce on you butt and go back to your feet then butt again (repeat). Morgan was really good at it. Every time I did it I thought my neck was going to crack...too much spinal pressure. So since Morgan was better at that than me she made me keep doing it...damn that girl! Needless to say it was a good workout...we all were sweating at one point. The boys got their first real dose of dog ball and I think they instantly became super fans. Shaun didn't really understand the rules and Lino of course made his own rules and ignored the ones that would make him out. Shaun didn't understand that if you threw the ball and the other person caught it that you were out. He only thought you were out if you got hit by the ball. I tried to tell him but there was no hope of convincing him. Lino on the other hand was trying to tell me that the ball has to hit a specific part of your body to get you out, so if it hit your head or elbow or foot or something like that you weren't out. I kept telling him that wasn't the rules and he was like, "You aren't playing so how do you know?" Besides that being a serious smart mouth comment he was partially correct in his observation so I let the other kids yell at him when they kept hitting his feet and head and yelling "your out dude! your out! I hit you...your OUT!" Finally he had to admit that I was right...that boy is so head strong its unbelievable. We had a lot of fun...after that it was a trip to Sonic!!! I love Sonic's happy hour special and after the boys got their little slushies they loved Sonic too. It was funny because for the rest of the time in Kansas whenever we passed a Sonic's they would be like "Oh, I want to go to Sonics!!" To funny.
Oh yeah, one day I had to do something and I left GG in charge of listening to Lino read his book, I gave him a summer reading list so that he could improve his reading and Shaun had to do letter writting so that he could impove his writing and recognition of letters, so Lino was to read and GG was just going to help as needed. Well my Mr Lino, smart guy, thought that he could trick ol GG by skipping pages when he was reading but GG had 5 boys and was a kindergarten teacher for too long to be tricked by that kids. He thought he was sly but he wasn't. TT came in and GG told her what Lino was doing and GG told her that she knew he was doing it but was going to let him finish then make him read it again...hahaha. GG don't play, 93 or not she is not to be fooled that easy. TT made him write sentences "I will listen to adults" but I don't think he really will but what can you do. The first weekend we stayed in Kansas. Friday evening TT played horse shoes with the boys...TT & Lino won of course but not because of Lino. Every time Shaun got the horse shoe I was afraid for everyone's life because you just don't know where the horse she was going to go. He actually didn't do to bad. That evening was Family Feud, TT and Uncle Pete love this game. I'm not so much of a fan but it is fun. Then we played Cranium and that is me & Mike's favorite game. Frederick was over the house so he was playing too and of course he was a hot mess but fun to play with. The boys always drive him crazy because they keep mixing him and Robert up. I don't really think it bothers him that much but he always gives them a hard time and the boys love it. But Lino always takes it to the next level so he was really pushing his luck with Uncle Frederick and at one point he had Lino in a head lock...I don't think it had the desired effect since Lino was nearly peeing his pants laughing but who knows. I love this family time and the boys enjoy it too. There were asking a lot about Ja'Zyia and when she would be coming over but they were happy enough to bother Uncle Frederick. On Saturday we had a little mini volleyball tournament with both Uncle Frederick & Robert and Uncle Pete and his 2 girls. It was the first time to put up the net and it took a while to figure it out and untangle the rope that was to be the perimeter of the court. TT was ready to give up but we eventually figured it out. We had a lot of fun. It was hot as heck out there too but it didn't matter. The first few games were just random then we decided to do teams and have a school house pick...the result was still the same.
The next week was pretty relaxed. On Monday Morgan went back over to her dad's house and Shaun was asking her a million questions about who her dad was. He asked Uncle Pete if he was her dad and when he said no he was all confused. Lino asked why he was living in the house if he wasn't Morgan's dad...we didn't have a good answer for that but fumbled through it. But when James came over to the house to get Morgan, Shaun went at him with a bunch of questions about "S: Who are you? J: Morgan's dad. S: What's your name? J: James. S: Where do you live? J: Not here. S: Why don't you live here? J: Because Morgans mom and I don't live together any more. S: Why? J: Because we decided to live in different places. S: Does Morgan have a brother? J: Yes. S: Who's his dad? J: Me. S: Who's his mom? J: Hahaha...another lady..." I had to stop him there...poor James was not prepared for this 3rd degree questioning. But later that day there were more questions about dad's and mom's and where people live and making babies and all that kind of stuff. I asked Lino if he knew how the baby got into the mom's belly and he told me he did but he didn't really, he said God put's it there and I said yes kind of but the mom and dad have to have sex for the baby to get inside of the mom. He was like "What's sex" I told him its what 2 adults do when they want a baby. He didn't ask much more about it but I know there will be more questions. I kind of like that the questions come in small little burst because I don't have to go into the full detail all at once...he can only digest so much at a time and I can only deal with so much detail at a time too so it works out for both of us. On Tuesday while they were gone I took GG out to the bank then we went shopping. We were going to go have lunch but we didn't have time plus we got caught in a little storm so it slowed us down a big...later I got my hair done which was nice...I love a fresh perm but that meant no more working out for me because I didn't want to sweat out my fresh perm :-). Wednesday Nana couldn't take them to the water park so I had a day out with the kids. We started out by taking Morgan to tutoring and on the way there Lino was questioning me about Santa Claus. Was he asking how I could know if Santa Claus was real or not. Now people who know me know I don’t like promoting Santa Claus and I do what I can to avoid the question because I don’t want to lie about it. So I let him keep going, he didn’t seem to need a response from me anyway. He went on to ask about the Easter bunny and super hero’s. When Shaun heard him ask about super hero’s he had to interject to say that super hero’s were real...he didn’t seem to care to much about the other ones but super hero’s had to be real. It was funny. Then I finally asked him what he thought and he said he didn’t think any of them were real. Then he asked if we use to write a letter to Santa and I said we didn’t but some kids do and I asked if he wanted to and he said he did. So just that quick he announced that Santa wasn’t real but then he still wanted to write him a letter at Christmas. Then the conversation went onto what we were going to make for Santa for Christmas, this was Shaun’s question, and I asked what he wanted to make and he thought about it for a while and I can’t exactly remember an answer but it was funny whatever it was and I told him that we would make it if he wanted to so he was happy enough with that. When we got to tutoring Lino had to read his book in the car which was not fun because he was not interested in doing it. Then to the Trampoline park and when we got there Lino was full of tears and I had no idea why. I though he was upset because he still had 10min of reading to do but eventually he told me it was because he was so sad about leaving Ireland and he wanted to go back because he missed his friends so much. I was taken aback...I don’t know where it came from. It it was so raw and so strong I didn’t know how to respond. I just hugged him and told him I understood and I was sorry. It’s moments like these that really makes me questions question how much damage we are doing to our kids by moving them all over the world. But before I could really think deep about it he was over it...so quick the feeling hit him it left him just as fast. The trampoline park was fun but poor Shaun ripped his nail while we were there so he was a little sad. The nail was already coming off from when he smashed it in the bathroom door one night during one of his sleep walking episodes. Well now the nail is coming off and I tried to cut it the other day but he was worried it was going to hurt and now it is coming off. Even though it was hurting and bleeding (we put a bandaid on it) he still didn't want to leave so I let them jump for a while longer before we finally left. Next to the house to get GG and have lunch at Golden Corral, GG’s favorite, not my favorite but it wasn’t about me. When GG was getting into the car I was trying to do something else so I told Lino to help he walk to the car. He gave me this crazy look then shrugged his shoulders but didn't really help her. I had to tell him that he is a little man and should help your elders because its a sign of respect; you don't want her to fall and hurt herself so if you help her that is the kind thing to do. He wasn't feeling it but did it...half ass. Lunch was ok, there were a bunch of old folks in there so it was perfect for GG. The boys liked the dessert bar of course. We had a fun filled day and ended the evening with a game of Sorry with Uncle Pete...the Sorry champion of course won but it was still a lot of fun. So it took nearly 2 days before Shaun let me cut off the nail and even then I had to basically threaten his life before he would let me do it. The first day I got some super glue and did a little mini seal job on it so that he could go to the amusement park. That actually held for the day which was good...it burned a little when I put the super glue on him but I think he preferred that over cutting. The next day I finally convinced him but I think the only reason he let me cut it off was because I told him he couldn't go with Nana to Oceans of Fun unless I cut it off. I knew that the glue wouldn't last as long in the water park so finally he let me cut it then I put more super glue on it because it was sensitive and he was off. That kid gets more hurt than any kid I know...he is tough for the most part but sometimes its a lot of work. The rest of the week the boys were with Nana at either the water park or the amusement park for most of the day so it was nice. Shaun was so exhausted one day that he told me that he didn't want to go back to the water park because he was to tired. I asked him if he liked he said yeah but I'm to tired to go back..hahaha...well he went back again and again anyway but it was a funny conversation anyway. They really look forward to go to the parks with Nana and I think she enjoys it just as much. I know its a lot of work to be out in the hot sun with the boys running around from ride to ride but she always has a smile on her face when she comes back. I know Lino looks forward to it to because when we ask him why he likes coming to Kansas he always says that its because he likes going to the parks with Nana and he knows that he will be going almost every day and that he can get a bunch of soda or poweraid while they are out so he thinks its the best ever. One day they were trying to convince me to go with them and I had to tell them that that was not my idea of vacation to be out at some amusement park with my kids in the blazing hot summer...no thank you. So while they were out I read my book (oh man this book series is a pain in the ass...I have Mike reading the books too and we are going to do a book club discussion when we are finished but the books are long and a little drawn out so we have been talking a lot about the books already)...I digress. Sunday we went to church and I was asking Lino to help GG into the car and stuff and he was giving me a hard time again...I knew then that we needed to start showing him more how to respect and treat your elders. At church one of my high school classmates saw me and we reconnected. It was crazy to see her because I haven't seen her since graduation and I'm not sure if I would have recognized her if she didn't say anything. I asked her how she knew it was me and she said I looked exactly the same as high school...I'm not sure if that was a good or bad thing but I'm pretty sure my bags under my eyes have doubled and so has my tummy but who cares. It was crazy to see her but good...she is doing good and modeling which I would never had expected from her in high school. I'm so happy for her.
This weekend we took a drive down to Texas to see Auntie Gina and Miss Nicole came up from Austin with the boys to meet up with use too which was great!!! TT had to work until after lunch so Uncle Pete had time to take Lino to get a hair cut...I think Uncle Pete really likes this because he doesn't have any boys and he can have his little man talks with him. Lino got a cool haircut so I was happy...Shaun of course didn't...Uncle Pete just shook his head at me but I don't care :-) I sent Frederick to take GG to the post office because she wanted to send a letter to Uncle Sherman for his birthday. When TT got home and the boys got back we of course had to make a couple stops before we actually got onto the road but we left at a decent time. We had good talks and the boys were happy with their ipads but Morgan on the other hand was a little cranky pants. I think its the age and the gender but she is just moody these days and there is no rhyme or reason to it. I know she was not happy about being in the middle seat between the 2 big car seats but that is her normal position but she was not happy. We let her mope around for a while then when the ipad batteries started dying we had to come up with a different plan to entertain the kids...we had to go old school! So we tried to play Slug Bug but there were not very many beetles on the road and Shaun didn't know the difference between a beetle and a car. Morgan didn't participate at all. Then we switched to find a specific color car and the boys were good at that...TT tried to get Morgan involved but she was half assing it so finally I had to tell her to pull her shit together. This was family time and if she didn't want to come she could have stayed home, no one made her come so it was her choice so she should be happy about it or at least not so grumpy. After my little rant and TT's few words she started to come around. We played for a while until we finally got bored then we made them just look outside like we use to do when we were kids. You would think we were inflicting some sort of cruel and unusual punishment on them...goodness sake...what has come of the kids these days. The rest of the ride was good and TT made great time. Lino was driving poor Morgan crazy but that is typical. We actually got to make it to the Taco Stand before they closes which was impressive. There was a bunch of traffic in downtown FW so we had to go around it which helped but we kind of took a few wrong turns but we figured it out. I had to use the GPS to get around because it has just been to long since I've lived there and there are so many new roads or toll roads that I get to lost to be helpful. We made it to Gina's around midnight and we were all tired but Gina and I stayed up for a little while chatting. I felt bad that we were this this weekend because it was the weekend before she was getting married but I couldn't come the weekend of the wedding due to my flights (I had already changed the dates once and if I changed it again the prices were much higher so I just couldn't justify it and pay for a flight back and forth to TX). She was doing all this stuff for the wedding herself...some really nice stuff. Making signs and different little decorations for the wedding...really nice stuff. She is so creative its crazy. She showed me some of the stuff that she was doing and how to do it and even when she was explaining it to me I was just like "man this is to much work" but she loves it and she loves to be busy so its right up her alley. So we were kind of interrupting her work time but I think she didn't mind too much. On Saturday we let Gina to her wedding stuff and we went out to do a little shopping. We had planned to go to DSW to look for shoes then maybe to the mall to see the NY & Co because the ones in KC were closed then maybe hit up the Coach outlet...a very ambitious plan for the morning. DSW was our first stop and man was that a bad one. They of course had a good sale going on and I haven't bought shoes in a while and my shoes in Singapore were all getting moldy so it was a perfect excuse to get new shoes...but not 6 new pairs like it got!! Man once I got going I couldn't stop. I know a few of them were not practical (probably won't wear much) but I couldn't put them back. Since I was going crazy over shoes I wasted a lot of time so we didn't have as much time to do shopping at the mall. Since I had gone to NY & Co with Mike in Jan I didn't really need to go so I let TT & Morgan go while me and the boys walked over to In & Out burger to get us lunch...yum yum! The boys were so hungry that they started eating when we got back to the store. When I saw the sign on the door and the cheap prices of the clothes I couldn't resist getting a few things myself. I did with strain myself and only spent about 20min in the store and only got a few things but I knew I shouldn't have. I justified it all by saying that I was starting a new job and needed work clothes which is mostly what I got. Lot of fun and lots of money was spent...lets get out of this place now! We actually didn't do to bad with our time and were able to make it to the Zoo before Nicole got there.
When she did it was so good to see her. Lino remembered Cian and Senan but Shaun didn't. When Nicole saw the boys she was so excited too...and she started calling Shaun, Shaun Shaun like we use to call him when he was small but we have since changed it to Shauny. Shaun was like "That's not my name...why do you keep calling me Shaun Shaun?" I had to tell him about how we use to call him when he was small and Miss Nicole left when you were small and that is what we were calling you...he didn't like it so I had to just tell him its rude to be so rude to people...its your name anyway so its not a big deal. He didn't like it but he didn't complain MUCH the rest of the day. Who's idea was it to go to the Zoo because it was freaking hot! It could have been worse but it was still hot. The boys were happy to play together and me & Nicole just chatted about all the old days and how things were now. Her and Ivan love it in Texas and they do not plan to leave any time soon. They are heading to Ireland in a few weeks to see family and it has been almost 3yrs since they left so they are excited to see everyone. Nicole has some crazy friends in Austin and I have no real friends in Singapore so it made me a little sad. But overall she is the same old Nicole and I'm the same old pain in the butt Renee. Ivan is enjoying his job and is becoming a bit of a master BBQ'er which he is so happy about. It was just good to catch up. We didn't get to see much of the Zoo, for many reasons, and we ended the trip by going to the splash park. They were trying to seriously rip us off by charging us $5 per person to get in...I told him only the kids were going to get into the water so why did we have to pay. I was going back and forth with him for a while an finally he was like "Look I do this for you, you pay for half the kids and half the adults and I'll give you the 10% discount...will that work for you?" Yes, why yes it will work for me...thank you! So we got of with only paying $20 which was more reasonable. The splash pad was not much so I'm glad that we didn't have to pay the $5/ea. The kids enjoyed it and we enjoyed getting free drinks from the concession stand too. We couldn't figure out what that was all about but we just went with it. When the Zoo closed we got Nicole & Ivan checked into their hotel then we went to dinner at Uncle Julio's...our favorite Mexican place.
