Schloss Neuschwanstein Part II

Here are some of the photos we took in and around Castle Neuschwanstein.
Enjoy the show! :)

tall, taller, tallest...

Last week at the mini graduation ceremony in Bryan's class, the parents were directed to this growth chart.

Looks like he's pretty tall for his age at the moment, despite being the third youngest in his class. At least half the class has already turned 4.

Between February and May, he's grown 5 cm. I think he must have shot up after the bout of stomach flu. That reminds me of a mom who once told me not to worry when a child is sick. Coz when he's well again, he'd have grown an awful lot, both in height and weight. She's quite right, isn't she?

baby babble...

While Mommy was busy with the laundry, Kristin suddenly exclaimed in the bathroom, "Look! A bug! A big bug! Kor-kor, quick, quick! Run!"

I did not spot any creepy-crawlies in the bathroom, but Kristin's cries certainly made Bryan jump and they both scooted off to the dining area. Now was that just some toddler's imagination?

Anyway, the point is she's getting quite communicative these days.

joke of the week...

"Bye, Dad! Don't forget to call me!"
"Bye, Bryan!"
"Hey, Dad! Don't work too hard and remember to come home early, ok?"

That was the conversation between Daddy and son before Alan left for his business trip this afternoon.

Now I know why I'm still not a rich tai-tai!

cutie-pie...

Now, this is my favourite desktop photo.

Alan was just making fun of me the other night: Whenever he saw Kristin striking up a cute pose, the next moment he'd find a crazy woman armed with a camera snapping away. Hee... what to do? I adore my pretty lil' girl. Ok, to be honest, only sometimes... especially when she isn't screaming away.

Schloss Neuschwanstein

It's great that we managed to escape the wet weather in Frankfurt over the weekend. We had two glorious days of sun! Ok, not so much on Sunday, since we were in the mountains. But temperature was still pleasant for the great hike up to the castle.


O yes, this is one of the things that Bryan said he wanted to do this summer. What can I say? What obliging parents the boy has! Just the third day into the summer break, and guess what we were doing??? Climbing up a mountain. Ok, the uphill part was in a horse carriage, while the downhill was all on foot. We were the last to leave Neuschwanstein, so late that we even missed the last bus down.

Despite having the totally wrong hiking gears, we made it down! Here are the boys, cheering at the end of the day. And take a look at those tired feet of all the Daddies and Mommies!

More on the trip coming up soon...

macaroni carbonara...

After three days of Bavarian food (nothing close to Bavarian actually, mainly Schnitzel and Fries for the kids' menu), the kids were just begging for some macaroni when they hit home on Monday afternoon.

Dining out these days is getting easier with No. 1, but tougher with No. 2. As long as there's Schnitzel, fish fingers or chicken nuggets, spaghetti, No. 1 will just tuck in. But with No. 2, she's getting picky with food. And we realise that she only wants her homecooked meals. So whenever we travel, she's on a diet. She's already not a big baby, in term of size. Fortunately, we don't travel that much. If only I had one child... I would be following Alan whenever he's on a business trip.

when I was 5...

oops... I was tagged - a new game I discovered in the blogging scene, thanks to Lilian.

When I was 5, I wanted to be a doctor. My only patient then was my little brother.
At 10, I thought being an articulate and powerful lawyer could help the poor defend their rights. Noble, noble!
When I was 15, my secret ambition was to be a writer...?
When I turned 20, I dreamt to be a rich man's wife. A rich tai-tai-wannabe, ha!

So where did that all lead me to?

Errrm, does blogging count? :p
No critics, please!

farm-fresh strawberries...

What exactly have I been busy with since our trip to Berlin?

CSI LV... I borrowed friend's copy of Season 4 and 5 and have been faithfully sitting in front of the TV once the children hit the sack. Hee... no photos on Berlin just yet.

You see, I'm so busy that I didn't have time to cook and do grocery shopping. So when Alan suggested picking strawberries this evening after work, I was all game for Weiterstadt at once! Dinner is settled and I can get strawberries for the fruit salad I promise for the school's picnic tomorrow.

But after 30 mins out in the field, and it's not even the hot noon sun, the father-and-son team declared strike. Alan said he didn't know it's hard work picking strawberries - see, first time toiling for his food. While the rest of the family worked hard to fill the basket, this little one was always seen with strawberries all the time. She had so much strawberries that she could only stomach half of her usual dinner portion.

joke of the week...

Daddy: Oh, look that's a statue. (Actually, it's a person performing as a statue on the Alte Potsdamer Strasse.) Hmm, Bryan, do you think you can be a statue too?
Bryan: Oh no, Daddy! I can't. You see, I can't stand still.

Berlin...

