Awesome awaits!

TV has been showing Legoland commercials so Kai exclaimed "AWESOME AWAITS" when we got there!

Tuesday, 11 September

Again, we chose to go on weekdays coz our last experience was fabulous except for the rain. This time, I purposely chose the week after school holidays but I did not factor in Malaysian public holidays - turned out that our arrival day was the second consecutive public holiday and another one was coming up end of the week! We were warned the day before we left that people might take the whole week off! But wait, those who took a week off would likely go overseas and not Legoland...?

It was slightly more crowded than the last time but still manageable. By the second day, no more crowds, yeah! Another yeah - we were expected rain but it drizzle for only five minutes on the first day! Happy!

Bright and cheery at 8.30 am

Yup, we left Yu behind... The last time was the first time he was quite cognisant of what was going on and it was sad seeing him left outside all the rides. So might as well let him go to school!

After checking in, we played in the lobby for some 30 min before we set off for the park, just in time for opening!

Sito and Kai tried the volcano splash ride for the first time, slightly wet despite ponchos

Meanwhile, Yang discovered his arms were long enough to:

Yang was a jolly good boater!

And a fantastic driver!

But he was apprehensive in the show coz of the spider the last time

Sito and Kai were cool

At our fave Ninjago game!

Sito topped the score board of the day in his first round!

I totally gave up - just slept through!

We were very tired this first day. Instead of playing until 6 pm, we lured the kids out for tea time ice cream and went back to the hotel after that :p Waited a bit for the room to be ready. I went up to unpack a bit while the boys stayed in the lobby.

Cool door!

The Ninjago room is brighter and slightly bigger as it's a premium room

Design is great for hanging clothes, haha!

Sat next to Yang when I got back downstairs

Sito also enjoys building!

Sunflower for me! :)

Recording a video for Yu, in case we couldn't Skype him

Mum was going over to check on Yu so I sent the video to her. Heard from her that when she told Yu about N sleeping outside his room, he said no and brought her to N's room!

Yang dozed off in weird position on our way to AEON

Bought some clothes and one yam mooncake before settling down for dinner

Sito and I had Thai food while the boys shared a chicken sandwich. Of course they didn't like the vege much! But it's ok; we would go on to eat more later...

Managed to Skype Yu at the massage place - so cute and happy!

The boys had an hour of YT Kids while the parents relaxed...

Blackball time!

Three of us sharing three little blobs of coconut ice cream

And then we went to buy diapers for Yu before settling down for dessert round 2 at Baskin Robbins! Went back to the hotel after that. I can't remember now how we got the kids to sleep coz I was very tired and sleepy! Both Sito and I fell asleep quite early..

Wednesday, 12 September

Kai woke first just past 6 am. He came to ask if he could get up. I told him to wait until 6.30 am. Found Yang on our bed. But we didn't feel him coz king bed :p At 6.30 am, Kai and I got up and did our morning thing a bit before Yang woke too. Then we woke Sito to do his morning thing.

Brothers playing with a rotating toy while waiting for Papa

I timed it quite nicely - changed the boys when I heard Sito starting to shower :p I was a little hungry but Yang had already eaten the leftover hotdog bun from the day before so I tried a bit of the fruits complimentary for returning guests - not nice :(

Breakfast finally!

For once, we were seated at a small table. And after putting our stuff down, all of us went to get our own food! Gosh, can't wait for Yu to turn three or four!

Sito and Kai went out to play first while Yang continued eating

Of course they built a big structure

Of course they quarrelled and the structure was destroyed

We also had a crying episode here. Yang took a rabbit from a little girl. The girl came to tell me it was hers. I knew we were missing a bunny from the room safe but I also knew Yang did not bring it down for breakfast. I returned the bunny to the girl and poor Yang burst into tears! It was only when we got upstairs and I found the bunny that he stopped crying.

Brushing teeth together in their swimming gear!

Went with Kai to relax in the pool

Managed to convince Yang to go later

Yang finally tried the Joker Soaker!

Which meant I also tried it for the first time! Soaking wet... And I really didn't like the long tubes - I saw only small lights, so scary! Scariest was when I was waiting at the bottom for Yang to appear and he took so long to appear!

Then we went up to do the big slide on a float. Four of us did it together then Kai and I went for a twin float while Sito and Yang went for another float.

Then the boys had fun racing boats!

And finally Sito got his relaxing turn!

I stayed with Yang at the baby slides when he had plenty of fun too. Kai came to join us and did the baby slides facing down. But somehow he managed to convinced Yang to do the middle red slide which was faster than the rest - Yang did not want to do that after he first did in one year ago! Happy to see them playing well with each other :)

We went back to wash up while Sito went to get lunch. The boys fed themselves, freeing me to clean up stuff etc. They didn't want to nap so I told them to be quiet while Sito and I napped. Kai came to our bed to join us shortly while Yang eventually dozed off in his bed.

