Pool Fun

We borrowed my sister's pool while they were out of town.

Going SCUBA DIVING

Ms A enjoyed a wonderful curriculum by Mother Goose Time last year. We didn't finish up before Preschool started, so when she came down with an ear infection, we talked about scuba diving and the animals you'd see. When I mentioned daddy had something cool upstairs that had to do with swimming in the ocean her eyes lit up. I ran upstairs and grabbed Reed's scuba diving bag. We tried them on her and talked about why she would need each item.

She was delighted!

(for those wondering, no a giant seastar didn't expire in our home, we were playing a music game where you had to jump in the seastar when the music stopped)

Swimming Lessons {revisited}

Here are a few pictures from Ms. A's last swimming lesson. She's doing an excellent job and even put her face in the water!! We are so {PLEASED}!

Swimming Lessons

Ms A loves the water, she'd love to be in a tub playing or have some container full of water to play with. The only thing she doesn't like is water in her face (which I have to agree - no fun!). So when we decided to enroll her in her first swimming lessons, she was ECSTATIC, until they started splashing. Today was Life Jacket Day! She was thrilled to go into the deeper portion of the pool. Not too excited to jump in, but she had a GREAT time! Here are a couple of videos. The first one she had to jump in twice! (He promised Ms A only two jumps to get her in the pool.) Then the instructor had them practice floating and kicking while spinning them around. Ms A is much better at kicking than I am.

This video is what they do at the end of their lesson. The children pretend they are a seed and they have to ask for water to help them grow into a tree. Then the instructor asks them to pat out the butterflies in their tummies and on their heads. Next, they get to be silly. The last thing is *ONE MORE JUMP* in the pool.

Swimming with the Call family

When we came home from our trip, Ms. A was so excited to find out Sonja and Alan had three of their grandchildren visiting. She was even more excited when she met Ms. E. She is a month older than Ms. A. On Friday, they invited us to go swimming. Ms. A is a huge fan of her water wings and she reveled in the praise that everyone gave her about her swimming skills. It was so fun to see her and Ms. E playing together. Jamie, their daughter, is also a Stampin' Up fan, so the two of us visited while we watched our daughters play together. I saw this picture on Jamie's blog and had to use it. (I hope that's ok.)

On Saturday after Ms. A's nap, we went out to eat with the Call's. When I told Ms. A, she giggle with joy. She started dancing all over the place and quickly got ready to meet them out front. I loved watching Ms. E and Ms. A hold hands as we walked to TGIFridays. It was a wonderful time. I enjoyed talking to Whitney, their other daughter about her trip to Cambodia and Angkor Wat. Their family is FABULOUS!!

Bukit Merah Resort

A co-worker of Reed's recommended this great place to visit. It is called Bukit Merah Resort. Bukit is hill in Malay and Merah means red. We enjoyed visiting the Ecopark, Orang Utan Island and the Waterpark. It was wonderful to see the animals. The island was interesting. Instead of the Orang Utans being in cages, we were. We walked inside an enclosed path that introduced us to 7 Orang Utans (ages 2 to 24 years) and 3 infants (ages 1 month to 2 years). Orang Utan's name derives from the Malay orang (person) and Indonesian (forest).

Boat ride to Orang Utan Island

Ms A loved that these Orangutans were the same age as she was.

Bear cat

Kisses

Reed and Ms. A loved the Waterpark! They played in the wave pool, Activity Pool and the Kids Adventure River. Reed went to discover more parts of the park while Ms A played in the sand. I got a little tired of waiting (he was gone for around 40 minutes), so Ms A and I went looking for him. We found each other and he, very excitedly, took us to where he disappeared for such a long time - The Boomerang! It is an exhilarating ride and the first and only one of its kind in Malaysia and in South East Asia. Reed went on it four or five times. He said it was the first ride in a long time that he was actually scared to try out, but he instantly fell in love with it. He enjoyed the ride so much that when I asked him to go again so I could record it, he and Ms. A quickly exited the pool. Afterwards, he stated that I should post the video to my blog! :) Check out his last ride.



Here's a link to our other video. I had issues uploading it.

The Boomerang

Beach Fun in Batu Ferringhi

After 5 years of marriage we finally were able to go Para-Sailing! We tried in Mexico and Greece, but we couldn't find the right place.