Here we come! The last time I set foot in this city was about 6 years back.
Alan's got several meetings planned on Friday, and we decided to tag along for the weekend. The plan is to visit the zoo with the children on Friday, while Daddy works. Hope the weather will be fine then.

it's showtime...

Bryan, too, couldn't resist the bouncy beat of the Jungle. So he ditched his book and joined in the dance.

home entertainment presents...

A funniest home video worthy...
This is Kristin, trying to dance along to Debbie Harter's Walking Through the Jungle.

joke of the week...

We had a roaring laughing session with the kids this evening.

In his attempt to stop Bryan from bothering me in my "lounging" position in the cosiest spot on the couch, Alan told Bryan to act out some animals.

We've always enjoyed his interpretation of how animals or insects move, particularly his little penguin moves. But tonight's highlight was when Daddy asked him, "How about a dragonfly? Can you be a dragonfly?"

Our overzealous son burst out in roars and flapped his arms to pretend to fly around.
That sent the parents rolling on the couch with laughter! He was a FLYING dragon! That's his version of a dragonfly! :o)

berenstain bears...

Did I say that we got 27 copies of Berenstain Bears books at 2 Euros?

I think I made a mistake about the bargain. The price is correct... but now I think I know the reason why the other parent wanted to be rid of them.

Bryan goes through his collection of Berenstain Bears every evening and handpicks one specially for the bedtime read. And there's absolutely no chance that bedtime reading can slip his mind. So now, this is gonna be a long time before he gets bored and tired with the Berenstain Bears. All 27 titles!

Inquisitiveness is one fine trait that all teachers adore. In fact, Ms Julie often tells us how much she enjoys Bryan in her class because of his many questions. But these few nights, he's been really slowing me down during the bedtime read. If you're a mom, you know that at the end of the day, you only have one mission in your mind: Quickly put your little darlings to bed, not matter how cute they appear while they try to dance along to Debbie Harter's Walking Through the Jungle, or those doleful eyes that beg for another 5 minutes with the puzzles whatever...

So when it comes to bedtime read, I try to do it like a speed-train.... hee, try finishing up one Dr Seuss' book in less than a 10 minutes read-aloud-session. Anyway, Bryan's been slowing me down these nights with his many questions... Well, he knows better to ask me to read again after I finish my story. Thus, his new delay tactic is to ask as many questions as possible - I think.

Now, I'm in a whole lot of trouble, having to stop after every other line to explain words like "in-crowd", "relaxation", "the doctor's practice", a "double dutch" etc... Man, what have I got myself into when I gave that mom the 2 Euros for those books during the yard sale? What was I thinking????

my little prince...

Wow... I have no idea how much Bryan has grown until this portrait was delivered today. Now compare this shot with the one taken in last November, my little boy is beginning to lose his chubby cheeks fast. He lost weight? By no means! It's just that the baby fat is disappearing.

Now I regret not sending Kristin for the photo shoot on that day too. It might be too late to capture that cheeky little toddler's face. Children really do grow up too quickly...

I think the next time I agonize about when they will grow up, I shall look hard at this photo. It just tells me it's hard to freeze time. So it will be wiser to enjoy them now, the good days and the not-so-good ones alike.

happy mothers' day to all...

At Sunday school worship this morning, I heard the worship leader talking to the children.

"Do you know that we Moms also have moms?" asked the worship leader.
"You mean, you have grandmas?" said one child.
"No, I mean, we Moms have moms and they are your grandmas, " explained the leader.
"Yeah, and the moms of your moms also have moms. And they also have moms and they also have moms..." exclaimed another child.
"That's right! It just goes on, doesn't it?" agreed the leader.

I was touched to bits and almost shed tears listening to all the children's talk this morning.

To all the mommies I know, and also to my Mom-in-law and to my dearest Mom, here's wishing you a Happy Mothers' Day!

A friend of mine sent this to me today:
It would take a thousand workers to build a castle,
A million soldiers to protect a country,
But only ONE woman to make a happy home.

To all you great women out there: You are the ONE woman! :)

happy mothers' day!

What a nice way

to wake up to a new day!!

Daddy and the children surprised me with a breakfast in bed. Excuse the unglamourous appearance... it's early in the morning!

"Hey, Mom! Happy Mothers' Day! We made breakfast for you. Do you like your surprise?"
"You made breakfast for me? You and Daddy? Just like Caillou?"
"Yeah, just like Caillou!"

My husband presented me my breakfast platter, filled with scrambled eggs with tomatoes, Weisswurst, sweet mustard, a small tub of yoghurt with a glass of fresh milk, while my son brought in his special Mothers' Day card made in school with the help of his teachers and Meimei contributed her share by passing Mommy a banana! A healthy complete meal with present! What else can I possibly ask for?

Before long, Meimei started grabbing the Weisswurst and asking for banana. Hey, not so soon... you've got to become a mom to two wonderful children and a wife to a loving husband first!!

