The past weekend

I thought I'd update you on what we've been doing (besides cross-stitching).

We are having a great visit with Mom & Dad.

I took Friday off, and we went to the zoo. We rode the tram for the first time, it was quite nice. We also rode the elephant! Well, not Mom, Dad and Martin. But the rest of us did. Oliver was not scared at all. I was a little. And in case you don't know, elephants are quite uncomfortable to ride. The head must be more comfy, as that's where the elephant handlers always sit.

Mom and Dad were quite impressed with the zoo and see why we go all the time.

On Saturday, Joe, Oliver and Dad went to the Singapore Air Show. They had a really good time, and Oliver had "good behavior".

Mom and I went shopping at Vivo City, where my two new favorite stores are Zara and G2000. I got three new skirts and four new shirts for work, plus a tshirt and two tank tops. I felt like it was back to school shopping like we used to do in Minneapolis. It was a really good time.

Martin stayed home with Basil. Poor guy.

On Sunday, we went out for Dim Sum with Gary, Linda & Adam, and did a little bit of shopping. We then just hung out at home for rest of the day.

Visitors & Visas

Well, it has been an interesting day to say the least. We received an email early this morning from Joe's cousin, Antonio. He and Big Aunt were on their way to join up with Joe's parents and Cousin in Bangkok. Turns out if you are traveling under a Mexican passport (like Big Aunt and Cousin) you need a visa. The travel agency did not get one for them.

So, after much fussing around today, Cousin is staying here until to Friday, when the cruise ship arrives, and Big Aunt and Antonio are arriving on Monday night to stay until the cruise comes. Good thing we live in Singapore!

We had a very nice visit with Joe's parents. On Thursday, they slept in because of jet lag and we went out for dim sum. That night Joe's mom and cousin cooked us a nice meal.

On Friday, we pulled Oliver out of school, and went to the zoo. We saw the elephant show, Joe played with his new zoom lens, and generally had a good time. That night Joe's mom and cousin cooked us some yummy black bean chicken. There was also fish, I couldn't tell you if it was yummy or not.

Today, as it was rainy we stayed home and had the fussing about the flights. Oliver did go swimming and Joe's dad went also, and was impressed with his abilities.

I don't have a good picture of Oliver with Joe's parents, but this is from the zoo splash pad, taking with the zoom lens. Isn't this a beautiful picture?

Go Diego Go!

Last night was probably the best night with Martin since the hospital (the hospital was really easy, as they just brought him to me for nursing and then I pressed a button, and they came and took him back to the nursery). He fell asleep around 10:30, woke at 1:30, 4:30 and 8:00, and was only awake for about 20 minutes each time.

Oliver woke around 8:00 also, calling out, as he usually does "Daytime Mommy! DAYTIME!". I couldn't go as I was nursing Martin, so Joe went. Oliver kept insisting for me, so Martin and I went, where Oliver said "Give Daddy the baby", but I couldn't, so Oliver had a nice big meltdown. But Martin stopped nursing and Oliver stopped crying.

We had a nice morning, watching "Cars" and Joe made crepes. We then headed out to the zoo, as Diego (of Go Diego Go!) fame was supposed to be there. We met up with Jose, Chantal, Alex and Marie for lunch first, at which everyone was well behaved and then went to see Diego. Poor Diego, his head looked really heavy, and he had a very hard time walking. Oliver wouldn't pose for pictures, so we don't really have any. After we watched a Diego episode with crocodiles.

We then went to the water splash pad at the zoo, where Oliver had a great time, until the wind picked up, and the sky turned black. We got Oliver quickly dressed and got us all under shelter as the rain came down. Luckily it didn't last too long (10-15 minutes) and then we headed home.

Oliver then played with his toys, in which he informed me that he wanted to buy Sheriff (from Cars) as he's a "good guy" and he would "like to live with Oliver and all the cars and trucks" as he gestured to all his toys.

Basil made us Hungarian Goulash and coconut bread for dinner which was really nice. Oliver ate like we hadn't fed him in 2 days. Joe gave him his bath, but not before he went pee in the potty standing up like a big boy. He was very pleased with himself, and as he was running around he said "I love you Mommy, I want to kiss you" and he came over to give me a kiss and then said "I want to kiss the baby on the mouth" which he did. So sweet.

He's now in bed reading stories to himself and Martin is asleep downstairs. Once he wakes he'll get his bath and we'll start his nighttime routine.

This is our life. It's pretty nice.

All about the Singapore Zoo

We've been to the Singapore zoo twice now and bought a family pass there. It is really quite nice, not too big, and get this, it has air conditioned shelters along the way. The zoo is basically in the middle of a tropical rain forest (which is what Singapore was before they built the city here). They have all the basic animals, zebra, giraffes, elephants, etc.

Their big claim to fame is that they are the first tropical zoo to bred a polar bear!

The first time we went it poured rain on us, the second time was much more enjoyable. Here are some pictures from the zoo, from both times.

The orangutans are the main attraction.They also have animal shows - with elephants of course. They show how the work in the Asian forest. Elephants were used for logging. They still might be in some more remote parts. When we went to Thailand several years ago, we went on an elephant trek through the jungle.

They have free range monkeys, which is pretty cool.

And of course, here is a picture of my favorite monkey.
They also have a playground and a splash zone for the kids. Oliver loves it when we rent a wagon for him to sit in.