Lil' Dean Fam

Jungle City, Tropical Urban, Skycrapers meet Rainforest.   Someone asked me this week to try to capture the mix of the big city with the landscape of the tropics.  So, I've been trying to use my cellphone camera to do just that.  Maybe I should get out my DSLR again and see if that thing takes better pictures.  It certainly does, but it also most certainly weighs a LOT more.  So... anyway, here they are.   It is very green here.  It's definitely the type of environment where anything and everything easily grows.  But it's also definitely a huge city. Tall buildings all around us, people everywhere, lots and lots of taxis, and buses, and jaywalkers.  It's a unique mix of these two worlds that you don't often see collide.  

Saturday we spent the morning doing a few errands and relaxing around the house.  We went swimming and then I had an idea to go get some bratwurst we'd seen one time walking through a nearby food court.   After dinner, we all felt like dessert and set out to find some ice cream.  As we walked down Orchard Road, we heard the F1 race cars in the distance.  I got excited about them and we changed our minds about ice cream and walked toward the cars.  We decided to take the MRT one stop down to make it quicker.  The train was very crowded with weekend travelers and F1 spectators as we boarded the train.  The doors started closing before Colin and I could get on and I was determined to get in there to avoid being separated from our boys.  My purse got stuck in the door a little but I made it.  Colin, on the other hand, did not.  Luckily, we had our cell phones and everything so we were able to stay in contact.  I was glad th...

Today I took the boys to the Marina.  We didn't really have a plan in mind, we just went out to explore.  Man, was it HOT down at the Marina.  Sunny and 90 degrees, plus the Singapore humidity.  Yowza.  Anyway, if we look odd in these photos, it's because we were scorched.   The Marina is awesome.  There's so much to look at it and quite a few things to do.  I had a hard time trying to decide what to do.  I was worried about leaving Colin out.  We wandered over to a museum and decided to check out the Mummies exhibit.   Evan was crying over something stupid and didn't want to be in the picture.  or this one my first panoramic shot.  I suck at it.. but this view is pretty amazing this is for you, Dierkops.   Art Science Museum proof I was there picture Helix Bridge with the Singapore Flyer in the background  Marina Bay Sands.  Not the best view ...

I've been teaching Ryan to keep a journal during our home-school day. As he's been writing in his journal, I've gotten out my old journal and written in it a little.  I like it, yet I feel like I'm dividing my efforts from the blog.   I've been trying to catch up with the blog so I could maybe even start posting daily.  But, I also know that if I attempt this, I'd either be neglecting other things in my life, or I'd get behind and get frustrated.  It is still something I'm considering, however. I wish I had really written down more of my thoughts the past three weeks while the emotions of experiencing life in a new country were more raw.  But, I didn't. And although I remember, I do think it's harder to express as I've distanced myself from some of the experiences. Anyway, Evan is out of school Thursday and Friday for teacher in-service days.  It's been fun having both boys home although I wish they'd spend more time playing than ...

Evan has been in Kindergarten for three weeks now.  He loves his school but does not like being gone so long.  Evan leaves our house at 6:40 am and rides the bus to school.  I do not know for sure, but I estimate it takes him a little over an hour to arrive at school.  He plays a little with the kids from his grade before school begins and then starts his day.  His teacher is an amazing woman who also has an assistant teacher who is equally as talented.  They have been learning SO MANY things.  He is learning to read, to write, to spell, to add, count, and so on.  He also takes art, music, swimming on a three day rotation.  He gets an hour of Chinese every day.  He goes to the library every sixth school day and gets a daily exercise class as well.  He loves art, no surprise.  He's speaking more Chinese at home, and I have noticed and improvement in his swimming.  He's adding like a mad man and even understands some subtrac...

My last post was a little bit random.  And... this one will probably be to, and long.  But, I know some of you are wanting to know what we've been up to here in Singapore.  So... here ya go!   Our airfreight was delivered a few days after we arrived in Singapore.  It was really nice to have a few more of our own things in the temporary apartment.  In talking to other people here, it sounds like I planned pretty well with the items I packed.  I was extremely grateful that I had put in some medicines (in addition to the suit case full of diabetes and asthma supplies I brought on the plane).  I wasn't at all surprised that 5 days after our arrival, I was in need of a doctor.  Luckily, I had packed some medicine that could tide me over until I found a nearby clinic.  We were also glad for the pool toys, Xbox, and Legos, as well as our own pillows! Oh!  And washcloths.  The hotel has plenty of hand towels but no washcloths. ...