Thank you, all my darlings, for the best gift ever!

This is the card that Bryan made in school. Knowing that he can write his own name is already a wonderful gift. Notice the big "X" on the card! That's a big kiss for Mommy! :)

The whole weekend he didn't stop reminding me how much he loved his Mommy. Now, wasn't that sweet? Of course, I had to tell him that loving Mommy meant not to upset Mommy and that he must always be an obedient boy - I think just about what my mom used to tell me whenever I celebrated Mothers' Day and her birthday with her.

And... "If you are a good and well-behaved boy, it's a Happy Mothers' Day for me everyday!" Now, doesn't that strike a chord?

the yard sale @ Carl Schurz Siedlung...

We've got:

27 Berenstain Bears Books (2 Eur), 10 Disney Fairy Tale characters story books (3 Eur), 1 writing book (50 Cents), 1 dinosaur magnetic puzzle set (1 Eur), 1 bicycle helmet for Bryan (5 Eur),

3 Winnie the Pooh Puzzles (2 Eur), 2 x 20 pcs puzzles (50 cents), 3 sets of beginning puzzles (3 Eur) for Kristin,

1 trekking bike (60 Eur) for Alan

at the yard sale!

What a find! :)

Paris in spring...

Yeah, we finally met: The Yeos and the Tays! We each drove some 500 over kms to meet in Paris! The boys hit it off, so did the Mommies and Daddies. But the girls... not quite yet. They seem to enjoy the company of older kids... preferrably male, and oh boy, were they good at ignoring each other.

Paris in spring... there are more people than tourist spots! In fact, you might miss them coz they are soooo filled with people. Getting onto the Eiffel Tower proved to be mission impossible: A 2-hr queue on Saturday afternoon and an 1-hr queue on Sunday evening. We gave up. But the greatest takeaway was, of course, "Look, Mom! It's the Eiffel Tower!" Bryan was exclaiming at this giant architecture at all angles, at different times of the day, near or far.

The photos are still being arranged and the after-thoughts are still being sorted out. So watch this space for more posts soon... Yeah, I know, I also promise some photos on Playmobil Park. Be patient, ok. We've still got three more trips coming up... so this is what May has in store for us - lots of public holidays, thus lots of opportunities to travel. Just crossing my fingers on good weather for the next few trips.

mothers' day lunch...

This wasn't the first time Alan and I decided to leave Kristin at Bryan's school for some hours of daycare. And she really enjoyed it. This morning she was repeating after her brother, "Go to school!" And as I was dropping her off for daycare at noon, we not only climbed up the stairs together, Kristin also counted the steps with me! She's really good now with her counting... ok, only sequential at the moment. Looks like she's all ready for school now. Pity that we have to wait till this fall for her to start school proper.

Anyway, for those three hours, Alan and I managed to steal some couple time and we went for a scrummy Indian treat just round the corner from our place. Something we can definitely not do with the kids around coz the restaurant ambience and food is not at all children friendly. This is for people who wanna dine with some peace. So that was our little Mothers' Day lunch without the kids and a little off time for Mommy in between the hectic dropping off and picking up.

Ok, this isn't exactly the spread that we had. I forgot my camera. So where did these pictures come from? Use some imagination, ok? :p

stunned...

Yap, that was me!

I was surfing around for a serviced apartment in Singapore for our coming stay in July. Bryan, too, joined me in my hunt for an affordable place. When he saw this photo, he just couldn't contain his excitement:

"Mommy, I don't want to stay here anymore. I want to go back to Singapore now. I like this pool. This is the place. Because it is not crowded! See... "

I couldn't stop laughing. I didn't invite any comments from him at all.

Yeah, I like that place too. Hope we can still get an apartment at such a short notice.

language development at 20 months...

I was told that an average toddler of 20 months is capable of picking up ten or more new words a day. Isn't that an amazing learning speed? Well, I don't think I can expect the child to instantly reproduce what he learns, but I think I can anticipate Kristin producing more complex structures.

She surprised us during lunch by saying, "No. I want pizza! Pizza!"
And then she's been telling her brother to "go away!" Just when did she learn to talk like that?
After Alan let off the bath water this evening, she took a look at the empty bath tub and said, "No more bubbles!" Yap, you might say stating the obvious, but this Mommy here is listening to every word with excitement.
And just before she went to bed, while we were having our hugging and kissing rituals, I thought I heard her say, "I love you!" Amazing, right?

Yap, I'm gonna remember that: 10 new words a day. I shall continue to read to her and quiz her on the things printed on the wall frieze. I think very soon she will be talking up a storm!

joke of the week...

Mommy, I say it's "e" for "iguana"!
No, Bryan. It's "i" for "iguana".

Isn't it tough to read English?