Been a while since I posted one of these. Jack has been producing some gems though.
Last night, Jack was putting a tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy.
Melissa: Where do you think the tooth fairy lives?
Jack: Oh, he probably hangs out with Santa.
Melissa: Really?
Jack: Yeah. The Easter Bunny, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, they're always going out for drinks together.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The Summer of Fun (part 2)
From Great Wolf Lodge, we moved on the the longest stay of our trip, Sag Harbor, NY. My brother Joe and his wife Liza moved there from Manhattan a few years ago and opened a burger joint called Bay Burger.
The best part of staying here was that my entire family was all together for the first time in a few years. My other brother, Mike, had just moved in with Joe after quitting his job of 9 years and moving out of our hometown for the first time. He's now enjoying his new job working at "The Burg'" My parents had also timed their vacation for the same week and were staying at Joe and Liza's too. It was one crowded house of Tremblays.
This being my first vacation in a long time, one of the highlights of my stay in Sag Harbor was watching how hard my brothers and sister-in-law were working at the restaraunt everyday while I had nothing to do. For example. While Joe and Mike were at work, this is what I was up to:
We combined a lot of lounging by the pool with lounging on the couch and eating free food at Bay Burger.
One of the fun things we were all able to do as a family is have a great picnic dinner on the beach. Once a week, hundreds of people make there way to one of the beaches in Sag Harbor to "celebrate" the sunset with drums and dancing. It was an interesting and fun crowd of people at the beach that night. (The highlight for the "foodie" Tremblays was a sighting of Eric Ripert.)
While we were staying in Sag Harbor, we decided to make an overnight trip to NYC to behave like tourists and visit Melissa's old friend Sharon. The highlight of that trip was definitely our time on Broadway. We had already got ourselves tickets for the whole family to see the Blue Man Group. We also purchased tickets to see Mary Poppins while we were there.
If you've never seen it, the Blue Man Group is an interesting show. It's hard to describe. The simplest description is that it's music mixed with performance art. Sounds kind of weird, but it's a very cool show. Jack loved it.
While I wasn't too excited to go see the Mary Poppins musical, I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. Last year, Jack's music class had spent a lot of time singing songs from Mary Poppins, so he had already seen the movie and knew a few of the songs. The most impressive aspect of this show was definitely the sets. Huge, beautiful sets that included entire rooms dropping in from above and scenery rising out of the floor. The show ended with Mary flying out over the crowd as she left the family behind.
Our trip to New York, both NYC and Sag Harbor, was definitely the highlight of our summer.
After New York, we took the ferry from Long Island and then drove to Massachusetts to visit with old Matt's old friends.
We were very thankful to be able to stay in the condo of an old family friend who was out of town for the summer. It was a nice little two bedroom condo not too far from where I grew up. My parents stayed there with us for a few days before they had to go back to the Bahamas.
Our time in Mass. was essentially spent taking it easy. We spent a lot of our time with my friend Jeff and his family. He and his wife Leah invited us to their place for a great diner on our first night there. They also held their annual cook-out while were were in town and we got to see all of our old friends for an afternoon. The Spiderman bounce-house and the never ending game of wiffleball were the most popular events of the afternoon with the kids.
It was a great weekend seeing very old friends that we rarely get to see. We're already looking forward to planning our get together for next summer (Disneyworld anyone?).
After Mass., we jumped back into the truck and made our way to Jack's uncle Andy's house in Virginia. Melissa sisters had decided to make a trip (from Chicago and Austin) so that we could all see each other in VA. They each brought their two kids and we had a 2 day baby cousin convention. It was great to have all of the cousins together. We took advantage of it by getting pictures taken of all the kids. Imagine organizing 6 kids from age 1 to 6 for at least one good photo!
The next day it was back to Grandma Chris' house to pack up for the long flight back to Singapore. Packing all of those suitcases took the better part of an entire day to get done. We looked like we were bringing all of our earthly possessions with us on the plane. 6 large suitcases, 3 small carry-on suitcases and 3 carry-on bags. It was so much stuff, we had to have an 8-person van drive the three of us from the Singapore airport to our apartment.
