Boys With Guns, Girls Who Dance

What's with boys and their fascination with guns? I don't encourage and that's why I don't have a toy gun for my boy, Joseph. But still some how, some way he came to know about this thing called 'gun'. From where, I'm not certain but it could be the times when he got the chance to play with his cousin's toy gun or I blame it on the TV although violent or action movies are quite controlled in our household. Maybe it's just natural for boys?

Joseph knows how to build a gun by himself using blocks.

Watch the video to see him in action.

And what's the deal with girls and ballet? I don't know whether your girls are also interested in ballet. But mine is. My best friend said that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Maybe she's right because I learnt ballet when I was young too. Her father took her to the bookshop during CNY and asked her to choose a book. She chose this book called Ballerina Stories. She's so in love with this book that she reads it everyday! So interested was she that we signed her up for ballet finally.

A gift from papa.

The book has many stories in it.

Elizabeth getting ready for ballet class. Joseph is so curious about the ballet shoes.

My little ballerina and her accomplice. Peace out!

Aye aye, captain!

Look at what Jake and the Neverland Pirates did to my son and daughter.

Now everytime when he don that cap, he'll say, "Aye aye, captain!"

When I reprimand him or give him an instruction, he'll reply, "Aye aye, captain!" Cheeky fella! A little pirate in the making? I hope not!

Elizabeth singing one of the songs from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

*Jake and the Neverland Pirates is a programme on Disney Junior on Astro Channel 613. (I'm not sponsored by Astro or Disney Junior :P)

Darn..now that song is in my head..oh boy!

Don't touch the ground because it's hot hot lava

You can't even go on your tip tip tippy toes..

Jungle Trekking in Gasing Hill

Finally we did it. Finally we braved ourselves to go jungle trekking and we did it in Gasing Hill. I didn't actually plan for it but it just happened. I suggested it and suddenly my hubby was game for it. Just imagine I didn't even google up about the place and it's our first time there. So we didn't really know what to expect. We just heard about the place and knew about the location but we didn't know what it would be like. Whether it is a good place to hike for beginners or whether it's a appropriate place for toddlers to hike. We weren't fully equipped and prepared too. Just went in with some snacks for the children.

It was a good day to hike actually. It was not sunny but the weather was quite threatening as if it would rain heavily soon. When we arrive it was drizzling but not to worry. Walking under those trees, we can't feel whether it's drizzling anyway. The air was refreshing and although the weather was threatening, there were still people entering and exiting the jungle. I'm sure some of them are regulars there and some of them are first timers like us. The earlier paths were rather easy and level. The children could go through it with ease. They were so psyched up at the beginning thinking they were going to a 'jungle park'. Thanks to mummy who embedded that idea into their heads. They were so looking forward to 'jungle park'. Haha. Anyway, they were good sport.

Then the horror starts when we didn't know how to stop and didn't time ourselves. We went quite deep in and couldn't find our way out. We started to panic a little but still maintaining our cool because we didn't want the children to panic too. By that time, the paths are beginning to get tougher too. Once in a while, the children will cry when they fall or their hands touched the muddy ground. But I encouraged them and told them that it's ok and didn't want to dwell on the matter for too long. By the end of the journey, they were already so lethargic and started to get cranky. Fortunately, the snacks I took along managed to divert their attention a little bit and gave them a little bit more energy. The people in the jungle were getting less and when we finally managed to meet one, we quickly asked the way out. But guess what? That hiker came in from another way so she the direction she pointed led us to another totally different exit. We exited at a place near Kenny Hills or Pantai Hillpark, I think. We had to walk for a bit and stopped a taxi to bring us back to Gasing Hill.

It was really an experience for us first timers and we have learnt our lesson. It was a good beginning but an ending that went awry. I think the children forgot about the beginning but only remembered the ending that when I asked them whether they would like to go hiking again, they gave me a resounding NO. LOL. Nevertheless, I will never give up. Both hubby and I enjoyed the hike. I hope in time the children will start enjoying it too. Just that the 'lost' part gave us a bit of a panic and phobia. Still, the children deserve many praises and kisses for being such a sport and I considered them 'angels' already for first timers.

What we have learnt from this experience is to be fully prepared with equipment, snacks and water. And also to time ourselves not to get carried away. Since we are with small children, I think a 30 minute hike would be enough then we have to start turning back. It was good exercise though. The next time around, I wonder the word 'jungle park' will still make the children excited? Maybe I've to look for another word to entice them. LOL.

A picture of the entrance. This picture is not mine. I found it through another blog.

It's hard to get a clear picture while walking and I took the shots all from my mobile phone as I didn't bring my camera with me.

They were so brave at the beginning, walking on their own, following the leader..:)

My girl in walking in front. That says a lot coming from a very timid girl.

The paths were getting more tricky as you go in deeper.

CNY 2012

CNY passed in a flash and although it isn't the same as last year and a less merry one, there were enjoyable moments too. And I'm grateful for that. I'm sure my father will be smiling down upon us when he sees that we are happy too. So I'm going to squeeze everything in a post to recap on the happenings this CNY. 

CNY Day 1 - The children donned their new clothes. The girls had new dresses specially tailored by my MIL. The children had fun playing fully utilising every waking hour of the day! Joseph enjoyed sitting in a box.

CNY Day 2 - Hubby's mission accomplished and that is to take a family portrait before leaving his hometown, Seremban. My mission accomplished too because I managed to meet my best friend before she returns to Singapore.

 

 

CNY Day 3 - Discovered a bird's egg in a nest among the branches of my mum's plant. It looks so cute and fragile. Witnessed a lion dance in Mahkota Parade, a shopping mall in Malacca (my hometown).

CNY Day 4 - 'Loh sang' with my family. Can't get enough of the salmon! Yummy.

CNY Day 5 - The kids had an enjoyable time at the beach.

CNY Day 13 - It's 'Lap Chun', the first day of Spring in the Chinese lunar calendar. Seriously, it's the first time I've heard of the egg balancing thing on 'Lap Chun'. My babysitter invited us over to her house to let my kids have a look at those eggs. I joined in the fun and did the egg balancing act too. Ta da! I succeeded on my 2nd attempt. The egg most in front and the zoomed in picture of the egg is mine. Not bad eh? I can balance the egg on the sharper end instead of the flatter end. :D

CNY Day 14 - Potluck gathering with old friends. I'm in charge of bringing 'yee sang' however it's not in the picture. The children created quite a racket, playing and enjoying themselves to the max until Elizabeth didn't want to go home for she didn't want to be apart from her friend.

CNY Day 15 - Back to Seremban to celebrate 'Chap Goh Meh' and Han Yang's birthday. The four cousins so excited over the cake that my MIL baked. They were also excited over the candles and sang the birthday song loudly.  

That pretty much sums up my CNY. Hope yours was a good one.

A Video To Make Me Smile 2

Ever since I got back to work after the CNY break, I was having 'withdrawal symptoms' and that's the reason why away from the blogging scene for the past two weeks. Not to mention the long weekend we just had. Tell me, how to be not 'lost' for a while with the holiday after holiday. Hehe.

Well, since my fingers are still in lazy mode, I'll share this video I took a few days before CNY when I was back in my hubby's hometown, Seremban. Maybe the kids were bored of waiting while we did our last minute CNY shopping, so they created their own entertainment and I took the chance to catch them on video.