Singapore

October 4-7

At the airport.  I forced the kids to pose.  At least Nate thinks it's funny.

Day One...

For breakfast, we had a traditional Singaporean meal.  It was soft boiled eggs seasoned with pepper and soy sauce, toast with coconut spread, and coffee.  Only we had hot Milo.  We are all now huge fans of the soy sauce and egg combo.

After a train ride, and a bus ride, we made it to the zoo.

We thought it was awesome (and scary!) that they had life preservers above the crocodile habitat.  I wonder if they've had to use them?

No one wanted to stand next to the statue with boobs.  (She's the one on the right.)

G liked navigating.

Then we went next door to the Night Safari.

We went a little early so we could have dinner before it opened, and they have a fire show right out front.  It was fun.  Our dinner was super expensive fried snacks.  Because everything else was even more expensive.

After you ride on the safari train, you can walk around.  They have a few other things to look at that the zoo doesn't have.

We saw some flying foxes.  We were in the habitat with them!  They were flying around us.  This picture is terrible, but we were that close.  It was crazy, and creepy.

Then we saw a show.  Could have done without the show.

Day Two...

On the MRT on the way to Chinatown.

Shopping in Chinatown.

Lanterns.

The Sri Mariamjman Temple.

We did not go in because it was busy.  The Hindus were celebrating something, but I'm embarrassed to say I don't know what.  There was a ton of people, and drumming, and food.

Then we went to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.  Which was close enough to be right next door to the Hindu temple.  Which I thought was awesome.  This was the first Buddhist temple we've been in.  It was very... gold.

Dried lizard, anyone?

More Chinatown.

Even though we'll be surrounded by Chinese shops in a few months, we still bought the kids something.

Then we went to a little market.  I haven't even seen live frogs for sale here in Jakarta!

Day Three...

We had a late start to the morning, so after having McDonald's for breakfast, we had a mid-morning snack...

Our favorite treat since visiting Chicago!  Love is messy indeed.

We made our way over to Little India.

As soon as I pulled my camera out, some lady told me I couldn't take pictures.  I don't know if she meant just right there, or everywhere, but I was scared to get told no again.  So I snuck the camera out quickly and took random shots.  I loved this gold shop ahead of Rhon.

This was the touristy section.  Before this, Nate and I got separated.  I was with Rhon and G, and he had the other kids.  Sometimes on this trip I would get left behind waiting on G.  So Nate got used to telling me where he was going to go.  He told me to go left at the main road, but I just went left.  Not on the main road.  So Rhon, G, and I got a really good look of the backstreets of Little India.  I've never felt more like I was in a foreign country!  I felt a bit uneasy.  There are no women anywhere.  And the men stare.  Everything was unfamiliar.  We weren't separated too long though.

Then we ate at the Tekka Centre.  It was delicious.

We got some interesting drinks.  G did not like the fresh coconut water.

Last but not least, we went to Singapore Botanic Gardens.  It was amazing.  Amazing.

Loved it.  It was so nice to have green space, and a place to run around.

The youngest 4 kids wanted to run around right away.

BA couldn't resist for too long!

We loved it here so much that if we ever go back to Singapore again, we'll just come here everyday.

We were so grateful for this opportunity.  Sometimes it can be difficult to live in Jakarta, and you just need a break, some time away.  And Singapore was exactly what we needed.  It reminded me a little of Chicago, a little of Paris, and a little of Hong Kong.  We loved the organization, and clean air.  We loved being able to walk along sidewalks, and pop into a store to shop and no one followed us around.  We were hardly noticed at all!  We loved all the yummy food.  It was wonderful.

Mathematical!

G is a two-wheeler rider!

I took him to the empty tennis court at our complex because I thought it would make it easier.  It took him one try.  I ran with him with my hand on the seat and he just complained that I was messing him up.  So I left.  And he was fine.  Since the bike is still a bit big for him, he has to use the curb to get started, and he still needs practice with that.  He also needs practice with stopping.  For the most part, he would just run right into the fence to stop, or just topple over.

I should have done this long ago.

Mads doing tricks.

He is riding the girls' bike because he grew out of the one G is riding, and I haven't gotten him a new one yet.  Anyway, that's why he's riding a girl's bike.

Then they decided to give me a heart attack by climbing the fence.  When I looked over, they were at the very top.  I literally jumped up.  The crazy woman part of my brain wanted to scream, but I had to let the rational side of my brain do the talking so that I didn't freak them out so they lost control.  When they were out of "death" range, I took a picture.

Ultimate Destroyer

We had hamburgers the other night.  I took a picture.

Nate wanted a good old-fashioned, American-style hamburger.  When you want a taste of home, you make it yourself.  They were delicious.

