Four-Day Weekend!

Living in Singapore is a lot of fun.  Singapore has a vast cultural diversity and the government works hard to be very tolerant of the different cultures and religions.  For this reason, it seems like every other week we are celebrating some holiday or festival.  Monday we "celebrated" Deepavali (Indian New Year).  Basically this meant that we got a four-day weekend!  It was wonderful, though not quite as fun as we were planning.  Betsy was sick the whole weekend and is only now beginning to recover.  As a result, Danny and Aaron got to spend a lot of father-son time while Betsy rested.  Danny really enjoyed all the time with Aaron.

Some of our activities:
Church
Walk to the store
Watch Horton Hears a Who
Play baseball

Play in the ball pit

It is amazing how fast he is growing up!  I loved getting to see his growth up close.  Tonight we had a couple of funny moments as it neared bedtime:

After Aaron's bath, as I was getting ready to dry him off, I pointed to the ceiling and said, "Aaron, what is that?"  (I was just trying to get him to look up so that I could tickle his neck.)  As I pulled the towel away, he continued to look up and said, "I don't know what it is."  I tried to tell him I was just teasing him, but he wouldn't give up.  He finally concluded that I must have been pointing at a gecko and declared, "The gecko is all gone."  When we finished drying him off he ran to Betsy to tell her that the (non-existent) gecko ran off!

Later, I was working with Aaron trying to get him to quote Deuteronomy 6:5. (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.)  I had showed him hand motions for heart, soul, and mind.  As he quoted he said, "Love God with your soul, heart". Then he stopped, so I pointed at his head to get him to say mind, but no, he says, "and ear."


Racing fever
Some of you may have heard about the big F1 race here in Singapore a couple of weeks ago.  If you didn't, it was a big deal here and was the first night race in F1 history.  Because of this great excitement in the city there have been many different things emphasizing the race.  One of these was an exhibit at the science center.  Betsy took Aaron to see the displays that were set up.  Here is one of the cars in the display (no, it is not an F1 car).

Seeing the Sights

It is the rainy season here.  We find this to be a mixed blessing.  With the rain comes all the blossoms on all the plants.  The island is a riot of colors!  The rain also brings somewhat cooler weather (30 degrees C instead of 32 degrees!!)  Ok, so I never thought I'd notice a 1 or 2 degree change in temperature.  Sometimes I wish for a sweatshirt in the windy rain.  (I know, I can't believe it either!)

Unfortunately, rainy weather also keeps away the sun.  It has been several days since we had a bright, sunny day all day.  When Aaron and Betsy went to the zoo the other day, we had to sit under shelter for about 45 minutes while the rain pelted all the trails.  But we can't complain because of all the other great things about rain.

So, enjoy the rainy season with us!

Danny got a great idea using the computer program to alter this picture using another picture Betsy took of a flower.  Betsy worked to bring out this unusual art.  I call it "The Flowering Butterfly".

  

The orchids are blooming all over the place.  Betsy really likes this one.

  

Aaron is having a great time despite the rain.  There is a new children's area at the zoo with a huge, shallow pool.  It is dotted with all sorts of fun fountains!  Aaron discovered the fun of pushing his hands down on the spouts on this fountain then jump up and watch the water splash!

 

The white tigers enjoy the cooler weather too!

  

Even the shy tapir went for a quick dip in his pool!

  

At a restaurant recently, the waiter offered a booster seat instead of a "baby chair" as they call high chairs here.  Yes, Aaron has graduated.  However, it took him some time to decide that the booster seat was a good thing.  So, first he crawled out and sat beside it.

  

Ok, he finally felt ready to try this new contraption.  He enjoyed it by the end of the meal.

  

The bonsai trees in the Chinese Gardens here are beautiful.  Aaron just enjoyed running around all the displays and following Daddy's lead.  Daddy said, "Raise your arms up high, like this!"  Aaron did just that.

  

A rare picture with Mommy.  Usually Mommy stays behind the camera.  Oh yea, he really likes this froggy hat!

  

Remember that great Disney cartoon, Mulan?  This is a statue of Mulan.  Doesn't look exactly like the cartoon, but it is a great statue.  Yea, it had been raining here too!

 

Fun Days!

Here are some random pics of fun times we've been having:

Aaron came into our room, plopped his little blanket on his head, and said, "Mommy, take picture of Aaron?"
Umm....sure, ok!

 There was a break in the recent rainy weather, so Aaron and Mommy went to a couple of playgrounds.  The sun made the slides too hot for Aaron to slide, but he drove his truck all over and it went down the slides several times!  For a while, a boy who was on his way home from school joined in the fun and would send the truck back up the slides for Aaron to catch!

Aaron really liked playing with these gears!

 

Daddy emptied out the legos bucket and Aaron decided to fill it himself!

  

Oh, and the snowman had to join in the fun!!

  

Daddy and Mommy had a day off while Aaron played with a babysitter on Saturday.  We joined some friends and played frisbee disc golf.  There were several beginners learning the art of putting!

 

Danny just sent a disc flying off to a distant target!

  

Ok, now it is Betsy's turn.

 

Lastly, today, Betsy watched the sky transform from this:

 

To this:

(Yea, rain followed soon after, complete with crackling lightning and rolling thunder!)

 

New Shutterbug Goes Berzerk!!!!

We have been saving for about two years for a new, professional camera.  Well, we finally saved enough to get one.  I (Betsy) have been enjoying its many features!

Here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks.  Believe me, we have many more!

I took Aaron to the zoo the other day.  It was a great day to be there.  Partly cloudy skies helped keep the weather somewhat cooler.  Even the cheetahs liked it!

A lot of plants are in bloom right now.  This one intrigued me greatly!

  

Aaron's favorite place is the playground.  He took a car down this "roller" slide until he was a sweaty little guy.

  

So, after all that fun at the "dry" part of the playground, we changed him into his swimsuit and moved over to the "wet" side. It is not deep, but very wet and cool!

  

 Danny is teaching me about a computer program that lets you select color regions and make "art" out of any photo.  I call this one "The Floating Leaf". 

  

We recently received two  packages in one day!  One was from Auntie Jo and the other from Poppa and Gigi.  Auntie Jo sent Aaron Lightning McQueen shoes.  He put them on and took them off all afternoon.  They are still a little big, but he'll grow fast!

  

Poppa and Gigi sent lots of different things, mostly our favorite snacks that can be hard to find here.  For example: Cheerios, Kix, Gold Fish.  A few surprises as well.  The hit was a toy truck that looks like Poppa's real truck from the farm.

 

Thanks Auntie Jo and Poppa and Gigi!  It was so much fun to laugh over your wonderful gifts!!