The place was super busy but I had made a reservation knowing that on a Saturday evening it would be jam packed like it was. Even still it took them over 45min before we got to sit at our table and even then the waiter was slow with getting our food. Either way the food was so good...I just love that place. Gina was able to meet up with us but Kyle had already made plans for the night so he couldn't come. When we were leaving I was going to ride with Gina and I told Morgan to get into the front seat but she said she didn't want to...I was so shocked!!! She actually wanted to sit between her cousins...what is happening in the world???? Anyway, it was all for nothing because poor Gina is blind as a bat so when I was trying to get to her car she just drove off because she didn't see me...too funny. On Sunday we got up early to get packed and head out to meet up with Nicole for breakfast. I was sad to leave but Gina had so much on her plate I knew it was better we got out of there then so she could get her stuff done. It was such a quick trip but fun. The boys made Auntie Gina read a story every night before bed and even though she tried to act like they were being pains I know she secretly liked it. Lino didn't want to leave without taking one of the dogs and I had to remind him about all the responsibilities of a dog and he said he could do it but then I had to remind him that he just peed his pants the other day because he was to busy doing something else to go to the bathroom. I said if he couldn't even go to the bathroom do you think the dog is going to go and do you want to clean up behind him every time he has an accident in the house???? After that he was a little less insistent on taking the dog.
I know we will get a dog when we get back to Texas because we all want one but I just need these boys to actually pee in the toilet on a regular basis and stop having so many poop/pee accidents in their pants before I take on another pissing little person. On to breakfast at a place called Yok that Nicole and Ivan really liked when they were in Chicago. It was a really busy place and had huge pancakes for the kids! Shaun is just not about eating much for breakfast so his pancakes were pretty much a waste. After that we decided to go down to the water plaza to let the kids run around in the water before we hit the road but the water plaza apparently has open hours for play and viewing hours. We happen to be there 1hr before the play time hours were to start. So we had to convince the boys to just play around the water but not in it...that lasted for all of 5 min. They even had a security guards there to make sure no one when in.
Then after a while other people started going down and going in between the water to take pictures...there were at least 3 groups of people taking pictures so I told our boys to go in and I would take a picture of them but for them not to play in the water.
Well they did play in the water a little but much. Then when we were done and talking one of the security guards came over to TT to basically tell her that there is play time and viewing time and this was the viewing time. I was so annoyed because he came to us and not the other people who were taking pictures...maybe it was because we were the last one to do it or because our kids were playing more in the water than the other kids but either way we were the only mixed raced group and the only ones at that time to get a talking to...oh Texas. We let the boys play around anyway for a while before we headed out. It was so good to see Nicole and the boys...I hate that it was so quick but there isn't much you can do about it when we all live all over the world now. The drive home was much longer than the drive down. We must have stopped at least 6x to go pee or fill up the tank vs on the way down when we barely stopped 3x. But we made it back safe and in enough time for TT to still have a few minutes to chill at the house before going to bed and getting ready for work the next morning. She is a serious road worrier.
My last week in Kansas and 4th of July! TT & I were trying to come up with a plan for 4th of July the whole weekend in Texas. The problem was that the holiday was on a Wednesday and we knew that Frederick had to go to work on Wednesday and din't get off until late and Pierre was going down to Texas with his youngest daughter for a college campus tour so in order for us all to get together it was going to be complicated. Finally I said we should do the celebration on Tuesday evening when everyone is off of work because no one had to work on Wednesday so we could stay up late and hang out and sleep in on Wednesday and recover so that who ever had to work on Thursday would be good to go...So that's what we did. We didn't have a huge menu but more than enough food for our little gathering. We had BBQ from Hard Eight too but that was in a special stash. Pierre got off work early on Tuesday to grill and make ribs which was nice and had a little dance off with the boys which was funny. I took a 2hr walk to the smoothie store and back...it was damn hot but the smoothie was good. Nana took the boys and Morgan to the water park and in the evening we all got together. TT wanted to make Hurricane's so when she got off of work we put that together. TT surprised us with a visit from Tamika and her son Xavier which was so nice. Then we got into an intense volleyball tournament. The last tournament the House Clan dominated (Nana's kids) this time Nana was out there playing with us and she was no good at all...we lost all the games except the last one that we barely won.
Frederick's girlfriend was there and she was a superstar volleyball player...she had really good serves and we just couldn't return them...hers or Pierres. They swept over us in that first game 15-2...it was fast and bad. The second game was only a little better but finally by the 4th game we barely pulled out a win. We had to eat because we had worked too hard at that game. By that time it was getting dark so we just stayed in and played games, Family Feud again. I love family time. We couldn't do fireworks at TT's house so the kids just did a few sparklers and had a good time. I had to do a little preaching to Robert because he is getting really serious with his girlfriend Ashley so I was telling them all about marriage and trying to warn him of the difficulties. He might have listened he might not have. I did learn that he didn't want to have any more kids which I was shocked by...for some reason I thought he would have another kid or 2 when he got married but he said if he married Ashley he would be done because he only wanted 3 and she has 2 and he has 1 so that was enough...I can't fault him for that.
Wednesday the kids went back to the park and the adults hung out...napped the day away. We went to see fireworks that evening and finally Ja'Zyia got to come so the boys were all over her and they were running around playing chase. They have so much fun together when she is there without Robin...because with those 2 girls get together the boys mean nothing and there is nothing but trouble. So even though I wanted to see Robin too (we didn't get to) I'm glad the boys got to have one on 2 time with Ja'Zyia. I think she liked it too even though she was trying to make it seem like she couldn't be bothered with the boys. The fireworks show was nice the kids and GG enjoyed it but the place was so crowded it took us a while to get out and get home. I was walking with GG and at one point we just stopped and put her chair out so she could rest. She is amazingly mobile for 93, even though she was fussing at her self for not being able to walk for too long. Thursday I had to do some shopping for some last minute things to take back to Singapore then we went to Habachi for dinner because Shaun loves this place and put in his request earlier in the week to have the food with the fire...his definition of Habachi. Friday I finished my shopping, Morgan left for her dad and I think she almost cried (sweet girld) then I spent 2 hrs trying to pack my suitcase so that the bottles of alcohol I bought didn't smash and so that the bag wasn't over 50lbs. It wasn't easy...actually it wasn't possible. I had too many shoes and the alcohol was too heavy. TT tried to get me to take another suit case but I didn't want to be bothered with another suit case because we have like 6 in Singapore. I should have brought 2 with me but I didn't and I got 4 boxes of oatmeal when we normally only get 2 so that was another extra 10lbs that I shouldn't have. I finally ended up putting stuff into a box and sealed that up but my suit case was still a good 4lbs over...can only hope for someone nice at the airport to overlook the weight.
That evening the kids ended up making slime with Uncle Frederick. Ja'Zyia is a master at it apparently but there were having a hard time of it tonight...but still having fun. I'm going to miss this time with the family but I know that its hard work for TT and Pierre too so this too must end. My flight was early in the morning and just before my alarm went off Shaun woke up with a nightmare. He was in my bed and the sun was up but I tried to get him to go back to sleep but he was watching me because he knew that I was leaving so I think he couldn't fully go back to sleep.
I tried to go quietly and it looked like he might be sleeping when I left but after I was downstairs for a few minutes I heard his little feet running to the other room where Ja'Zyia and Lino were. I ran up there to tell him not wo wake them up but that was no use...after 10min he had Ja'Zyia up so I made them go to my room so that Lino could sleep. Before I left I went to kiss GG to say goodbye and knew that she would wake up but she was passed out. I rubbed her arm and kissed her a few times and everything and there was no budging her. She must have been in a deep sleep so I left her. When we got to the airport of course the lady that I get was a stickler for the rules.
She made me repack my bag but I really didn't have any where to put the extra 6lbs that my bag was over. I finally was able to get the weight to 51lbs and she still wasn't happy. I had to plead with her and finally she let it go...bitch. At least that part is done...now for the long flight home...I don't make it back to Singapore until midnight on Sunday...I miss the whole weekend.
July 9-17
My flight back was uneventful but when I couldn't find my bag it all went down hill from there. So I was waiting for my bag for a while and when it looked like all the bags were out I asked someone to check for mine...apparently my bags were still in KC! What the hell??? The lady did some calling but that was the verdict and I asked why they were there, thinking that the lady at the check in counter sabotaged me and I should have done the sky check-in for $5 like TT suggested, but the lady didn't know. She only knew that there was no movement of the luggage from its origin. So I had to go to lost and found and fill out a report for my luggage. I was so nervous that the reason the bags didn't leave Kansas was because one of the bottles of alcohol opened and they couldn't send it or it was too over weight like the lady said and they stopped it to search it. I was freaking out. So when I had to fill out the form to claim any custom items like ALCOHOL I actually said I had alcohol in the bag!!!! Why would I do that? The lady said it all so casually like "oh if you have anything to claim just put it on the form so that it is easier to clear customs" I wasn't sure if I was already in trouble on the Kansas side for the alcohol so I didn't want to be in more trouble on the Singapore side so I claimed it...wrong decision. It took about 45min to talk to customs about what kind of alcohol I had and how many bottles and how much I paid for them and what was the alcohol content and crap like that. I lied and said I only had 2 bottles but after they were drilling me and told me how much it cost to bring those 2 into the country, about $65 Sing dollars I knew that they would go through my bag and find the 3rd bottle. But I didn't say anything...I just wanted to be done with it. It was too late now I should have said nothing to begin with but oh well...I was to tired and tried to do the right thing...NEVER AGAIN!!!!! So after all that about how much it was going to cost I had to go to the ATM to get cash to give to the lost & found people so that they could pay the duty on the alcohol when it arrived. What a mess. I was texing Mike the whole time and he was getting worried for me because I was sounding distressed (mostly just tired) but there was nothing he could do. I got into my taxi to leave and Mike called me to see where I was...apparently he was waiting for me at the airport but missed me somehow. Too funny. So Monday even though we didn't get to bed until 2am I was wide awake at 7am and so was Mike. I worked out for the day and did a few things around the house but there wasn't much to do. For the week I basically did nothing but blog, go see Mike for lunch, exercise and "Do dating". Lino was asking Mike what he was going to do while we were gone and he said nothing much. Then Lino told him to do dating with mommy so that is what we were doing. We played tennis one night then dinner and movie the next. I wore one of my new heals and they were kicking my ass after 10min of having them on. I think it was because they were to big but it was hard to say. We had a nice sushi dinner then to the movies to watch Ant Man & Wasp Girl.
The funny thing is that when we went to check in the guy said the tickets were for yesterday. Mike was so upset with himself but they changed the tickets for us so it worked out. By this time I was exhausted so I took a little nap before the movie started. The movie was actually good and there seems to be a sequel in the making. We only barely heard from the boys on Wednesday evening during the movie and they seem to be having a great time in the pool with Nini & Pop Pop.
Nana spent the day in New York after she dropped the boys off and she was so excited about her trip.
She was talking about taking Morgan to Paris for her 16th birthday...she has big dreams of travel! It would be a nice trip if she could pull her stuff together to make it happen...lets see. On Wednesday the jet lag must have finally caught up to me because I couldn't do anything...around 10am I went to lay down to take a nap and I didn't wake up until 3pm!!!! I told Mike I was drugged and he said "dating is hard work" I think he was right. By Friday I was back to normal...thank goodness because we had plans to go to Malacca on Saturday morning with JJ & Violetta for the weekend so I couldn't be drugged or exhausted from jet lag or dating anymore!!! We were up early and to the bus station for our bus trip across the boarder. This should have been a 3.5hr trip but it turned out to take over 6hrs!!! The boarder crossing is a nightmare and I had no idea it would take so long and be so crazy. It took over 2.5hrs to get through the 2 boarder crossings, one for Singapore and one for Malaysia.
At least the bus was comfortable but since it was taking much longer than we expected we were all getting a little frustrated. Eventually we arrived and got checked into our hotel. We were so hungry by that point that when we went to the bar and saw the bar peanuts we basically ate a pound each trying to soften our hunger a little. We had lunch a a little cafe down the road then we headed to town for some more drinks and sightseeing. I wasn't exactly sure what we would do there but I had quickly googled the city before we arrived and it looked like just a shopping and drinking place.
There wasn't much to it. We had a good time anyway. We went walked around town for a while and did a little shopping. In the evening they closed one section of the main road and little stalls were out selling food and other stuff.
For dinner and I found a place that was suppose to have good local food and it was pretty good and cheap too. Then back to the hotel to play cards and hang out. We were all exhausted from the day but we stayed up until late in the night playing burro. We started out with shots of Tequila but the Tequila that they had at the hotel was so horrible that we had to switch to something else after that. The poor hotel bar was so poorly stocked that the only other option would have been gin and we didn't think that was a good mix so we just ordered 2 more rounds of beers and that was what we used to take our shots. JJ was pretty good at the game and I was on the loosing side more times than not...and at one point they were all teaming up on me it seemed but I think it was the beer.
It was a lot of fun either way. The next day we slept in then went to a cafe that I has saw on a website and we had seen the day before but it was super busy so we wanted to try it out today. The weight wasn't as long as we thought it was going to be which was good. The food was westernish but different too and it was really good. The guys got some dessert pancakes that were really really good, one was espresso pancake and the other was banana...yum yum.
After that we took a boat tour of the city which was to say the least not very interesting at all. The design of the city is a mixed between Brazilian and Mexican. A lot of the buildings have really colorful painting on the walls or are just colored very vibrantly. The little river area has a lot of little coffee shops and restaurants where you can be outside by the river and get a fresh smell of the smelly dirty river as the river cruise boats go by...it isn't the best rivers. There wasn't much to see but it was something to do in between our drinking...which was very limited after our previous night.
So while we nursed our one beer we plotted ways to get back across the boarder quicker than driving. We looked into chartering a boat or going up to the next big city (1hr drive) and taking a flight and we even thought about a ferry but all the options were either not possible or super super expensive...we were stuck with the bus. We didn't have much else to do or much time so we just got some snacks to prepare ourselves for the ridiculously long trip back. It took us almost 30min to finally find our bus (that is after our 30min walk there). There was no real signage as to where to meet for the bus so for a while we were worried we were lost and would miss the bus which would have been bad. I had picked the bus that should have got us back int town before 10 but we barely made it there by 11:30. JJ wanted to watch the World Cup final between France & Croatia but he was to tired and frustrated after our bus ride so they just went home. Mike and I of course were to hungy to go home so we went to have a late dinner before heading home. It was a nice weekend but never again with that damn border crossing.
The boys have been having a good time in NY it seems...the little we hear from them is always filled with all the cool things that Nini & Pop Pop are doing with them. Of course the first day they arrived they had to get into the pool. It was evening but the sun was out and the weather was good so in the pool they went. They love having the pool right at their fingertips. Another day they went bowling one day and apparently Shaun won the first game against Lino with a score of 101...that is pretty impressive. The second game Lino won but he couldn't beat Shaun's high score so Shaun was really proud of that. It appears that one day Shaun even got a haircut...which was not on the approved list nor was approval requested. These grandparents are really starting to take on their own way...I guess it's to be expected.
July 18-23: 10 yr anniversary trip
Leading up until the moment that we stepped in front of the check in counter Mike was hounding me about where I thought we were going. I had a few ideas in mind but really didn't think to much of it because I knew that he would think of a cool place for us to go so I was excited regardless...and I knew that it would drive him crazy that I didn't have the place picked. He spent so much timing asking me where I thought we were going I just knew that he would end up slipping and telling me...and he basically did.
