The Land of the Integrated Resort

It was super cold at Zion Canyon when we woke up this morning, so we spent a long time debating whether or not to go hiking a little - we were mainly concerned if it would be too cold for the kids. Eventually we compromised by taking the shuttle bus within Zion Canyon, and we walked a bit later when the sun was higher, so it was warmer.

The Lodge where we spent the night.

In Zion Canyon, if not for the kids, we could have:

• gone on a much longer hike to explore the canyon. There are some really beautiful spots where the cliffs hang over the river. As it was, we could only look at photos of these hard-to-reach spots at the Lodge.

Because of the kids, we:

• got to go on the shuttle bus, where we got to listen to J engaging two old ladies from Wales in conversation. ("My name is Joshua, I'm three. This is my Mei-mei. She's one. You know what, we're from Singapore! But we live in L.A. now. In Claremont! This my Diego jacket.")
• walked along the Virgin River for a little bit, where both kids dipped them hands into the icy cold water, and where J took great delight in hurling rocks into the water.
• got to show the kids what a star-lit sky and what a grazing wild deer look like.
  
• stood behind and under a waterfall, where they also saw a small rainbow up close.
  

Then from nature, onward to the man-made wonder that is Las Vegas.

Without the kids, we would have:

• caught at least one of the FOUR Cirque du Soleil shows here
• watched Celine Dion in concert
• watched Monty Python's Spamalot (and possibly have died from laughter)
• seen the Blue Man Group
• caught The Producers, starring Tony Danza
  

Instead, with the kids, we:

• endured a buffet dinner at the Bellagio with a cranky, overtired J and a whiny, jealous E (when she saw J sitting on my lap). Both of them were fighting to sit on my lap. For what it was worth, the food was superb.
• caught the (free) water show at the Bellagio, which J proclaimed to be "good".
• saw a replica of the Eiffel Tower, the New York skyline, an Arthurian castle, and a pyramid (which was covered with an advert for Absolut Vodka)

Took My Breath Away

There was no WiFi in our hotel room last night, so this post is a day late. But then, we did spend the night at the bottom of a canyon.

It was a day of breathtaking beauty yesterday. We made the drive to the Grand Canyon, and the first glimpse of it… just the scale of it takes your breath away. It cuts so deep, and you can see the layers of sandstone and limestone, literally hewn through the ages. Awesome.

Another long drive today – longer than we expected actually, so I was so ready to get out of the car when we arrived at Zion Canyon in Utah this evening. But we did get to drive through the Painted Desert, and we got pretty close to the Vermillion Cliffs. Big wind! I drove at one point, and I could actually feel the car shaking because the wind was so strong. And for a short stretch, there was enough sand being blown by the wind to reduce visibility. I didn’t drive for too long.

We spent the night at Zion Canyon Lodge at the bottom of Zion Canyon. It’s pretty spectacular. After entering Zion National Park, you have to drive through a long chain of switchbacks, through a long tunnel cut through the sandstone cliffs in 1930 (!), before you finally reached the lodge. By the time you get out of the car, the cliffs are towering above. J had a great time in the car - it was a roller coast for him. Near the end, he said “Phew! No car hit us.”

Our photos don’t do justice to the canyons we saw. And it was a particularly exciting day for K, the geography nerd.

A post on our hiking in Zion Canyon and our adjustment to the man-made wonder that is Las Vegas later.

On The Road Again

We picked J up early from school a little early today so that we could begin our long long drive into Arizona. We spent the whole afternoon, and then some, in the car today. The kids were so ready to get out of their car-seats.

To backtrack a little, I sneaked in a little early into J's class and managed to catch this exchange.

J's teacher, Miss Sara, was talking about different types of fruit with the class and had got to lemons. "Are lemons nice? Noooo, they're sour."

Then J alone, out of the whole class, piped up loudly, "BUT LEMONADE IS NICE!!!"

Cracked me up.

Then as J and I were leaving, he asked me again where we were going, and when I told him the Grand Canyon, he shouted to everyone from the door, "BYE, EVERYONE! I'M GOING TO THE GRAND CANYON NOW!!!"

Cracked me up again. Even as I was trying to shush him.