Now that we've been back in Singapore for a few weeks, we've settled back into our regular routine. Jack is loving his new 2nd grade class and his teacher, Ms. Cuthbert. Melissa jumped right back into her scrapbooking groups and PTA jobs. I've been working a lot (as usual) but I'm also taking a scuba diving course. Next weekend, I go to Malaysia for the "open water diver" certification.
All in all, a great summer. We were sad when it ended but excited to get "back home" to Singapore.
The best part of staying here was that my entire family was all together for the first time in a few years. My other brother, Mike, had just moved in with Joe after quitting his job of 9 years and moving out of our hometown for the first time. He's now enjoying his new job working at "The Burg'" My parents had also timed their vacation for the same week and were staying at Joe and Liza's too. It was one crowded house of Tremblays.
This being my first vacation in a long time, one of the highlights of my stay in Sag Harbor was watching how hard my brothers and sister-in-law were working at the restaraunt everyday while I had nothing to do. For example. While Joe and Mike were at work, this is what I was up to:
We combined a lot of lounging by the pool with lounging on the couch and eating free food at Bay Burger.
One of the fun things we were all able to do as a family is have a great picnic dinner on the beach. Once a week, hundreds of people make there way to one of the beaches in Sag Harbor to "celebrate" the sunset with drums and dancing. It was an interesting and fun crowd of people at the beach that night. (The highlight for the "foodie" Tremblays was a sighting of Eric Ripert.)
While we were staying in Sag Harbor, we decided to make an overnight trip to NYC to behave like tourists and visit Melissa's old friend Sharon. The highlight of that trip was definitely our time on Broadway. We had already got ourselves tickets for the whole family to see the Blue Man Group. We also purchased tickets to see Mary Poppins while we were there.
If you've never seen it, the Blue Man Group is an interesting show. It's hard to describe. The simplest description is that it's music mixed with performance art. Sounds kind of weird, but it's a very cool show. Jack loved it.
While I wasn't too excited to go see the Mary Poppins musical, I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. Last year, Jack's music class had spent a lot of time singing songs from Mary Poppins, so he had already seen the movie and knew a few of the songs. The most impressive aspect of this show was definitely the sets. Huge, beautiful sets that included entire rooms dropping in from above and scenery rising out of the floor. The show ended with Mary flying out over the crowd as she left the family behind.
Our trip to New York, both NYC and Sag Harbor, was definitely the highlight of our summer.
After New York, we took the ferry from Long Island and then drove to Massachusetts to visit with old Matt's old friends.
We were very thankful to be able to stay in the condo of an old family friend who was out of town for the summer. It was a nice little two bedroom condo not too far from where I grew up. My parents stayed there with us for a few days before they had to go back to the Bahamas.
Our time in Mass. was essentially spent taking it easy. We spent a lot of our time with my friend Jeff and his family. He and his wife Leah invited us to their place for a great diner on our first night there. They also held their annual cook-out while were were in town and we got to see all of our old friends for an afternoon. The Spiderman bounce-house and the never ending game of wiffleball were the most popular events of the afternoon with the kids.
It was a great weekend seeing very old friends that we rarely get to see. We're already looking forward to planning our get together for next summer (Disneyworld anyone?).
After Mass., we jumped back into the truck and made our way to Jack's uncle Andy's house in Virginia. Melissa sisters had decided to make a trip (from Chicago and Austin) so that we could all see each other in VA. They each brought their two kids and we had a 2 day baby cousin convention. It was great to have all of the cousins together. We took advantage of it by getting pictures taken of all the kids. Imagine organizing 6 kids from age 1 to 6 for at least one good photo!
The next day it was back to Grandma Chris' house to pack up for the long flight back to Singapore. Packing all of those suitcases took the better part of an entire day to get done. We looked like we were bringing all of our earthly possessions with us on the plane. 6 large suitcases, 3 small carry-on suitcases and 3 carry-on bags. It was so much stuff, we had to have an 8-person van drive the three of us from the Singapore airport to our apartment.
