A Family Holiday in Singapore

We ate dumplings, rode roller-coasters, danced in the storm. We swam every day, several times a day, to escape the heat. We took a break from the normal, kicked back with aunties and cousins, let ourselves be looked after for a bit. My three little travellers handled the flights like champions. And we all want to go back tomorrow.

We're Back

Sorry for the silence. More photos from our Singapore sojourn very soon.

School Holidays

Is anyone else quietly looking forward to school going back tomorrow? First thing on the list...replenishing our supply of glue and sticky tape.

Beach

The hour or so we live from the coast is enough to limit the amount of time we spend there. It's just not something we do very often. But whenever we get there, as we did this week on a visit to a favourite aunty, I find myself wondering if the beach might suit us more than these rolling green hills we currently call home.

Park

There's a park in the centre of my old home town. It does springtime beautifully and autumn even better. It's famous for its duckpond and the swing sets. Many a childhood afternoon was spent playing there. It was the site of weekend picnics, of festivals and festivities and, like most of my peers, the location of one of my early forays into under-age drinking (on a Saturday morning, no less!). I wonder how many of those teenagers have returned with their own children years later to watch them hover precariously on the edge of the pond, frolic in autumn leaves, pluck marigolds from the manicured garden beds, get drenched at the fountain and maybe lay a sloppy one on a cute boy beneath a big old pine tree.

Easter Hunt

Well, our Easter was lovely. We had three days and nights at my sister's house. There was perhaps a little too much chocolate and the requisite negotiations over how many and when and "Not until you finish your dinner..." Cousins played together beautifully. One big girl cracked the "no training wheels" thing. We caught up with Queensland friends who we rarely see these days, home for the holidays and making the trip back for us doubly worthwhile. And it was the first of many mini-trips I've had with my girls that hasn't left me shaking with exhaustion. Even the driving was a delight. Oh, my.

43 Degrees

This time last year, I was bemoaning the chilly summer days in our new country home, wondering if we'd ever be properly warm again. After the past few weeks, I realise that dead-of-winter cold isn't the only thing this region does well. 

A pre-planned trip to Sydney with my girls meant we were in the big city for yesterday's outrageous 43-degree day. It also meant we inadvertently avoided a "catastrophic fire danger" in our village.

We kept cool with a trip to the aquarium, a splash in a water park, and easy time and catch-ups in the air-conditioned kitchens of friends. Oh, how I love to while away time in the kitchens of friends, cup of coffee or glass of wine in front of me, children playing happily (or otherwise) nearby.

I had a fright in the middle of the day, a text message from a local friend saying there was a fire on our street. I imagined the worst. I've seen the news for enough summers in this country. 

It was a grass fire, quickly contained, a couple of blocks from our home. A near escape. Others haven't been so lucky. Thank goodness for the cool change today.

Singapore: Cousins

I couldn't talk about our holiday without mentioning the reason we went in the first place, and the reason I'd go back tomorrow if I could - these guys.

My sister and her family relocated to Singapore a year ago and have sunk right into the lifestyle there. We're used to their absence. They're adventurers, these ones. It might seem odd given the tropical climate they live in at the moment, but they follow the snow - a few months in Utah and Canada each year, then home to Thredbo for the local ski season. Madi just made the Australian children's team. She's in the top three in the country in her age group. And her three brothers are following close on her heels. Just quietly, I'm psyching myself for some aunty-style Olympics cheering in the next decade. 

These big cousins showered adoration on my girls. From holding hands as we walked around the zoo, to pushing the stroller through shopping centres, playing dress-ups, sharing ice-cream, endless hairstyling sessions - they had a ball. And big cousins playing with little cousins meant the mums got to go and do indulgent, relaxing things like have coffee, and go shopping, and have reflexology foot massages!!!

Oh, how we wished they lived closer (but how nice it is to have an excuse for an international jaunt!)