A Snowball Fight

We made a special drive down to Pasadena this evening for the tree-lighting ceremony in Old Pasadena. There was also one street closed off to traffic so that they could put snow on the ground for kids to play in. It is actually already snowing in parts of the US, but Southern California is quite deprived in this respect.

All bundled up in the car, ready to go.

So, it was J and E's introduction to snow. And here are a few things J learnt today:

• Snow is like ice.
• Snow is very cold.
• No matter how much he tells Mom and Dad to make the snow warm, there's nothing they can do to help.

After his initial hesitation, he really got into the whole snowball fight thing, hurling whatever handfuls of snow he could, in whichever direction he could. One in particular came hurtling toward me, and cut my lip! J was all "I got you, Mom!", although he was also suitably apologetic when he heard that I cut my lip.

E was a little bewildered; she did not like the slipping and sliding on the ice, and wanted to be carried most of the time.

There were a couple of stressed-looking reindeer.

The Christmas tree, after it had been lit.

Black Friday

Today is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, so named because all the sales that are going on can push retailers' balance books back into the black.

So Target, which is one of our favourite shops, is having a rare sale today and tomorrow, and they opened up this morning at 6am. I was there at 6.05am, and by the time I walked in, there weren't any shopping trolleys left! Singaporeans aren't the only ones who are kiasu. I walked past one man who said that he had started queuing up at 4.30am - he had a 37" LCD TV screen in his trolley, which was going for US$549, I think. It was a very popular item, I saw it in many a trolley.

Anyway, I managed to shop some in Target, get groceries at the grocery store, then pick up breakfast, before I got back home, climbed into bed and dozed a little. All this before the kids woke up! Very nice.

Fish Eggs

We continue to be amazed by E's tastes. She is usually quite a picky eater - she'd rather not eat at all than deign to eat mashed potatoes or pasta. Then there are things that we are sure she'd hate, but she surprises us by eating them. Case in point: salmon eggs, those big orange balls that go on top of ikura sushi. See here. The mess was spectacular.


E is also becoming increasingly adept at eating corn off the cob, with bite marks that are evenly placed along the length of each corn cob. Very neat. K had actually skewered smaller chunks of the cob for her, but she wouldn't have it!

Legoland

Legoland is located about half an hour north of San Diego, so it was on the way as we made our way home yesterday. There is, obviously, a Lego theme running throughout the theme park. It's great for kids around J's age, but not so much for E; she was too little for most of the rides, the ones that look most fun, at least.

This was one of J's favourites! Driving round the track at the Volvo Junior Driving School.

New York in Lego

Legoland's quite fun. We'll probably try to go back within the next three months. Because it's low season now, we each got free tickets to return by the end of February.

San Diego Model Railroad Museum

Even though we've been to Balboa Park each time we've visited San Diego, this was the first time we brought J and E to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum located on the grounds of Balboa Park itself. It's not just for kids, there are adults that take this very seriously! It's like any other hobby for them.


There are exhibits that are set up to resemble the actual topography of California with the train lines running through. No touching allowed!

Peep & Wubbzy

J has two favourite shows now: Peep and the Big Wide World (which shows on The Learning Channel and sneakily teaches science concepts) and Wow Wow Wubbzy (which is just amusing). He laughs uproariously each time he watches them. It's funny for us to watch him.

They're kinda like Everybody Loves Raymond for preschoolers.

The Animals We Met

We couldn't let November go by without a trip anywhere, so San Diego it was. The kids got to meet animals out close that they hadn't before, both at SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo.

The tortoise had to be held back for us to take this picture - it was in a hurry to trot off, it moved surprisingly fast for a tortoise!

Polar bears - real and otherwise

Each time we go to San Diego, E gets a little bit more aware of the things that are around us. J has always been really keen on the cable cars at the zoo, and this time E was too. When we asked if they wanted to go up on the cable cars, she nodded her head vigorously, and said, "Car-ber-car". She was delighted to be up on it.

Joshua and Emma's Debut

So while I'm at bible study on Thursdays, J has been learning bible stories and songs. Their worship time is led by the worship pastor, no less. Today was J's debut at church, as part of a bigger group of preschoolers and toddlers. He seemed a bit befuddled at the first service, like he just didn't get what they were supposed to be doing, but he warmed up by the time they sang at the second service.

Getting a drink in between performances, so that we have a clear voice!

Lining up before going into the sanctuary.

E was in her own Sunday School during the first service, so she missed out on J's performance. But she was with us during the second service and she saw her Kor-kor go on up to the front of the sanctuary. She started to make a fuss because I was holding her and she couldn't join him! So I let her go, and she toddled up to stand right beside J throughout the whole thing. In front of everyone! Completely unrehearsed! And she made it through the two songs!

This is such a milestone. We are very proud of them.

Check out our recording of their performance below!

Jesus Loves Me/Father Abraham

It's About Time

Ta-dah! E finally has enough hair to use a hairclip! I am very proud. And she is very cute. E was actually quite taken with the hairclip after I let her look at herself in the mirror: she actually wanted it back in her hair after I took it out!

In other fashion news, E has taken to modelling the "coat" that J made in church when he was learning about Joseph.