As soon as we found a place to park and walked to the beach, a gentleman came up and asked us if we were interested. Reed excitedly went first. Ms. A wanted to go "flying with daddy," but she is too small. Reed had a wonderful time and tried to convince me to go. I was a bit apprehensive, so I said no. Reed and Ms. A took the jet ski out for a spin. She loved it after she got used to the noise and speed. When they came back, I decided to try out the para-sailing. The boat driver asked if I wanted to touch the water. When he saw my nervousness, he said he would let me touch the water. He tried twice and the second time worked. I panicked a bit, when the water came so close, so fast, but he quickly got me in the air again. It was a "Grand Adventure". I got me feet wet and now I can say I did it! The landing was a bit rough, but overall it was fun. :)

Reed Para-sailing

 I was able to take this perfect picture of Reed landing.

Heather's turn

Jet Ski fun. Reed and Ms A LOVE the water.

Reed built a 'pool' for Ms. A to play in since she was wary of the "big waves." She had a marvelous time and invited some other girls to play with her. She practiced her swimming on her belly and loved every minute. She was not excited to come in from playing, but we saw storm clouds and decided it was time to leave. :) We left just in time. When we sat down for lunch at a cafe, the rain came pouring in. We waited for about 15 minutes until Reed decided to get the car. He came back drenched. It was a perfect beach day. :)

Trying to make a new "friend"

Water baby

Building a sandcastle

Butterflies Everywhere! :)

Today's Itinerary: Butterfly Farm, Fruit Farm and Tiki Kerawang Waterfall!

We had an amazing time. You walk into the Butterfly Farm and you have this amazing view of butterflies everywhere! My mom would love this place! The whole time I was thinking of her. We had several butterflies tickle our necks, one landed on Reed's head! The whole time Ms A tried to have a butterfly land on her leg. She was pretty excited, but wasn't sure if she wanted to have them crawl on her hand. We had someone show us how to get a butterfly to land on a flower. When I tried to have it move to Ms A's shoulder, it flitted away.

They had a few insects and beetles

Face Beetles {look for the yellow or red squares}

Reed loves signs

Three- horned Rhino beetle

 

The Fruit Farm was interesting. We were able to try several fruits we were curious about. I enjoyed seeing the different types of trees. We saw a tree where they get cinnamon from. They peel off the bark and let it dry, that is why the sticks are curled.

Our last place was this little waterfall that Ms A had a wonderful time. She was a bit hesitant about the cold temperature, but she quickly got over that as you can see.

She had a great time playing in the water

Our own water park

Reed came home from work yesterday and very excitedly asked Ms A if she wanted to go swimming. They quickly donned their swimsuits and ran outside (the water slide turns off around 7pm). They went down a few times and had a great time until Ms A got a mouthful of water. :) Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Ms A talked about the slide throughout dinner. Apparently, she enjoyed herself.

You can click on the pic to get a bigger view.

Our New Digs

Here are a couple of views of our new home. This is a view of the play area. Gold Coast Condos have won awards for the outstanding landscaping. I can see why! The front pool is a children's pool with turtles and sea stars along the border of the pool. There is also a 'pirate' ship for the kiddies to climb on. Ms A wanted to touch the fountains on the walls. The taller structure separating the two pools is a water slide that empties into the children's pool. We will have to figure out how to turn it on or if it is on an automatic timer. To the right of the pools is a BBQ area and play structure. The play structure is surrounded by beautiful greenery. To the left of the pool is the checkerboard landscaping and a fun swirly path.

This is a view of the other side of our apartment. I was so surprised to see so many high rise apartment complexes. Our is 16 stories.

The island is a mass of one way streets and they drive on the left side of the road. I was told you have to know two routes to get any where on the island. One for the way there and another for the way back. What Fun!

Reed ventured out yesterday for his first driving experience. He purchased some adapters, while we were being introduced to the island by the relocation people. Unfortunately, one fell out of the bag in the store, so Reed went to find it. He drove for a couple of hours getting totally lost, had finally given up and decided to try a store that looked like they would carry the item. When he parked, he discovered it was the store he was looking for the whole time! Heavenly Father watches over us even with little things like an adapter. :)