Chinatown with Carson

GONG XI FA CAI!

Thursday I went on the kindergarten field trip to Chinatown. I'm sure you're asking yourself, "You live in Singapore...isn't every town Chinatown?" That's sort of true. However, there is a specified area of Singapore for each of the main cultures who live here...Little India, Chinatown, Arab Street and some even refer to our neighborhood as "Little America!" (That would be true if we actually had some good American restaurants in our neighborhood!)

Here we are starting out at the Buddhist temple. We were on a scavenger hunt so we had to look for things like: incense, oranges, pineapples; all things that are special for the Chinese during this big holiday.



Each parent had to send in $10 for their kid to buy some souvenirs and get lunch. So, here's Carson's big purchase that he was so excited to buy and couldn't be persuaded to buy anything else as a memory of this day. It's a big blue jewel. Boy are his girlfriends going to be lucky ladies...a man who likes "jewry."





Here we are in front of a nice display of pomelos. Pomelos are really good! They are kinda like grapefruit but not so sour.



Lunchtime in Chinatown is every pregnant American woman's dream! The sights, sounds and smells are just so....indescribable. You really have to be pregnant to know how truly disgusting it is. However, we found some comfort in Singapore's most famous dish, Chicken Rice. It's Carson's favorite lunch actually so it wasn't too bad. Here we are with our $4 spread of chicken rice and complimentary chicken broth.



Another highlight of this field trip was looking for all the items on the Scavenger hunt. One of the items the kids were supposed to find was shrimp. Since I've been on this field trip before I knew that shrimp could only be found in one place in Chinatown...the wet market! The smells of the food stalls are bad but the smells of the wet market are every pregnant woman's worst nightmare. Whoever is reading this would be very proud of me for surviving it. This is how I did it. I just didn't breathe. I was also the leader of the group. I went in like a Military Commander on an important mission. I went quickly past the raw meat sitting out, unrefrigerated, I went serpentine past the raw fish display, oh so careful not to slip while my flip-flops tried desperately to cling to hints of cement instead of the wet fish-gut remains that had made a fish-slick all over the ground below. I went commando toward the dried cuttlefish and other dried fish assortment and didn't stop until I found some small pieces of dried shrimp. We paused here long enough to put our stickers on our sheet. Dried shrimp is still shrimp. At this point I took a breath. A deep breath that would last me until we got back out into the sweet sunshine again. We made it out of the wet market alive, with a sticker on our shrimp section and so proud of myself for not even puking. Mission accomplished!

You know sometimes during this pregnancy I've been like a girl lost in the desert looking for water. I think of happy thoughts like walking into Cinnabon and I can actually smell the cinnamon rolls baking. I've also found myself dreaming of In-N-Out Burger, Rubio's or Cafe Rio and all my favorite smells of my home country and I can almost reach out and touch them. Then I wake-up from my dilusions and realize that a piece of toast with peanut butter and jelly will just have to hold me over until June.



Carson and I are at the end of our scavenger hunt here and just wasting time shopping around until time to get on the buses and head back to school. We had a very memorable day together and I loved the time with just me and one of my most favorite boys on the planet. This guy is the ultimate dude and we have a great time together! He is one tough guy but he's the most excited about his new baby sister of anyone in our family. He hugs my tummy and kisses it many times per day and has told me many times how happy he is that the baby's a girl because he already has a little brother but he doesn't have a little sister yet. He is so much fun and I had a great day bonding in Chinatown with him. Now that's a mission accomplished!

Can't Touch This!

Friday was Bailey's big night! The night of the Intermediate School Variety Show! This is our family's 4th year now to have someone perform in this very fun variety show!

Sammy danced with her friend Lydia to "We Got The Beat" in 4th grade.
Sammy danced with her friends Lydia, Michaella & Sophia to "What I Like About You" in 5th grade.
Bailey sang and danced with her friend Lydia to "We Go Together" from Grease in 3rd grade.

This year Bailey played a soccer game with her friend Tiffany against friends Kierica & Meg (on stage) while dancing, doing gymnastics and getting busy to "Can't Touch This" by M.C. Hammer.

Here's some photos of Bailey & friends getting ready for the big night at our house...

This is Kierica and her mom...


This is Tiffany...


This is Meg...


This is Bails...


Here are the gorgeous girls and their curls from the back view!



A couple of quick photos before we run out the door for the show!!!





These are definitely the 4 cutest and most glamorous soccer players I've ever seen!!!!

They were the 2nd to last act in a 2 1/2 hour show! So, the excitement was definitely building as they waited and waited and waited backstage for their turn to perform. They did a great job despite one soccer ball that went flying offstage and a couple of other dropped soccer balls on stage. However, it was obvious that these are 4 talented girls! What a fun night! Look for this act on youtube sometime soon...





