Pretty in Pink Baby Shower

Camille (above) and two other of my wonderful friends put on a beautiful baby shower for me! Thank you ladies!

Everything was pink! How strange!

The lute!
Thank you girls.

Daddy's first suit!

Travis was in a major time crunch coming home from China and then having a few hours before he had to rush off to a formal dinner for HP and their 40 years in Singapore (guest speaker: former prime minister Lee Kwan Yew!). Since his daily attire for work is jeans and a polo he has never needed a suit until this event! So we had to hurry out to buy a suit and miraculously we found one! Doesn't he look great? I wish he had to wear one more often!

Hello From Phuket, Thailand!!!

Sorry if you've been wondering what we've been doing for the last week! We went to Thailand and I had SO MANY photos to sort through. But, here is a sampling! It was a great trip, despite the rain. It was raining when we arrived the first night. It rained pretty much all day the first day at the beach. Calmed down a little when we went into Patong Beach for dinner and to arrange our snorkeling tour. Travis did a GREAT job getting us a good deal, and as you can see from our photos it was a HUGE success. But, while he was negotiating, a BIG monsoonal rainstorm blew in and we were stuck huddled by the stall until our driver could get to us. Monsoon season is supposed to END in Thailand by November but was lasting much longer than usual this year! Trav said we'd look back on it and laugh someday. After literally crying about it while we were there, he's right, I can laugh about it now. It only rained for the first half of the second day, and when we went to visit an orphanage in Phang Nga, north of Phuket, the weather was beautiful. It was such a blessing to spend some time with the missionary couple, their staff and the kids there! They even took us to dinner for VERY authentic Thai food in the village nearby! Sunday was a gamble, but God smiled on us and gave us a full DRY day and cloud free for 3/4 of the day when we took our boat and snorkeling tour of the Phi Phi Islands! I have never seen such beautiful land and sea scape! It was the first time snorkeling for all four of us. Didn't get to see Nemo, but we all saw several Gil's and Travis and Natty saw a puffer fish (can't remember his name in the movie). :) At dinner that third night there was NO wind so the waiter asked if the kids would like to send of some Thai lanterns. You'll see photos of them lower on the blog! That was lots of fun for them to watch them fly away until they were just specks in the sky and then the flames burnt out.

Monkey Beach

Bill forgot to read the sign! :)

Snorkeling!

Thai Lanterns

These were so cool. All the boys, even Kaelan, got to sign their names to the two lanterns we launched and then watched as the air warmed up and they lifted off toward the moon! Fun Thai entertainment.

The Turkish Ice Cream Man at Clarke Quay

This was perhaps the MOST entertaining part of our visit to Singapore! Our bellies were sore after laughing so hard. This is a TALENTED performer and for only $3 sing apeice you're treated to some hilarious tricks with your treat! I LOVE Trav's face in that picture. "Is this guy for real?" he seems to be thinking! Look how he's stealing Bill's cone from him, when Bill thinks he's holding his finished ice cream cone. He even gave Jessie just a little more for the baby after he was done teasing her with her chocolate cone! :)

Fun at Pasir Ris

Jessie, Travis and Mammy discovered this little amusement park up on the northern part of the island! It's perfect for a morning's worth of fun and very reasonably priced. Eli was SO excited to drive the go-karts.

Christmas in Singapore

We walked around town a bit to look at the Christmas decorations! These are just a few block from Jessie and Travis' apartment. The "official" light-up happens on Saturday (the day after we leave, of course!). They're just going to have to take their camera and act like tourists for us, so we can see the final product of all these decorations we've been watching the city put up the whole time we've been here!

Marina Bay

Took a walk down around the waterfront and ventured into the new Marina Bay Sands Resort/Casino. Very cool building! Singaporeans and permanent residents MUST pay $100 (Sing) just to enter the casino! Foreigners can go in and gamble for "free." :) It's a beautiful addition to the skyline downtown surrounding Marina Bay. Much better than the cranes that were there before!

We're headed home tomorrow morning. It's been a FUN trip to say the least and worth every moment! Thank you Jessie and Travis and Kaelan for being such great hosts and putting up with us in your house for TWO weeks! Thanks also to those of you who were looking for Jessica's blog and ended up reading all about our trip to visit them instead! :) See you stateside soon!

Second Day of (Hippo) Touring

Yesterday we finished our second day of touring around Singapore. Jessie had a MOPS meeting in the morning and baby group in the afternoon, so we were on our own anyway. So we ventured out on a VERY rainy morning to see what we would find. We began at Raffles Hotel, the historical colonial hotel, where at the Long Bar, the Singapore Sling was created. The Punjab doorman was kind enough to pose for a photo with the boys. He is the most photographed person in Singapore! Then we headed on to Little India (that's my absolute FAVORITE place in Singapore!) for henna tattoos. We decided to be brave and take ourselved to Indian food for lunch at the Banana Leaf. Jessie and Travis have taken me there before, so we knew it was a good place to try. They serve your food family style and you use your personal banana leaf as a plate, no silverware necessary. After lunch, we walked through the Tekka market where you can buy all your groceries and just about anything else. Bill must have looked like he needed a suit, he was approached many times during the day by the men at the tailor shops. :) We walked up the rest of Serangoon Road and would have visited the hindu temple, but it was closed until later in the afternoon. So we caught our bus and headed for Chinatown. Toured the Chinese heritage museum, where two floors are set up just like a shophouse in the 1950's would have been. It leaves a big impression to see how people were living not too long ago. Then the boys FINALLY got to shop with the Singapore money Aunt Jessie had been giving them over the years. They each have $30 to spend however they want. Eli got a Merlion statue and Nathanael got a glitter globe with the Singapore skyline inside.

The Doorman at Raffles Hotel.

(The most photographed person in Singapore)

Experiencing Little India