Christmas bus

Another favorite Christmas tradition.

We start with dinner at the hawker centre. Satay with peanut sauce, fried rice and chai tow kway. 

Then we board the Jingle Bus. All organized by our amazing friend, Sarah. 

The bus has an open top, blares Christmas music and takes a slow drive down Orchard Road with all its glitz and glamour decked out for Christmas. 

The adults chat, keep a tight hold on toddlers and make sure the teenagers sit down when the big palm fronds smack the frame bars. 

The kids wave and yell "Merry Christmas" to the crowds on the strip. Or they play 'defend your kingdom!' on the first level.

The malls on Orchard Rd are incredible. 

Marina Bay Sands with its New Years wishes in the water. 

Snow in Singapore

Its snowing in Singapore! 

Ok, its really bubbles (hence, the swim suits). But with the carols blaring and the kids frolicking, if I look up at that big ol tree just right it totally feels like its snowing.  

Gage definitely loves it the most. This smile did not come off his face all night. 

"Bury me in the snow, Mom!" 

And then he found the snow machines. 

Sometimes watching the crowd was just as fun as watching my own kids. I love the Asian picture taking obsession. 

Sybil was not a fan of the snow. 

But she slowly warmed up

Christmas!

We returned from Australia on the morning of Christmas Eve. It was perfect timing.

We spent the entire day building excitement - cooking a feast, baking just a couple more cookies, wrapping up presents, all with our favorite Christmas songs in the background.

Then the stockings were put in just the right places, Santa's snacks were placed neatly on the table, and the boys were off to bed.

Noah made sure there was one carrot for each reindeer and wondered what type of milk Santa would like best.

Gage wanted to know if Santa only ate cookies or if he liked healthy food too. He set out strawberries and apple slices with Santa's cookies. 

Then Christmas morning was magic. 

Rice pudding for breakfast

Stockings first, presents next

One favorite: watching the boys open their gift from each other

Another favorite: watching the boys give gifts to Sibby

We spent the day in our pjs, reading new books, playing new games.

Calling family

We ended the day with a bowl of Paul's stew. 

We also read from Luke and acted out the nativity. Noah wanted to be an Australian wise man and had the perfect "G'day mate!" Some of those scriptures are still singing in my head,

"For unto us a child is born" 

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"

Merry Christmas!

AUSTRALIA!

Dave worked for the University of Western Australia in Perth for 3 weeks in December. 

We missed him like crazy the first 2 weeks. Sybil loved talking to FaceTime Daddy though. She would grab the phone, bring it to me and say "Dada?"  

We were so happy to be able to join him for his last week at UWA and then spend a few days together as a family. 

Australia was so beautiful. The weather was perfect - warm with a cold breeze. The shoreline was super gorgeous. 

Noah got pretty good at his Aussie accent. "G'day mate!" 

There were so many things were enjoyed on this trip

I especially enjoyed the driving! since we don't drive in Singapore. Although it was very tricky to drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. Dave and I may have hit a few curbs or had a hard time staying in our lane. And we kept turning on the wipers instead of the blinker.  

I love those 3 little heads in the back seat. 

We spent a lot of time outside in the parks, playgrounds, beaches, picnics.  And didn't even break a sweat! King's Park was incredible. 

Sybil threw a huge tantrum one evening on the way to the park and the only thing that would appease her was wearing her swim float. So she wore it for the rest of the night. 

While Dave was working I took the kids on outings during the day and then we would meet him for dinner on the beach or in the park. 

The kids loved this spot on the Swan River right across the road from Dave's office. Complete with a cafe selling sandwiches and salads. 

We went to this playground at King's Park many times.

And we found a Target!! On the 2nd floor of a building downtown. 

I had to take a picture of the McDonalds. I love how big chains will change their architecture or their menu just slightly to fit the country they are in.

It was such a great experience to visit Perth, learn a bit more of Australia's culture and history, enjoy their beautiful scenery and just to spend time together. 

We didn't want to leave and could totally picture living there (I think we have that conversation every where we go : ) 

On the way home, we took a late flight back to Singapore. Sybil was the only one who wasn't sleepy. As we were waiting for our luggage, Gage fell asleep on the terminal floor. Sybil couldn't leave him alone and kept hugging him and kissing him. 

AUSTRALIA outings with the kids

While David worked, the kids and I explored Perth. The Aquarium of Western Australia was one of my favorites. 

Sybil giggled every time the stingray swam under her little hands in the touch pool. 

We had fish and chips for lunch, added a couple smashed pennies to our collection and saw jellyfish, pufferfish, starfish, big sharks, little sharks, sea turtles, stingrays and so many more colorful and amazing creatures. I think the exhibit they watched the longest was the coral reef exhibit because there was a big scuba diver in the tank vacuuming the floor. 

The boys said Scitech was their favorite outing - the Perth Science Center. More smashed pennies for our collection, more fish and chips for lunch, and they could have spent all day here racing lego cars, building simple machines, discovering the properties of thermo dynamics, you know - stuff like that.   

Noah throwing a paper airplane.

Another fun outing was the Perth Mint. Most of it was closed for renovation but the guide told us some great stories about the gold rush and settlement of western Australia. And then we got to see a real gold pour! They showed us how real gold is melted down and poured into a gold bar worth $200,000. It was really incredible. Gage kept saying "Wow! No way!" during the demonstration and then stayed afterward to ask the goldsmith a few questions. 

The boys thought taking pictures with the gold nugget replicas was so funny.