Nadine's music class

Nadine has been attending Yamaha's junior music course since April. The course teaches children 3 elements of music - rhythm, melody and harmony, through hearing, singing and playing. 

I had initially wanted to start Nadine on the piano immediately. But our neighbour, a piano teacher, said that Nadine will probably be bored to tears if she takes 1-on-1 classes at this age, and she suggested that we send Nadine to Yamaha. So we took her advice.

Despite the variety of things, there were certain segments of the lesson that can be quite boring, and Nadine will sometimes tune out and be in a world of her own. Nonetheless, she can now play do-re-mi-fa-so on her right hand, and can play some of the songs quite well too. The challenge is to keep her interested in the class, and in learning music, for the next hopefully many many years!

Aaron turns 3

Aaron turned 3 last week.

We held a party for him at Cool de Sac, Suntec City, which handled everything, including the goodie bags. It is also one of the kids' favourite indoor playground, and, very importantly, has a pretty decent bistro that even serves beer and wine!

Despite the extremely attractive playground, the party coordinators were able to keep the kids entertained in the party room.

They were also pretty good at "feeding" the kids, allowing the parents to enjoy our own lunch outside the party room.

And quite quickly after lunch, while the kids ran wild in the playground, the party coordinators turned the room around for the birthday song segment.

A family photo for the album

Birthday boy and his friends

There was also a pinata, which the kids loved. They took turns to whack it, and all rushed to snap up the goodies that fall from the pinata. Quite a funny sight!

Then on Monday, Aaron's actual birthday, we went to school to celebrate with him. Happened that it was Racial Harmony Day, so most of his school friends were in ethnic costumes.

He was the only student celebrating his birthday that day, so didn't have to share the limelight with others. His sister kept him company up front, while all the students sang him a birthday song. He was so shy when Mrs Elsie Tan asked him what kind of clap he wanted. But very expectedly, he asked for racing car clap.

Happy birthday my little darling!

May the Lord continue to bless you with a heart full of love, life totally committed to Jesus, hands that are always blessing others, and joy unspeakable!

Kids say the darnest things

 Nadine: Mrs Goh say it's not good to earn too much money

Me: Really? Why did Mrs Goh say that?

Nadine: Ya, she said it's not good to earn too much money.

Me: Well, if I don't try and earn more money, I will not be able to buy you toys. So don't ask me for any more toys k!

Nadine: Oh, Mrs Goh must be wrong!

Aaron: Daddy, where are you going?

Daddy: I'm going to the gym (shakes his body)

Aaron: To do that???

Nadine's art classes

Nadine has been going to Artary for art classes for about 2 months.

She loves the classes, and I like it that they have a theme every month, and on top of teaching the various art and craft skills, the teachers also teach provide some fun knowledge about the theme - dinosaurs and their habitat, super-heroes and their outfit, ancient Egyptians and their art, etc.

Church camp 2014

Church camp is always a highlight in our annual calendar. Both Nadine and Aaron have attended every church camp since they were born. They enjoy extended play time with their friends, and Daddy and Mummy enjoy extended chat time and makan time with our friends too!

This year, we kick-started our time in Melaka with a super yummy lunch at Beizhan.

Followed by a mass movie for 4 families! Missing the Wans in this photo.

Not conscientious enough to take photos during the camp, so didn't manage to capture our 2 sumptuous dinners at the Portuguese Settlement and Teo Soon Loong Chan, but managed to get a few photos of Nadine's lantern before we lit it up and let it fly off.

And here's the facade of the hole-in-the-wall teochew restaurant that we went to with our cell. We would have missed it if we were not looking for it! It was small inside, and a very old restaurant. But the food was authentic and yummy.

This year's camp speaker was Pst Mike Connell. He thought about flowing in the Holy Spirit, in an amazingly refreshing and practical way. Really enjoyed every moment of his teaching.

But the mother of all highlights during the camp was definitely the children's performance! So funny to see all the proud parents turned into paparazzi, rushing to the front to take photos/videos of their children. Us included!

And we're so proud of Nadine and her friends for mastering all the bible verses, song lyrics and actions in just 3 days!

Oh, something else happened to Nadine during the camp - she dropped her 2nd front tooth. So she's missing front teeth now, but the 2 at the bottom can be seen growing out. So early and so fast! Apparently, according to Dr Loy, that's a sign of maturity!

Young Star Wars fan

Daddy has been indoctrinating both Nadine and Aaron with Star Wars. Nadine can rattle of names of Star Wars characters, while Aaron has developed a passion for the spaceships.

Tonight's Daddy-and-Son bonding activity tonight - learning to sing one of Star Wars' soundtracks.

Masak Masak: My Childhood

17 June, we spent the morning taking family photos. We're eagerly waiting for the professionally-taken photos by Uncle Noel!

After the shoot, we went to the Masak Masak: My Childhood exhibition at National Museum. The kids had so much fun playing there.

There were huge sticker ethnic costumes that they could "put on"

A humongous tv screen where the kids could put up a hand puppet show. Nadine, who made a friend very quickly, pulled her to the "backstage" to put up a show.

There was a huge tent where kids could cosy up for a movie

And a very fun interactive screen where kids use their bodies to form letters in front of it, and a sensor picks up their movement.

It was a nice place to visit, in cool air-con comfort. Can consider visiting again!

Hello Kitty Town

13 June, we went to Hello Kitty Town in JB.

Nadine had been bugging us to bring her there for the longest time. We haven't heard much good reviews about the place, but thought we'll go at least once, just to pacify Nadine.

By the time we arrived at Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park (which really isn't much of a theme park), it was lunch time. So we had lunch at Lat's Place, themed after the cartoon Lat.

The kids were more interested to explore the restaurant, with its kampong-style murals and displays, than eat.

When we finally got into Hello Kitty Town, Nadine went nuts. She was so excited. We started with the ultra-mini cup ride. It was so small that the cups couldn't spin individually, unlike the 'normal' cup rides in most theme parks. And it was so small and mild that Nadine dared to sit alone in a cup.

There were a few rooms for the kids to make cookies, jewellery and tokens. But there was really minimal craft work for the kids. For jewellery-making, the kids were just given a chain and a Hello Kitty pendant. The kids were supposed to string the pendant onto the chain. For cookie-making, they were given a Hello Kitty cookie to decorate. 

While Nadine and I were trying out the various craft, Aaron watched the Hello Kitty and Friends performance. He lasted 10 minutes before asking to go and ride the Thomas and Friends train.

Nadine and I stayed on at Hello Kitty Town for maybe another half an hour. Just before we left for Little Big Club upstairs, we saw Hello Kitty, waiting for people to take photos with her.

At Little Big Club, Aaron had a lot of fun riding the train and playing at the indoor playground (that was way too dim for a playground). Nadine met Angelina Ballerina for the first time, and even joined in the dance class.

Other activities we did - took Bertie the Bus and Harold's Helitours Ride, and took a photo with Barney.

We were done in 3 hours. 

This place provides enough fun for very young kids. But definitely not worth the long drive from Singapore! Don't think we'll ever come back again!