Bails & Tiff enjoying a sleep over at our house after the show!!! This was one night where they actually did SLEEP! Yay!

The Amazing Race!

Today was our Amazing Race! Mike planned the best ward activity in the history of ward activities and today was it.

The race took place at East Coast Park on the east side of the beautiful tropical island of Singapore!

Mike was the boss/referee of this event. Here he is laying out the rules of the race to everyone at the starting line: Basically, the rules were that there are no rules and we don't have permission to be holding a "race" so just try not to run into anyone with your bikes!



The bummer about Mike being in charge of this event was that Mike and I didn't get to race! We were official judges. So, our family was split into teams with their friends:

Sammy was on "Team Dynamite" with 3 of her friends.
Bailey was on the "Tweenies" team with 2 of her friends and one dad.
Carson was on the "Kindy's" team with 2 other kindergarten buddies and one mom.
Jack was a beach boy and played in the sand for 3 hours while everyone raced.

Challenge #1: Most of the race was done on bikes. So, at the starting line each team was given an envelope with their first challenge. Inside the envelope were directions to go to either McDonald's or Burger King and bring back a Big Mac or Whopper. Then one person from each team had to eat their hamburger in front of their judges (me!). When they had chewed their last bite, I gave them an envelope to open with directions for their second challenge...

Here's Carson eating a Whopper...with gusto!



Here's Sammy's team (Team Dynamite!) with Hollie still trying to get that Big Mac down:




Challenge #2: Next the teams had to run down to the sand and quickly bury half of their team in the sand. I have no photos of this b/c I was still judging the burger scarfdown.

Challenge #3: This time the teams had to decide whether to take the envelope for: Swim or Space; without knowing what the 2 challenges would entail...

If they chose the "swim" option then they had a long bike ride down to an area where one team member had to swim in the ocean between 2 points.

If they chose the "space" option then they had a shorter bike ride down to a pretty garden. Inside the garden they had to find a map of the solar system and answer some trivia questions that Mike made up for them.

Challenge #4: This envelope lead the teams to a long jetty where, upon arrival, they had to get off of their bikes and SKIP down the entire jetty, arm in arm with their teammates singing, "We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!" This was no small feat b/c it was a long jetty and with the hot, humid weather here it takes it's toll on you...

Challenge #5, The Final Challenge: Next the teams had to head to the 360 degree cable ski area. Here, one member of each team had to ski, wakeboard, knee board or surf. They just had to try to make it to the end of the first turn of the ski track.
(Mike had made a deal with the owners of the ski track the week before. He paid them $180 for our group to use the track. However, the one participant chosen from each group was only allowed 3 tries to get up.

Sammy was the choice for her team since she's done the ski cable track before. She chose to knee board and made it one entire time around the track before wiping out!

Bailey's team chose the dad to wake board. Carson's team had a third grade boy knee board. (This was a boy who showed up late for the race so he and his dad were added to Carson's team!) It's a good thing b/c you have to be 7 years old to ride the cable ski!

Carson's team finished in the top 10 which wasn't bad for having three 6 year-olds on their team. Sammy's team finished about 14th and Bailey's was second to last. Bails wasn't too excited with her teams ranking. (One girl on Bailey's team had just learned to ride a bike that same day!)

Here's Jack and his pal Katie hanging out being super fans of the amazing race! (Jack will probably be ready to race next year. He was feeling a bit left out today.)



Here's Carson getting his medal at the Finish Line!!! Well Done!



We're happy he made it to the finish line b/c he and his buddy Ashton took off so fast at the beginning of the race that they passed right by the Burger King and were lost from their team for a while. This was actually a good lesson for them b/c once they were lost I think they realized that they needed to flippin' chill out and stay with their team. Glad we live in Singapore where 2 six-year olds can be lost for a little while without complete panic...just a slight dose of panic!

The only other disaster was another 6 year old (girl) who fell right at the starting line and her dad took her to the hospital to get the cut on her knee glued together.

Bailey with a fellow "Tweenies" team member and friend Kierica:



This really was fun disguised as a ward party! Mike deserves every bit of credit because he planned this entire race himself and did all the work himself. Kudos to him. He pulls off great activities because of his combined talents of: great organization, leadership, creativity and love for having fun!

Carson's New Specs

Carson has spectacles now! Spectacles are what they are called here in Asia. But let me translate for my American readers: Carson has GLASSES now!

He got them about 4 days ago and the whole school was pretty much waiting on pins and needles as he counted down for 10 days for everyone for when his glasses would be ready. I'm sure his teacher loved the morning announcements: 9 more days until I get glasses, 8 more days, etc.