They were delicious and tall.  G told himself, "You have 10 minutes to finish the Ultimate Destroyer!" I guess we watch a lot of Man vs. Food.

Alcapone

I finally took the kids to the dentist.  Give me a break!  Going to the dentist in a foreign country (especially this one!) is intimidating.  But we went.  And it went well.  No cavities!

G was a pro.  When the dentist asked if he wanted the channel changed on the TV, he just held up his hand, shook his head slightly, slowly climbed into the chair, and opened his mouth.

Dare.

Mads.  Lucky for me, this kid does a good job brushing his own teeth.  I am not great at being the enforcer.  Or the tooth brusher.

BA.

Rhon.

We stopped by McDonald's on the way home.  We also decided to get some donuts from J.Co.  Since there were no taxis coming, we crammed into a bajai to get home.

We've had that bajai driver before.  He loves us.

The boys love the ride, the rest of us hate it.  But not more than standing on the road waiting for a taxi, I guess.  I'm surprised I was happy enough to want to take a picture!  Check out BA's grumpy face.  That's usually how I feel.

It's worth it to make the boys happy.

We got home and pigged out on donuts!

J.Co uh uh!

Light Tan

June 22nd

 On our way to Europe, we had a stopover in Dubai, so we thought we'd stay there a day to check it out. This is on the tram at the airport.  It was a crazy awesome airport!  It was huge.  And there were hotels, work-out rooms, a pool, and many many restaurants and stores.

The lobby of our hotel.

We got to Dubai at like 5 in the morning.  They were nice enough to let us check-in at about 7am.  We went to the room and took showers.  We had a free breakfast coming, so we headed down for that.  It was so fun!  They had all kinds of things we've never seen at a breakfast buffet.  Like olives and cheese, smoked turkey, hummus, tomatoes, ham, fruit, etc. You name it, they had it.  We all loved it.  They even had waffles and cereal. 

Then we went back to our rooms and crashed.

Jet lag is rough.

The kids were very confused.  It was really hard to tell what time of day it was, or even what day it was.  We didn't get out as early as we wanted on our one day in Dubai.  We missed out on seeing some things, but we still had a good day.

These boats were lining the docks.

We had Subway for lunch.  It's been a while.  Check out the coke cup with Arabic on it!  At least I think that's Arabic...

We took the bus tour.  It wasn't the best choice, but we got to see a lot of Dubai.

We got to see a couple of iconic hotels, beautiful mosques, crazy malls, and the ocean.  The Dubai Mall was even crazier than the malls here.  It has a massive aquarium in it.  And a Garrett's!  It also had a water fountain show outside.  Apparently it is a record breaker too.  The most water?  The tallest?  The quality of pumps?  Something...    

The Burj Khalifa.  Tallest building in the world.

It was a pretty hazy day.  It kept us cool (well, less hot) but it wasn't good for pictures.

It is very, very tall.

Dubai is a very multi-cultural city.  In fact, there are very few people who are actually "from" Dubai.  People live there from all over the world.  There were just as many people from Europe as Arabs.  But they still have a lot of strict rules.  I was a little worried about my shorts when we got off the plane, but then I realized it didn't matter that much.  Also, at the airport they have signs for the family bathrooms where men are allowed to go in with women.  I guessing it's for when a wife needs help from her husband?  When we went to find a taxi, there was a taxi queue for taxis only for women.  The cars were pink, and the women drivers wore all pink, even their headdress.  I noticed quickly that some men wouldn't talk to me, or even look at me.  Especially if Nate was there, they ignored me.  For example, when we would negotiate a taxi fare.  I didn't care, it was just interesting.  Also, Nate and I were a bit cautious about showing affection to each other.  We kept our distance, just in case.  We saw a lot of women in full black burqas, and many men with the red and white checked head scarves - keffiyeh - I had to look that up.

Dubai was obviously super deserty looking.  But not like the desert where I'm from.  Just dirt, no cactus or trees or shrubs.  There was grass and greenery, but you could tell it wasn't it's natural habitat.  It was always partnered with many, many sprinklers.  We didn't get to see the real desert, like with camel-type desert, but maybe next time.  We also didn't see the spice or gold market.  We were there on the wrong day.  Friday morning everything is closed.

Mind the Gap

After a long vacation, Rhon's tooth fairy is back on duty...

August 28

 Then a couple days later she lost the one on the other side...

September 4

Rhon has now passed BA in number of teeth lost.  It's funny when child number 2 does something before child number 1.

Then last Friday (Sept 28th) she had to get a tooth pulled.  So the tooth fairly had to be on her game again!  Rhon made it a point to tell me she was actually putting the pulled tooth under her pillow that night.  I thought nothing of it, even though she's never said anything before.  But when I got the tooth (right before I woke her up for school :/) I realized there was a note attached to it.  Here's what it said...