We caught a beautiful sunset during the drive, all oranges, pinks, purples. Spectacular enough for J to notice.

We are now in cowboy country. Evidence: our hotel room tonight has framed photos of John Wayne and Roy Rogers.

How E bullies her Kor-kor

She sits on the sofa in the hall, crying and whining. Meanwhile, J is running in and out of their romm, bringing out a different toy each time, and offering it to his Mei-mei. When she continues crying or whining, he runs back into the room to get another toy for her, "Here you go, Mei-mei".

Aiyoh.

I had to tell him to stop.

Kidspace

Today's activity - an excursion out to Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena.

This was supposed to be the kids panning for gold, but it ended up as the kids playing with the sand.


This was undoubtedly J's favourite activity. He was peddling away for a good 20 minutes at least, getting into races and collisions with other boys. And at the end of the day, he was all "I'm so tired, Daddy. Carry me..."

J took Mei-mei for a spin, but it didn't last very long. She, being of very poor balance, tumbled off as J took off. J yelled, "Mum, luckily Mei-mei wearing her helmet."

Line of the day: As we were leaving the cycling area, J waved at a lady who was sitting at the side waiting for her son and sang out, "See you later, alligator!". K was mortified.

Operation Teach-the-Kids-to-Sleep-Without-Me

So this is what has been occupying me over the last few nights. Up until now, I had to lie down with the kids and wait for them to fall asleep each and every night. But four nights ago, it was time for something new.

I had the sense that it was time. Lying down with the kids had begun to feel really tiresome. A feeling that I hadn't had before, but I suppose after months of doing it, and sometimes having to wait up until an hour before both of them were asleep, well, it had felt like too much.

With the progress that we had made with leaving E at the nursery at church, I felt also that God was saying, "She's ready". And in a way I can't fully explain, I do believe that God had prompted me in this.

It's been a journey of small steps. The first night was pretty traumatic. E cried and cried every time I left the room. Eventually K had to go in to calm her down and while he stayed in the room with her, she managed to fall asleep on her own. The second night, both she and J cried when I left the room. Even J had gotten used to me being in there, and wanted me to stay. I had to go in, tell them to lie down and sleep, and reassure them that I would return in a few minutes to check on them. Amazingly, that worked. No crying on the third night, even though I still had to check on them. Ditto for tonight, I've also been trying to stretch out how long they have to wait before seeing me check in on them.

So I praise God for the progress. The next step - getting them to sleep through the night without me having to move into E's bed to sleep with her at some point during the night. Pray with us!

Body Art

This is how we amuse ourselves... J took a paintbrush to his face today.


Then he decided that Daddy's plain-looking arm needed some paint tattoos. (Actually, he would have preferred to work on Daddy's face, but Daddy had some strong objections!)

Distractions

It is premiere week here in the US. So all the new seasons are starting this week on NBC and ABC: Heroes, Bionic Woman, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters.

K is so looking forward to Heroes tonight.

So many shows, so little time.

And my good friend from CBC, A, introduced me to Facebook; I in turned introduced K, I confess.

We are now spending way too much time on Facebook - so addictive. So in trouble.

It's A Rainy Day

Finally.

It only took about four and a half months, but we finally had rain today. And not that evaporate-before-it-reaches-the-ground, misty drizzle. Real rain.

It's much colder these couple of days too, so much so that E is wearing her thermal pajamas and J has his sweatpants on for bedtime.


Fall is coming.

A Visit to the Fair

Today's been such a totally fun-packed day for the kids. J had school in the morning, then we brought Willie the guinea pig home, then we took off to the L.A. County Fair (which is at Pomona, next to Claremont, for most of September). It seems to be a pretty big deal here; a lot of people are excited about it. What it is really, is a pasar malam, just on a much much bigger scale. True to the American way, there is deep-fried everything here: fried S'mores, fried Twinkies, fried Coke!


The highlight was the amusement park rides. J had his pick! Bumper boats, giant slides, race cars...


E couldn't reach the height requirement for most rides, so she missed out. But here's one she managed to get on.

Not too many rides, but she did thoroughly enjoy a corn dog.

(Imbibing the American way of life.)

And both J and E enjoyed the petting zoo. J has become quite fearless when it comes to most animals nowadays. The indoor play area was cool too - trains for J, play food for E, power tools for both! They were very very busy.