Now that we've been back in Singapore for a few weeks, we've settled back into our regular routine. Jack is loving his new 2nd grade class and his teacher, Ms. Cuthbert. Melissa jumped right back into her scrapbooking groups and PTA jobs. I've been working a lot (as usual) but I'm also taking a scuba diving course. Next weekend, I go to Malaysia for the "open water diver" certification.
All in all, a great summer. We were sad when it ended but excited to get "back home" to Singapore.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Summer of Fun (part 1)
Since my summer vacation has officially ended two weeks ago, I guess I should also end my vacation from the blog. There is so much to write about our summer “home leave” vacation, that I’ve definitely been procrastinating. I’ve finally got a day with no plans to sit down and try to put a very busy summer vacation into words.
There is so much to write about, I’ll have to break it up into a few postings. This one will be about the first trips we took after I arrived in the
For those who haven’t heard of it, Hersheypark is an amusement park in
Jack and I had never been to Hersheypark before. Melissa had been there when she was a kid. It was not at all what I was expecting. I figured this would be a small, worn out amusement park. This park was at least the same size as a Six Flags. There were 9 rollercoasters and dozens of other rides to go on.
When we arrived, we had some problems with our hotel reservation that took a little while to sort out. Fortunately, we were able to find another place to stay and even had enough time left to tour the candy factory our first night there.
As far as the “factory tour” goes, it was what you would expect. You don’t really see the factory, just a “ride thru” tour that shows how chocolate is made. Not must to see there unless you're into singing animated cows. What was a bit more interesting was the chocolate “tasting”. We were each given about five different kinds of chocolate to try. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, yada, yada… A chocolate expert then talked us through each different kinds, explaining the flavors and what to look for when you tasted them.
The next day we started bright and early and were waiting at the park gate when it opened. We spent the entire day going on rides, eating junk food and generally enjoying ourselves. There were two really big moments of the day worth telling you about.
First, Jack went on his first upside-down rollercoaster. It was called the “Super Dooper Looper”. He wasn’t even a bit scared. He and I just jumped onboard and stuck our hands in the air and screamed for the whole ride.
The other biggie will forever be blamed on Melissa by Jack and me. There is an entire section of Hersheypark that is basically a waterpark. Unfortunately, we didn’t know this when we got ready in the morning and we didn’t bring bathing suits. There was a nice cool breeze that day anyway, so we weren’t wishing we could jump into the water that day. We did walk through the waterpark and rode the small flume ride they had. It got you about as wet as
“I don’t know about this, hon,” I say. “I really don’t want to be walking around in wet clothes for the rest of the day.”
“Oh, we won’t get that wet. We’ll sit in the back. Don’t be such a baby.” Melissa says.
Somehow, I foresaw what was about to happen and took my shirt off as we got on the ride. I took Jack’s from him too and put it with our bag in the little cubby holes next to the start of the ride. I’m sure you can see what is coming.
When the sign said “soaked”, it was totally accurate. I don’t want anyone to misunderstand me. Every bit of every inch of our entire bodies; shorts, underwear, shoes, socks, hat, armpits…everything; was dripping, soaking wet. I don’t think we would have gotten that wet if we’d fallen into the wave pool.
As the ride slows to a stop, Jack looks at his mother with a quivering lip. “This is all your fault!” he says. At that point, all we could do was laugh and drip-dry throughout the day. At least it makes a good story!
Melissa discovered Great Wolf Lodge on a short trip to
Great Wolf is basically a big hotel that is designed to cater to families with kids. The biggest attraction at the hotel is the humongous indoor waterpark. There are huge waterslides, a lazy river and areas to climb and play.
The other fun thing that they offer is the “Wizard Adventure.” Kids can get (for a small fee, of course) a magic (electronic) wand that they can use throughout the center area of the hotel to go on missions assigned by the old wizard.