To my dumb Poop Fairy,

I want more money than one dollar because I had to get five shots for this baby.  So I expect at least one extra dollar for this little guy.

- Rhon

Remember the "Poop Fairy" letter?  Well, I don't think Rhon forgot.  She's the coolest.

I had Nate read the letter immediately and we had a couple minutes to write another letter before Rhon woke up.  And since I had already gotten the tooth, and left the money, he had to be creative.

Rhon-

Hey, that dumb Tooth Fairy took your tooth before I could get there.  What a punctual jerk!  Anyway, here is a little something from your good pal.  I heard this one cost you some pain!  Haha!  Get over it, you weenie!  Just kidding.  Enjoy that gap!

Your Friend,

The Poop Fairy

Almost

September 25

We saw a lizard in the yard and the boys had to run outside and get a better look.

These are the shoes they managed to get on their feet.

I had them come up to the window so I could get a good picture of the shoe choices.  I love how G wears the non-flip-flop one like a flip-flop.  Looks comfy. 

Awww!  Darling.  Just don't look at their feet. 

After they saw me with the camera, they made me go outside (it's hot!) and take a picture of the lizard.  He was pretty cool.  Almost worth the sweat I sweated.

Stache

September 20
This was the day the boys asked me if I would draw mustaches on their faces.  I don't know about the tough guy looks.  To me, a mustache doesn't make you look tougher.  But for boys who see a small, mustached, Italian guy defeat just about everything in their video games, it does.

Strozzapreti

August 20

Making pasta.

Rhon will always help in the kitchen.  And even though all the kids will help if given the chance, she shows way more interest in cooking the food than any of the other kids.  She and Nate spend a lot of time in the kitchen talking about and making delicious food.

Rhon would probably have homemade pasta every night if she could.  Once she gets tall enough/strong enough she'll be making it all by herself.  I can't wait!

Waterbom

August 2

We finally made it to Waterbom.  It's kind of a big deal here.  It worked out this day for a few reasons.  One, the Indonesians were in school so it wasn't crowded.  Two, they were having a sale so it was cheap.  And three, the kids hadn't started school yet, and we had a lot of free time. 

It was awesome!  I was pleasantly surprised.  Admittedly, my expectations were low, but it was way better than expected.  I even felt mostly safe! 

The kids had a blast, of course.  We went with 2 other families.  So everyone had friends to hang with.

Everything looks so tropical!

I left my camera with my stuff when we went on the big slides.  But they had a bunch.  And they were really fun!

Here we are in the cabana we rented.  This time I went on the slides.  I even went on the ones that give you a major wedgie.  They were fun, but next time we go, I will park it in one of these things with a book and wait for the kids to get worn out.

I'm Only Looking for My Cat!

July 12

When we got back from Europe, I cut my hair off.  Again.

July 25

Since we were in Rome on Independence Day, we had a redo.  We had red, white, and blue jello!  We don't buy the fireworks here even though they are everywhere and pretty cheap.  We just don't trust them.  But we do trust the sparklers!

July 28

The kids (all but BA) got their faces painted at Robert's party.

I love that in this picture you can see that we are watching the Olympics.  Archery.  Watching the Olympics outside of the U.S. was interesting.  At first we thought it was funny that we could watch just about every badminton match there was, but when I started missing other events I love, it started to get irritating.  We also saw a lot of table tennis, weightlifting, and judo.  Oh, and archery, of course.  Apparently, those are the sports that this part of the world is interested in.

August 1

We got a back-to-school package from Ry and Kristy.  It was so nice.  The boys each got a Batman notebook.  They loved them.  Mads took his everywhere.  He was always drawing in it and writing stories.  Now it's all filled up! 

Love this picture.  Dare is so awesome.  She is so enthusiastic with the boys.  She always gives them her attention, and she is never too busy to talk to them, read to them, laugh, play, hug, etc.  She is an awesome big sister.

Daylight

June 19

BA in her room.  Making bracelets/anklets and listening to her iPod.

Sun-BEAM!

Today was a rough day in Jakarta.  It wasn't a happy day.  But the fact that my 3 youngest still jump when we sing "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" made me happy.

The oldest 2 didn't jump, but they sang happily, and one of them even picked the song.

I did laugh out loud once today.  G came downstairs wearing one of the girls' bathing suit tops, and a skirt.  He had the top on backwards.  It was a tankini-type that crosses in the back.  That by itself was funny, but the best part was when he said, "It shows my nippies!"  He was right.  There they were on each side of the bathing suit back.  Nippies?

(Say it like it rhymes with 'hippies'.)