We slept past our 3.30 pm by a bit :p I got up first to make some hot milo for the boys' tea. Then we decided we had to go out already. So back to the park we went!

Yang waiting for his brother to be done before exiting

Then we parted ways coz Kai wanted to take rides that Yang couldn't take. We agreed to meet at the gate at the end of the day.

Building on a big mat

Yang took a photo of me!

That was done I conned him into taking a photo too :p

He remembered the stage and posed there

Selfie with Yang on horsie

Yang got distracted quite a lot along the way. He had wanted to go to the airplane but we went to build LEGO, watched Star Wars, horsie etc. The rides were all starting to close...

We ended up at a playground

It was past 6 pm by then but no one was chasing us out. But eventually I persuaded him to move along. We met up near the big shop and he started whining. So we went into the shop on the premise that we were not buying anything! After a while, we left happily enough.

Yang was watching people dance

Managed to Skype Yu in the lobby - spotted him coming home!

So happy again!

Heard from N he was very good while we were away. One night, he came out and refused to go back. So he slept on the play mat with N. And the second morning, he threw out his cereals and said no kakak, mummeeeeee! Awwww.... I think he felt our absence more in school - his teacher said he was more whiny those three days. Poor boy...

Kai and Yang interacting peacefully while waiting for dinner

Our dinner and us!

The boys were so happy laughing over their videos! Yup, we were back for another massage!

Got them some ice cream from the supermarket and had ice cream waffle at A&W before heading across the road for the massage. And after the massage, we packed two big cups from Blackball to drink back in the hotel :)

Having the nap helped. We were more alive! And so were the boys! They wanted to watch TV so I let them, on my sneaky condition that they had to watch under the blanket. Of course they dozed off!! :p

Thursday, 13 September

I didn't sleep too well. Woke at 4 plus and slept again after 5 am. When I woke again, I was surprised to see that it was 7.15 am - woohoo! I got up to prepare for the day. Kai woke soon after me. Then I had to get Sito. Yang woke while Sito was in the bathroom - he must have been quite tired.

Breakfast was a breeze again. Of course the boys were eating mostly junk food. At least I got them to eat hardboiled eggs both days!

Yang and I stayed back again

This time, they played the small bricks

The boys didn't get to play the puzzle coz they found the safe unlocked! So sad...

And that was it - we checked out of the hotel, sobs! But this time, we arranged for the car to get us at 2.30 pm instead of 11 am so we had more time to play!

Group shot at the entrance

"It's not real, you see"

Playing outside the Ninjago ride which was closed

We finally got on the airplane!

Yippee!

Yippee again!

Yippee too!

Took the above photos while videoing them. I did it too but only video, no photo :p

On the choo choo train

Kai so wanted to join Yang but he was overaged!

We had dessert before lunch!

Rainbow for Yang

Order a chicken wrap for them to share but I had to feed Yang

First time at the cafe and we liked it. But our annual passes all expired by end of the month. Thinking of renewing it if we go in December - then we will go again in June and next December. I figure it's quite worth it when we go to the park three times every trip!

The boys were tired out and dozed off on the way home

It was only 45 min door to door, no jam at all. Totally worth the leave :) The boys are already saying that they want to go again. Have to plan how... It can be quite tiring for the parents!

Ohisashiburi, indoor playground!

Still remember we used to go to indoor playgrounds quite a bit with Kai. Less with Yang. The last time we went to one, it was the one at Centrepoint - super sad. We were happy to see one just downstairs but no chance to go until Friday - it was child care centre closure day!

It was considered peak period coz of Teachers' Day. So $19 each for Kai and Yang, but $5 for Yu coz he's under two. And there is same-day re-entry! We spent over an hour there in the morning, went for lunch and a nap, and back for over two hours. Yu had to go back earlier coz his fever came back but it was not enough for Kai and Yang!

Yu scooping sand

Yang pouring sand into some machine

And there was a kaypoh instant here. He saw an older boy in front of him playing with an excavator. I didn't notice until I heard him - he's pretty loud! - telling the boy, "That's not a dump truck. That's an excavator. *pause* Are you a baby??" Hoho!!

Kai pouring sand into a similar machine

And waiting for the sand level to go down before pouring again

Not the first time I thought he might make an engineer...! I mean, there's all the LEGO creations he's making...

Yu was very brave!

And a bigger kid kind of adopted him at the slides

Kai saw them and told her that Yu was HIS brother. "You think he's your brother??!" Then he proceeded to go play on his own! Though later he came back and guided his brother up and down the slides too.