There are items spread all over the hotel for the kids to find. For example, a simple mission may tell the kid to find and point his wand at a painting of a dragon, a purple crystal sculpture and a yellow treasure chest. He must then search the hotel for these items, each of which have a sensor in them. The wand remembers which items he’s found and in which order. When he returns, he’s then given credit for completing the mission.
The missions get progressively longer and more difficult. Instead of just telling him what to find, he has to figure out riddles and clues to make his way from item to item. It all culminates in the battle with the great dragon (which is a huge relief to complete after two days wandering around the hotel!!!). After dinnertime, the hotel is littered with little kids running around in their pajamas looking for stuff (and crying when they can’t find it).
Jack had a blast there and it’s a place we would definitely return to. If you’re interested, they are a national chain, spread from
After Great Wolf, we were off to
Monday, July 13, 2009
How Quickly a Year Passes
It's been 15 months.
I can't believe I've lived the life of an expat for more than a year.
I still remember kissing my family goodbye and getting on an airplane to jump start the Singapore chapter of our lives. There have been a lot of firsts over the past 15 months.
The first 24 hour airline trip.
The first lonely piece of furniture.
The first drive on the left hand side of the road.
The first mail.
The first pork floss on toast. (I did try it once. Weird)
The first cross-globe multiplayer Guitar Hero.
The first fender bender.
The first Japanese chili-burger.
The first bad day in the new office.
The first "business dinner".
The first durian.
And that was just the first month.
I won't say the last year has been all rainbows and cotton candy either. There have definitely been difficult days. Actually, most of last June and July were pretty damn rough. All of the other expats were on home leave for the summer and we felt pretty isolated and out of our element.
Things started looking up after school started and our neighborhood converted itself from a deserted wasteland into "little America". It takes Melissa and I both a little time to break out of our shells and go make friends. (I've never been accused of being the outgoing "social butterfly" type.) After a while though, we were able to figure out where we fit in and who were the kind of people out here we really got along with. Jack was able to do the same after a few months as well. Over the span of his first grade year, he went from "Dad, I don't have any friends," to "Dad, I can't decide which sleepover to go to tomorrow."
So many people have helped make us feel at home in Singapore by treating us like the friends we hope we can be to them. Just to name a few, thanks to the Gonzalez, Weiss (we'll miss you), Mathur and Hruska families. Also to Jack's friends Aiden, Matthew, Ryan, Romil, Adrian, Kaitlin, Kenton, Rishi, Grant and Derek. We also can't forget everyone at the SAS PTA Treasury who Melissa has counted money with for countless hours.
Our "new" apartment in Singapore now just feels like our home. Somehow it changed itself from this strange place we needed to get used to, into that place that feels good to return to after a long trip. It feels like just yesterday, we were so excited to receive our sea shipment. Now, we've pretty much filled the apartment and we're trying to figure out which things to get rid of to replace with all of the nice new things we're buying.
Work has been an adventure for me as well. I've probably learned more in the last year in Singapore than I have in my last 5 in Houston. Getting dropped into a totally new environment does wonders for the mind. I must have said, "I don't know," about 500 times over the last year. Thankfully, I've been able to learn the ropes fast enough to never have to say, "I don't know," about the same topic twice. That's mostly due to the great people I work with. Both the people I work for, and even more so, the people who work for me. Most of the young engineers in my department are already much better at their jobs than I was at their age. A few more years and this place will run itself.
We've built up a list a great stories to tell when we're home this summer. Silly stories, adventure stories, travel stories, vacation stories, learning stories and culture stories. We're looking forward to seeing all of our friends and family in the US over the next few weeks. I get on a plane tomorrow to start my first vacation of more than a long weekend in a very long time.
15 months, actually.
See you soon.
I can't believe I've lived the life of an expat for more than a year.
I still remember kissing my family goodbye and getting on an airplane to jump start the Singapore chapter of our lives. There have been a lot of firsts over the past 15 months.
The first 24 hour airline trip.
The first lonely piece of furniture.
The first drive on the left hand side of the road.
The first mail.
The first pork floss on toast. (I did try it once. Weird)
The first cross-globe multiplayer Guitar Hero.