I think he looks pretty darn handsome in the cool blue glasses that I let him pick out all by himself. However, at church on Sunday my Korean friend saw him and was just devastated! She said, "Oh no! It hides his handsome face." There's one thing about Asians that I still have to get used to and that is how honest they are! If I have to hear, "oh you're getting big already" from one more Asian lady I'm going to scream! (Oh ya, by the way, I'm 3 months prego for those of you who don't know already.)

But I digress, back to my boy Carson...who just when I thought he couldn't get any more handsome went and got glasses and now he looks even more handsome; and sophisticated to boot! (Wow, all this talk of spectacles and now I'm speaking like a British woman.)

Carson's Eye Patch -




So...how did I find out that Carson needed glasses and an eye patch, you're wondering? Well, this is an interesting story. Carson has what his eye doctor called "sensitive eyes." He wakes up most mornings with red, itchy eyes. So, after taking him to 2 different eye doctors for eye drops that didn't ever help him I finally decided to take him to a "real" eye doctor.

On his first visit they gave him an eye exam and I was literally gobsmacked (British lady day, remember?) by what I saw! He could hardly see anything on the eye chart out of his right eye! So, it turns out that his left eye is doing all the work and his right eye is a "lazy eye." It's only bad enough that he has to wear the eye patch 3 hours per day which is not too bad. He just wears it for 3 hours every day after school for right now. He is super proud of it though and WANTS to wear it to school sometime to show it off! That's our Carson, always a show-off!

The Hills Are Alive...

Sammy tried out for the Middle School Musical this year. It's going to be The Sound Of Music!!! She put on her audition form that she wanted to be one of the Von Trapp children.

Her dream has come true! She is going to be Louisa, second daughter of Captain Von Trapp!

Can't you just see Sammy playing her? She is so excited!!!

We are all looking forward to the perfomances on Feb. 24, 25 & 26!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

Wish everyone could see her in this...especially Kelly since she's such a big Sound of Music fan. We'll have to buy an extra DVD of the performance just for her!

The most expensive Christmas Tree ever!

The Christmas season was so busy this year! We were too busy with a million other things that had a deadline of Dec. 25; since blogging has no deadline it was pushed back to January...Anyway, now that I have a little bit of time to play catch-up here's our family picking out the most expensive Christmas tree ever in the history of the Daynes family...and quite possibly the history of the world!

My brother paid a big $24 for his tree in L.A. this year. Our tree was well into the $200's. I know that it was brought over on a ship from the U.S. and it's the real deal and all...but ouch!






Sammy ran into her principal at the nursery when we were picking out our tree. She was just SO embarassed!



Tying our new baby on the car to bring her home where she will live for her short 3 week life with us!

Actually, she was a great tree. Everyone who walked into our house this Christmas season loved the fresh smell of pine which wafted immediately up their noses. It is a smell you never get in this part of the world! It will be sad to tell her goodbye.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Day was pretty much the usual: Tukey Bowl in the morning, lots of cooking and real turkey in the afternoon with friends. It was a great day!


Here's Carson at the Turkey Bowl. This boy has a temper. He was mad b/c he hadn't scored a touchdown yet so he was off pouting on the sideline...



Jack wasn't interested in playing football but he did have a lot of fun on the sidelines making funny faces...





Carson got his long anticipated touchdown on this play so he was happy again...




Sammy wanted to go down to the squishy courts now to play some basketball. As if we weren't all sweaty enough already...






It didn't take Bailey long to invite a friend over for a swim...



After the play in the morning we went over to the Robison's place for Thanksgiving dinner. Here's Jack hanging on the couch with his girlfriend Kosette...they are looking just a little too comfy together! Before long someone might have to intervene there and say something like, oh, I don't know..."Let's be for sitting up!"



After dinner we played my annual "Turkey Dare" Game which I made up last year. This is how you play: You get a picture of a turkey randomly and on the back there's a dare which you must complete...if you dare! So, it might say something like, "Stick a piece of corn up your nose" or "drink the rest of the gravy." This year Mike got the dare, "Kiss Ruby the dog on the lips!" Here's a photo of 3 people who went together on a dare and just took their dare up to the next level: The dare was, "Sing a Christmas song." They got together and sang with some dancing and bell jingling. It was pretty funny...you pretty much had to be there to fully appreciate it!"



Another fun Thanksgiving was had by all!!! Jonna cooked a 20 pound turkey which was very delish. I made some rolls, sour cream apple pie, creamed corn, mashed 'taters and stuffing. Now the countdown for Christmas is on!!!