Easter 2011

Easter was late this year...April 24!

Last year we spent Easter in tears all day b/c my dear friend Michelle passed away the day before. This year we had the Dimonds over on the one year anniversary of Michelle's passing as well as the day before Easter.

Easter Saturday we had an egg hunt and barbecue with our Singapore neighbors, the Stevens. They invited 4 families and we invited 4 families and we made it a big "block party."

10 families makes for a LOT of kids to find a LOT of eggs! There are lots of Singapore rules to take into consideration when having an egg hunt in Singapore:
1. The eggs must have wrapped candy in them or the ants will attack them in 2 seconds. 2. There can be no chocolate in the eggs or they will melt in 2 seconds.



Carson and Jack are ready:




Haley D. was the official Skylar watcher! These 2 have a special bond!


I found out recently that Norm likes durian - the official fruit of Singapore. So, since most of us had never tasted it I decided to have a durian while Norm was over.

We kept the durian out in the backyard until it was time to cut it because the smell is so bad. Instantly after cutting into it, the entire house smelled disgusting.

Man, it is disgusting!!! Beyond disgusting! Seriously, God has a sense of humor because I cannot figure out why he would create a fruit that is so nasty!




Mike and I both tasted it for the fist time. Norm suggested spreading it on crackers. We did that and I ate one bite and had to eat a brownie really quick to hide the taste of the durian.

Bailey and Sammy were not brave enough to try the fruit but some of their friends were...
Ashlyn was a good sport and thought it tasted like onion:

Lisel was excited to try it: I love the look on her face BEFORE:


Then the shock AFTER: (She ran to the bathroom and spit it out.) Smart girl.



The next morning was EASTER!!! Here's the excited gang running downstairs to see if the Easter bunny came...


Carson confirmed that HE CAME! The proof was right there by the back door of the kitchen: footprints shaped like a bunny's. I wonder why they taste like powdered sugar?











I love holidays and all of the traditions that help bring our family closer. Going to church on Easter Sunday as a family is one of those traditions, just like the egg hunt, the bunny and all the candy. Aren't they sweet in their Sunday best?

Happy Birthday to the main man!

So Mike's birthday was April 27, as usual. And, as usual, he celebrated in typical Mike Daynes style:

He planned it for his actual b-day, even though it wasn't a convenient day for us (Becky and the kids). That's what makes it sooo Mike!

Here's what the Master planned and how it all went down:

1. 9:16 am - golf (3 attendees). He shot two birdies.
2. 2:30 - 4:00pm - lunch at Carls Jr. (four attendees)
3. 5:00-7:00pm - Wave House (18 attendees)
4. 7:30 - 9:00pm - Chilis (24 attendees)
5. 9:50pm - Gold Class movie - Source Code (5 attendees)

Here's some photos of the fun:

We managed to throw in one surprise for Mike before he headed out on his day of fun. The kids and I made him some crepes for the traditional b-day brekky in bed. Mike wanted it on the floor of the TV room instead so we delivered it to him on a brand new skateboard!




The four oldest kiddos and I met up with Mike at Sentosa for stage 3 of the birthday celebration to do some surfing and boogie-boarding at the Wavehouse. This was the first time for the kids and Becky but Mike had been there once or twice before...

Here's Bailey shredding on the "surfboard" - it's actually the size of a skateboard:



Here's Mike rippin' it up on the Flow Rider:



Jack is still unsure of what he thinks of the Wavehouse. His face tells the story:


Sammy was tearing it up:


Then there was me (Becky) - the biggest natural boogie boarder of them all! Although my face doesn't show it I had a great time and thought the wavehouse was really fun!




We were all feeling the birthday love! We missed Skylar but she would have been sad that she was too short to boogie board...




We love our friends who came out on a school night to celebrate Mike's big day! Singapore besties are the best!!!


I don't have any photos from stage 4 but I did get this lovely one of Spencer and Mike relaxing before the start of the movie (stage 5). Once you start going to movies Gold Class you don't want to go back to boring theater seats. However, it's a lot harder to stay awake!


We had such a great day with our friends. The only thing that could've possibly made Mike's day better would have been to have some of our family there from the U.S!

I know I speak for all of us in the M.Daynes family when I say how much we love our dad/husband! He's the most fun-lovin', party dad ever and keeps us all entertained! A great, big, happy Hank Aaron b-day to our favorite guy in the world!

Just-In Time!

This has been Justin Bieber week for the Daynes fam in Singapore! We saw the movie Newer Say Never this week-end, which is a documentary of Justin Bieber's life story. Then he came here in concert last night and sang his heart out for us...and 9,000 SCREAMING fans.



Since Mike always has 2 free tickets to any event in the Singapore Indoor Stadium I had the tough decision of deciding who would go to the show. I didn't think it would be fair to leave Carson out and just give the tickets to Sammy & Bailey so...I bought 2 extra tickets and surprised Carson with them one day before the show! So, Sammy, Bailey, Carson and me...as well as most of our American neighborhood went to the concert.


Sammy, Bailey, Lisel (Sammy's friend) and Carson are all wearing Justin's favorite colors: purple and green!



Bailey and her friends pre-funked before the concert over at Madyson's house. Her grandma brought them all matching t-shirts from the U.S. to wear to the concert! What a cute grandma!!!











Carson met up with his friend Ethan at the concert. Nice to have a buddy to hang with and get a break from ALL THE GIRLS!




Carson got a concert t-shirt as an early b-day gift! Sammy & Bailey both got t-shirts at the Taylor Swift concert.

I think Sammy & Bailey both enjoyed the T. Swift concert more than J.B. but they all still had a good time! This would have been Carson's first "pop concert!" He's also been to the Wiggles and the Doodlebops but nobody as big time as Justin Bieber! This guy is another Michael Jackson!!!

Carson has got it going on!!!

This guy has some very unique character traits! My favorite trait is his amazing sense of humor! He keeps us rolling with some of the stuff he comes up with.





He is a lover who has kissed his "girlfriend" 4 times now.



However, he has a FIERCE competitive side! (Don't let the smiles fool you.)





So...I've been a little bit worried since December about Carson when he was handed the kit to make his very first PINE WOOD DERBY CAR.






Carson's car is the one on the right that looks like a mascot for the San Diego Chargers. #43 is Darren Sproles number, as you can tell by the matching football jersey that Carson is wearing.




When I saw this table of trophies set up for the winners I became nervous. I knew Carson would be sad if he didn't go home with one of those big ones.



I didn't have to worry for long because Carson's car won all 4 of its races! He came first place in the Tiger division!



Here he is showing off his bling on the podium.



Way to go Carson! His car came in third place overall. 170 cars were entered in the derby so that is a nice showing.

Also, way to go Spencer! He is our neighbor and great friend who was the brains behind this winning car. He is the one who helped Mike and Carson on the road to victory. (He really deserves a medal for a job well done!) Spencer also took some photos of the derby and made a movie out of his shots. You can watch it at the following site:

http://gallery.me.com/spenandjocestevens/100092

(This was created from still shots.)

Since I'm writing all about Carson today there's one last little known fact I'd like to share:

He adores his baby sister!!!