Celebrations!

Kiki and Quinn love gatherings! They always have a swell time, lapping up the attention from the doting uncles and aunties. I believe Owl's colleagues also enjoy having these two kiddos around. Their innocent smiles and laughter really brighten up our days here. :)


Peekaboo! (Kiki holding her fave elephant)


Gotcha!

The default birthday cake for us is cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory! We had earlier celebrated Kenneth's birthday at a nice Japanese restaurant. As there was no birthday cake then, we got two yummy cheesecakes when we went to a Vietnamese restaurant to celebrate Shu Yunn's birthday.


A group photo with the birthday gal & guy

In June, we had also celebrated my birthday and Father's Day for Owl. After passing 30 years old, I decided that it is best to keep my birthday a private affair. Haha... ... We had a good dinner but Qi (aka Kiki) wasn't feeling well, so we bought a slice of White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cheesecake home.


Gosh! Time flies... I'm 31!

As for Father's Day, we met up with a number of Owl's colleagues for delicious ribs. Yummy!


Happy 2nd Father's Day!

Celebrations:
15 June 07 - My Birthday! Dinner @ The Cheesecake Factory
17 June 07 - Father's Day! Dinner @ Texas Roadhouse
20 June 07 - Kenneth's Birthday. Dinner @ Fujiyama Japanese Restaurant
2 July 07 - Shu Yunn's Birthday. Dinner @ Saigon Grill

Bruneau Dunes & Canyon (2 June 07)

My blog is super outdated. Kiki still demands my attention when she is awake. And the moment she (finally) falls asleep in the afternoon, it's time for me to quickly prepare the ingredients for dinner and do other housework. Sigh... ...

Now that both Kiki and Owl are taking a nice nap, let me share our first day trip out of Boise!

Bruneau Dunes State Park
This state park has a romantic slogan, "Feel the Sand; Touch the Stars". Sadly, I didn't do either there.



We have chosen one of the hottest days in Idaho to visit North America's largest single sand dune! The sun was so ruthless, Kiki and I hid in the car when Owl climbed the dune with Min Li and Zhi Jun.



Fortunately, Owl's other colleagues arrived after a short wait. After they had also gone up the sand dune, we hurried off to the next stop. We were really baking in the sun like hot potatoes!


Not everyone is in the picture though


A nice family portrait

Bruneau Canyon Scenic Overlook
After leaving the sand dunes, we drove a few miles farther to look at a small canyon. If only the sun was more forgiving, we would be able to appreciate the grandeaur of it.


It's small but still magnificent!

It's like a sneak preview of Grand Canyon for us! We are really looking forward to seeing GC after this.


More shots for Owl while we hid in the shade

The lesson learnt is to check the weather when planning our trips!

First Day Trip:
2 June 07 - Bruneau Dunes State Park and Bruneau Canyon Overlook

Day Trips and Celebrations

We look forward to the weekends. Come Saturday, it's time for us to travel out of Boise to explore the nearby areas! Sundays are usually rest days, more for groceries shopping or checking out the factory outlets.

Since I have quite a bit to catch up, I will just use this post to list the places that we have visited. Details will be provided in subsequent posts.

Other than day trips, we also participated in some local celebrations. Birthdays and even Father's Day were celebrated too!

List of Day Trips and Celebrations:
2 June 07 - Bruneau Dunes State Park and Bruneau Canyon Overlook
15 June 07 - My Birthday! Dinner @ The Cheesecake Factory
16 June 07 - Stanley
17 June 07 - Father's Day! Dinner @ Texas Roadhouse
20 June 07 - Kenneth's Birthday. Dinner @ Fujiyama Japanese Restaurant
23 June 07 - Julia Davis Park Centennial Celebration
30 June 07 - Sun Valley
2 July 07 - Shu Yunn's Birthday. Dinner @ Saigon Grill
4 July 07 - Independence Day - Fireworks Display @ Ann Morrison Park
6 - 8 July 07 - McCall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11 July 07 - Cheryl's Farewell Dinner
14 July 07 - Snake River/Celebration Park
15 July 07 - Li Kiang's Birthday. Dinner on 14 Jul.
20 July 07 - Zhijun's Birthday.

Will keep updating this list! :)

Fireworks

Yesterday was 4th of July, Independence Day of USA.

After dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, we went to catch the fireworks display at Ann Morrison Memorial Park with Kenneth and Minli. Now being summer, the sun sets real late. The display would start only at 10:15pm.

