Chase's homework

Grandpa Mark

Girls, I hope you always remember Grandpa Mark like this ... He is such a great adventurer and explorer, and he loves the outdoors - and mountains - just like your own father.  There is so much to see out there; I hope that you will both become great adventurers and explorers, too.

Settling In

And here they are, my beautiful girls!  This shot caught Madoc in between smiles and splashing.  

Our new house in Singapore comes with a bomb shelter, and the girls now have their own little jacuzzi.  Way too cute.

They are getting so big!

Madoc Field Trip

Today I went with Madoc to the Jacob Ballas children's garden.  It was her first field trip with her class.  The garden was lovely, with so much to see and do.  The children spent the majority of their time at the "Tree House," but Madoc and I decided to have a little adventure.

We found a wonderful man-made waterfall, which happens to be on the way to the toilets.  Nothing like running water to make you pick up the pace!

They had a wonderful pond with fish and turtles, a tree trunk children could climb into, a vegetable garden with a wonderful bean trellace, seats made from old wood, trails that wound around inside the garden - and a maze.  All in all, it was a really nice day.

Madoc even got to roll down a hill for the first time!  She loved it and was covered in grass.  The sun was blazing hot, so by 11:30, the children were all hot, exhausted and ready to go home.

Updates

My darling girls, I'm sorry I have not written in so long.  I've let so much slip by unrecorded.  Only after watching Chase spend hours scrolling through previous posts did I remember why I initially created it - to be able to provide a cherished keepsake for my children - so they can look back on their childhood and actually get a sense of what was going on during that time in their lives.

So much has happened.... 

We relocated to Singapore about 6 weeks ago.  The pollution in Hong Kong was so bad that you can see it hanging in the air.  I swear I could see particles (yes, I hear Hubs laughing and saying "yah, right.") - but yes, really I could.  It made me sick every day to look outside and think there was absolutely nothing I could do to protect my children from it.  I wanted them to grow up running around outside, but instead we stayed inside as much as possible.

Singapore is such a breath of fresh air.  It is amazing.  Glorious blue skies.  White puffy clouds.  The air actually smells - fresh.  I was thinking the other day how nice it was to be able to walk around and not smell the stench of sewage, which wafts from the grates in Hong Kong.  How nice it is not to smell diesel from the boats on the Sai Kung waterfront.  That said, I truly miss Hong Kong, I miss my friends,  and I really, really miss Sai Kung, which had to be one of the most glorious places on earth (on a clear day).

I also realize that for the girls, Hong Kong was home.  The homiest home they ever knew was there, and I'm sure they will continue to remember and treasure the time we spent there - as I know we all will.

And so on to Singapore.  New house. New helper. New life?  Chapter 6.  As it is the sixth country we've lived in.  Goodness we move a lot.