A few days before we left we were walking to dinner and he ask asking me yet again if I had any ideas where we were going and I said my usual. Then he asked if I had any questions and I tried to make it as casual as possible when I asked how long the flight was. I was only going to be able to eliminate one possibility or confirm it but I did't think it would be so easy. But he said it was a long flight and I asked if I should just wear regular clothes on the plane or my travel clothes and he had to think about it...so I went for it.
I was like "Its not like it 10 hours or something is it???" He was blushing now so I knew that meant I was close. We went back and forth a bit about the time but the jest of it was that the flight was around 10hrs long...so I knew then where we were heading. Mike thought that he was able to elude me but he wasn't. After dinner he even further confirmed my thoughts when he asked me again where I thought it was and for me to at least give him a hint. I told him maybe this surprise would be like our honeymoon trip. Where I thought we were going somewhere but we end up going somewhere different. He tried to act like he didn't know where I had thought we were going for our honeymoon and kept trying to get me to tell him where it was but I wouldn't. I knew then that I was 98% sure where we were going...2 days later, early in the wee hours my dreams came true...Fiji here we come!!!!!
Mike was so proud of him self with this trip he even upgraded us to business class for the flight there which was great because Mike got to sleep on the way there which gave us a better chance to enjoy our first day. I was pretty darn excited and so was Mike. I think he was more nervous than excited because he didn't want repeat for the honeymoon but I think he had to know that I would be more than thrilled with this destination. So we enjoyed an hour in the lounge and tried to get as much booze in us as possible so that we would crash on the plane. The plane was nice but the business class wasn't as nice as some of the other planes but we couldn't complain too much because it was nice and roomy and the flight attendants were so nice. Our first introduction into the Fijian world was 'Bula' which means hello and they say it all the time for all most everything...I think it must mean more than just hello...maybe welcome or something too? Next was some a taste of Fijian rum followed by endless supply of Fiji water. It is a simple thing I know but when you are from Kansas and only hear about this exotic country which is all the way across the world everything you encounter becomes amazing. So the simple Fiji rum and honey drink was amazing and the cups and cups of Fiji water that they kept serving to us was super cool too! When we finally landed in Fiji I couldn't wait for the adventure to begin! But wait I must...
When we arrived at our resort I felt like we were royalty landing! But the pilot told us on the ride over that this was fairly common form of transportation between the islands. It was barely a 10min flight and if we were on a sea plane it would take about 30min or so to do the same distance. He didn't exactly bust my bubble but it was deflated a little...I still let Mike have the glory that he upgraded our short trip with a helicopter ride when he could have settled for the more economical method. I must say it is a little weird to be so lose to the helicopter when you are getting on/off of it. I was always worried that my head was going to get chopped off by the blades even thought they were not even close to my head...but still I made sure to duck down when I was close to it. When we got into the resort we were greeted in such a welcoming way...by song.
Our room wasn't ready because it was early and apparently there was some issue with the pool by our room so they had to get another room ready for us instead so we took the time to explore the little coast of our island. The water was so clear it was everything that I thought it would be like. The water was super warm like in the Mediterranean but it was much warmer than the Atlantic so it was nice. We took a little hike up to the top of the "mountain" and there was another resort on the other side of the island and another helicopter pad. This one was a lot more steady compared to our landing spot which was a wooden bridge over the water leading to the island. The day was so beautiful and the surrounding islands so tranquil I couldn't believe that we were in Fiji!!!! There isn't much to say about the first day other than we just enjoyed the scenery and the amazingly friendly staff.
Our private villa with an outside pool and shower. I'm pretty sure the villa was about 2/3 the side of our apartment in Singapore!!!
The resort we were staying in was an adult only resort and there were so many people there on their honeymoon that it made us really think that we were old!!! Its hard to believe that we have been married for 10yrs but what a place to celebrate that milestone. The great thing about this island was that the lounge/bar area was looking over the west coast so we got to see a stunning sunset...even with all the clouds it was beautiful.
Our second day Mike had booked us a private island picnic lunch! We got to take a boat out to this island and we just hung out there all day. The boat ride wasn't long but it didn't take long for me to start getting sick so I couldn't really take in the sights like I wanted to. A private island retreat isn't exactly my idea of fun but its totally a Mike thing. I had to take a few minutes to get myself together because I was looking forward to doing more active things but after a while I started enjoying it. We didn't do much but explore the beach, go swimming, collect rocks and search for hermit crabs. Part of our lunch was a bottle of champagne so we enjoyed that with our cheese and sandwiches. Of course even though our boys are over a thousand miles away I couldn't help thinking of them. So while I was exploring the shores and Mike was napping I started to collect some rocks so that I could take one back for Lino. I ended up collecting all coral somehow and I tried to tell myself not to take one because I know that it is precious to the ocean but I just couldn't resist. I know Lino would love to have one of these and if I pick it I can actually keep it in a place that I will also remember the significance of it later on...so I took one. For Lino and for me :-)
Our quest to bother every hermit crab that we could find. Some of these crabs are pretty big. We were trying to figure out how they grow. Do they grow bigger shells as they get bigger or do they go to a new shell as their current one gets to small? I said the later but Mike thought they grew their shells...since were were in the middle of nowhere we didn't have any internet to check and see what the Google thought so it was a mystery that still remains... I made Mike pick one of the crabs up just to get a better picture of it and he was so scared...it was too funny.
We only had 2 nights in this resort so we decided to stay up late and enjoy our last evening there. There was a crab race after dinner and of course our little crab didn't win but we had to pay 20 Fifi dollars towards the crab race anyway. It was the most entertainment that they had on the island. Other than the singing from the staff. They love to sing and everyone who was singing had pretty good voices too. It was so nice actually. Instead of having some CD playing soft music in the background there was always someone singing and playing the guitar in the lounge or by the restaurant. When ever there were new visitors to the resort the new couple would be welcomed with a welcome serenade and when ever couples were leaving they would get the same thing. If there was a special birthday or anniversary celebration they would sing them a song at dinner.
So simple but it makes you really feel special. They kept telling us that they wanted us to feel like we were at home and I think we kind of felt like that. So since we were at home we were silly and stayed up late. We even took a dip in the freezing cold pool outside of our villa. I mean FREEZING COLD!!!! We were sitting out drinking and talking and looking at the pool and I decided that it had to be done...so I just jumped in! There was no way around it and if I would have tried to ease in like the night before I would have convinced myself otherwise (like I did the night before). Mike was so shocked! I'm pretty sure I have only ever done something like that once with him so it took him a minute to gather himself and follow me in. It was great...we were kids again. But not for long! Did I say the water was freezing!!!! We enjoyed it for a while but quickly got out...we ended up falling asleep on the outside loft which was a very very bad idea.
We got up early because Mike said we had a water taxi scheduled for 9:30am to take us to our next resort. We had tried to book excursions for the next resort when we arrived in Fiji but they wouldn't let us do that until we actually arrived at the resort. Which sucked. So we were a little anxious to get there...and tired. But I was excited to go to our next destination so I somehow got up, showered while Mike slept, packed and headed out. While I was waiting for Mike I was watching a kelp boat in action...I've never seen a kelp boat and was pretty confused for the first few minutes until I realized that the boat was gathering up kelp/seaweed from the shore and loading it onto the boat. After I asked one of the staff why they were doing that they told me that they move the kelp/seaweed out further into the ocean so that it doesn't dirty up the shore. I guess its nice that they keep the shore so nice and clean and its nice that they don't just get ride of the kelp. Pretty cool. Eventually Mike was ready, which meant he just put clothes on and put his stuff into the bag and left. We didn't think we would have time for breakfast but we figured we could eat at the other place. But when we went to The nurse/sales manager/resort manager was very sympathetic to me when I showed her my battle scars. My right shoulder was covered in mosquito bites...almost 2 dozen!!! Not to mention the dozen or so on my other arm and my legs. It didn't bother me at first but after a while I was dying. Then we realized that we were not on an early flight over to the other resort. Apparently the resort had put a letter into our room to notify us that the bags would be picked up at 12:30pm because our flight was at 1:30pm. We obviously missed that note! We would have slept in or booked a morning excursion at the hotel if we would have known. I was a little upset with Mike because I felt like we lost a day but there wasn't much I could do about it...plus my shoulder was on fire. The good news was that we had time to have breakfast then Mike had time to finally put himself together and look presentable and I had time to try and treat my shoulder. The "nurse" gave me a bottle of cream that helped with the itching then she tried some zapping thing on the bites. She said she got it from some lady from England. It has a little snap on the end that snaps the bug bites and helps to lessen the itching...it was weird. But the combination of cream, antihistamine and zapper and I was finally feeling a little comfortable.
We actually ended up having a pretty relaxing time by the pool. We chatted, napped and read until our plane came. It seemed liked we had been there for a week because the staff were always calling us by name and before we left they were talking to us about the boys and saying how cute they were and that we are so lucky to have such beautiful children. One guy was like "make sure you tell them we all said bula and give them kisses from us" ... I was thinking, you don't even know them, you've only seen a picture of them??? Crazy. So I guess the best part about not being on the earlier flight was that we got surprised with another helicopter ride! This time it was not booked by Mike but I guess due to the various activities going on on the islands this is what was available...SWEET! So yet another amazing helicopter ride over beautiful Fiji. This time our pilot was very chatty and was telling us all about the various islands and sand bars.
Which is technically an elevated piece of sand that gets covered every evening during high tide and exposed every day during low tide. Since the sand is covered and cleared daily the sand is so crystal clear it is unbelievable...the pilot said it was a great place to take a boat out to and enjoy the beach for the day. The ride was less than 10 min but it was stunning. The other side of our island was a family resort and the waters out past the coast area was so blue I was mesmerized. We saw the resort when we went up for our first hike the first day but it looked so much more stunning from the helicopter. As we got closer the pilot basically broke Mike's last surprise of the trip which was to tell me where we were staying. I was pretty sure I knew but after he talked about the various islands and where Castaway island was (where Tom Hanks filmed Castaway) he went on to say how cool the huts over the water were at the resort that we were staying at.
I looked back at Mike and he had the most proud look on his face...it was cute. I was too excited and then it was like magic because we came up on the island...so beautiful (I can't use that word enough to describe all of Fiji). The pilot even promoted the resort by saying that the Marriott had recently opened an over water hut resort that was trying to compete with this one but he said it wasn't the same because Likuliku resort was over a natural lagoon but the Marriott's was a man made one. Mike did good...he did really good! We were welcomed with a golf cart ride to the resort...the landing spot is not close to the resort. And when we got to reception we were greeted with song and a really tasty drink. They use paper straws on this resort which I thought was really great. We had time to have lunch before we got out to our hut...the anticipation was crazy!!!!! But well worth the wait. The hut was so cute and there were only 10 huts so I was so happy that Mike was able to get one for us...I'm sure that they fill up fast.
The water underneath the hut was crystal clear and we were watching a school of blue, red and yellow fish swim under us as the lady gave us a little tour of the place. Before we got married I had dreamed about coming to Fiji and staying in one of these huts and now were are here! So many emotions its impossible to explain but mostly I just felt so blessed. How could we be so lucky and blessed to be able to experience this little wonder of the world????
Since we kind of lost a day the first thing we did after we got checked into our hut was to go and find the excursions booking office and try to see what we could do for the day and the next day. Since the next day was Sunday we couldn't do an village tour unless we just wanted to go over for church services which we didn't...so that means we won't get to visit the village before we leave :-( oh well...maybe in another lifetime. They did have jet skii tours for 2-3 hours that take you around the island. Mike was all excited about that so we signed up for it in the morning that way we had time to do other things in the afternoon. The only tour that was still available for the current day was the sunset cruise so we decided to do it and then we signed up to do jet skis in the morning...I wasn't exactly thrilled about that but Mike was so I was willing to go along with it. I don't think we were on the island for more than 2hrs before leaving for the cruise.
I was nervous that I would get sick but it wasn't too bad, it was actually better than the other boat we were on going to the private island. The cruise of course had mostly honymooners, one couple it was their second marriage honeymoon, one newly weds that Mike instantly didn't like the guy (but he turned out to be pretty cool) and one couple from New Zealand who goes to Fiji almost every year (must be nice). We had a nice time and after a little while of awkward conversations everyone started to relax.
The views were so nice and the driver was telling us about some of the things that go on out in this area. There was a honeymoon island for only honemooners (it was small) and then there is a floating bar in the middle of the ocean called Cloud 9 that is supposedly pretty cool. You can get a boat taxi out there and spend the day drinking on this floating bar (raft) that is like 2 or 3 stories high and also has a floating kettle to make pizza!!!!! The newly weds said that they went out there and it was cool so Mike and I were thinking it could be interested to take a visit if possible. It was just a nice relaxing ride...and the sunset was pretty awesome too although I must say the one at the other resort was even nicer since we didn't have to leave the resort to see it.
There wasn't much to do that evening...we had to make reservations for our dinner earlier in the day so we had to wait about an hour before it was our turn to go eat. While we were waiting we were chatting with the couples from the cruise. They were all really nice and Mike & I started to like the newly wed guy a lot more than our first impressions would have lead us to believe. We talked about our jobs and where we have lived and our time in Fiji and our kids. Then randomly we started talking about the starts because the sky is so clear there that its easy to see all the different constellations.
And since we are on a different side of the world you can see different things...its geek stuff but it was cool. Then off to dinner which was good and back to our hut. The wine was cheap compared to the hard liquor so we ended up getting a bottle of wine to go back to the room. We played cards, truth or dare (I dared Mike to do a split...it was too funny), watched the fish under the hut and did some more star gazing...it was quite the romantic night.
The next morning we were suppose to go on the jet skiis but apparently there was some issue with the reservation. I guess our resort contracts out the jet skii tours to the sister resort on the opposite side of the island, the family resort. And it seems that they were short staffed for some reason so they had to cancel some of the tours so they were going to put us on the noon tour instead of the morning tour. It sounded a little fishy but its island business I guess so we just went with it. Since we had the morning free and there were no tours that we could do we decided to go for a hike along the island.
The directions that they gave us was so sketchy it was a miracle that we didn't get more lost than we did. Mike wasn't too happy about the hike but I wanted to do something other than just sit around and do nothing...so we hiked. And I brought the bottle of bug spray from the room with us because I wasn't going to be eaten alive again! The hike/walk wasn't too bad but there was only a path for like 1/2 of it and the rest we had to guess our way through it.
I am pretty sure we took a wrong turn at some point because we ended up on the side of the beach where there was beached ship wreckage and the smell from the water wasn't good. We were worried that we were way on the other side of the island but thankfully we were just on the opposite side of our peninsula (where the sister resort was located). When we got there and asked for directions they offered to boat us back to our resort but we/I wanted to walk. The downwards walk was much more direct so there was no issue with us getting lost. The whole adventure only took 1.5hrs so we had time before our jet skii island tour was to start so we had lunch and then Mike went for a nap...I wanted to nap too but was worried that if I did I would be out for the rest of the afternoon. I wasn't confident about the skiis so I let Mike nap and I went to check on the tour and they told me that yet again it had been canceled due to staff but we saw people on the jet skiis when we were at the other resort so we know that they were going out but maybe they were giving priority to those guest and we only got what was left over.
Either way there wasn't anything we could do about it so I guess its time to check out this cool water feature under our room!!!! So I got us some snorkeling gear and also got the information for the cloud 9 thing in case it was possible for us to go out there before the tour...because I was worried we weren't going to be able to do anything at the rate it was going. When I got back I work up Mike and had him call the Cloud 9 to get us a boat out there (the resort doesn't do the taxi rides there/back apparently) and while he was doing that I was getting myself ready to go in. Mike was hemming and hawing when I was getting ready but I knew if I stopped to ask him what the issue was I was going to talk myself out of going into the water.
