It was Youth Day and it was a holiday! Cheryl and I had the day off and Daddy was wondering if he should spend the day with us too... . Daddy took half the day off as I told him that we would be going go-karting.

While waiting for all of our friends to arrive, C and Allegra posed for some pictures. They were also choosing their rides.

The Work shop where they did simple repairs and maintenance.

Victoria testing her ride out.

Finally, after some adjustment to the seat, Precious was all ready.

Part of the fleet.

They listened out for some instructions and Do's and Don't's and then headed off. 

:) They really enjoyed themselves. 

Thanks to the Daddies who kept a look out for them. Daddy Chris confessed that he had a good time riding. :)

The price list for the different go-karts available. Prices are for a 30 minute ride. 

This evening, C has a break from her music class as it was the semester break. Daddy, however, returned from work at the same time as he usually did on Tuesday and he told Spark that he would take her down to the void deck to cycle.

When C came to me to ask me along, I saw that Daddy had removed her training wheels.

Our cycling session lasted only 30 minutes! I was expecting a lot longer because this was the first time that C would be cycling without her training wheels and I thought that it would take a lot longer than 30 minutes to learn to ride a bicycle. And how wrong was I because Cheryl took to the 2-wheeler like she had been practising for a long time. I was relating my own experience, commenting on the numerous times I fell and lamenting that it was a painful process. Ha ha. 



Daddy and I concluded that it was because of the first "bike" I bought her; her G bike! Cheryl was very good on that and she was zooming off every time she was on it. That must be how she learned to balance herself so well and hence had no issue with a 2-wheeler.

Saturday was a big day! It was important because it was Polling Day and we had to exercise our rights as citizens of Singapore and cast our sacred vote. And because it was Polling Day, C's art lesson was cancelled so we literally had the day off! :)

After we had cast our vote, we headed down to East Coast Park to enjoy the rest of the morning. Actually it was because we learned that Uncle Ben, Aunt Di, Asher, Grand Mummy and Aunt Jules would be there too. Haha.. Well, we didn't manage to catch them there but...

C waiting for us to get our ride...

We spotted this very interesting and innovative bicycle! Hmmm.... I don't know the "proper" name to this vehicle. There is a larger one which can comfortably sit all 6 of us with Asher and Cheryl upfront. haha! Daddy commented that we should all come down to ECP to have another round of cycling. This ride we rented set us back $30 per hour which wasn't exactly cheap but  for the fun of it, why not?

We rode around and then went to a place somewhat forgotten...

Yes, the Road Safety Park. Back in the 1980s, this park was used to teach young students road safety rules and allowing us to be pedestrians, cyclists or motorists.

Daddy and C went around and she was taught that she needed to signal right when she wanted to turn right and how she had to come to a halt when she came to a junction.

Then it was my turn with C. This "bicycle" was difficult to manage especially when only one driver gets to control the steering wheel. She definitely had a lot of fun role-playing! :)
Daddy and I then giggled to ourselves because... yeah, we were already planning for something. 

C has been practising on her G bike for some time now. When we first got it, she was really excited about it and we went down to Toys R Us to get her safety guards and helmet.

This evening, instead of her pram, she insisted on riding to class. She was in such a hurry that I had to run after her to get her to put her helmet on. She didn't have time to wear her guards this time round.

 

Here she is, waiting patiently for the lift to come.

The little fellow is pretty fast despite the small wheels and I often had to quicken my steps else I would have not been able to keep up. The usual 10 minutes walk to C's dance class was cut short to 5!

Aunt Angie got C a bicycle for her birthday this year and our Precious loved it.

In fact, she loved it so much, she would go cycling almost every evening. Then we thought she could learn to cycle without the training wheels but once they were removed, C seemed to have lost her confidence altogether.

So what do we do? Put the training wheels back and I bought her a new toy.

It was like Christmas! We told her last night that we were expecting a delivery and this morning, the first thing she did when she woke up was to go hunt down her gift! And then, her little eyes lit up when she saw it!