The car park at AMMP was closed to public. Hence, we parked our car somewhere nearby and waited at the pavement. In a short while, we heard the countdown and soon the sky was lit up by the brilliant display of fireworks. Kiki was scared of the noise. But she would not let me cover her ears!

Together with the American anthem, the fireworks ended with a climax. Kiki was mesmerised by the sight. When the display was over, she uttered her favourite phrase, "More, more, more". Haha... Mummy can't do wonders. ;p

Back home, we managed to catch some fireworks from our balcony. Kiki refused to sleep till almost midnight! Poor mummy... :(

Kiki's Playmate - Quinn

We are lucky that one of Owl's colleagues also brought his wife and kid. Otherwise Qi would not have any playmate.

This sweet, good-natured boy is called Quinn.



We have established a comfortable routine of meeting downstairs for a stroll every morning after 10 am. The kids will start off by playing around the only pavilion in the courtyard.

Their favourite activities include picking up stones, pine cones and leaves (in no particular order), running up and down (and even crawling on) grass slopes, throwing and kicking balls, stepping on hole covers and puddles (if we let them), spotting squirrels and birds, and saying Hi! to whoever we bump into!

Future talent for STOMP!

Watch my dinosaur blows bubbles!

What's underneath this cover?

We love our Ball Ball!

Wait for me!

After a while, it's time for us to make our way to the clubhouse to open our letterboxes. We are so bored that we actually feel disappointed if there is no mail! Haha... ...

The two cuties sitting on a low wall, "singing" Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!



Swordfighting with leaves



Can you spot the squirrel?

Having "inspected" the stones around the letterboxes, the kiddies then allow us to make our way back to Quinn's house. Kiki is happy to stay there to play while I dash back to our own house to collect her lunch. When I return, the two tots will then have their meal together.

Kiki and I normally stay till Quinn asks for his milk before his nap. By then, Qi is sleepy too. She will happily say Bye Bye to Auntie Li Kiang!

Back home, it's also a bottle of milk and naptime for her... ...

The Huntington Apartments

Life as a full-time mom is really busy! Other than the cooking and housework, taking care of little Kiki occupies much of my time. Qi is still much of a koala. Well, except when she is engrossed with watching her Barney or baby songs VCDs.

Oh gosh! Today is already 26 June. We are in the States for exactly one month! And I have not put up any photos of our new home. ;p

We are staying in a one bedroom apartment that comes with a bathroom, an open kitchen and a combined living/dining room. The apartment is fully equipped and comes with weekly housekeeping!

If you go to Google Map (http://maps.google.com/) and search for E Mallard Dr, Boise, ID 83706, the satellite version will show our apartments, identifiable by the zigzag pool!

Check out the facilities that we get to enjoy: http://www.thehuntingtonapartments.com/

Kiki in main living area

Happy Kiki on the huge sofa

Missing Singapore?

Let me show you our bedroom

I love my air bed!

Time flies... ...

Today is already 5 June! It has been 2 weeks since I stopped work.

Day Before Departure
I had taken 3 days leave to finalise the packing. Unexpectedly, we were still trimming our luggage till late Friday afternoon! We intended to max out the baggage allowance and exceeded quite a bit. ;p

Dinner was steamboat. In addition to our families, Owl's aunts and cousins also turned up. It was quite a party! We ended up going to bed very late.

Flight & Fever
Qi was charming at the airport. Waving goodbyes and blowing kisses without being prompted. I thought our little adventure had started off very well. :)

After some hours on the plane, Qi became cranky. She also refused water. When she finally fell asleep, I put her into the bassinet and covered her with a blanket. To my horror, she woke up with a fever! When I tried to feed her dinner, she even threw up! :(

Even when we arrived in US, Qi's fever did not go away. She was found to have ear infection and prescribed antibiotics. Poor Kiki lost much weight and looked terrible.

Thankfully, we bid Qi's fever goodbye on Thursday. Her appetite also returned. So did her smiles! :)

Expat Tai Tai? Dream on... ;p
All the washing to be done after the cooking had dried my hands till my knuckles cracked!

A clingy toddler is also not the best fashion accessory. Haha! ;)

Nevertheless, it is a nice change from the madness at work. Qi is driving me crazy with her demands to be carried though!

The best part so far? Seeing how much Qi enjoys the food that I cook. It brings such immeasurable joy to me! (^.^)