(jul 17) Gardens by the Bay

Ha, a blast from the past again. Oh jun certainly resembled his darling brother.

Went to GBTB via public transport on a Thursday. Now that we shifted swimming to Tues (Tong had swimming and soccer on tues but he would still be so energetic when he came home at night), we could have outings on Thursdays.

We sauntered through the Chinese and Indian Gardens..

How lovely that these prettily manicured parks were free for all

At the gigantic ants' nest near the entrances of the domes. They found a crevice to creep into...

National Day was coming soon, so it was an orchids' extravaganza!

There was a very beautiful glass house, there were even caterpillars and cocoons in the enclosure!

Of course, many scenic spots to take photos

From the upper levels, one could see caterpillars made out of shrubs

The older ones were pretending to be caterpillars by using their hands as feelers..

It was always pleasant to stroll in the cooling and cool dome

Resplendent with a myriad of colours

Well, the kids were urging me to finish the tour of the dome as I had promised to take them to the water play area. 

We arrived at 530, with half an hour to the closing time. I was not even aware that it closed at 6, it was fortunate that we could play for that wee while.

The little one was frightened of the massive jets while the older two took off like fish to water.

They pretended to be aeroplanes and glided amongst the sprinklers...

I was just admiring them from the side, taking comfort in knowing that they would grow up to be thick as thieves, and having all these reservoirs of happy memories...

hA, the big ones scooted off, living the little one pining for them to come back to join him

one day, he would be ready and soar too...

Ha, we played for a further while at the dry playground

saw this totem on the way to Satays by the Bay

The little ones sat at the kids' corners...jun was ravenous. Papa joined us for dinner, hurray. He had recently made it a point to leave office early, so he would have some time with the three of you before you slept. It made him more productive in the day, and I thought it made him happier to leave work earlier too. He might still need to follow up on things after tucking you in, but it beat working late in the office and missing out on talking to you.

checked out the tip of the chicken wing in his mouth

ha blast from the past again...

my goodness, had it been such a long time already?

At the Chelsea vs Inter Milan match

It was disappointing as Chelsea lost. Nonetheless, we had a smashing time.

Well, before we knew it, it was already August. We had settled so comfortably into our routine of getting into bed by 9, that the children would show signs of fatigue once it was past bedtime. Gone were the days when we would shop and dine in malls till 9 plus, then sleeping at 11 plus. Gosh, what a drastic change. Now, mama had more time to read, work, do chores and simply chill out with dad after the three of you turned in. Soon, it would be the end of the year...what an amazing year it had been.

(July 2017) School started once again...

Bukit Panjang Library was open again! What a very long wait, it had been very inconvenient having to travel to West Mall, Lot 1 or Jurong East to visit the libraries. 

The spanking new library was awfully amazing. It was so pretty from afar, it looked like some chic art shop or museum and not the fuddy-duddy restrictive environment we were used to.

You could even see how the books were moved on the conveyor belts and sorted into different bins. 

Arty-farty facades which made for good photo spots

The layout was completely revolutinsed, there were many corners for people to cozy up with the books, it was a tad bewildering for me though.

We found the books we donated to the National Library. ha

Jun had taken a liking to books to. That day, i was going through the school readers from Tong's school with Tong, and Jun sat through the whole reading session for half an hour. Tong had an earlier headstart, he could recognise many sight words and was pretty good with blending. I wondered if Jun would take to reading even earlier? Ha but as it was, he was still uttering mainly mono-syllabic words...unlike jie, who was talking in full sentences when she was two...

Leisurely day, lounging on the sofa, without cares in the world...jun had become a little TV addict...and a ipad addict too, often repeating "pad pad pad pad" when he reached ah ma's house.

Random things

ha, xun's 1G class photoshoot

Now, they even offered the candid and informal versions!

A photo of xun when she was 5? 6?

A friend sent me this photo. They had so many exciting activities during recess. No wonder Xun enjoyed going to school so much.

Oh the side gate to the bus stop was open! Yay, we would never have that sinking feeling of watching the bus go past us while we were walking from the side entrance at the petrol station to the bus stop. What convenience!

Oh, this little boy was growing up so quickly, he was finally putting on some meat on that lithe puny frame...well, we prayed that he would be tall and lanky, big and strong...

Ha, at Candice's wedding, oh this pair of cute little cousins. We posted the picture in the Cousins' chatgroup and it sparked a discussion on how we could have all the little ones helping out at Xiaoshu's wedding...jun could be the ringleader (ring bearer, ha) and lead all the big ones. That would would be so utterly adorable.

Oh a photo of mama's and the class she covered for some 5 months. It was daunting at first, I had not taken a p3 class for quite some time. These kids were so bright and chatty, they were a lovely bunch. I had never taken photos with my own past classes, I should have. Someday, some of these kids might turn out to be movers and shakers of Singapore...

I hoped i had played a tiny part in seeding ambitions and big dreams in them...

We were teaching Jun to say "I love you". He would crinkle up his cute little handsome face and squeeze his eyes shut...acting all coy and sheepish...haha

Would you believe that this was actually Tong and not Jun? Ha, they were like peas in a pod.

Papa bought this top "The girls just love me" for jun...it attracted some smiles from the ladies we encountered in the course of the day.

wOW, what was this tiny tyke doing among the alcoholic drinks? 

He had been taking the kangaroo on excursions. He liked dainty soft toys...ha...he was on the other side of the glass and pressing his lips against it. This silly munchkin.

I loved inhaling his baby ru-yi oil fragrance...

ha, our little xun with that mischievous grin

All snuggled up on ah ma's bed...

only papa was pretending to be asleep, the trio were really taking a siesta...

Well, we were at the plaza and he requested for a photo with the grass mats. Hmmm, I supposed he was like his gor gor, who liked to take photos at strange spots.

Waiting outside Bukit Panjang Pri school for jie jie to come out...he was a friendly fellow, he would even let the school auntie who unlocked Gate C carry him to look over the parapetso he could catch a glimpse of his beloved jie jie ambling to the staircase from the canteen...

On a Sun when mama had to work, papa went on an adventure with the threesome...

On an ordinary school day, we actually made time to go to the River Safari. We had utilised the Friends of the Wild so well, we had totally covered the cost of the membership. Up till date, we had gone to the Night Safari 4 times, zoo and River Safari a few times and even the Bird Park!

Ha, looked like they were on a wobbly bridge and going to fall off the precipice.

at their cousin's birthday party. We were at Aunt Weili's new condo...ah...always great to visit new homes to get new ideas for renovating our next house!

the lazy bums of the house...

ha, saw this cut-out at church the other day...giggles..it was really amusing to see tong in here

jie had to stay back on Mon for extra ND celebration rehearsal. We took food to her and went up to the hall. All the jies were so enamored with the little one that they were constantly surrounding and chasing him. ha...well, this little one would not remain little for very long...let us treasure his littleness and cuteness for now...