So exhausted. On the way home, when I suggested that J take a short nap in the car, he actually said, "Good idea, Mom", settled down and did just that. He who from birth has fought against sleep!

Comeback of the day:
When K told J that he had ten more minutes with the toy trains, he said, "Dad, five and five make ten!"

A Weekend Houseguest

We have a houseguest for the weekend! We are pet-sitting Willie, the resident guinea pig in J's classroom. Everyone in class gets a chance to sign up to bring him home for the weekend. J's been looking forward to Willie coming home all week, he was so terribly excited today!


Here's J, just after he gave a piece of apple (that we picked ourselves at Oak Glen) to Willie. It was a hit; Willie ate it all.

Godstops

The weather this week has cooled down significantly, and it's been wonderful. It is for this weather that we came to California, although for this time of year, this cooler weather is a little unusual. The nights are quite cold, so we try to stay in a bit more now. Less trips out to the train station in the evenings, and if we do go, the kids have to be bundled up pretty well.

A little more introspection today:

I am so thankful for the Thursday women's bible study at church. In so many ways, it has been an answer to prayer, a demonstration of God knowing my needs so well. One of the things Beth Moore talks about in the workbook we're doing (Believing God) is Godstops. She encourages us to think about how God has been real in our lives in each particular day, whether it is a revelation that God speaks to our hearts, or a beautiful sunset that He put before us, or even Him clearing way before us if we're late for work. The goal is for us to learn to be aware of God's presence in our lives. We are to Savour The Observable Presence (hence, Godstops).

While enjoying the quiet after finishing my homework one night (kids asleep!), God reminded me that He had put me here, in Claremont, at this time in my life. Although it was something I had not articulated, I had been feeling up until now that I was here only because K was going to school here. I was just tagging along and my job was to take care of the kids. But hearing God speaking, affirming that He had put me here, well, it was such a great encouragement. And I praise God for it.

I also love how doing this bible study allows me to remember that I am a child of God. Taking care of J and E is such a full-time job that sometimes I feel that I'm a mom and nothing else. It's also been great to learn that this is a shared sentiment among some ladies at the bible study who have young children like me. But thank God, doing the homework and talking with the ladies at church lets me remember who I am in Christ. And I think that'll make me a better mom to J and E.

I Need Your Seat

At lunch today, E got it into her head that she wanted to sit with J. As in, in the same chair. She made a fuss so that I would take her out of her high-chair. Then she toddled over to J's chair, stood beside him and made another whole big fuss.

J: What do you want, Mei-mei? (in a most patient tone, which surprised even me)

As E kept crying and pointing to his chair, he finally figured it out. So he scooted over to one side of the chair to make room for her.

J: Here you go, Mei-mei. Space here. (Pointing)

E doesn't know it yet, but she's really lucky to have such an obliging big brother.

J's Goodnight Prayer

As I prayed for the kids before their bedtime today, J started mumbling. We couldn't hear much, but K made out "... toy shop..."

So after I finished praying, we asked him to clarify.

J: Pray that the wind won't blow the toy shop away, so that the toys are still there.

Me: Where? In Singapore or in L.A.?

J: In Singapore AND in L.A.

Meal-time Ritual

I think E thinks that saying grace means talking to the dining table. When we say, "Okay, time to say grace!", she bends her head down low to the table, then mumbles something in her baby talk.

Really quite quite funny.

Apple Picking

Today's over-arching theme: APPLES!

While at the housewarming party last Saturday, we had heard about this place in Yupaica, where you can pick your own apples and press your own apple cider (which is basically pressed unfiltered apple juice, so it's cloudy, not clear like the usual apple juice - it's also so much more delicious than juice). K quickly did an internet search when we got home and so this is how we found Oak Glen, less than an hour away from Claremont. How could we not go?

We had lunch at Apple Annie's at Oak Glen Village, where their motto is "You'll never go away hungry" - at dinner, you can get free second helpings! Lunch was pretty good, but what really wowed us was dessert: deep dish apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

It really whetted our appetite for more apples, which was perfect since we were headed to the apple farms next.