The first fender bender.
The first Japanese chili-burger.
The first bad day in the new office.
The first "business dinner".
The first durian.
And that was just the first month.
I won't say the last year has been all rainbows and cotton candy either. There have definitely been difficult days. Actually, most of last June and July were pretty damn rough. All of the other expats were on home leave for the summer and we felt pretty isolated and out of our element.
Things started looking up after school started and our neighborhood converted itself from a deserted wasteland into "little America". It takes Melissa and I both a little time to break out of our shells and go make friends. (I've never been accused of being the outgoing "social butterfly" type.) After a while though, we were able to figure out where we fit in and who were the kind of people out here we really got along with. Jack was able to do the same after a few months as well. Over the span of his first grade year, he went from "Dad, I don't have any friends," to "Dad, I can't decide which sleepover to go to tomorrow."
So many people have helped make us feel at home in Singapore by treating us like the friends we hope we can be to them. Just to name a few, thanks to the Gonzalez, Weiss (we'll miss you), Mathur and Hruska families. Also to Jack's friends Aiden, Matthew, Ryan, Romil, Adrian, Kaitlin, Kenton, Rishi, Grant and Derek. We also can't forget everyone at the SAS PTA Treasury who Melissa has counted money with for countless hours.
Our "new" apartment in Singapore now just feels like our home. Somehow it changed itself from this strange place we needed to get used to, into that place that feels good to return to after a long trip. It feels like just yesterday, we were so excited to receive our sea shipment. Now, we've pretty much filled the apartment and we're trying to figure out which things to get rid of to replace with all of the nice new things we're buying.
Work has been an adventure for me as well. I've probably learned more in the last year in Singapore than I have in my last 5 in Houston. Getting dropped into a totally new environment does wonders for the mind. I must have said, "I don't know," about 500 times over the last year. Thankfully, I've been able to learn the ropes fast enough to never have to say, "I don't know," about the same topic twice. That's mostly due to the great people I work with. Both the people I work for, and even more so, the people who work for me. Most of the young engineers in my department are already much better at their jobs than I was at their age. A few more years and this place will run itself.
We've built up a list a great stories to tell when we're home this summer. Silly stories, adventure stories, travel stories, vacation stories, learning stories and culture stories. We're looking forward to seeing all of our friends and family in the US over the next few weeks. I get on a plane tomorrow to start my first vacation of more than a long weekend in a very long time.
15 months, actually.
See you soon.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Chicken Wings and Beer
I haven't posted in a while because I haven't had too much to tell you about. The life of a bachelor is pretty boring.
Go to work, go home, eat, sleep, repeat.
Other than work, the only thing really going on right now in Singapore is that we've got some new friends. A colleague from the Houston office has been transferred to Singapore to work with me here in the engineering department. I've known Dan for about 11 or 12 years in Houston. We started working at ABS within about a year of each other. The interesting thing about Dan joining the office out here is that he seems to be following me around the world.
When I met Dan for the first time in Houston, we discovered that we'd actually grown up about five miles away from each other, just on different sides of the town line. When we met in Houston, it was nice to have another Red Sox fan around to talk baseball with. It's even more so now that he's followed me to Singapore. Singapore isn't exactly what you would call a "baseball town."
I've been showing Dan and his wife Jessica around town a bit and doing what I can to help them get settled in. Other than that, I've pretty much just been eating poorly and drinking beer.
I've found that while I like cooking, making a healthy dinner-for-one when you don't get home from work until almost 8:00 isn't all that fun. Leftovers, hotdogs and take-out from across the street have been high on the list of menu choices these last few weeks. On Tuesday night, I decided to make a big pot of meatballs and sausages in tomato sauce that I could eat for the rest of the week. It turned out well and instead of drinking a beer with my meals, I switched to wine. See...I can be sophistocated.
I don't have much else to tell you about in Signapore, so I'll give you the update from the rest of the family in "the States".
Melissa and Jack got back to the US almost three weeks ago now. They started at Melissa's Mom's place in Virginia. After a while, they go an invite to join her brother Andy and his family in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. They all shared a great house with Andy's family and spent a ton of time on the beach playing in the waves.