Yang had a great time on the ball merry-go-round!

The building room where two great structures in the morning crumbled in the afternoon

The playground was quite the madhouse in the afternoon. At one point, I was just one arm's length away from Yu when a horde of six or eight kids came rushing past me towards Yu. They brushed past him but he got scared and cried! So poor thing!

I pretty much left Kai and Yang alone, just checking on them occasionally to make sure they hadn't left the playground. They had some arguments with kids here and there but well, they should sort out their own playground problems. When Yu left, I sat down to watch drama using the mall wifi haha!

Sito came back from reservist just in time so he grabbed dinner for N and came back for us. Mum brought dinner for the kids so everyone got to eat and shower early. Sito and I went out for date night :)

I realised that it was not a very tiring child care centre closure day when the kids were so occupied. And better yet, they're growing up! In a year's time, I can just sit and let all three run free, yeah!

First letter to Kai

I wrote my first letter to Kai yesterday.

The original intent was to encourage him to write back to me. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt like it was purely a note to connect with him. I decided I would write the boys little notes here and there.

The first note was actually the day after the Flyer trip - 23 August. I had to go to office real early but they chose that day of all days to sleep in! So I wrote a note to them and left. I didn't take a picture of the note in my hurry and couldn't find it after I got home.

Yesterday, my letter was addressed to only Kai. My handwriting has deteriorated over the years but I took pains to write properly for him else he might find it difficult to read. Or he might chide me for my handwriting, as he did before!

I left the envelop leaning on his fire station. He found it after his shower coz he went over to his cabinet to grab his underwear. He came over to me wearing only his underwear, asking me what that was. I told him it was a letter to him and we could read it after he got dressed. We eventually finished reading the letter only in the evening. He read it out loud with some help from me.

I was pleasantly surprised when he told me, even before he read the letter, that it was precious to him and he would keep it - awww! My baby is such a sweet boy... But kids are all manipulative - at night, he told me he would not keep the letter unless I left Yang to go to him NOW!

Just now, I told him that I would write him a mix of letters and notes in future coz I don't have a lot of envelops :p He told me to make envelops myself!

Big boy being quiet and nice while waiting for dinner

Yu's first excursion

Yu's excursion was postponed until 30 August due to HFMD. Sito was supposed to go with him but he had reservist on 30 August so I went instead.

He had a fever at night and in the morning. I gave him some paracetamol and he got better. But he was still lethargic. I thought we would skip the excursion but he wanted to go to school. So we went.

I sent them all to school and went off for breakfast before going back to catch the bus with Yu. When I got back, I found other PG kids with their parents in their classroom and Yu sitting quite still on his own at a dining table, with his half-eaten food in front - so poor thing! :(

When I got near, Kai and Yang saw me first. Then Yu turned, saw me and broke into a smile! We were given some bread for the excursion - four buns were too much for both of us! - and he carried them for the longest time.

His expression most of the time

Still looking forlorn on the bus

And at the waiting area at Qian Hu, still carrying the buns

Yes, the excursion was to a fish farm! We started with a tour of the farm, which he wasn't interested in at all but he knew that he should follow the uncle :p Then we sat down for a snack.

Finally a smile!

He waited a long time for his turn at the kiddy ride

So happy! But poor boy is looking tired :(

And finally, it was time to fish! There were a few ponds or one big one separated by bridges. We tried fishing in the pond but it was so hard - the fish ran away real quick! So we moved to the box :p And Yu caught some fish all on his own!

"Scoop!"

We poured out all the fish we caught but he continued to go around scooping water. It was quite hot at some spots. Mama melted!

Dozed off on the bus back but woke on arrival coz it was such a short journey

The eyes shutting, very cute

Poor boy didn't nap much in school. Just before I left for a meeting, the school called to tell me he was having a fever. So I got N to bring him home. And as I was on my way home, Sito said Yu hit 39.2 degrees! Thank goodness he was home! So he gave him some medicine. My poor boy...

And there is this unfortunate correlation between Sito's reservist and kiddy fever while I wan't home. Yang had febrile fits when Sito went for reservist in January and June 2016. Now Yu had fever! Thank goodness no fits!

Oh, we were given a box and some fish to bring home. Gosh, I didn't expect that! So I had to go buy some fish feed. Also asked YQ if he wanted the fish. When I eventually took some good photos of the fish, he said these were guppies and he didn't want them!! Snob.

Nine fish in all, and a decorative dog for company

The nine fish became 16 or 17 the next morning - a fish or two gave birth! But of course all the babies were dead *.* I had to change the water and throw out the dead babies. This morning, there was a dead fish, which became three by lunch time. Super scary and sad to throw these dead ones away. I'll never bring fish home again!