We went to Riley's Log Cabin & Farm; they had Spartan, Red Delicious and Jonathon apple varieties available for picking today. It was such a beautiful day today - bright bright sunshine, yet not scorchingly hot. The light made the apples look so good, in such beautiful shades of pink, peach and red. Quite gorgeous. Everyone had a go at picking the apples, even E! It was fun.


After visiting the apple farm, we brought the kids to the petting zoo in the Oak Glen village. J loved it, since he's in such an animal phase right now. He didn't flinch at all when the goats came butting up against him, nuzzling and smelling him. The goats were hungry, man. One actually climbed up on me to try to get at the corn feed I was holding. I was screaming, while K and J were quite bemused. E, I think, was bewildered. Unfortunately, I broke out in hives - argh. So I think I am allergic to goats. Or pigs. Or the feed. This was definitely the least pleasant part of today!


We'll be back to the apple farms, probably on a weekend next time, so that we can press our own cider and maybe pick some raspberries too! No petting zoo the next time.

Being Part of a Community

Today's message at church resonated me. It was about community - we are a community of believers, we grow together, we encourage each other, we spur each other on. We are not alone. Through our faith, we belong in this community. Thank God!

We've been here a little over four months now, and we continue to build relationships in our church here. We've gotten to know more families these past few months, and with the women's bible study, I continue to get to know more ladies in the church - there are quite a few with kids around J and E's age! And as we grow these relationships, we grow roots here too. And even though I know we're only here for a year, I feel more and more settled, and less in transition. It's a nice feeling.

J demonstrates remarkable self-assurance nowadays. While sitting at a table outside the sanctuary just now with some people we didn't know yet, he introduced himself, told them his age, pointed out his Mei-mei, and made some more conversation. Making sure they know he's part of the community too!

At the same time, today's message brought to mind our church family in CBC too. I was reminded of our relationships with the families in our home church - we miss you! And although I know God has brought us here to Claremont, I'm sure that we're missing out on what's happening in CBC too.

We brought my mum to Olvera Street in downtown L.A. today, the heart of the Mexican community here. It was even more festive today because Mexico is also celebrating its independence this weekend. It was quite interesting checking out the sights. J decided too late, after we had left Olvera Street, that he wanted a Mexican flag.

Eating Olives

We went to my pilates instructor's housewarming party today. She stays just a couple of minutes away from us so it was quite convenient. L had set up different stations around the house for the guests to keep themselves busy. At one of the stations, she had put out different vegetables for us to make little animals. So with some mushrooms and olives and a couple of toothpicks, you could make, say, a panda.

K wanted to have a go, but while he was trying to make something, E grabbed a raw button mushroom to stuff into her mouth. We had to move fairly fast to remove it from her hand. In an attempt to distract her from the mushroom, I thought I'd give her an olive, thinking that she'd hate the taste of it! Wrong. She was quite pleased with the olives and wanted a few more. Her tea-time snack.

Christmas in September

With Grandma here, it is looking like Christmas came early for the kids! They're having a lot of fun with their new toys. I am kinda proud that J knows how to thank his Grandma for what she buys for him, without any prompting! E is still undergoing training.


A little while after J left for school today, E started calling out "Tor-tor... Tor-tor..." She understood when I told her that he had gone to school and would be back later, since she stopped looking for him. And then when he came back home from school, she called "Tor-tor", ran to him and gave him a hug. Which he returned! All together now: Awwww...

So incredibly sweet. I treasure these little moments, they'll come as reminders of the good times when they're squabbling later on!

The weather's starting to cool down as fall approaches. It's still warm in the day but 30-31 degrees C is much more tolerable compared to the highs of 43 degrees this past summer. The magazines are full of roast recipes (compared to grilling recipes early this summer). It'll be time to put away the kids' sleeveless summer tees and take out the long-sleeved ones soon.

Answered Prayer

So today was Bible Study Day (aka Thursday School). J did well, as usual; he settles into the pre-K class quite well every Sunday, so it was pretty run-of-the-mill for him.