After that trip, they headed back to Virginia to pack up again and jumped onto a plane to Houston to visit our friends there. They also used the trip back to Houston to catch up on doctor and dentist check-ups. (Everyone is healthy and no cavities.) Jack got to go to Vacation Bible School at his old school and was very happy to see a lot of his old classmates.
This weekend, Melissa and Jack will drive up to Austin to visit her sister Tory and her family for the weekend. So many cousins, so little time. After that, it's back to VA to wait for me to arrive in the middle of July.
I guess that's all for now. If I do anything interesting, I'll let you know.
Go to work, go home, eat, sleep, repeat.
Other than work, the only thing really going on right now in Singapore is that we've got some new friends. A colleague from the Houston office has been transferred to Singapore to work with me here in the engineering department. I've known Dan for about 11 or 12 years in Houston. We started working at ABS within about a year of each other. The interesting thing about Dan joining the office out here is that he seems to be following me around the world.
When I met Dan for the first time in Houston, we discovered that we'd actually grown up about five miles away from each other, just on different sides of the town line. When we met in Houston, it was nice to have another Red Sox fan around to talk baseball with. It's even more so now that he's followed me to Singapore. Singapore isn't exactly what you would call a "baseball town."
I've been showing Dan and his wife Jessica around town a bit and doing what I can to help them get settled in. Other than that, I've pretty much just been eating poorly and drinking beer.
I've found that while I like cooking, making a healthy dinner-for-one when you don't get home from work until almost 8:00 isn't all that fun. Leftovers, hotdogs and take-out from across the street have been high on the list of menu choices these last few weeks. On Tuesday night, I decided to make a big pot of meatballs and sausages in tomato sauce that I could eat for the rest of the week. It turned out well and instead of drinking a beer with my meals, I switched to wine. See...I can be sophistocated.
I don't have much else to tell you about in Signapore, so I'll give you the update from the rest of the family in "the States".
Melissa and Jack got back to the US almost three weeks ago now. They started at Melissa's Mom's place in Virginia. After a while, they go an invite to join her brother Andy and his family in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. They all shared a great house with Andy's family and spent a ton of time on the beach playing in the waves.
After that trip, they headed back to Virginia to pack up again and jumped onto a plane to Houston to visit our friends there. They also used the trip back to Houston to catch up on doctor and dentist check-ups. (Everyone is healthy and no cavities.) Jack got to go to Vacation Bible School at his old school and was very happy to see a lot of his old classmates.
This weekend, Melissa and Jack will drive up to Austin to visit her sister Tory and her family for the weekend. So many cousins, so little time. After that, it's back to VA to wait for me to arrive in the middle of July.
I guess that's all for now. If I do anything interesting, I'll let you know.
Monday, June 8, 2009
On the ground
Just a quick post to say that Melissa and Jack are on the ground safely in Norfolk, VA. Her mom picked them up at the airport and they're on the way home.
Melissa said that the flight was uncomfortable, but Jack behaved very well and the flight was OK.
Melissa said that the flight was uncomfortable, but Jack behaved very well and the flight was OK.
Friday, June 5, 2009
A few loose ends
It's hard to believe that my son has completed 1st grade.
Thursday was the last day of the school year for Jack and the last few weeks have felt like we've been tying up the few loose ends of our first year in Singapore.
We had our last meeting at the school to see Jack's progress through the year. It was kind of neat the way they had set it up. The students were in charge of showing their parents all of the things they had learned. There were a few different stations in the room that the kids would take their parents to. They got to show off their improvement in areas like reading, math and writing, as well as what they learned in their special classes like music, art, and Mandarin. The teachers did a good job of hanging onto work from the start of the year so that you could compare it to the things they're doing now and see their progress. When Jack was showing us his favorite parts of the library, we took a quick picture.
The other thing that finished up recently was Cub Scouts. Jack has now officially completed his year of Tiger Cubs and has also received his Bobcat Badge. He worked very hard to complete all of the required activities as well as completing a bunch of electives and 8 different belt loop awards.