This little fellow is supposed to teach her to balance. C tried it on immediately and although it didn't have pedals like a normal bicycle, and C was falling over left and right, she didn't seem flustered and soon was pushing herself off for a short distance.

C got really excited after viewing the clip and we were just pleased that she was able to handle the bike. Yes, it really is very light and C was extremely proud of herself for being able to carry it in through the door. :) Now, we just have to work on it in the evenings (I don't think that is going to be a problem. She completely adores this little fellow. )

After many months of break, the night racers got together for a bicycle race this evening.

C was delighted when she found out that we would be because she was missing these get-togther sessions.

The kids were very serious about their race.

The Prize-Giving. We made do with whatever goodies we came with. Well, the kids didn't mind. :)

Our Princess finally won the coveted trophy!

The Night Racers!

This Labour Day break came timely because Daddy and I have been working really hard and we were looking forward to spending some time with our friends who had been just as busy. We wanted to do something outdoors so naturally we headed for East Coast Park where we did some cycling.

We were laughing along the way and the kids were just as happy.

The Hos (Aunt Angie's brother, Gary and his very photogenic family)

The Aws (friends who are really more like family)

The Lians (our humble little family)

Daddy has been wanting to bring C cycling. Our first attempt was 2 Saturdays ago. We reached ECP and managed to find a parking lot in the usually packed carpark. The weather was great and we couldn't believe our luck in getting a lot in 5 min.

Then we headed off to the bicycle kiosk where we spotted a shinny new 2-seater bicycle which has a carrier in the front for C. Then, I realised I had forgotten to bring my wallet (went groceries shopping the day before and had forgotten to put it back into C's diaper bag) and Daddy had forgotten to withdraw cash. So while C and I waited at the kiosk for Daddy; he had gone to withdraw money at the nearby ATM, C was admiring the bicycle and wanted to climb onboard.

Then Daddy came back with the bad news; the ATM was out of cash!! I promptly went to the counter and asked if they accept NETS but was very disappointed when the cashier at the counter shook her head.

Ahh!! C was so sad, as we walked back to our car, she kept looking back at the kiosk and uttered, "So sad, no bicycle." We then promised our Spark that we would come again. Daddy and I made a detour to have our lunch at Parkway Parade then.

Then on Deepavali, we wanted to go too but it was pouring so our plans were thwarted. Then on Sat, we actually went there with our god daughters and Uncle JM and Aunt Angie. We were already walking there when it started drizzling again!

Man can propose all we want, but really it is God who disposes.

But we didn't give up and after our car washing session just now, Daddy and I brought Grand Mummy, Daddy, Aunt Margaret, Aunt Diana and C's favourite, Uncle Ben down to ECP! This time, we were elated that the weather was kind and we had our rides.

C was thrilled because this was her first time on the bicycle with Daddy (actually, me too!) and she was commanding Daddy to go slowly or quickly. It was really fun and a great way to spend the rest of the Sunday. We rode all the way to Bedok jetty where we saw loads of fisherman wannabes. Children were also trying to see if they could get something out of the waters with their little rods.

Moral of the Story: Never give up!

(Collage no.2 taken from Aunt Di {with permission} )

Sigh... I tried to download pictures from my camera but somehow I lost them. Don't ask me why or how, I am also frantically searching for them on my notebook. What's missing: All of us enjoying our food!

Ha! I didn't lose the pictures after all! They were hiding in a very secluded folder and it was because of Daddy that I found them.

Then, we went for a sumptuous dinner. It was just hawker food but we cleaned out the plates and thoroughly enjoyed the food which we had to queue a long time for. We had a wonderful experience and it was nice to get out of the house and get in touch with nature.

Told you we cleaned out the plates! Even C was enjoying her food and her favourite was the bbq-ed chicken wings.

It was Daddy and I who did all the cycling but C was completely knocked out when she got back. She dozed off in the car on the ride home and slept soundly the night away. Oh, of course she woke up for her "milk". (Argh! Otherwise, it was a good night.)