Trip to the Botanic Gardens

One of our friends have been suggesting playdate for our children for the longest time but Ashley hasn't been able to join in either because she has other engagements already (yes, she's a busy bee!) or she's sick. We finally have the chance to say yes now because everything looks good for that day! Was supposed to be a playdate for 4 families but one family (Stanley and family) can't make it so it was down to 3: Weixian, Shujuan & Shihan and Siwei, Lixia, Dylan & Baby Evan and us.

It was supposed to be a "painting" outing for the little ones and my friend, Shujuan, very kindly volunteered to bring along children-friendly paint and drawing paper for them. We (more like Hubs lah), on the other hand, prepared some sandwiches to share. The weather was superb for the day's activities, sunny and windy, perfect for the kids to indulge in some outdoor fun :)

We seemed the least prepared among all ... Shujuan and Lixia both brought their children's colouring materials whereas we totally forgot to bring Ash's :S and Lixia even brought along Dylan's bubble gun for some fun. Only consolation is we brought sandwiches, cloth and water for cleaning up.

Ash really seemed to enjoy herself as she loves running around, doodling and bubbles. Seems like the perfect outing for her! :)

the little troopers having fun with the paint

Shi Han - Weixian's and Shujuan's princess

Dylan here with Lixia

my little budding painter - yes, she's a lefty!

Hubs putting on his best expression for the photo

Hubs teaching Ash how to use the sponge stamp

here's looking at ya!

the happy ones with the bubbles

I must say it is a rather enjoyable trip and I hope to bring Ash back there again. I promise to be more well-prepared! :)

1st trip to the Zoo!

Been wanting to bring Ash to the Zoo for the longest time but have been procrastinating have not been able to find the right time to do it due to various reasons: lousy weather / sickly chubs / occupied with other activities / insert other lousy excuses valid reasons. Recently, Hubs' company provided Zoo passes to their staff but only catch is that you have to ballot for it. Hubs was lucky to get 3 passes as his colleagues who have gotten it couldn't make it this weekend.

We can finally go on our long-awaited Zoo trip! Together with another colleague and his family, we trotted off to Zoo under the hot (but not scorching) weather with our 2 little tots in tow. (You can click on the pictures to see them more clearly):

Ash's 1st ice-cream! We let her eat 80% of it because it was so hot and we wanted to cool her down.
She was elated!



Happy camper guarding her treat really fiercely

 

Took her a little while to warm up to the water area

Because we seldom let her play with water (with the exception of bathtimes), she didn't dare play with the water when we brought her to the kids play area (Kidz Rainforest?). We had to keep coaxing her to touch the water, and engage her before she finally took to it. And boy when she started, she didn't wanna stop! We really had to practically pull her away from the area to shower her. Though she was reluctant to leave, we were lucky she didn't throw a nasty tantrum. 

Enjoying the water play!

requesting for a "cake" (muffin) after shower

having some fun with Daddy while making our rounds

After the water play, we were just in time for a Rainforest Animal Show. She was entertained by the monkeys and was excited upon seeing them. However, towards the end, she was so zonked out she couldn't concentrate very well and was almost nodding off. When the show finally ended, she totally KO-ed in my arms. For somemore who can't sleep under hot conditions, she is one super tired baby to have fell asleep there and then. Luckily Hubs brought her pram along so we could actually let her sleep in there for a while while we grabbed a bite.

We left the Zoo rather early, around 4ish because everybody was rather tired out, partly because of the weather and partly due to the active tots.

Very good experience and I can't wait to go back there again (I've always loved going to the Zoo!)! But Hubs did mention that he would like to wait till Ash can appreciate more before we drop by again so we shall see! :)