I know its crazy that I am scared to snorkel especially since I have been looking forward to staying in one of these huts for so long but never the less I am quite nervous when it comes to snorkeling. Lino at the age of 7 is like a fish out of water and I am like a cat in water...not really a good combo. But I wanted to do this so I just did it. It was amazing too!!!!! I couldn't believe that I could just step out into the water from the hut and start snorkeling and seeing all this amazing sea life. The water was refreshing and since it was shallow in the lagoon it was a little warmer than the open water. I was getting a little brave and went to far out into the open water and I almost had a panic attack!!!! Why??? I know how to swim so why the panic??? I'm scared of sharks coming to get me...I know...its such a silly kiddish thing to think but regardless that is what I am afraid of. And because I can't see the bottom of the freakin ocean...so how am I suppose to know if something is coming for me??
Anyway it was cool and I recovered much faster than I thought I would. Eventually Mike gave me the update that we couldn't go out to Cloud 9 because they close at 5pm and we would have had to take the last taxi at 2 but we were suppose to do the jet skii tour at 3 so it wasn't going to work. We just had to have faith that the jet skiis wouldn't get canceled again. In the mean time we enjoyed a bit of snorkeling...Mike loved it!!! He gets in the water and its like he was made for it.
After snorkeling we finally were able to go jet skiing. I won't go into much detail other than to say I HATE jet skiing with Mike. He is too focused on speed and I am to worried about falling off the skii and breaking my neck on the water or falling off and a shark coming to eat me or falling off and drowning in the middle of the ocean (with my life jacket on) that the combination of the 2 of us is not a good idea. Normally when we have such vast difference of opinions we can come to some middle ground that we both appreciate but not when it comes to this. It would have been better if Mike had his own skii and I was with the tour guide. It didn't help that the other couple that was with us the guy was a complete show off .
It was the worst tour I've been on in a while...I was terrified the whole time and Mike barely adjusted his mad crazy need for speed to pacify me. He was already upset that our jet skii wasn't going as fast as the other couple and that he didn't have as much control over the skii as they did so it was just a bad combination. At one point I thought we were going to drawn because there was so much water in the bottom of our skiis but apparently you just have to keep moving and the water goes out...what an experience. Mike thinks that we have done jet skiis before but I feel like that can't be possible because I would remember such a traumatic experience as that (as you can see from my happy face picture...me looking just like my mom). The one thing that did happen that wasn't funny but was kind of ironic was that the mail order bride couple ended up switching drivers at the end of the tour and the Malaysian wife was driving. I guess she was trying to keep up with her husband or just not paying a lot of attention but at some point they were speeding through the ocean and then they stopped quickly and she apparently slammed her face up against the front of the jet skii and busted her lip. We didn't realize it until after we were on shore. She was looking all frail and her husband was saying how she wasn't paying attention and telling her to stop talking, don't smile, don't say anything, it looks bad but that's what happens, your tough, maybe you need stitches, blah blah blah. I was like, she just busted her lip, its not the end of the world. I think she thought it wasn't that big of a deal but she had to play the role...or maybe not...it was just weird/awkward/funny all at the same time. And Mike with his limited sense of respectfulness just kept staring at her and smiling and shaking his head. I had to hit him to get him to try and at least pretend like he didn't notice them. He is so oblivious its unreal. That was the best part of the tour! When we got back to our island we signed up for one more tour in the morning...the sunrise breakfast in the mountains. One of the other couples told us that it was pretty spectacular and you also get a nice walk in and that it was well worth the early rising. So we figured it would be our last morning in Fiji and we haven't seen a sunrise and there was not enough time to do anything else so why not.
Like I said before, these islands are pretty laid back for the most part so there wasn't much to do so after dinner we just went to the beach bar and drank. We were the only ones there!!! Mike had his bartender friend there for a while, his name was Mike too, but then he had to go and another guy was serving us. He was nice and chatty. He told us that he use to work out on Cloud 9 and he was saying how crazy it could get out there. Apparently you can rent out that bar for the evening and it cost something like 10,000 Fiji bucks for the evening.
Mike was like "that's not too bad"...I just looked at him like he was crazy. That's a lot of freaking money for one evening of drinking in the middle of the ocean! The bartender said that most of the time is some rich person and a bunch of people on a yacht and they stay out all evening (there is not end time) and drink then the driver of the yacht takes them back to shore and they pass out on their yacht. I could only imagine. What if you got so drunk that you pass out and fall overboard???? Who would even notice if everyone is drunk??? Sounds a little fun but a lot risky and super expensive unless you get invited to go for free but we don't have friends like that so I guess we will never know. We also learned that the bartender would sleep out on the boat too, in order to guard the inventory. I couldn't imagine it but he said it wasn't as bad as it sounds and he seemed to have a good time doing it. We had a good time with him and we ended up making our own fun.
The poor guy even missed going back home because of us...he said the bar usually closes at 10pm because no one is there but if there are customers there they stay open as late as 2am. There is one day a week when the bars have happy hour where all the drinks are 1/2 priced...we missed that night. And on those nights the bars are busy until late. Well, as always we couldn't leave without putting our stamp on Fiji so when we finally got back to our hut (which I don't actually remember going inside) I passed out and at some point threw up every ounce of liquid inside of my stomach (that still didn't help). Somehow I was lucid enough to actually clean up my mess, shower, put on clean clothes and get into the bed. Mike didn't know what happen until I told him and my head was hurting the whole rest of the day back home. Needless to say we missed the sunrise breakfast hike and we barely made it to breakfast. We took our last helicopter ride over Fiji and started our 10hr trip back to Singapore. The time went so fast but it was amazing. I would love to go back some day but there is too much of the world to see. We didn't do all that we would have liked to do but we did more than most people will get to do in their lifetime so for that we are more than blessed and happy. Until we meet again Fiji...thank you lord for such an amazing 10yr trip and such an amazing 10+ years with this man I get to call MY HUSBAND! We don't have a perfect marriage (not even close) but we made from Gods grace and eyes and for that we are perfect for each other and for that I am grateful. Thanks Mike!!!!
July 24-August 2
Back to reality...Mike back to work and I'm back to trying to figure out what it is I'm suppose to be doing. We only really had a day to fully recover from our trip before the boys and Pop Pop arrived. I got news from our friends that they were not taking their helper with them to the States so I was able to scoop up a new helper for us. I had to tell Mariza that we were letting her go and we were worried that she would be upset (crying or even mad) but she seemed to take it ok. I am not even sure if she really understood me and this is another reason to let her go. The biggest problem was that we had to give her a 30 day notice per our contract with the agency and the new helper was going to be coming to us sooner than we had expected, in less than 10 days. So I had to figure out what to do about the dual helper thing. If we sent Mariza back to the agency we would still be responsible for her but wouldn't have to pay salary. If we kept her with us then we would have to house 2 helpers which could be OK but could be drama too because the old one might be spiteful with the new one. It is crazy that these types of things consume so much of my mind...but it is what it is. We decided to just keep Mariza with us until her 30 days were up but we knew that if we needed to send her to the agency it was an option. So late on Tuesday we had our last date night without the kids. I ordered burgers from the burger placed that we had tried to walk to the week before. The burgers were good but I am pretty sure they would have been better if we went there to get them. On Wednesday I got my hair done and picked up a few things in the city for Mike...his special temperpedic pillow that he paid god knows how much for...too much that is for sure. The family was arriving late so when Mike got home he took a nap so that he wouldn't be so tired. I told him that I would just go get them myself so that he could sleep but he wasn't having it. We had been texting Pop Pop for the past 2 days trying to get him prepared for the flight with the boys. He didn't seem to worried which was good. The boys are not really that difficult since they get to have ipad/movies the whole time the biggest issue is trying to keep them from peeing their pants, eating something on the plane and sleeping some so that they are not complete nightmares when they land. We wanted to make sure that he had the easiest experience possible so that he wouldn't be completely turned off to the idea of doing it again next year!!!! So I was suppose to wake Mike up around 30min before the plane landed but I got a text from Nini saying something about them landing so I woke him up...it was a false alarm but we went to the airport anyway. The flight was delayed leaving Tokyo but seemed to have made up time in the air but when it got to Singapore they had to wait to land...so much hurry up and go only to sit and wait. After a while we started seeing people coming out that were on their flight but we didn't see Pop Pop or the boys. Eventually we saw them but they were going the wrong direction so I went to cut them off but then I lost them. I have no idea what they were doing but finally they got their bags and Mike saw them coming towards him. The boys looked so huge!!! It had only been 2 weeks since I saw them but they seemed to have grown like crazy in those 2 weeks and Shaun's hair was as golden as it always is at the end of the summer. Mike was so happy to see them and the boys were super excited to see him too. Pop Pop was in a pretty good mood too and he said the flight was easy and the boys were good. There was no issue with the transfer in Tokyo, which was good, and the boys played in the little play area for the hour layover so all was good.
The boys were bouncing with stories to tell us and luckily for them we had to wait for about 20min to get the maxi taxi so that we could all fit without having to take 2 taxis. Mikes excitement to see the boys barely lasted through the taxi ride home. I was asking him to do something and he almost lost it...he is so cranky when he is tired. The boys thought it was funny so they started messing with him too and of course he couldn't resist fussing at them. When we got home I asked him to move the door from the guest room and put it into the computer room and you would have thought that I asked him to make a 12 course meal at 1:30 in the morning...he was not happy about it! I didn't care, I made him do it anyway because it was in the way of Pop Pop...hahah...Oh daddy...so easy to loose your patience for your family. On Thursday morning everyone was exhausted, Mike especially. After a morning lounging around the house I finally convinced the boys to take Pop Pop down to the pool so they begrudgingly went. While they were at the pool I received an email from RB. I had emailed them on Wednesday confirming the start date and asking who I should report to when I arrived. I was not exactly looking forward to starting work because Pop Pop was still going to be in town and I wouldn't want to stay up to late in the evenings and I wasn't even sure when I would be getting off of work. Plus I was going to miss the orientation day and first day of school...a lot of regrets. But the email was bitter sweet, they basically said that the visa was denied and I wouldn't be able to start on Monday as originally planned. They didn't give a reason as to why it was denied and they only barely suggested that they might resubmit the application again. I didn't really know how to respond to the email...do I say "thanks for trying but don't worry about resubmitting because I am having hesitations about working full time so now I don't have to miss all the boys back to school stuff". No...I can't say that. So I just said I was disappointed and I was looking forward to starting with the company and if there was anything that I could do to help with the resubmission process to let me know. I am truly torn as to what to do about this situation. I want to work that I know for sure. And living in Singapore I am not going to find friends as easy as I did in Ireland and I need to get out of the house before I go crazy so working is the most logical choice. Also, it helps me to put some more experience on my resume which will be needed when I get back to the states. So all roads lead to working...but...I also will be loosing a lot in the process. Mike has way more vacation time and flexibility with his work than I will have so our trips will be very limited and maybe even eliminated completely except Christmas...even Christmas is going to be a stretch. Then there is the boys, I won't be able to see them like I do now but I guess that isn't completely bad because even now when they come home they are out with their friends most evenings. But I know it will be hard with homework if I don't get home until late it will be hard to get Lino's homework done before they are suppose to be in bed. Any activities at the school I will probably have to miss for this first half of the year until I get more settles at the job. Things like that. Those are luxuries I know but at this point it has become normal for me to do this so it would be an adjustment. Anyway...so many things to consider. But for now there is nothing I can do about the visa so I will just enjoy this extra time with the boys.
So for dinner we decided to go to One North. We waited for Mike to get home before heading out. The boys were excited to see him and he got home early which was nice. The family is all back together again...and happy!!!! For the moment at least :-) We were not sure if Pop Pop would really like the hawker centers or not so we figured One North was something in between a real hawker and something more familiar so maybe it would be ok. The boys were not happy about the idea of going to the hawker but they settled down when they were able to order their burgers and fish & chips. Pop Pop did enjoy his dinner and he thought the hawker was cool so that was good. We got to stay late enough to hear a little music which was cool too.
Well it was cool for the adults but the boys were completely wrecked and passed out at the table! I knew they would be tired because they got up to early and wouldn't go back to sleep like I had suggested. I didn't exactly expect them to pass out at the table but I knew they would fall asleep on the way back. I think since we hadn't seen them in a few weeks we were a lot more giving with them and when they fell asleep in the train we ended caring them to the bus...they were so pooped it wasn't even funny. Pop Pop liked his new MRT card and the ride on the train. He said it was much nicer than the ones in NY.
On Friday we just hung out around the condo. The boys took Pop Pop to the big pool for a while then we headed over to Vivo City for a little sightseeing. We ended up having lunch at some Jamie Oliver Italian restaurant but it was not that good. The little side salads that me & Pop Pop got were tiny and cost $22 each! For lettuce and 3 strips of chicken...so ridiculous. Pop Pop had a date with Mike that evening so after we had lunch and walked around a little I had to get Pop Pop into a taxi to Pepsi. He got to have a special plant tour which even I haven't had the chance to do. I was a little worried that the taxi driver wouldn't get him there but it worked out. We all met up later for dinner. We took Pop Pop to Tonkatsu because we thought that he would like it and we knew the boys enjoyed it when we were in Tokyo.
The boys got to play in the treetop playground while we waited so that was nice because they were bouncing with energy. We didn't exactly know where the good place to go was but we picked a place that was convenient and had decent reviews online. After dinner we took the MRT out to the Woodlands to the Zoo. I booked us tickets to do the Night Safari because I heard that it was pretty nice and it was a way to see the zoo without having to deal with all the heat and walking. Well getting to the zoo wasn't so easy. We should have just took a taxi but that would have taken a while too since we needed the big taxi for the 5 of us. I thought I knew where I was going but I didn't but thankfully the lady at the train station noticed that we looked lost and she directed us to the bus stop that we were suppose to take to transfer us to the zoo. We almost made it there but because we were in the wrong lane our bus passed us and when I tried to get Mike to run to get the bus he wouldn't so we had to wait 20min for the next bus! I was not happy. Eventually we got there and we were lucky that we had booked a later time slot because it took us over 1.5hrs to get to the zoo which is crazy. And the zoo was jam packed with people! I didn't realize it would be so crazy busy. When we got there I pulled up our tickets only to realize that I had bought river safari tickets and not night safari tickets. I didn't actually realize that there was a difference. I thought it was all the same but apparently it isn't. I think I must have known that there was a difference at some point because I remember looking at the different time slots and picking the 8:30pm one and there is no late river safari so I must have been on the night safari page. Well there was no reason to complain about it now so I just bought more tickets and we headed in.
The ques were crazy but they were moving but it still took almost 45min to get through the line. Then when we were pretty close to boarding there was some issue and all the trams stopped. It took another 15-20min for them to sort out the issue which we finally discovered was a broke down vehicle. This is something that you just have to get use to in Singapore I guess...the long long ques and the halfway useless workers (they were like lost ants running around trying to figure out how to get the broken tram off of the road). I can't say it was worth the wait but the safari was nice...it was quick too! After that we went to see some night critters show. At the end of the show the boys got to take a quick picture with one of the stars of the show. We didn't make the same mistake going home as we did coming there...we got ourselves a nice taxi and were home within 30min.
Saturday was a jam packed day of fun in Sentosa Island. We took our first cable car ride from harbor front and threaten the boys that we were going to have lunch at Food Republic. For some reason they hate the Food Republic in Vivo City and we can't figure out why so its always funny to tease them about going there to eat. The boys had been asking to go on the cable cars since we got to Singapore so they were excited to do it. There wasn't really much to see but it was a nice ride.
Then we took a stroll along the beach.
Of course the boys wanted to go in but we were not ready to deal with the sand. Then we made our way to Adventure Cove. I was able to escape going in the water since I had just got my hair done. So it was just the boys in the water for the afternoon. I have to admit that I don't mind this water park because it isn't to big the water seems cleanish. The biggest issue is the showers which are just gross. There is so much hair in the drains that half of the stalls you end up standing in an inch of water which just makes me want to gag. Thankfully I didn't have to deal with that today and I have since learned to find other places to rinse the boys off so that I didn't have to deal with that nastyness in the future. Today was the busiest day we have seen at the park but I guess its because of the summer holidays and due to it being Saturday. It didn't bother the boys and they were happy to be there. I think everyone had a good time which was good.