When the bobcat badge is awarded, the kids go through a short ceremony on stage where they get their face painted with different colors that represent things like honesty, courage, and respect. Don't ask me how face paint does this, but the kids all seem impressed and are all very proud of themselves.
You can't see it in the picture, but Jack's smile is starting to look like all of the other kids in the primary school. It's got holes in it. He now lost both of his bottom front two teeth and his top two are loose. Here's a picture from after he lost the first one on the bottom.
The last loose end to tie up is packing for summer vacation. Melissa and Jack are flying out of Singapore on Sunday leaving Daddy behind by himself to work for the next six weeks while they go the visit friends and swim at the beach. Melissa has been working on packing for about a week and a half trying to sort out what to bring and what she wants to buy in the US. Jack has outgrown more than half of his clothes. The kids clothes here aren't of the best quality, so Melissa plans on just buying most of Jacks new wardrobe when she arrives in Virginia. Even so, she and Jack will be checking-in two big suitcases each, as well as a carry-on. One of the suitcases is actually empty with another suitcase in it so we have extra room to bring more stuff back with us.
Melissa is not really looking forward to the flight. We just found out that the nice people at United Airlines changed the brand new Boeing 777 they were supposed to fly on for an old 747. What that means is, no in flight entertainment system in the back of the seat. Just a movie up on the wall. Not good times with a 7 year old when you'll be in the air for about 24 total hours. We've been preparing DVD players, computers, iPods and the Nintendo DS all week to make sure we have batteries fully charged.
Wish Melissa luck. She needs it.
Thursday was the last day of the school year for Jack and the last few weeks have felt like we've been tying up the few loose ends of our first year in Singapore.
We had our last meeting at the school to see Jack's progress through the year. It was kind of neat the way they had set it up. The students were in charge of showing their parents all of the things they had learned. There were a few different stations in the room that the kids would take their parents to. They got to show off their improvement in areas like reading, math and writing, as well as what they learned in their special classes like music, art, and Mandarin. The teachers did a good job of hanging onto work from the start of the year so that you could compare it to the things they're doing now and see their progress. When Jack was showing us his favorite parts of the library, we took a quick picture.
The other thing that finished up recently was Cub Scouts. Jack has now officially completed his year of Tiger Cubs and has also received his Bobcat Badge. He worked very hard to complete all of the required activities as well as completing a bunch of electives and 8 different belt loop awards.
When the bobcat badge is awarded, the kids go through a short ceremony on stage where they get their face painted with different colors that represent things like honesty, courage, and respect. Don't ask me how face paint does this, but the kids all seem impressed and are all very proud of themselves.
You can't see it in the picture, but Jack's smile is starting to look like all of the other kids in the primary school. It's got holes in it. He now lost both of his bottom front two teeth and his top two are loose. Here's a picture from after he lost the first one on the bottom.
The last loose end to tie up is packing for summer vacation. Melissa and Jack are flying out of Singapore on Sunday leaving Daddy behind by himself to work for the next six weeks while they go the visit friends and swim at the beach. Melissa has been working on packing for about a week and a half trying to sort out what to bring and what she wants to buy in the US. Jack has outgrown more than half of his clothes. The kids clothes here aren't of the best quality, so Melissa plans on just buying most of Jacks new wardrobe when she arrives in Virginia. Even so, she and Jack will be checking-in two big suitcases each, as well as a carry-on. One of the suitcases is actually empty with another suitcase in it so we have extra room to bring more stuff back with us.
Melissa is not really looking forward to the flight. We just found out that the nice people at United Airlines changed the brand new Boeing 777 they were supposed to fly on for an old 747. What that means is, no in flight entertainment system in the back of the seat. Just a movie up on the wall. Not good times with a 7 year old when you'll be in the air for about 24 total hours. We've been preparing DVD players, computers, iPods and the Nintendo DS all week to make sure we have batteries fully charged.
Wish Melissa luck. She needs it.
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