Exploring Singapore Day 2: Marina Attractions

We enjoyed breakfast at our hotel and then set out for Day 2 of our Singapore adventures. We packed in SO many tourist attractions which were included in our Hippo city passes. First up was the well known duck boat tour which is very popular in Singapore and a good way to view the harbor attractions. I was super nervous about this one because I couldn't stop thinking about the duck boat tragedy from earlier in the summer. It was a stormy, rainy day which didn't help my anxiety, but I settled in and we all really enjoyed the tour. We sat in the front so the tour guide took a lot of photos for us.

We learned that the Merlion -- a mythical creature with a lion's head and fish's body -- is the official mascot of Singapore with a fountain statue in the harbor. The tour was really fun and we all enjoyed seeing many of the attractions that we planned to visit later that day.

After the duck boat tour, we walked inside a nearby mall to use the facilities and grab a snack. On the way, we found a fun candy store (which we can never resist!) as well as a Toys R Us store. Apparently the chain stores here are still in business despite closing down in the US.

From the mall, we took a quick taxi over to the Singapore Flyer, which is one of the world's largest observation wheels with a height of 165m. We learned that it has since been overtaken in height by the High Roller wheel in Las Vegas at 168m and will soon move to 3rd place with the opening of the future Dubai Eye at 210m. (Was there ever any doubt that the world's tallest anything would be anywhere besides Dubai?? Ha!)

I will admit, the slow ride to the top of the wheel was an anxiety-filled experience for me! The kids and Jeff loved making fun of me and giving me a scare by standing close to the doors and fooling around in the cabin. We even had a thunderstorm blow through nearby as we were inside, yikes! It was a really cool experience, though, and an awesome way to see more of Singapore. Afterwards, we stopped at the onsite Subway and enjoyed some lunch before heading off on our next adventure.

Our next stop was a long walk across the double helix bridge to the Marina Bay Sands, a high-end luxury hotel with a cool viewing deck called the Skypark. It's one of the most recognizable structures of the Singapore skyline and offers an amazing view of the city.

That last photo is an overhead view of Gardens By the Bay, a 250-acre nature park with various attractions. It was so close that we decided to walk on over and check it out. We walked through the Flower Dome in about 5 minutes flat (not my thing) and then wandered over to the Cloud Forest Dome, which is an indoor conservatory with the world's tallest indoor waterfall at 35m. It was built with multiple levels and walkways allowing visitors different viewpoints through the cool mist, all the way to the top of the waterfall with the Cloud Walk and Treetop Walk.

Needless to say, by this point in the day we were POOPED! We had walked for miles and visited so many attractions that all we wanted to do was get back to our hotel for some dinner and relaxation. We ended up ordering McDonald's delivery again simply because it didn't require us to get out again. It wasn't long afterwards that the kids both voluntarily put themselves to bed before 8:30 p.m.! Now that's what I call a successful day of vacation!

From Dubai to ... Singapore!

One of the reasons we made the move to Dubai was to take advantage of travel opportunities that we might not have otherwise. Back in the spring, we decided to go ahead and plan a trip to Singapore at the end of the summer based on some recommendations from friends. Jokingly, I told others that we booked the trip to make sure we would come back to Dubai after our summer in Texas (haha). I knew the timing would be tough because our 7-hour flight to Singapore was scheduled for the day after we made it back to Dubai. The time difference was also hard -- a full 13 hours ahead of the central time zone where we'd spent the prior 2 months. By the time we made it to Singapore, it was midnight and I had no idea what day it was! We ordered McDonald's delivery and enjoyed the sights from our 3-bedroom hotel apartment. We finally made it to bed and barely woke up in time for the hotel breakfast buffet the following morning.

Our hotel was located in a central area close to Fort Canning Park (which we never managed to visit) and the popular Orchard Road area. Taxis are readily available and affordable anywhere in the city, but it takes some getting used to seeing the cars and drivers on the wrong side! We weren't even in the city for a half day before we almost got hit by a passing (non-yielding) car. Yikes!

For our first day in Singapore, we set out on foot to explore our area and visit the nearby Visitor's Center. The weather was similar to Houston's summer heat and likely even more humid. It was green, beautiful, and lush everywhere. I thought it was neat to see the Singapore flags, too.

At the Visitor's Center, we bought Hippo Passes for each of us, which would allow us to visit a huge number of attractions across the city during our stay. I've seen many big cities adopt this type of offering for tourists and it really is a great way to see a lot of things for a much lower cost. From the Visitor's Center, we took a cab to the Chinatown area so that we could walk around and browse the vendor shops. The kids enjoyed looking and picked out these unique "stress balls" that make soothing noises as you twirl them in your palm together. We also stopped for some drinks and street food, which I would've enjoyed much more if I hadn't been so busy worrying about what the kids would eat. Ha!