We finally pulled the boys away from the water and went to have dinner at Din Ta Fung...the boys favorite. The DTF in Sentosa was so super busy it was crazy!!! Again we should have expected that but we didn't. Thankfully the location is big so they can accommodate a lot of people so we didn't have to wait long. After dinner we strolled around some more and then went to do the luge. This was a lot of fun the first time we did it and we thought that Pop Pop would like it too. He was impressed with all the different things that you could do on the island and we told him that is where a lot of people spend their weekends. Before we moved to Singapore Mike had said that we would spend every weekend there and I told him we wouldn't...thankfully I was right. We do spend a lot of time there but not every weekend. The luge the boys love and I enjoy it too. Its hard to race each other but its also hard not to try and race each other. And this is one of the few times when Mike's weight actually is to his advantage because he zooms down the track so fast its almost impossible to catch up with him. I was worried about Lino flying out of his luge again like the last time but he left before I could tell him to wait for me.
Pop pop didn't have much trouble either which was nice. We had bought 2 trips but Pop Pop only wanted to do 1 so we went down the 2nd time without him. Then of course we lost him! How I dodn't know but we did. We walked around looking for him for a good 10min and I started to get nervous that he was really lost. We split up to look for him and then when we came back to the luge we found him. He had went to the toilet but he went to the one far down by the beach instead of the one near the luge. By this point we were all tired so it was time to head back. I think we all had a good day. While the boys were tired they still wanted to do more stuff but there was no way anyone was up for more stuff.
Sunday as Lino's birthday!!!! But since he had already celebrated his birthday 3x we decided it wasn't necessary to go all out for him but we would make sure he got some cake or something for dinner. For the day we took Pop Pop to Marina Bay.
There is so much to do out there and we like it there too. We took the bus out there and went to the cloud forest first. That was the first time for me and the boys to go to the cloud forest but Mike had been there before. It was crowded as well but it was pretty cool. There was quite a bit of walking and the day before poor Pop Pop got blisters on his feet from all the walking and wet feet after the water park. He didn't complain but I knew he had to be uncomfortable. At least inside of the cloud forest it wasn't so hot.
After that we were suppose to go to the flower garden but no one was interested so instead we went to eat lunch. Gernot had told us to go to the super dome for lunch and we haven't made it there yet so we figured it was a good time to try it out. Plus on the website it said that they have a taps bar at the top and that would be nice to not have a big meal and be able to take in the sights a bit.
But when we got there the lady who was checking us in was so confused by our request to go to the tapas bar. I showed her on the board that was next to her booth that it showed the tapas bar opening hours which was like from 10:30am until late. We were there around 12:30pm so the bar should have been open but she was like "the bar doesn't open until 5:30pm". We went back and forth with her for a while, I had her look at the sign and explain to me why the sign and the website said one thing and she is telling me something different. She didn't have a clue and just kept radioing up to someone else. I couldn't understand if she was complaining about us or seeking backup! Either way I had to give up and we just went to the restaurant instead of the bar. That was a nightmare in itself because the restaurant was so slow!!! It took them about 10min to get us a table and while they were trying to get a table ready, mind you the place was almost completely empty, the boys went up to the bar to confirm if it was closed or not. It was closed but they got a nice picture at the top which I missed out on because I was still baffled by the incompetence of the staff. We had to buy a drink to go up and then when we sat down to order the menu was so large but nothing good for kids. It was a disaster. The food was good but not worth all the hassle.
After eating almost a full bag of peanuts we headed back to Marina Bay Sands for dinner. We tried this new American place that had opened a couple months. We wanted to make sure they had something on the menu that Lino would like. The food was actually good and the price wasn't too bad so it was a good pick. Lino got a dirt pie which he thought he was excited about but in the end he didn't care to much for it. He did enjoy the gummy worms but that was about it. Anyway, Happy Birthday Lino! 8years of living with us and we haven't killed you yet so I guess we are at least partially successful! Next we took a trip up to the top of the hotel. It was a nice clear evening so we got a nice view.
Monday Mike was back to work and I took Pop Pop to our favorite local hawker. Lino was happy to go but not Shaun. I had to fight him the whole time to eat something. I was going to let Pop Pop try the steam buns that Lino loves so much but the place was still closed so instead I got him the char siew rice. That was a huge hit! Its one of my favorites too so I had a little food envy when I saw how much he was enjoying it. We got a few muffins from the bakery then headed out. We met up with Mike later in Clark Quay for dinner. We tried to show Pop Pop around as much of Singapore as we could without completely exhausting him. Clark Quay is pretty popular with tourist and expats and you can get a good view of the light show on the boat so we thought it was a way to hit a lot of things in a small distance. Dinner was another new experience for us...hot pot. Well we have done hot pot before in Houston but not in Singapore.
I'm not sure why we haven't gone before because there are so many hot pot places and we like it but we just haven't. Today we went all out. I think we must have ordered every item from the menu...at least it seemed like we did. The good thing was that the food was good and everyone enjoyed it. The only issue was the one screaming hot pot of fire that we got! It was like liquid acid with a layer of oil to coat it as it went down your throat. Needless to say we didn't mess with that pot very much...only a few times were we brave enough to cook in it. Pop Pop only needed to have one small piece of food from its fiery pits and he stayed clear of it! hahaha it was funny and we had a great evening. Pop Pops last day in Singapore we
went back to his favorite hawker and we both got the char siew rice. We
should have got a double order of meat because it was so good and we were both
licking our lips for more when we were finished. The boys were grumbling
a little when we started heading there but they quickly let it
go...thankfully. Then we went to Orchard to do some shopping for
souvenirs. I didn't know exactly where to get souvenirs but I figured on
Orchard anything you want could be found. I took Pop Pop to lucky plaza
because I saw there was always a lot of little shops there and I figured we
could figure it out from there. Thankfully we were fairly successful and
he got what he was looking for. Then we headed back to the house and the
boys took Pop Pop out for one last dip in the pool. We had dinner at
Wolfgang Pucks restaurant and while the food was good it was freaking
expensive!!!! One of the most expensive meals we have ever had. To
get good steaks here it cost a pretty penny. It was a cool experience but
I don't think we would do it again any time soon. Pop Pops flight was
early in the morning so he said his goodbyes to the boys before they went to
sleep. I got up with Mike and saw them off. Such a quick
visit. It was good to have him here and I know the boys enjoyed showing
him around so that was great too. Hopefully we will have other family
visit us next summer.
The
few weeks of being gone always seems to do something to their little
personalities. They grow up so much more in those short weeks than they
do the whole year...at least that is the way it seems. I had to distract
them a little to get them interested so we started to take note of some of the
different insects that we saw. Living in Ireland we use to always look
for new insects and Lino would be the first to pick them up and describe them
or tell us what he knew about them but here I am more afraid than I should be
but I know there a more dangerous insects so I do my best to get the boys to be
more cautious about them.
Today
we were discovering a whole new area of ants. The ants on the walkway
were golden and silver which we thought was pretty cool. I don't think we
saw any in Ireland with those colors so the boys made me take a picture of
them. We didn't get to close to them because I didn't know which would
bite but I got close enough to take pictures. I was suppose to look up on
"the Google" what type of ants they were but thankfully they forgot
to make me do that. One of the main reasons I wanted to go on this walk,
other than to get some energy out of the boys, was because I heard about the
helical bridge so I was eager to get there but when the boys spotted
a playground they had to go play...and have a snack.
Some
things never change. Eventually we found it and although it was cool it
wasn't as cool as I thought it would be. I think if we came back at night
when it was all lit up it would be even nicer.
Either
way it was something different and the boys couldn't resist running along the
bridge. I had a quick moment of panic because the bridge is over the
highway but there really wasn't any way for them to fall off...at least not
from running so I let them run. After that we kept on along the path and
finally made it to the top of Farber Point where the cable car starts
from. Of course they wanted to get on but we didn't bring our passes and
the plan was to walk to Vivo not to the cable car so we kept going. There
was an old cable car that the boys got in and I told them that that was almost
a good a riding down the real one...they gave me the sideways look and shook
their heads (Lino mainly) but I think they accepted it for what it was which
was as much of a ride as they were getting for the day. It took us about
1.5hrs to make it to the mall which wasn't too bad. But even after
that the boys were still full of energy!!! It is incredible how much they
can go and in this heat! I threatened them that we would walk back home
because I didn't think they were tired enough. Shaun said OK but Lino was
so over it it was funny. We didn't walk home but I did let them buy ice
cream while we were at the store so they were happy about that. After we
ate lunch I let the boys go home with Mariza and I went over to Deanna's house
to grab a few bottles of liquor that they were giving away. They had the
movers there in full effect so it made it all the more real. I didn't get
to hang out long but I was able to snag a bunch of alcohol and a waffle
maker. It felt so strange to be on the other side of a moving give away
spree. Only a couple more days and our only friends in Singapore will be
leaving us. This place sucks.
Friday I did some shopping
for a keep sake box for Fiji and we went to the hawker for lunch. In the afternoon I made the boys some popcorn and convinced them to watch one of my favorite old school movies...they said it wasn't going to be good but I told them if they wanted to watch a movie that mommy was picking it so quickly they changed their tune. We watched Little Rascals and they really really liked it! I was happy because there was a lot on the line with that movie but I think now they will trust me a little more when I suggest a movie that isn't "new". It was actually really cool to watch it with them. Saturday (Aug 4th) was almost back to normal for us, Shaun in soccer and Lino in swimming
then to lunch at DTF. Before we even got the day started Lino had pulled
one of his teeth out that had been loose for a while. Pop Pop wanted it
to come out while he was with him so that he could give him a good tooth fairy
price but he left to soon I guess. We were shocked because he just pulled
it out himself and had it wrapped in a tissue when we woke up. He made it
seem like it was no big deal at all. So different from the first time he
lost a tooth...he was in bits scared that it was going to hurt to bad and now
look at him. He didn't even need us to encourage him. After our
morning out we got back home Lino & Shaun were wrestling with each other
and one of Lino's teeth came out. Well Shaun helped to kick poor Lino in
the mouth and when Lino saw blood he went for the kill. The 2 top teeth
were loose and ready to come but we didn't think they would both come so close
together. The crazy thing is before we made it to dinner yet another
tooth was pulled!!!! 3 teeth in one day...all pulled by Lino.
I'm
telling you I don't know who this kid is. He was so proud of himself and
so were we. The funny thing is that he was debating the validity of the
tooth fairy and Santa Clause not that long ago and now he is talking about how
much money the tooth fairy is going to leave him. But then he gives us a
sly look and says something about maybe its mommy & daddy who take the
teeth and leave money. Of course we denied it but its just crazy to see
how they grow up and start to piece everything together. Mike and I were
going back and forth about how much money to give him and I was thinking $5 and
Mike was thinking $30, $10 for each tooth! I can't believe how much
inflation has impacted something as simple as the tooth fairies tidings.
We eventually compromised on $20 but even that was a lot but $5/tooth and an
extra $5 for the fact that he pulled them himself and 3 in the same day.
At least that was the logic that I told myself. When we woke up on Sunday
Shaun said that the tooth fairy left them $20 and I was so confused. Did Lino
actually share his money with Shaun??? But I think it was because they
slept together so maybe Shaun tried to come part ownership and Lino didn't seem
to bothered by it so we didn't say anything. And after all of our back
and forth about how much to give him he didn't seem overly impressed or
disappointed by the amount. Like I thought, it doesn't really mean much
to him. Its money but we barely let them spend it so its not that
important. Today we finally adventured out to church. We started to
go to a church in Cork before we left and we liked it and when we moved here,
as we always do when we get to a new place, we got complacent and busy with
other things and didn't search for a church. But after being in Kansas
and going with my grandmother to find a new church I knew we needed to get back
on the wagon too. So the closest church to us is New Creation. The
service times were late enough on Sunday that we didn't have to get up at the
crack of dawn, which was Mikes biggest complaint. He wanted a day he
could sleep in and since on Saturday we are up almost at our regular time to
get the boys to their sports Sunday is the only day he gets to sleep in.
So this church was close and had a service time of 11:45am so it worked.
But the problem was it is HUGE! The services are held in a performance
center and the check in process for the kids is like registering the kids for
school. They needed all the information from us, passport number or FIN
number, blood type, religion, etc...it was serious. That process a lone
took a good 20min because we didn't pre-register online...I had no idea I could
pre-register online. Next was the battle to find a seat. Since the
services are in a performance theater the place is huge and there are a good 5
levels of escalators to get to all the different floors. Again, since we
didn't pre-book our seats we had to go all the way up to the very top floor to
find a seat. We couldn't even just find a seat for ourselves we had to
wait until the ushers found us a seat which took a while...like another
25min. So it was almost 45min of checking in and waiting before we got a
seat. We were a little confused when we first sat down because there were
so many screens up displaying the video of the sermon. We were looking
around trying to find the actual pastor giving the sermon but we couldn't find
him. We must have looked like lost puppies because we were so confused it
wasn't funny. It took us a while to realize that the pastor wasn't there
and we were literally watching a pre-recorded sermon!!!!! The theater was
packed mind you and we had to wait over 20min to get a seat and there is no
real person preaching???? WTF????? I was not a happy camper.
This is just the thing that I wanted to avoid...these mega churches that are so
big that the pastor can't even attend the service. To make things worse,
mid way through this pre-recorded service the pastor starts to quote some
scripture and asked for the to put it on the board but apparently he
hadn't planned to recite this scripture so he was like "Oh let me just
find it in my bible and I'll read it to you..." he then proceeds to
uselessly sift through his bible and after a half hearted attempt says
"...now where is it?...I haven't used the bible in so long...let me see if
I can find it...". I don't know why that bothered me so much but it
did. He doesn't use the bible so he doesn't know how to find a
scripture? Really? And how did he become the pastor to such a mega
church??? God knows I do not know all my verses by heart and if I had to
find a specific chapter I would have to use the table of content to direct
me to it but I am no pastor!!!!! Ugh...it was brutal to sit through this
sermon. Not because he wasn't good...he was very charismatic but it just
seemed too much show and it was long winded. Mike & I were not
impressed. When service was over we saw Murchelle and her husband John
and talked to them about our experience and they were trying to convince us
that it was a really good church and that they have grown a lot
spiritually since they joined. I just couldn't see it. We
ended up having lunch with them and their boys at this Mexican place that is
similar to Chipotle but not even close to as good. When the boys saw that
Holly & Christian went to that church they instantly loved it and wanted to
come back next Sunday (which is not what they were saying when we were heading
to church that morning). After lunch we went home and Mike made meatballs
for dinner and Deanna, Erick and the kids came over for a farewell visit.
I was pretty sad to see them go and was hoping that we would have had more time
to spend with them before the left. They were really excited about the
new adventure but the kids were scared and didn't exactly want to go.
Things would be very different for them and they have lived in Singapore their
whole lives so I could only imagine how they felt. It was also hard for
them to say goodbye to their helper Ning, who was joining us. She had
been with them since they were 9mo old so basically family. It was
a hard goodbye and while I hope that we will see them again someday it isn't as
likely. They moved to Minneapolis and we never go there so not
likely to cross paths...but you never know.