Then I brought E to the nursery, told her she had to stay there. Could she cry? She shook her head no. So I said ok, I was going for Bible Study and I'd come pick her up later. Immediately, she starts to whine and cling to me! And grows into full-out crying as I leave! I decided to give it a go anyway. And about half a minute later, she had settled down fine! A few of the ladies who popped into the nursery later told me that E was doing well, and playing away quite happily. Something that we honestly thought was impossible before. So even though it was a pretty small thing in the big scheme of things, it was still an answered prayer from God. I am incredibly thankful.

We got off to a great start on the Bible Study today. We're doing a Beth Moore study on Believing God, and so far, it is sounding very inspiring. I'm looking forward to really getting into the study, studying His Word and hearing God's voice, and fellowshipping with the other ladies in church. It's very exciting.

Different Questions

At home, J asks: "Why we have to go to school today?"
Here, he asks: "Why we have to go home now?" (when K came to pick us up from school today)

Granted it was only his second day of school (he goes to school Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), but still...

So today was also my first day of parent participation in his school. What I did was basically keep an eye on the kids, play with them, help them out when they needed it (washing hands!), encourage them and try to help them resolve conflicts. Oh, and I also do some tidying up around the classroom. There are fourteen kids in J's class, and since they have a pretty big yard and room to play in, they can get quite scattered so you do need three adults watching them. At the end of the day, I was tired!! And quite glad to be able to go home, where there are only TWO kids... There are a great variety of kids in J's class, all with different personalities (a couple of them have strong, obstinate ones, but also a few with very sweet souls); and I guess it was quite interesting for me to see different ways of dealing with different children. Store up tips for future use!

The highlight: J was with me when I was helping two other kids with something (I don't even remember what now). After observing me, J said, "Mum, you're good mummy. You help other children." And while watching me clean the tables and get ready for snack time, J shouted through the window, "Thank you, Mum!" For those two moments alone, it was worth it!

On Monday, J's messy activity of the day was finger/hand painting (he got paint all over his shirt, but almost everything washed out in the washing machine, so I was happy!).

Today's messy activity of the day: There was a big pane of glass mounted and standing in a wooden frame in the yard. Then there were four bowls of shaving cream (!), sprinkled with paint powders in different colours. So you dip your hand in and go crazy on the glass. J took one look and dove right in, but barely five seconds later he decided that he didn't like the feel of the shaving cream and wanted to wash his hands to get rid of the stuff. He didn't go near it again!

Tomorrow I bring the kids to church. A women's bible study is starting up, and the great thing is that there's accompanying childcare, so both kids get to do some bible study too. I've told J it's "Thursday School"! The test will be E - for the past I-don't-know-how-many Sundays at church, she bawls every time we try to leave her at the nursery, so K and I have to take turns staying with her. We're praying that she'll be okay at the bible study tomorrow, and even have a good time!

First Day of School

Off to school!

J in his classroom

Here's what he was doing when I left.

E cried because she wanted to go join J when she saw him painting and I wouldn't let her.

It looks like J had a good day at school. He brought home some artwork, a blotch of bright colour on a piece of paper, with slits cut along the edge. Very abstract. What I asked him what he had drawn, he said, "I don't know", with a shrug of his little shoulders. He also managed to ride on a bicycle today, for the first time since we came here. It definitely sounded like a highlight for him. Before this, he had already asked about getting a new bike when we get back home to Singapore.

They do this thing during sing-along-time, when they go round the room and each child gets a chance to do a trick. Basically they can do anything, like somersaults or jumps, and the whole class will applaud for them. So when it gets to J's turn, he takes a flying leap, and lands on the floor lying down. And for the most dramatic effect he stays lying down, motionless for a couple of seconds.

The kids got pretzels during snack-time.

I Like to Move It, Move It

J's been singing this - after watching Madagascar once yesterday night, and twice today. Hoover Dam funny.

We were at the Barnes & Noble today - here's J poring over a book on trains, which he later made his Grandma read to him.


A new discovery - J loves watercress soup (I had cooked it for K, who loves xi yang cai tang, but we're pleasantly surprised that J loves it too). Right now, it's just about the only veg he'll eat; he thought the watercress was seaweed, which he also luuuurves, and we just didn't correct him). He was giggling uncontrollably during dinner. Maybe because he was just so delighted over his watercress soup.

As I type this, J's sitting in front of K's laptop, directing his Daddy to search for anything related to dinosaurs on Youtube.