Liam is 4!

Turning four is a BIG deal...to Liam.  It means he is now a "big boy".  Mom can no longer carry you, you are expected to eat foods you may not like, and so many other big milestones to getting old.  This was the first birthday that Liam really understood, especially the present part.  The celebrating lasted all week with a birthday party, field trip, and family celebration at the zoo having breakfast with the animals.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG BOY!!  We love you. 

Favorite foods: Peanut butter and chocolate sandwiches.

Favorite toys: Legos, cars, and super heroes.

Loves: Swimming and playing

Best friend: Amelia

Favorite animal: Dead is the dinosaur, alive is the horse.

Liam is one of the sweetest little boys I know.  He LOVES to look his best and wear handsome "collared" shirts and at times a tie.  He enjoys going to school and has many friends there and at our condo.   I tell him daily to stop growing, but he says he can't.

Pool Birthday Party:

Amelia helped decorate the cupcakes.

We invited friends from his swim lesson and their siblings.  Keeping my life simple, 

Sid and Liam.  Liam swims with 4 girls....the story of his life. 

Cake time1

Preschool Field trip to Sungei Bulog Wetlands

Liam with his class and teachers.

Looking for animals.

Breakfast at the Singapore Zoo

About 7 orangutans came down for the celebration.   Including two little babies. 

Family picture. 

Easter 2015

The Easter bunny didn't forget us in Singapore this year.  After a brief hunt around the condo, the kids found their Easter baskets hidden in the fridge.  Oh that Easter Bunny is a cleaver lady....hiding them in the fridge so the chocolate doesn't melt.

After church and brunch mugshot.

The weekend also consisted of a Woodgrove egg hunt, where we meet neighbors we had never seen before,  church, and brunch with friends.   After Spring Break it was all this mom could handle.  The rest of the time was relaxing at home, pool, and naps, 

Egg hunt.

Liam finding eggs.

Amelia finding one in a tree.

Brunch at make your own pancake place.  The kids loved it.

Church and brunch friends...craziness. 

Spring Break 2015: Borneo

Last week we had Spring Break.  It was also one of the biggest educational conferences in Asia for international teachers.  My good friend Amy and I were selected to present at it, so we quickly realized what the week off would consist of.  It also didn't hurt that the conference was in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo and we being held at the 5-star resort Sutera Harbour.   

I met the kids daily for pool time and lunch. 

One of the perks about presenting is your hotel and flights are all paid for.  I found cheap flights for the kids and Cecile (my helper) and upgraded for not much more to a suite. Spring Break was set.

Part of our suite.  Wish I could afford to come back on my own....not going to happen. 

I was living the high life..or better said...the kids were living the high life for the week! Awesome resort, club rights due to staying in a suite (free happy hour nightly), good food, and sun.  Being the nerd that I am with enjoying learning and the variety of pools and beaches for the kids, it was not a wasted Spring Break.

View from our room. 

Now only if I could afford to go back without presenting. 

The end of one of our days. 

Best part of the conference was meeting up with old neighbors/friends from Bangkok.  Soi Muscle!!  Amy is now in KL and Tim is still in BKK. 

I took a morning off for a snorkeling trip to Sapa Island. 

Liam and our friend Joe playing on the island. 

We all LOVE the beach.  

Crazy kid.  

Cecile and the kids.  I am so lucky to have her in my life.  Wade was in Hong Kong working and couldn't come with us.  I could not have attended the conference without her.  

Beach at the resort. 

Found this guy on the beach. 

One of the many pools on the resort grounds.  

Snorkeling with the kids. 

Liam really did use the snorkel.  

Uncle Walter from BKK.  So much fun hanging with him.  

Malaysian Women's Marathon.

In the fall, my friend Amy asked me to run a 1/2 marathon with her.  Her first.   I have adjusted well to the heat of SE Asia and decided to give running a shot again.  We recruited a couple other friends from BKK to join and Team Sparkle Skirt was created.  

KL Towers.