The boys wanted to stay out all night but it
started to rain at one point and most of the little stalls closed up but the
boys wouldn't give up. The rain only lasted a few minutes then it stopped
and the boys were able to ride the train for another 20min before I was able to
get them to go inside. Thursday Aug 8th was Singapore National day! I thought to take the boys to the National Day parade that I saw on the internet but after looking more into I found out that the parade was not a public parade but more like a show that you had to get tickets to. I was a little annoyed at the fact that you had to get tickets for a parade but tried to get over it. Then after more digging I saw that all the tickets were gone and the only way to get a ticket was by raffle draw or something like that. That was disturbing and I knew there was no way to win a raffle prize like that on the day of. As if that wasn't enough to put me off I finally got to the root of the whole thing and discovered that this "parade" show thing was only for Singaporeans and you get a ticket by requesting one in May. Then after they assign tickets if there are any tickets still remaining they are raffled off to Permanent Residence people (I think) but you would have had to apply to be put into the raffle about 3 months prior. What the heck is that all about?? I have never heard of such crazyness. The moral of the story is that we were never going to be able to attend this parade so we just made up our own plans.
We decided to try a new cafe that was a game cafe in the city. Recently we have started to expand our game selection with the boys. The other day Shaun pulled out Yahtzee and wanted to pay it. I told him he wouldn't be able to play it but after a few minutes of thinking about it I figured it wasn't that complicated so why not. He really enjoyed it!!!! I was shocked that he did. We didn't finish the game and I didn't remember exactly all the rules but we played for a good hour and got almost 2/3 of the way through the list and it was fun. We played again with daddy a few days later and he was even shocked that the boys lasted so long...of course Lino joined in after we started having fun but at first he was to important to play a silly game like Yahtzee :-) Anyway, we found this cafe online and decided to try it out. It wasn't at all like we thought it would be but it was fun none the less. Basically it is just a basic cafe with a bunch of different games that you can play. You pay by the hour for playing and you can change your games as much as you want during your time or you can just play one game the whole time its up to you. You get free flow snacks (aka all you can eat) like chips and peanuts and also drinks. Mike & I were excited to try a new game but the boys saw The Game of Life and that is what we ended up playing.
I was a little annoyed at first because we play this game all the time at home but the version at the cafe was different so I guess it wasn't so bad. We ended up staying for 2 hours and the boys would have stayed for longer if they could have. I am pretty sure it wasn't because of the game but because of the constantly replenished supply of chips...which were pretty darn tasty...we haven't had sour cream & cheddar ruffles in a long time. Next we hit up a an ice cream shop that daddy & Lino spotted on the way to the cafe. Then off to Marina Bay. We had planned to go to the gardens at Marina Bay and let the boys splash in the kids garden for a while until the fireworks show. At first the boys acted like they didn't want to go to the splash park but that didn't last long. While we were watching them there were a few passes of the military jets overhead and the boys were all excited to see them. It was so loud too it was scary for a moment because we were not expecting it. Then when it happened again it wasn't so bad. They also had some carrier plane flying the Singapore Flag which was really cool (pictures are on Mike's phone).
When the splash park was closing we headed out to find a good spot to watch the fireworks but that wasn't easy since the fireworks were going off in front of the hotel and we were behind it. The boys had found a new friend at the splash park and were making a big deal to go with him to the green area to watch the fireworks so we went with him and his mom. They didn't know exactly where to go either so we were just walking around for a while until we finally got an OK spot. The fireworks were OK but I wouldn't say spectacular but you wouldn't have guessed that from the reaction of the crowd or the boys. I'm glad we got to see it but getting out of there after was a disaster. I had suggested that we eat at the hawker near to the splash park but since we had walked so far in the opposite direction to get a better view of the fireworks Mike wasn't interested. Plus the next day was work day for Mike and we were already close to the exit of the gardens that he just wanted to go home. So we tried but the buses were stopped in that area...due to the festivities...and all the taxis were hired. It took us a while to eventually get a taxi home.
Friday was a busy day because we had orientation for both of the boys at the school. Mike met us up at the school and we went around to meet the new teachers. Shaun's new teacher for SK apparently was his PE teacher last year. I wasn't exactly happy about that but I guess for kindergarten it is more about having the ability to deal with the smallys and having enough patience to teach them the basics of school. The boys were excited to be back at the school and they saw some of their old friends so that was nice too. Lino's new teacher was also new...I mean really new. Mr Blake Richardson moved from New Zealand only 1.5 weeks prior to when we met him. So he was not only new to the school but new to Singapore...great. The only saving grace for him was that he was a he! Lino has had the best years of school with male teachers so I feel like it will be a good year. I don't know if its about Lino's feelings about a male teacher or the fact that most of the male teachers are really laid back? I know when Lino had Mr Shine in Sr Infants in Ireland he had a really good year. I mean he got in trouble but we didn't have as many calls and messages from the teachers as we did with the female teachers. I still think that Lino challenges the female teachers more than the males because he is use to such a dominating mother...but I could be wrong :-) We also got some time to check out the activities table and we signed Lino up for pre-competitive swimming assessments which he was not happy about but I think he is a good swimmer and if he can do a sport that he is good at it will give him some focus...I hope. I know he doesn't want to compete but that is only because he thinks he will loose which he will at first but after a while I can't see him loosing to many. Lino also saw a few other activities that he wanted to check out so we need to try and manage all of them somehow so that we don't have to run all over Singapore on the weekends doing sports. After that we headed over to the Abacus class for the boys to do a tester session. One of the Chinese moms have been telling me to sign the boys up for it because it helps them with their math. It is suppose to be a good tool for quickly doing math problems. I have also hear that 3rd grade math can be kind of tough so I was thinking it could be a good supplement for Lino so that he doesn't struggle. I know that if he starts to feel like he can't get the homework he will stop and it will make everything else that much more difficult. I let Shaun & Lino do the class but after it was finished the lady said Shaun wasn't ready for it because he couldn't write the numbers yet but Lino seemed to pick it up quickly. So I think we will put Lino in but what day??? To many things already on the fire why add another one? I feel like we are becoming more Singaporean quicker than we became Irish. For the evening we ended up surprising the boys with a movie in the park in Sentosa. We were running a little late getting there and the boys kept asking what we were doing but I wanted to surprise them so I didn't say. But once we got onto the tram Lino had figured out where we were going...which he should have because he was the one begging me to bring them back for one of the movies in the park nights. They also had asked about doing at least 4 other things that day but this is one that at least seems interesting for the whole family. The idea was that the movie was suppose to start at 7:45pm. Mike was going to meet us at the park around 6pm so that we could do the DIY BBQ for dinner then we would all relax and watch the movie and go home. I was also suppose to make some popcorn but forgot to do it and when I asked Mariza to do it before we got home she was so confused she barely made a small bowls worth. Anyway, it is all nice and good to have a plan but with us that normally doesn't mean a lot. It turns out the movie didn't start until 8:30 which was good and bad since we were late and since we were late it was pretty dark by the time we got to do our grilling. It was cool and the boys did enjoy being out there because they got to play soccer with some of the other kids before it got to dark.
The movie was Ant Man and since we hadn't seen it it made it worth all the hassle. Even with all our plans going a little to mush we still had a good evening and since we had Ning with us she stayed with the boys on the mat while Mike & I sat at the picnic table and enjoyed our beers. By the time we made it home it was super late and we had to get up early on Saturday for the boys soccer & swimming so I was not looking forward to that. On Sunday we tried out a new church because I was not so eager to go back to watching a sermon on a big screen TV. I found a church that wasn't too far from us and the service started late enough that again we didn't have to get up super early. When I told the boys about it they were not happy because they wanted to go back to the other church but I couldn't. We ended up missing our stop and had to walk a little further to get to the church but it isn't too far from us, one bus stops actually, so I think it could be good. The check in process for the boys was way more normal and quick which was great. The church wasn't too big and it was easy enough to get a seat. Just those 3 things alone made me feel 90% better about the church. The sermon was pretty good...not amazing and not horrible so I think we have a good option here. I would like to try a few more churches out but Mike is like "if we like this one why do we need to try out another one?" I understand what he is saying but that is just how I am...but for now we will come back here for a few more times before trying something else. After church we took the bus over to the SIS back to school ice cream social. We stayed there for a few hours before heading home. We should have done more to make new friends while we were there but neither one of us was really interested. It must be done so I need to just stop putting it off and do it. Next time.
My first flight from Singapore to the states alone with the boys. This is a long haul for sure...and to get to Kansas makes it even longer because it takes 3 flights to get there. If we were flying to New York or even to Dallas it would be about 3-5hrs shorter. We actually met up with one of my Chinese moms at the airport but she was so lost an flustered because this was her first time flying with her son alone that we didn't have a lot of time to chat. Her poor husband ended up talking to me on the phone to tell me that he was worried that she was going to miss her flight so I rushed her to her terminal. We flew on Japan Airlines and I must say I was quite impressed with their little dinner/lunch meals. It wasn't overly tasty but it was well presented. They are apart of One World so the planes are the same as AA but the service is like you are in Japan. The boys were up for the first flight and then got to play in the play area in Tokyo while I did a little shopping for some gifts for the family. It was crazy because the first flight was on Japan Airlines with Japanese staff...the second flight was AA with American staff and the difference was so huge! As soon as I heard the flight attendants talking at the check in desk 
The next week was pretty relaxed. On Monday Morgan went back over to her dad's house and Shaun was asking her a million questions about who her dad was. He asked Uncle Pete if he was her dad and when he said no he was all confused. Lino asked why he was living in the house if he wasn't Morgan's dad...we didn't have a good answer for that but fumbled through it. But when James came over to the house to get Morgan, Shaun went at him with a bunch of questions about "S: Who are you? J: Morgan's dad. S: What's your name? J: James. S: Where do you live? J: Not here. S: Why don't you live here? J: Because Morgans mom and I don't live together any more. S: Why? J: Because we decided to live in different places. S: Does Morgan have a brother? J: Yes. S: Who's his dad? J: Me. S: Who's his mom? J: Hahaha...another lady..." I had to stop him there...poor James was not prepared for this 3rd degree questioning. But later that day there were more questions about dad's and mom's and where people live and making babies and all that kind of stuff. I asked Lino if he knew how the baby got into the mom's belly and he told me he did but he didn't really, he said God put's it there and I said yes kind of but the mom and dad have to have sex for the baby to get inside of the mom. He was like "What's sex" I told him its what 2 adults do when they want a baby. He didn't ask much more about it but I know there will be more questions. I kind of like that the questions come in small little burst because I don't have to go into the full detail all at once...he can only digest so much at a time and I can only deal with so much detail at a time too so it works out for both of us. On Tuesday while they were gone I took GG out to the bank then we went shopping. We were going to go have lunch but we didn't have time plus we got caught in a little storm so it slowed us down a big...later I got my hair done which was nice...I love a fresh perm but that meant no more working out for me because I didn't want to sweat out my fresh perm :-). Wednesday Nana couldn't take them to the water park so I had a day out with the kids. We started out by taking Morgan to tutoring and on the way there Lino was questioning me about Santa Claus. Was he asking how I could know if Santa Claus was real or not. Now people who know me know I don’t like promoting Santa Claus and I do what I can to avoid the question because I don’t want to lie about it. So I let him keep going, he didn’t seem to need a response from me anyway. He went on to ask about the Easter bunny and super hero’s. When Shaun heard him ask about super hero’s he had to interject to say that super hero’s were real...he didn’t seem to care to much about the other ones but super hero’s had to be real. It was funny. Then I finally asked him what he thought and he said he didn’t think any of them were real. Then he asked if we use to write a letter to Santa and I said we didn’t but some kids do and I asked if he wanted to and he said he did. So just that quick he announced that Santa wasn’t real but then he still wanted to write him a letter at Christmas. Then the conversation went onto what we were going to make for Santa for Christmas, this was Shaun’s question, and I asked what he wanted to make and he thought about it for a while and I can’t exactly remember an answer but it was funny whatever it was and I told him that we would make it if he wanted to so he was happy enough with that. When we got to tutoring Lino had to read his book in the car which was not fun because he was not interested in doing it. Then to the Trampoline park and when we got there Lino was full of tears and I had no idea why. I though he was upset because he still had 10min of reading to do but eventually he told me it was because he was so sad about leaving Ireland and he wanted to go back because he missed his friends so much. I was taken aback...I don’t know where it came from. It it was so raw and so strong I didn’t know how to respond. I just hugged him and told him I understood and I was sorry. It’s moments like these that really makes me questions question how much damage we are doing to our kids by moving them all over the world. But before I could really think deep about it he was over it...so quick the feeling hit him it left him just as fast. The trampoline park was fun but poor Shaun ripped his nail while we were there so he was a little sad. The nail was already coming off from when he smashed it in the bathroom door one night during one of his sleep walking episodes. Well now the nail is coming off and I tried to cut it the other day but he was worried it was going to hurt and now it is coming off. Even though it was hurting and bleeding (we put a bandaid on it) he still didn't want to leave so I let them jump for a while longer before we finally left. Next to the house to get GG and have lunch at Golden Corral, GG’s favorite, not my favorite but it wasn’t about me. When GG was getting into the car I was trying to do something else so I told Lino to help he walk to the car. He gave me this crazy look then shrugged his shoulders but didn't really help her. I had to tell him that he is a little man and should help your elders because its a sign of respect; you don't want her to fall and hurt herself so if you help her that is the kind thing to do. He wasn't feeling it but did it...half ass. Lunch was ok, there were a bunch of old folks in there so it was perfect for GG. The boys liked the dessert bar of course. We had a fun filled day and ended the evening with a game of Sorry with Uncle Pete...the Sorry champion of course won but it was still a lot of fun. So it took nearly 2 days before Shaun let me cut off the nail and even then I had to basically threaten his life before he would let me do it. The first day I got some super glue and did a little mini seal job on it so that he could go to the amusement park. That actually held for the day which was good...it burned a little when I put the super glue on him but I think he preferred that over cutting. The next day I finally convinced him but I think the only reason he let me cut it off was because I told him he couldn't go with Nana to Oceans of Fun unless I cut it off. I knew that the glue wouldn't last as long in the water park so finally he let me cut it then I put more super glue on it because it was sensitive and he was off. That kid gets more hurt than any kid I know...he is tough for the most part but sometimes its a lot of work. The rest of the week the boys were with Nana at either the water park or the amusement park for most of the day so it was nice. Shaun was so exhausted one day that he told me that he didn't want to go back to the water park because he was to tired. I asked him if he liked he said yeah but I'm to tired to go back..hahaha...well he went back again and again anyway but it was a funny conversation anyway. They really look forward to go to the parks with Nana and I think she enjoys it just as much. I know its a lot of work to be out in the hot sun with the boys running around from ride to ride but she always has a smile on her face when she comes back. I know Lino looks forward to it to because when we ask him why he likes coming to Kansas he always says that its because he likes going to the parks with Nana and he knows that he will be going almost every day and that he can get a bunch of soda or poweraid while they are out so he thinks its the best ever. One day they were trying to convince me to go with them and I had to tell them that that was not my idea of vacation to be out at some amusement park with my kids in the blazing hot summer...no thank you. So while they were out I read my book (oh man this book series is a pain in the ass...I have Mike reading the books too and we are going to do a book club discussion when we are finished but the books are long and a little drawn out so we have been talking a lot about the books already)...I digress. Sunday we went to church and I was asking Lino to help GG into the car and stuff and he was giving me a hard time again...I knew then that we needed to start showing him more how to respect and treat your elders. At church one of my high school classmates saw me and we reconnected. It was crazy to see her because I haven't seen her since graduation and I'm not sure if I would have recognized her if she didn't say anything. I asked her how she knew it was me and she said I looked exactly the same as high school...I'm not sure if that was a good or bad thing but I'm pretty sure my bags under my eyes have doubled and so has my tummy but who cares. It was crazy to see her but good...she is doing good and modeling which I would never had expected from her in high school. I'm so happy for her.
Then after a while other people started going down and going in between the water to take pictures...there were at least 3 groups of people taking pictures so I told our boys to go in and I would take a picture of them but for them not to play in the water.