We walked and walked until we were all so pooped out from our day, not to mention the jet lag that was most definitely kicking in. It was beautiful scenery along the way, and one of the cool spots was a Central Perk coffee shop exactly like the one on the TV show Friends. We eventually took another cab back to the Orchard area so that we could grab some dinner and stop back by the Visitor Center one more time.









That last photo cracks me up. Kaitlynn's French braid had taken on a life of its own, and Connor had reached the point of tired where he was delirious. We walked to a mall across the street or dinner, but unfortunately we made a poor choice and ended up enjoying Kaitlynn's cute unbraided hairstyle far more than the chicken sandwiches we'd ordered.

Look at those tired faces. We went back to our hotel and crashed from exhaustion, hoping to wake up rejuvenated for the next day of fun exploring the city-state of Singapore.

Final Summer Weekend in Texas

After spending almost 2 full months in Texas, the kids and I couldn't believe our final weekend was upon us. We were so grateful to Julie's family for letting us stay with them AGAIN while we made the final preparations for our trip. I can't say how many times throughout the summer that I packed, unpacked, repacked, shuffled from suitcase to suitcase, repacked again, and finally packed for the last time, stuffing and then weighing each of our 6 suitcases. I spent hours upon hours of time managing the "living out of a suitcase" experience, and I was feeling relieved to be packing for the last time. We were going back with so much more than we came with, but that was always the intention.

We weren't planning to come back to Texas until the following summer, so we had to make sure to load every moment full of fun. The Aasmyr kids were such sports putting up with us all summer, so I decided to take all 5 kids out for a night of fun. We went to see a movie and then had dinner and game-time at Chuck E. Cheese. We ended up staying there until 10-10:30 on a Friday night. It made me laugh how my idea of fun has changed over the years. I loved watching the kids run from game to game with huge smiles, earning maximum tickets for their wins. It was so cute!

The next morning, Kaitlynn was soooo excited to finally reunite with one of her sweetest friends in Katy. Lauren was a former neighbor and she and Kaitlynn had just started forming such a close friendship when we moved to Dubai. They were ecstatic to see each other again and pick up where they left off. Oh, and I threw in this photo of Connor at one of our last Mexican meals in Katy, just because I think he's so handsome! :-)

Julie took these awesome photos of the kids on their last day together at the Aasmyr house. They turned out SO good. LOVE these smiles, even from our beloved Duke!

I had one final trick up my sleeve for the kids on our last day in Texas. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:00 pm, leaving us free for most of the afternoon. I sent some text messages and emails to most of Connor and Kaitlynn's Katy friends and invited them to an afternoon of trampoline fun at one of their favorite spots, Altitude. It was one last chance to see friends and hug necks until next summer. When I surprised the kids, they were SO EXCITED! I was so happy to have been able to pull it off. They each had so many amazing friends show up for the afternoon for jumping, cookie cake, and endless sweat! Connor and Kaitlynn both were on cloud nine. To see the love and support from their friends, neighbors, teachers, etc. just filled my heart with joy and gratitude. It was truly a reminder that a big piece of our hearts will always remain in Katy, Texas.



I can't even describe how special that last photo is to me. Those 5 sweet WAC boys (Watkins-Aasmyr-Courtright) met as INFANTS in daycare. Their moms are two of my dearest friends, and seeing all 5 boys reunited gives me all the feels! We have countless photos of them over the years, but this is by far my new favorite.

Before we knew it, the party time was coming to a close. We were on a tight deadline to head back to Julie's house for quick showers and loading up suitcases to get to the airport. I rounded up the kids and told them to say their goodbyes so that we could head out. And it was about that time when the realization of our departure began to sink in and the tears began to flow. Kaitlynn started to break down and hug her friends with all her might. At one point, she ran up to me in tears, unable to hold it in any longer, clinging to me because she didn't want to say goodbye. Oh my goodness, it just about broke my heart all over again.

It was a good thing we were in a rush to distract us from our emotions. We made it back to Julie's house for quick showers and then we loaded our bags into Harry's truck since he was graciously driving us to the airport for our long flight back to Dubai. We all said goodbye to the Aasmyr family and their precious family pets. It was so hard to say goodbye. Is it just me or did Duke look a little sad, too?

As Harry drove us to the airport, I think the emotions finally sank in with both kids. The tears flowed freely on the long, mostly quiet drive. Poor Harry, I'm sure it wasn't easy being in the middle of our sadness and emotion. The kids had been SO strong up to this point and finally just gave in to their feelings.

Once inside at the airport, we were able to gear up for the long flight ahead. Unfortunately it was another packed flight, but the kids managed like the professionals they have become. I had to crack up at one point when I looked up to see that they were both recording time lapse videos. Hilarious!

Only 1 of us managed to get any decent sleep. We were SOOOO ready to see Jeff and get settled back in Dubai. The Houston to Dubai flight is the best because we can come home around a normal bedtime and go straight to sleep, which is exactly what we all did.