The start of my training started off well.  I was hitting the miles on my plan and feeling good about it all.  Until...a month before the race I became cursed.   I first decided to have hand surgery (timing way off).  I thought it would be a simple procedure and a maybe a couple days of no running.  Nope, it was two weeks.  The taking of bone from my elbow was an unexpected setback that made running a little painful.  I was also pumped full of anesthesia that took weeks to wear off.  Then...a week before the race...I was hit with 5 days of stomach flu.  There is not running with that.  That left me with one week to run, before I ran 13.1 miles.  

Team before the race.

The race was the Malaysia Women't Marathon in Kuala Lumpur.   Friday night we all flew in and headed to Amy's.  We spent Saturday touring around KL and resting up for the race EARLY Sunday morning (beat the heat).

Start in the dark.

The only expectation I had for the race was to finish.  This meant walking or crawling over the finish line.  I knew I could do at least that.  It also allowed me to not have high expectations of myself by taking it too seriously and just have fun being with friends.

Male pacers in skirts.  Balloons attached. 

The race was a women's only event..in a Muslim country.  When we were signing up, there was an option of getting a male pacer...because women are unable to pace themselves.  At the race, the male pacers wore skirts to "show their belief that a women can find the strength to run that far and finish. (or something worse then that!)." With Team Sparkle Skirt being made of Western women, we stood dumbfounded about the words the speakers preached.  It was at that point I decided to run and make my motto "Pace this!".

I started the first 5k with some my friends (Caroline took off early).  The race was so quiet that I had to put on my headphones.  Girl Talk pumped into my head and I had to break ahead.  I picked up my pace and was able to finish by running the whole time.  It wasn't a PR (everyone else on my team PR'd), but I did finish well at 2:04hrs and placed 59/7??.  It was under 10 min splits (9:30 min), so I was happy.  

Way to finish Team Sparkle Skirt!

  

Darcy at the finish line.  PR 2:15

Amy and Colby at finish line. Colby PR 2:15.  Amy's first race

Caroline and me at end.  Her PR at 1:43 (WOW!)

Sweaty Team Sparkly Skirt.

Colby found this pic of me on the FB page.  After the race. 

Gili Islands

We first learned about the Gili Islands in one of those travel magazines that sits in the pockets of the seat in front of you on an airplane. "Come to this one of a kind Indonesian Island. Away from the hustle and bustle of Bali!" It called to us.  Ever since that flight, years ago, it has been on both Wade's and my list of places we wanted to experience.

The Gilis from the plane

Moving to Singapore made the trip even easier and more on our radar due to proximity.  When we learned that Chinese New Year was a national holiday that meant some days off work, the timing became possible.   I quickly got online and booked our "second" honeymoon. That's right...the kids were left at home.

How they roll. 

In August, we had somewhat celebrated tens years of wedded bliss.  We were waiting for this trip to do the real celebrating.  Just us and a tropical island.

Sunset Beach.

It all started easy, but then the AirAsia flight went down in Indonesia and our flight got canceled.   I spent weeks calling, emailing, and fighting with AirAsia about rescheduling the flight.   I was determined to make it happen.  In the end our flight schedule sucked, but we got to Gili and a bonus night with dear friends in KL.

Gili is definitely in a transition faze of going more upscale from the backpacker paradise it is now.  We stayed in one of the small handful of resorts located there.  Our days included walking around the island (we think about 6 miles with zero motorized transportation.  Just horses and buggies.), stopping for drink specials with the view, lounging on the beach, a water activity, happy hours, late BBQ seafood dinners, and ending with a nightcap on the beach or by the pool.   Heaven.

Hippy bar. 

Who knew that 10+ years ago, when we were a young, stupid early 20 something year olds, who had BIG plans to follow a logical sequential path, that we would be where we are now.   It has not always been easy, with lots of lessons learned, but in hindsight, I am proud of where we are.  We are living/experiencing life....and have yet killed each other while doing it. 

Wade helping rescue a boat from drifting.  They thought he was Hulk.  

A windstorm came in one night.

Wade jumping off a boat.

Happy 10 years.

Not as easy as it looks with wind and current

Notice the plastic around my hand?  I had hand surgery and was supposed to keep it dry.  Oops.