My last week in Kansas and 4th of July! TT & I were trying to come up with a plan for 4th of July the whole weekend in Texas. The problem was that the holiday was on a Wednesday and we knew that Frederick had to go to work on Wednesday and din't get off until late and Pierre was going down to Texas with his youngest daughter for a college campus tour so in order for us all to get together it was going to be complicated. Finally I said we should do the celebration on Tuesday evening when everyone is off of work because no one had to work on Wednesday so we could stay up late and hang out and sleep in on Wednesday and recover so that who ever had to work on Thursday would be good to go...So that's what we did. We didn't have a huge menu but more than enough food for our little gathering. We had BBQ from Hard Eight too but that was in a special stash. Pierre got off work early on Tuesday to grill and make ribs which was nice and had a little dance off with the boys which was funny. I took a 2hr walk to the smoothie store and back...it was damn hot but the smoothie was good. Nana took the boys and Morgan to the water park and in the evening we all got together. TT wanted to make Hurricane's so when she got off of work we put that together. TT surprised us with a visit from Tamika and her son Xavier which was so nice. Then we got into an intense volleyball tournament. The last tournament the House Clan dominated (Nana's kids) this time Nana was out there playing with us and she was no good at all...we lost all the games except the last one that we barely won.
July 9-17
My flight back was uneventful but when I couldn't find my bag it all went down hill from there. So I was waiting for my bag for a while and when it looked like all the bags were out I asked someone to check for mine...apparently my bags were still in KC! What the hell??? The lady did some calling but that was the verdict and I asked why they were there, thinking that the lady at the check in counter sabotaged me and I should have done the sky check-in for $5 like TT suggested, but the lady didn't know. She only knew that there was no movement of the luggage from its origin. So I had to go to lost and found and fill out a report for my luggage. I was so nervous that the reason the bags didn't leave Kansas was because one of the bottles of alcohol opened and they couldn't send it or it was too over weight like the lady said and they stopped it to search it. I was freaking out. So when I had to fill out the form to claim any custom items like ALCOHOL I actually said I had alcohol in the bag!!!! Why would I do that? The lady said it all so casually like "oh if you have anything to claim just put it on the form so that it is easier to clear customs" I wasn't sure if I was already in trouble on the Kansas side for the alcohol so I didn't want to be in more trouble on the Singapore side so I claimed it...wrong decision. It took about 45min to talk to customs about what kind of alcohol I had and how many bottles and how much I paid for them and what was the alcohol content and crap like that. I lied and said I only had 2 bottles but after they were drilling me and told me how much it cost to bring those 2 into the country, about $65 Sing dollars I knew that they would go through my bag and find the 3rd bottle. But I didn't say anything...I just wanted to be done with it. It was too late now I should have said nothing to begin with but oh well...I was to tired and tried to do the right thing...NEVER AGAIN!!!!! So after all that about how much it was going to cost I had to go to the ATM to get cash to give to the lost & found people so that they could pay the duty on the alcohol when it arrived. What a mess. I was texing Mike the whole time and he was getting worried for me because I was sounding distressed (mostly just tired) but there was nothing he could do. I got into my taxi to leave and Mike called me to see where I was...apparently he was waiting for me at the airport but missed me somehow. Too funny. So Monday even though we didn't get to bed until 2am I was wide awake at 7am and so was Mike. I worked out for the day and did a few things around the house but there wasn't much to do. For the week I basically did nothing but blog, go see Mike for lunch, exercise and "Do dating". Lino was asking Mike what he was going to do while we were gone and he said nothing much. Then Lino told him to do dating with mommy so that is what we were doing. We played tennis one night then dinner and movie the next. I wore one of my new heals and they were kicking my ass after 10min of having them on. I think it was because they were to big but it was hard to say. We had a nice sushi dinner then to the movies to watch Ant Man & Wasp Girl.
There wasn't much to it. We had a good time anyway. We went walked around town for a while and did a little shopping. In the evening they closed one section of the main road and little stalls were out selling food and other stuff.
The boys have been having a good time in NY it seems...the little we hear from them is always filled with all the cool things that Nini & Pop Pop are doing with them. Of course the first day they arrived they had to get into the pool. It was evening but the sun was out and the weather was good so in the pool they went. They love having the pool right at their fingertips. Another day they went bowling one day and apparently Shaun won the first game against Lino with a score of 101...that is pretty impressive. The second game Lino won but he couldn't beat Shaun's high score so Shaun was really proud of that. It appears that one day Shaun even got a haircut...which was not on the approved list nor was approval requested. These grandparents are really starting to take on their own way...I guess it's to be expected.
July 18-23: 10 yr anniversary trip
Mike was so proud of him self with this trip he even upgraded us to business class for the flight there which was great because Mike got to sleep on the way there which gave us a better chance to enjoy our first day. I was pretty darn excited and so was Mike. I think he was more nervous than excited because he didn't want repeat for the honeymoon but I think he had to know that I would be more than thrilled with this destination. So we enjoyed an hour in the lounge and tried to get as much booze in us as possible so that we would crash on the plane. The plane was nice but the business class wasn't as nice as some of the other planes but we couldn't complain too much because it was nice and roomy and the flight attendants were so nice. Our first introduction into the Fijian world was 'Bula' which means hello and they say it all the time for all most everything...I think it must mean more than just hello...maybe welcome or something too? Next was some a taste of Fijian rum followed by endless supply of Fiji water. It is a simple thing I know but when you are from Kansas and only hear about this exotic country which is all the way across the world everything you encounter becomes amazing. So the simple Fiji rum and honey drink was amazing and the cups and cups of Fiji water that they kept serving to us was super cool too! When we finally landed in Fiji I couldn't wait for the adventure to begin! But wait I must... 
I had all these ideas in my head about where we would go and what we would do but the logistics never really came into play but now they did. Mike milked it for all it was worth and gave me a little bit more anxiety about our true destination because we had to check into another flight when we arrived. I thought that we were just waiting for a transfer car to take us to our resort but it was a flight. So Mike was like, "maybe we aren't actually staying in Fiji only just passing by". I asked him if it was like in the Twilight movie where Edward and Bella stopped off in Brazil for a day but that wasn't the real destination...we were both dying laughing thinking about that. I told him he must be taking me to Renesma Island...I was sure of it!!! What goofs. But to my surprise it was nothing like I had expected. I was thinking a little prop plane to carry us over to the islands but it was a helicopter!!! And a private helicopter at that!!! I didn't even think about that as one of the possibilities. Even Mike was super excited.
So we got to take an amazing, yet short, helicopter ride to our island. It was amazing, scary, breathtaking, terrifying, thrilling and every other emotion that I could feel all at the same time. I can't believe our first helicopter ride was over such spectacular views...
When we arrived at our resort I felt like we were royalty landing! But the pilot told us on the ride over that this was fairly common form of transportation between the islands. It was barely a 10min flight and if we were on a sea plane it would take about 30min or so to do the same distance. He didn't exactly bust my bubble but it was deflated a little...I still let Mike have the glory that he upgraded our short trip with a helicopter ride when he could have settled for the more economical method. I must say it is a little weird to be so lose to the helicopter when you are getting on/off of it. I was always worried that my head was going to get chopped off by the blades even thought they were not even close to my head...but still I made sure to duck down when I was close to it. When we got into the resort we were greeted in such a welcoming way...by song.
Our private villa with an outside pool and shower. I'm pretty sure the villa was about 2/3 the side of our apartment in Singapore!!!
The resort we were staying in was an adult only resort and there were so many people there on their honeymoon that it made us really think that we were old!!! Its hard to believe that we have been married for 10yrs but what a place to celebrate that milestone. The great thing about this island was that the lounge/bar area was looking over the west coast so we got to see a stunning sunset...even with all the clouds it was beautiful. 
Our second day Mike had booked us a private island picnic lunch! We got to take a boat out to this island and we just hung out there all day. The boat ride wasn't long but it didn't take long for me to start getting sick so I couldn't really take in the sights like I wanted to. A private island retreat isn't exactly my idea of fun but its totally a Mike thing. I had to take a few minutes to get myself together because I was looking forward to doing more active things but after a while I started enjoying it. We didn't do much but explore the beach, go swimming, collect rocks and search for hermit crabs. Part of our lunch was a bottle of champagne so we enjoyed that with our cheese and sandwiches. Of course even though our boys are over a thousand miles away I couldn't help thinking of them. So while I was exploring the shores and Mike was napping I started to collect some rocks so that I could take one back for Lino. I ended up collecting all coral somehow and I tried to tell myself not to take one because I know that it is precious to the ocean but I just couldn't resist. I know Lino would love to have one of these and if I pick it I can actually keep it in a place that I will also remember the significance of it later on...so I took one. For Lino and for me :-)
Our quest to bother every hermit crab that we could find. Some of these crabs are pretty big. We were trying to figure out how they grow. Do they grow bigger shells as they get bigger or do they go to a new shell as their current one gets to small? I said the later but Mike thought they grew their shells...since were were in the middle of nowhere we didn't have any internet to check and see what the Google thought so it was a mystery that still remains... I made Mike pick one of the crabs up just to get a better picture of it and he was so scared...it was too funny.
That's our island...bye bye beautiful peaceful island...
The rest of our afternoon/evening we just relaxed at the resort in our hammock and at the bar for the 1hr of happy hour (no tax on drinks) where we tried to get as much booze as we could in that one hour. That isn't easy because the staff is so slow...well everything in Fiji is slow...no one is in a hurry which I guess is typical island living...oh well. Another beautiful evening in Fiji regardless
We only had 2 nights in this resort so we decided to stay up late and enjoy our last evening there. There was a crab race after dinner and of course our little crab didn't win but we had to pay 20 Fifi dollars towards the crab race anyway. It was the most entertainment that they had on the island. Other than the singing from the staff. They love to sing and everyone who was singing had pretty good voices too. It was so nice actually. Instead of having some CD playing soft music in the background there was always someone singing and playing the guitar in the lounge or by the restaurant. When ever there were new visitors to the resort the new couple would be welcomed with a welcome serenade and when ever couples were leaving they would get the same thing. If there was a special birthday or anniversary celebration they would sing them a song at dinner. 
The next morning I was paying for my foolishness. Mike had tried to get me to go inside but I was so wasted and tired that I ignored him. And I thought I wanted to sleep out in the nature and be one with Fiji! I knew better! All those Survivor episodes filmed out in Fiji and all the mosquitoes and insects I saw I new better but some how I ignored those thoughts...what an idiot. I didn't sleep outside the whole night but long enough for the insects to have a mini feast on me.
The water underneath the hut was crystal clear and we were watching a school of blue, red and yellow fish swim under us as the lady gave us a little tour of the place. Before we got married I had dreamed about coming to Fiji and staying in one of these huts and now were are here! So many emotions its impossible to explain but mostly I just felt so blessed. How could we be so lucky and blessed to be able to experience this little wonder of the world????
Since we kind of lost a day the first thing we did after we got checked into our hut was to go and find the excursions booking office and try to see what we could do for the day and the next day. Since the next day was Sunday we couldn't do an village tour unless we just wanted to go over for church services which we didn't...so that means we won't get to visit the village before we leave :-( oh well...maybe in another lifetime. They did have jet skii tours for 2-3 hours that take you around the island. Mike was all excited about that so we signed up for it in the morning that way we had time to do other things in the afternoon. The only tour that was still available for the current day was the sunset cruise so we decided to do it and then we signed up to do jet skis in the morning...I wasn't exactly thrilled about that but Mike was so I was willing to go along with it. I don't think we were on the island for more than 2hrs before leaving for the cruise. 
There wasn't much to do that evening...we had to make reservations for our dinner earlier in the day so we had to wait about an hour before it was our turn to go eat. While we were waiting we were chatting with the couples from the cruise. They were all really nice and Mike & I started to like the newly wed guy a lot more than our first impressions would have lead us to believe. We talked about our jobs and where we have lived and our time in Fiji and our kids. Then randomly we started talking about the starts because the sky is so clear there that its easy to see all the different constellations. 
Him and his mail order bride were zipping in and out and all around the place and Mike couldn't be out done by this prick of a guy so he was doing his damndest to keep up with him which was bad news for me!
It was the worst tour I've been on in a while...I was terrified the whole time and Mike barely adjusted his mad crazy need for speed to pacify me. He was already upset that our jet skii wasn't going as fast as the other couple and that he didn't have as much control over the skii as they did so it was just a bad combination. At one point I thought we were going to drawn because there was so much water in the bottom of our skiis but apparently you just have to keep moving and the water goes out...what an experience. Mike thinks that we have done jet skiis before but I feel like that can't be possible because I would remember such a traumatic experience as that (as you can see from my happy face picture...me looking just like my mom). The one thing that did happen that wasn't funny but was kind of ironic was that the mail order bride couple ended up switching drivers at the end of the tour and the Malaysian wife was driving. I guess she was trying to keep up with her husband or just not paying a lot of attention but at some point they were speeding through the ocean and then they stopped quickly and she apparently slammed her face up against the front of the jet skii and busted her lip. We didn't realize it until after we were on shore. She was looking all frail and her husband was saying how she wasn't paying attention and telling her to stop talking, don't smile, don't say anything, it looks bad but that's what happens, your tough, maybe you need stitches, blah blah blah. I was like, she just busted her lip, its not the end of the world. I think she thought it wasn't that big of a deal but she had to play the role...or maybe not...it was just weird/awkward/funny all at the same time. And Mike with his limited sense of respectfulness just kept staring at her and smiling and shaking his head. I had to hit him to get him to try and at least pretend like he didn't notice them. He is so oblivious its unreal. That was the best part of the tour! When we got back to our island we signed up for one more tour in the morning...the sunrise breakfast in the mountains. One of the other couples told us that it was pretty spectacular and you also get a nice walk in and that it was well worth the early rising. So we figured it would be our last morning in Fiji and we haven't seen a sunrise and there was not enough time to do anything else so why not.
Our last night in Fiji!
July 24-August 2
Back to reality...Mike back to work and I'm back to trying to figure out what it is I'm suppose to be doing. We only really had a day to fully recover from our trip before the boys and Pop Pop arrived. I got news from our friends that they were not taking their helper with them to the States so I was able to scoop up a new helper for us. I had to tell Mariza that we were letting her go and we were worried that she would be upset (crying or even mad) but she seemed to take it ok. I am not even sure if she really understood me and this is another reason to let her go. The biggest problem was that we had to give her a 30 day notice per our contract with the agency and the new helper was going to be coming to us sooner than we had expected, in less than 10 days. So I had to figure out what to do about the dual helper thing. If we sent Mariza back to the agency we would still be responsible for her but wouldn't have to pay salary. If we kept her with us then we would have to house 2 helpers which could be OK but could be drama too because the old one might be spiteful with the new one. It is crazy that these types of things consume so much of my mind...but it is what it is. We decided to just keep Mariza with us until her 30 days were up but we knew that if we needed to send her to the agency it was an option. So late on Tuesday we had our last date night without the kids. I ordered burgers from the burger placed that we had tried to walk to the week before. The burgers were good but I am pretty sure they would have been better if we went there to get them. On Wednesday I got my hair done and picked up a few things in the city for Mike...his special temperpedic pillow that he paid god knows how much for...too much that is for sure. The family was arriving late so when Mike got home he took a nap so that he wouldn't be so tired. I told him that I would just go get them myself so that he could sleep but he wasn't having it. We had been texting Pop Pop for the past 2 days trying to get him prepared for the flight with the boys. He didn't seem to worried which was good. The boys are not really that difficult since they get to have ipad/movies the whole time the biggest issue is trying to keep them from peeing their pants, eating something on the plane and sleeping some so that they are not complete nightmares when they land. We wanted to make sure that he had the easiest experience possible so that he wouldn't be completely turned off to the idea of doing it again next year!!!! So I was suppose to wake Mike up around 30min before the plane landed but I got a text from Nini saying something about them landing so I woke him up...it was a false alarm but we went to the airport anyway. The flight was delayed leaving Tokyo but seemed to have made up time in the air but when it got to Singapore they had to wait to land...so much hurry up and go only to sit and wait. After a while we started seeing people coming out that were on their flight but we didn't see Pop Pop or the boys. Eventually we saw them but they were going the wrong direction so I went to cut them off but then I lost them. I have no idea what they were doing but finally they got their bags and Mike saw them coming towards him. The boys looked so huge!!! It had only been 2 weeks since I saw them but they seemed to have grown like crazy in those 2 weeks and Shaun's hair was as golden as it always is at the end of the summer. Mike was so happy to see them and the boys were super excited to see him too. Pop Pop was in a pretty good mood too and he said the flight was easy and the boys were good. There was no issue with the transfer in Tokyo, which was good, and the boys played in the little play area for the hour layover so all was good.
