Botanical Garden

We had a pretty uneventful week last week. Lee was in India and Madeleine and I didn't do much beside our daily walk and grocery shopping. On Sunday we went to the botanical gardens here in Singapore. They have so many flowers and a lot of different varieties of plumeria and orchids. Madeleine loves flowers so she enjoyed it for about 10 minutes then the heat got to her and she was DONE!! That was OK because so were we. I've begun my mental countdown to arriving home. We can't wait to be back.

Hair Cut

At one of the Toys R Us in Singapore there is a hair cut place by the checkout. Madeleine's bangs were so long we had to get them cut. The girl was very nice but wanted to cut a lot more hair than I wanted. Mommy Veto!! Once that was settled, Madeleine sat in the chair and was ready to go. They use videos on monitors in front of the chairs as the big distraction. Sorry, Madeleine was not interested. She wanted to know what the girl was doing to her and kept swiveling her head. The girl worked vary fast and soon she was all trimmed up!!

Look how long those bangs are!

Looking good!!

Bye bye Bali

Mommy and Madeleine

Into town

On Sunday we hired a driver and left the resort area to see more of Bali. We drove to Seminyak for lunch and then to Kuta for shopping. There was a lot of handicrafts and lovely lace but I can only carry so much home!! We bought a few T-shirts and small things and then walked down to the beach in Kuta.

I was in Bali too!!

Lunch in Seminyak.
We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe to get some air conditioning and cool drinks.
Luckily(not) they had BALLOONS!!

Ocean

I didn't get any photos of Madeleine in the ocean for the first time because I was busy video taping. This is the next day and she still wanted none of it.

Here comes the waves!
I don't like this!

Where did my piggies go?

Kecak dance

One evening for dinner we went to a dinner/show at the resort. The performance was called the kecak dance which re-creates the ancient Hindu epic of Ramayana. The dancing, chanting and colorful costumes were very interesting. Madeleine was enthralled and watched the entire show.
The food was wonderful!!

Pool Float

We bought a float for Madeleine for the pool in Bali so she could experience the big pool. She loved it. She and Daddy swam everyday!

Miss Independent

Madeleine loves to do things for herself. That includes walking without holding hands. There is a lot of grass here, and no dogs, so we are letting her practice walking alone. She really doesn't get very much practice because everywhere we go in Singapore is either subway, she has to be in her stroller for that, or taxi.

You are too close Daddy, I can do it myself!

I think her Native American name would be "Runs with Leaf"

Pool fun

Sand and Ocean

Today Madeleine played in the sand and ocean for the first time! She had a blast in the sand. Daddy buried her legs and she wiggled her toes and finally pulled her legs out! Big fun! She also looked for Daddy toes, they are much easier to find! They have a type of tree here that grows in the sand so there is a lot of shade! Very nice! I didn't get any photos of her in the ocean today because I was videotaping. She wasn't thrilled with the ocean. The wave action and the taste are so different from the bathtub and pool! We will try again tomorrow.

First steps on sand!

Sand is fun!

Buried baby!

Feeding the fish

Feeding fish on the patio
Fish going CRAZY for bread

We have a very nice patio in our room that looks out over a garden area with a pond. When we arrived the staff said we could ask for bread and feed the fish in our pond, or any pond on the property. Some of these fish are so big they look like they could use the Atkins diet!! So, we got a big bag of bread from the club and Daddy and Madeleine fed the fish this morning!

Bali

View from the lobby.

Well, we are in Bali and it really is a beautiful place. The Hindu architecture is so different and wonderful. Our hotel, Grand Hyatt, is spectacular! It is right on the Indian Ocean. We have a very nice room looking out at a garden and we have a pond with fish right off of the patio.

I was slightly concerned about traveling here because of the bombings in 2005 and 2002 in this area of Bali. Fortunately, they take security very seriously here. The hotel is located in an resort area with several hotels and shopping areas called Nusa Dua. In order to enter into this area of Bali you stop at a guard gate, your vehicle is searched and you drive over a camera that examines the underside of the car. You don't have to get out of the car but they do open the doors and trunk and look in. As we drove from there to the hotel we passed a shopping area that requires everyone to pass through a metal detector. When we arrived at the hotel, we stopped at another guard gate with a huge metal or concrete arm blocking the driveway. Again, they looked through the car and trunk and we were allowed in. As we explored the hotel, we saw security guards everywhere. They are nothing like the stereotypical security guards at home, they appear very serious about their jobs and that is a good feeling.

A new face

For a week or so Madeleine has been making this new face. Just kind of on her own, but she would look around to see if I was watching and check out my reaction. The other day in the cab she decided dress rehearsals were over and it was time to break it out in public. Lee and I were laughing so hard! She just might be an actress. I call it squinty face!

Squinty face!
I'm so funny!!

Sentosa & Underwater World

Not a whole lot of activity this past week. I had 30+ distributors in town for training which took up most of my time. It's so hot here that it is hard for Theresa and Madeleine to get out in the afternoon. We played in the pool a couple afternoons and then had the distributors over to our patio one evening for dinner.

On Saturday we went to Sentosa Island which is a resort area that also has a theme park. Madeleine fell asleep on the way so Theresa and I stopped for a drink on the beach. Once she woke up we went to Underwater World. It was small and but just enough for Madeleine's attention span.

Singapore Zoo

Madeleine had her first trip to the zoo this weekend. She loved it. The Singapore Zoo is on the small side but still very nice with a good variety of animals with nice habitats. Of course it was hot but the zoo had plenty of shade and cool drinks. We spent about two hours there before it was nap time, for Madeleine and Daddy!

This was during the elephant show. She watched for 2-1/2 minutes and was ready to go. This, by the way, is her latest laugh. She covers her mouth with her hand and throws her head back.

This is the lion habitat. She really liked them and when we said, look at the kitties, she said, meow meow!!

This is the hippo exhibit. We only saw fish!

Laughing at the giraffes.

Madeleine and Daddy!!

Getting ready for the swim

These are some pictures of Madeleine waiting for Mommy and Daddy to take her on her first swim.

I'm ready
I want to go NOW!!!!

Grown ups take forever!!

Bubbles

Madeleine and I went outside to blow bubbles the other day and one got caught on her pigtail!