Far From Family

Today, I had my moment (actually many) when I wish I didn't live in Malaysia.......

Not because I don't like Malaysia.  I just don't like how far away it is from family.

Earlier today, my wonderful grandma passed away. 

 I wish I was close enough that I could be around the rest of my family today.

Grandma Marnie was a feisty lady that loved spending time with her family.

She loved anything pink and Obama!

I will remember her whenever I see a frog--we saw one eating bugs one night when I was younger and then we started giving frogs to each other. 

She will be missed, but I know she is loving her time with Grandpa Doug again....the girls added that she is playing with Maddie too!

With her Birthday Buddy(both August 18th)

Kaylee and Grandma share the same middle name--Jean.

 Baby Macy

Baby Whitney

Baby Hannah

Her Valentine's Day gift last year:

Life is Good when you have great memories of loved ones....I will think of her every time I write "Life is Good."  She is the one that would write it in notes to me!

A Night Out

Justin and I went to the American Association of Malyasia Ball last night.  Since we don't have closets full of evening wear we had to do some shopping this week.  On Thursday after school, Macy and I did some power shopping. Between 1pm and 2:30 we bought the dress, shoes, jewelry and some make up.  We had a lot of trips up and down the escalator to try everything on together and Macy loved it. 

When Justin went to look for his black suit on Saturday morning, he couldn't find it.....not really sure where it is...Could be at the cleaners still in Indy, at either of our parent's house, or in long term storage in Indy...we may need to do some investigating on that.  Luckily, he found a tux rental place not too far from our house.

Ordered pizza for the girls and ready to head downtown.

It was really neat when the Marines brought the flag in.  

We hadn't seen the stars and stripes since Januray 9th!

The US Ambassador was the keynote speaker.

We had a nice night out chatting with others, eating a nice meal without little ones and getting dressed up. 

They did a giveaway for the centerpiece.  I found the star under the bread plate.  

Depending on whether the bread plate is on the right or left determines if it was actually Justin or me that won.  The plate was between us, so we know one of us won! 

 They had a silent auction.  We didn't bid on any items in the silent section. 

 However, they had a booth with little purses with prizes inside for 100 ringgit(about $30) each.

  The prizes inside were valued at 100 RM or more. 

Purse 1 Prize:  Living Well full body scan and consultation---not really what I was hoping for, so I got another one!!!

Purse 2 Prize:  Free night in a hotel in another city, Penang---GREAT, but the purse's zipper wasn't working right so they let me take another one.

Purse 3 Prize:  100 RM at a salon for a massage

 It was a fun night and I am sure we will be back again next year when they have the 31st annual ball.

Life is Good with fancy nights out!

A Day with the BIGS

 A few days ago I saw a sign for a fun kid activity place and asked around on whether it was fun or not.  I was told it would be good for older kids, but 6 and under may not enjoy it as much.Some of the activities have an age requirement of being at least 4 and older.  It was also suggested to have 2 adults along in case the kids don't want to do the same stations.

Today, the Bigs didn't have school for inservice.  Macy is on a different schedule so she did.  This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out.  Justin was gone all week and had a few calls planned for the day, but decided to join in on a fun day with the girls.

We got to our destination a bit early so we went to Starbucks while Justin listened in on a conference call.

Then, it was off to ........... 

It was like the Disney World of children's museums.....It was clean, well organized, fun and educational!  The idea behind KidZania is that kids get to act like grown ups for the day.  There are different stations in the "city" that the kids can have hands on experiences at.

The girls started at the bank to turn their check they got at the ticket counter(it looked like an Asia Air airline check in counter) into cash....Each child gets 50 Kidzos.

From there, the kids can explore the city and earn money doing jobs or pay to do activities.

Our first stop was the Disco Lounge:

Hannah won 10 Kidzos for winning the name that song game and Kaylee got 8 for getting one song right.

Next, the girls split up since Kaylee wasn't old enough to do what Hannah wanted to.

Kaylee bottled her own water.

Hannah made her own Oreo cookies.

We have been to a few really nice children's museums before, but I loved this concept.  Only a few kids were allowed in each exhibit at a time and they were guided through the process by 2 "experts".  Usually when we go, the girls just start pushing buttons or look at pictures, but don't really know what they are doing or learning about.   

Then, Hannah went to report the news.

Kaylee bottled some milk.

She isn't sure of the process.....

....7 of the 8 in the group spoke Malay so all the directions were given in Malay!!!

Hannah went to cooking school and made a "Sushi Sandwich" aka Tuna Fish.

The girls didn't try this, but every so often a fire truck would really drive through and fire fighters would get out and help put out the fire at the hotel.

While the girls waiting in line, wearing their hair nets, to make sushi, I walked around to some of the other areas.

Window Washing

Beauty Salon

Dentist Office...not a real patient, just a dummy

When I got back to the girls, Hannah had decided to be a mechanic instead.

After about 2 hours we needed to leave and get Macy from school.  

The girls loved it and I know we will be back again soon.

I am really glad we didn't have Whitney along because there is no way I would have been able to keep her in her stroller the whole time.

I think Macy would have liked it, so we will have to find a day all 3 don't have school--Not a weekend, I am sure those are crazy!

Macy went with the driver and Melona to see monkeys along the road the other day after school, and she really wanted to show her sisters.

These 2 pictures are taken through the car window.  I was too scared to get out and knew I would scream if one got too close to me. 

I did get out of the car for this pic, but then went right back in!  I am 99.9% positive Hannah will grow up to be a vet.  The other 2 "fed" the monkeys too.  They threw some of the pellets the "caretaker" gave them on the ground, and the monkeys ate them.

Life is Good when you have a day with the BIGS!

A Little Taste of China

The Bigs had Chinese Cultural Day at school today. 

 Macy had hers a few weeks ago, but we didn't have our acts together to get her a dress.  

Since she got one over the weekend too, she wanted to wears her today.

*****

Justin was with the girls at the mall on Saturday after a birthday party, and was given directions to get the Bigs dresses.  I had looked earlier in the week, but didn't have them along to try them on.  When he got home, he explained there was no way he was getting out of the store with only 2 dresses.  Especially when the sales clerks were oohing and aahing over the girls trying them on.  Guess all 3 will be prepared for next year!!!! 

There were different stations set up for the classes to visit.

The whole school went to an assembly with a lion dance.  It was fun to see many of the students and teachers dressed up for the special day.

Life is Good with great cultural experiences.