The boys were bouncing with stories to tell us and luckily for them we had to wait for about 20min to get the maxi taxi so that we could all fit without having to take 2 taxis. Mikes excitement to see the boys barely lasted through the taxi ride home. I was asking him to do something and he almost lost it...he is so cranky when he is tired. The boys thought it was funny so they started messing with him too and of course he couldn't resist fussing at them. When we got home I asked him to move the door from the guest room and put it into the computer room and you would have thought that I asked him to make a 12 course meal at 1:30 in the morning...he was not happy about it! I didn't care, I made him do it anyway because it was in the way of Pop Pop...hahah...Oh daddy...so easy to loose your patience for your family. On Thursday morning everyone was exhausted, Mike especially. After a morning lounging around the house I finally convinced the boys to take Pop Pop down to the pool so they begrudgingly went. While they were at the pool I received an email from RB. I had emailed them on Wednesday confirming the start date and asking who I should report to when I arrived. I was not exactly looking forward to starting work because Pop Pop was still going to be in town and I wouldn't want to stay up to late in the evenings and I wasn't even sure when I would be getting off of work. Plus I was going to miss the orientation day and first day of school...a lot of regrets. But the email was bitter sweet, they basically said that the visa was denied and I wouldn't be able to start on Monday as originally planned. They didn't give a reason as to why it was denied and they only barely suggested that they might resubmit the application again. I didn't really know how to respond to the email...do I say "thanks for trying but don't worry about resubmitting because I am having hesitations about working full time so now I don't have to miss all the boys back to school stuff". No...I can't say that. So I just said I was disappointed and I was looking forward to starting with the company and if there was anything that I could do to help with the resubmission process to let me know. I am truly torn as to what to do about this situation. I want to work that I know for sure. And living in Singapore I am not going to find friends as easy as I did in Ireland and I need to get out of the house before I go crazy so working is the most logical choice. Also, it helps me to put some more experience on my resume which will be needed when I get back to the states. So all roads lead to working...but...I also will be loosing a lot in the process. Mike has way more vacation time and flexibility with his work than I will have so our trips will be very limited and maybe even eliminated completely except Christmas...even Christmas is going to be a stretch. Then there is the boys, I won't be able to see them like I do now but I guess that isn't completely bad because even now when they come home they are out with their friends most evenings. But I know it will be hard with homework if I don't get home until late it will be hard to get Lino's homework done before they are suppose to be in bed. Any activities at the school I will probably have to miss for this first half of the year until I get more settles at the job. Things like that. Those are luxuries I know but at this point it has become normal for me to do this so it would be an adjustment. Anyway...so many things to consider. But for now there is nothing I can do about the visa so I will just enjoy this extra time with the boys.
On Friday we just hung out around the condo. The boys took Pop Pop to the big pool for a while then we headed over to Vivo City for a little sightseeing. We ended up having lunch at some Jamie Oliver Italian restaurant but it was not that good. The little side salads that me & Pop Pop got were tiny and cost $22 each! For lettuce and 3 strips of chicken...so ridiculous. Pop Pop had a date with Mike that evening so after we had lunch and walked around a little I had to get Pop Pop into a taxi to Pepsi. He got to have a special plant tour which even I haven't had the chance to do. I was a little worried that the taxi driver wouldn't get him there but it worked out. We all met up later for dinner. We took Pop Pop to Tonkatsu because we thought that he would like it and we knew the boys enjoyed it when we were in Tokyo.
We finally pulled the boys away from the water and went to have dinner at Din Ta Fung...the boys favorite. The DTF in Sentosa was so super busy it was crazy!!! Again we should have expected that but we didn't. Thankfully the location is big so they can accommodate a lot of people so we didn't have to wait long. After dinner we strolled around some more and then went to do the luge. This was a lot of fun the first time we did it and we thought that Pop Pop would like it too. He was impressed with all the different things that you could do on the island and we told him that is where a lot of people spend their weekends. Before we moved to Singapore Mike had said that we would spend every weekend there and I told him we wouldn't...thankfully I was right. We do spend a lot of time there but not every weekend. The luge the boys love and I enjoy it too. Its hard to race each other but its also hard not to try and race each other. And this is one of the few times when Mike's weight actually is to his advantage because he zooms down the track so fast its almost impossible to catch up with him. I was worried about Lino flying out of his luge again like the last time but he left before I could tell him to wait for me. 
Sunday as Lino's birthday!!!! But since he had already celebrated his birthday 3x we decided it wasn't necessary to go all out for him but we would make sure he got some cake or something for dinner. For the day we took Pop Pop to Marina Bay.
After that we were suppose to go to the flower garden but no one was interested so instead we went to eat lunch. Gernot had told us to go to the super dome for lunch and we haven't made it there yet so we figured it was a good time to try it out. Plus on the website it said that they have a taps bar at the top and that would be nice to not have a big meal and be able to take in the sights a bit.
Next on to mid afternoon drink! We took Pop Pop to get a Singapore Sling. The Raffles hotel was under construction so we had to go to the temporary location. I can't believe that these drinks are $32 each but that is the price and they are not even that strong! But it is all about the experience I guess. So Singapore Slings all around!!! Virgins for the boys of course :-)
After eating almost a full bag of peanuts we headed back to Marina Bay Sands for dinner. We tried this new American place that had opened a couple months. We wanted to make sure they had something on the menu that Lino would like. The food was actually good and the price wasn't too bad so it was a good pick. Lino got a dirt pie which he thought he was excited about but in the end he didn't care to much for it. He did enjoy the gummy worms but that was about it. Anyway, Happy Birthday Lino! 8years of living with us and we haven't killed you yet so I guess we are at least partially successful! Next we took a trip up to the top of the hotel. It was a nice clear evening so we got a nice view. 
August 2-12
Once
Pop Pop left it was time to start getting the boys detoxed from summer
holidays. That means decreasing the amount of Ipad time they had.
We didn't want to completely take it away from them because that would be
unnecessary torture for us and them but a slow decrease is more
efficient. The first step to detox is getting the boys out of the
house! so on Wednesday we went out for a walk. It wasn't a long
walk but something to do and something different. The boys were not
interested but I knew once we got going they would like it. So we took to
Hort Park which is just a stone throw from the condo.
I'm
not sure why we haven't ventured out there before now but we haven't.
Lino wanted to ride his bike because he loves riding his bike but I wasn't sure
if we could ride them on the walkways plus Shaun didn't want to so we just
walked.
The
next week was a mix of relaxing and trying to distract the boys away from the
Ipads. One day Lino helped me to paint my toes which was sweet. He
was going outside to ride his bike with his friends and made me promise to not
do all of the painting myself so that he could help so I did. He is so
like his dad...so sweet when he wants to be. On Wednesday I took the boys and Ning out with me to do some shopping for crafts for my Fiji project. I always under estimate how much time it takes to get from place to place in Singapore because of using the buses but as usual by the time I got to the store to look around we needed to leave if we were going to make it out to Lino's hair cut appointment. So I had to rush to get my stuff then we were running around on Orchard looking for a taxi to take us less than 1.5miles down the road. Ning finally got us a taxi and we made it not too late to the appointment. I must say the guy who cut his hair, we met him before at the SIS events, he did an OK job but honestly the great clips and Korean cuts places do just as good of a job and it only cost me $10 vs his $30!!! I was not happy but there wasn't much I could say to him to get him to fix it...he is the barber he should know how to make it look clean...shouldn't he??? Ugh Either way it was cleaned up from how it looked so it was enough for the first week of school but I will have to secure other options and soon. That evening the condo celebration Singapore National Day. There was some food give away, magic show, games, train rides and small prizes awarded. This is the 53rd birthday of Singapore.
I was a little annoyed at first because we play this game all the time at home but the version at the cafe was different so I guess it wasn't so bad. We ended up staying for 2 hours and the boys would have stayed for longer if they could have. I am pretty sure it wasn't because of the game but because of the constantly replenished supply of chips...which were pretty darn tasty...we haven't had sour cream & cheddar ruffles in a long time. Next we hit up a an ice cream shop that daddy & Lino spotted on the way to the cafe. Then off to Marina Bay. We had planned to go to the gardens at Marina Bay and let the boys splash in the kids garden for a while until the fireworks show. At first the boys acted like they didn't want to go to the splash park but that didn't last long. While we were watching them there were a few passes of the military jets overhead and the boys were all excited to see them. It was so loud too it was scary for a moment because we were not expecting it. Then when it happened again it wasn't so bad. They also had some carrier plane flying the Singapore Flag which was really cool (pictures are on Mike's phone).
Friday was a busy day because we had orientation for both of the boys at the school. Mike met us up at the school and we went around to meet the new teachers. Shaun's new teacher for SK apparently was his PE teacher last year. I wasn't exactly happy about that but I guess for kindergarten it is more about having the ability to deal with the smallys and having enough patience to teach them the basics of school. The boys were excited to be back at the school and they saw some of their old friends so that was nice too. Lino's new teacher was also new...I mean really new. Mr Blake Richardson moved from New Zealand only 1.5 weeks prior to when we met him. So he was not only new to the school but new to Singapore...great. The only saving grace for him was that he was a he! Lino has had the best years of school with male teachers so I feel like it will be a good year. I don't know if its about Lino's feelings about a male teacher or the fact that most of the male teachers are really laid back? I know when Lino had Mr Shine in Sr Infants in Ireland he had a really good year. I mean he got in trouble but we didn't have as many calls and messages from the teachers as we did with the female teachers. I still think that Lino challenges the female teachers more than the males because he is use to such a dominating mother...but I could be wrong :-) We also got some time to check out the activities table and we signed Lino up for pre-competitive swimming assessments which he was not happy about but I think he is a good swimmer and if he can do a sport that he is good at it will give him some focus...I hope. I know he doesn't want to compete but that is only because he thinks he will loose which he will at first but after a while I can't see him loosing to many. Lino also saw a few other activities that he wanted to check out so we need to try and manage all of them somehow so that we don't have to run all over Singapore on the weekends doing sports. After that we headed over to the Abacus class for the boys to do a tester session. One of the Chinese moms have been telling me to sign the boys up for it because it helps them with their math. It is suppose to be a good tool for quickly doing math problems. I have also hear that 3rd grade math can be kind of tough so I was thinking it could be a good supplement for Lino so that he doesn't struggle. I know that if he starts to feel like he can't get the homework he will stop and it will make everything else that much more difficult. I let Shaun & Lino do the class but after it was finished the lady said Shaun wasn't ready for it because he couldn't write the numbers yet but Lino seemed to pick it up quickly. So I think we will put Lino in but what day??? To many things already on the fire why add another one? I feel like we are becoming more Singaporean quicker than we became Irish. For the evening we ended up surprising the boys with a movie in the park in Sentosa. We were running a little late getting there and the boys kept asking what we were doing but I wanted to surprise them so I didn't say. But once we got onto the tram Lino had figured out where we were going...which he should have because he was the one begging me to bring them back for one of the movies in the park nights. They also had asked about doing at least 4 other things that day but this is one that at least seems interesting for the whole family. The idea was that the movie was suppose to start at 7:45pm. Mike was going to meet us at the park around 6pm so that we could do the DIY BBQ for dinner then we would all relax and watch the movie and go home. I was also suppose to make some popcorn but forgot to do it and when I asked Mariza to do it before we got home she was so confused she barely made a small bowls worth. Anyway, it is all nice and good to have a plan but with us that normally doesn't mean a lot. It turns out the movie didn't start until 8:30 which was good and bad since we were late and since we were late it was pretty dark by the time we got to do our grilling. It was cool and the boys did enjoy being out there because they got to play soccer with some of the other kids before it got to dark.
The movie was Ant Man and since we hadn't seen it it made it worth all the hassle. Even with all our plans going a little to mush we still had a good evening and since we had Ning with us she stayed with the boys on the mat while Mike & I sat at the picnic table and enjoyed our beers. By the time we made it home it was super late and we had to get up early on Saturday for the boys soccer & swimming so I was not looking forward to that. On Sunday we tried out a new church because I was not so eager to go back to watching a sermon on a big screen TV. I found a church that wasn't too far from us and the service started late enough that again we didn't have to get up super early. When I told the boys about it they were not happy because they wanted to go back to the other church but I couldn't. We ended up missing our stop and had to walk a little further to get to the church but it isn't too far from us, one bus stops actually, so I think it could be good. The check in process for the boys was way more normal and quick which was great. The church wasn't too big and it was easy enough to get a seat. Just those 3 things alone made me feel 90% better about the church. The sermon was pretty good...not amazing and not horrible so I think we have a good option here. I would like to try a few more churches out but Mike is like "if we like this one why do we need to try out another one?" I understand what he is saying but that is just how I am...but for now we will come back here for a few more times before trying something else. After church we took the bus over to the SIS back to school ice cream social. We stayed there for a few hours before heading home. We should have done more to make new friends while we were there but neither one of us was really interested. It must be done so I need to just stop putting it off and do it. Next time.
We have come to the end of the summer for us. A lot going on as usual but all good really. The boys are growing up more and more every year and it is just amazing to watch them...sometimes it painful and annoying too but still amazing. They have such a brotherly bond there is no way to really explain it in words. This summer I can tell that they are really starting to come into their own people. Lino has a lot more moments of uncontrollable anger but he is also showing a lot of patience and caring for Shaun which makes it even more strange. Lino gets so frustrated with Shaun sometimes I don't even know how to talk to him about it. I see a lot of Mike's frustration in him and I just don't relate so I feel bad because the only way I know how to deal with it is to get him to calm down and talk to me about it. I tell him all the time that if he can calm down and tell me about it then I am more likely/able to help him. Only 2-3% of the time does he actually do it but hopefully over time that will increase. At the same time he can be so good with Shaun its amazing. If Shaun gets in trouble for something and his feelings are hurt or he is sad Lino is right there to do something silly to make him smile or laugh. A lot of days Lino is trying to school Shaun on how to deal with difficult situations (which Lino himself struggles with) and he seems to have such pity for him. Lino is still and even more so a super social kid and just seems to make friends where ever he goes. He has a way about him and I think that is a trait that will really benefit him in the future. He loves riding his bike and playing leggos (building the biggest leggo creation from the box that he can then taking it apart to make smaller ones later). As for Shaun, I know that he is working things out for himself but he struggles a little more than Lino did at this age. He is constantly trailing behind his big brother (as younger siblings do), he can be a little aggressive but not in a negative way only a forceful way. He doesn't give up very easy and he is full on when its something he wants. He is so affectionate it is crazy. He would be the first one to run and knock you down with one of his bear hugs. Then he proceeds to shake you until you fall or stumble. He loves his food and will try a lot of different things. His new favorite is English Muffins with cream cheese which he got a taste for while in NY. He doesn't like to do the same thing over and over again (like Lino) he likes change (like his mom) but he struggles with making the connections with kids at first. Only at first and I think that is just because he has such a strong personality. I am not sure how this year will turn out for either of them but I know it will be filled with lots of growth and changes. Well 3rd grade and Sr Kindergarten here we come!
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