Where's Mickey?

On our 'last day' of holidays, we thought we'd try and do something we'd not done yet. The weather again wasn't all that great (apparently this past week has been one of the worst ever for a summer!), it was all grey, but at least it wasn't raining...YET! So, (having had a huge burger craving lol), I'd suggested that we visit Disney Village, which is just next to Euro Disney and the Disney Studios. It's a whole bunch of restaurants that are all centered around themes. There is of course Planet Hollywood, the RainForest Cafe, there was a Cowboy Western show called the wild wild west, a castle where you can enjoy your dinner in a castle setting. There was a Mickey Mouse Club where you guessed it, you get to eat with Mickey and Minnie... we missed that one, I would have popped in that one just to see Bibou's reaction!But we were there for one purpose... eat Big Whopping Size American Burgers! So it was Annette's Diner that we were aiming for.

After a fairly short drive (about 1/2 hour), as it was still August, and the roads were still fairly empty, we arrived at the Disney area. I had expected it to be really jammed packed with people, given that it is the school holidays and that it would be filled with holiday makers, tourists etc. Nope, we found parking very very easily (first floor too and right at the entrance). As we walked out to the plaza, it was really quite empty. Wow. But, hey, all the better for us! We were able to take great, clear photos of us in front of the famous Mickey Mouse Tower and clock). I guess we could have taken the plunge and gone into Disneyland Park itself, but we don't think that she's old enough to appreciate it yet. So why waste the money (it ain't cheap!), for something that would probably either bore her or scare her!

Anyway, we got to Annette's Diner and settled into a great booth. It's like one of those old time American diners, with a jukebox in the middle and the waiters were on roller skates (not blades). Daddy and I both each had a big American burger. Yum yum. I had an coke float too....ooo it has been a while. Remind me of the old days at A&W where we could get a root beer float. Bibou had an enfant menu with a little souvenir. She was happy to be able to have some French fries!

After lunch, we decided to explore the village... which besides all the restuarants, also had a lot of stores (what better way to make you part with your money??), and a few booths and rides... Unfortunately, and to our stunner surprise, we found that almost all the rides were closed! Including the merry go round that Bibou wanted to go on. She was really disappointed that she couldn't get on! And I'd thought that there would be a few Disney characters hanging around... they weren't any! They were on vacation I guess.

Anyway, we decided to then go visit the stores... which wasn't very easy as Bibou decided that she really liked a purse and decided to hang on to it while running out of the store! Daddy had to run like mad after her! We moved onto the other stores, and found one that had baby / kids clothes. We picked up a nice sweat top, and we tried it on her. As we were asking the sales lady for another size / color (I can't remember what - 'coz all I remembered was the next thing:) We turned around and saw that Bibou had not only picked up a 'handbag', she also had found one of those roller suitcase, pulled up the handle, and was dragging the bag like a professional traveller, totting her handbag. She went all around the shop. We were dying with laughter! Unfortunately, I was laughing too much to get any clearer photos, so you'll have to make do with some shaky ones!

It took a while before we can persuade her to let go of her bags! (I tell ya, I shouldn't get too worried about her being a tom boy, what with her early obsession with shoes and handbags!). Next shop, we went in to get her a balloon as I'd promised her one earlier... but then she saw a bottle of bubbles! It had been a while since she'd had any, and I guess she suddenly remembered! And she really really wanted it, and kept asking for her bubbles. So, soft hearted me, we got her a bottle of bubbles. It came in a really neat spill-proof bottle! I left Bibou and Daddy outside while I ran into yet another (adult) store to see if I really liked this raincoast that I'd saw (I didn't). When I came out, I saw Bibou sitting really quietly, very focused on getting her bubble wand out from the bottle (it actually isn't all that easy especially for young hands like hers). But what really surprised me was that, when she did manage to get the wand out, she could blow bubbles all by herself. And she was mighty proud of it! She kept asking 'Mommy' to see. I was so proud!

Backyard fun with friends

It wasn't terribly nice on Saturday, but at least it wasn't pouring! It was good news as we had Rebecca / Manu with their 2 boys, Max and Louis, and Kirt and Valerie with their little girl Ella over.

I was happy to be able to cook again for such a 'large' group. The menu that I planned included Beef Rendang, Sambal Telur, Small green shanghai greens, and a glass noddle with zuchinni stir fry (made from that huge zuchinni that Bibou was holding in the photos below).

Alll the kiddies had fun, they were squealing with delight and chasing each other, round and round the 'dirty pool' Unfortunately, because of the recent yucky weather, we'd not used the pool, and we've not emptied it yet. It was really grimy and slimy in there! However, kids being kids, the boys and the girls too just couldn't resist playing with the water. We had to keep an eye on them!

Despite a few dark threatening clouds, we decided to be brave and we hung out in the garden (it was nice!), and even brought the dinner table out and had dinner outside. The kiddies had their own table, and ate fairly well. I was so pleased that most of the food was gone (and I made 'too much' as usual). We've all lived in Asia at some point or other, so it was a real treat.

Unfortunately, the Wood Family had to leave early, but Rebecca and Manu stayed on. We managed to get the kiddies into bed and the four of us had a 'movie' night in our living room. That was great! We hope to be able to do that more often.

Shake Rattle and Roll

Woke up this morning, looked out of the window and what greeted us? Yup, more dark clouds and even the smell of rain, lots and lots of rain. Well, no worries, we stuck to our plan of spending the afternoon at Ludimax.

But first, we had a lovely lunch at Bamboo in Chinatown... my favoriate Pho and Daddy had his Bobum. Bibou was fast asleep in her car seat. Went to the chinese store and stocked up on favorite chinese supplies, including a big bag of bean sprouts (believe me, we can't find, or at least very hard pressed to find bean sprouts in the 'normal' grocery / supermarkets). When we got back home, Bibou was ready for HER lunch lol. I made a bowl of bean sprouts (and some charsiew), and guess what, she asked for more! She loves bean sprouts again. Why again? Well, she went off them for a while.

Anyway, after a quick nap (in the car) we arrived at Ludimax. Oh yes, Missy remembers it and was most excited to be back to her favorite indoor playground. Off went the shoes and away she went. With Daddy close behind her, she went through the obstacles with no problem at all. She was climbing up and down everything and loving it! There were a few obstacles that were just a little bit too high for her, but she kept right at it. The one thing that she did avoid however, was still the slide. Something's made her really scared now, when previously, the first time she tried it (I think it was almost 1 year ago now), she loved the slide and couldn't get enough of it.

But she really enjoyed herself. She even walked across the 'moving' bridge by herself. She couldn't the last time we were there. She also enjoyed the big bouncy ball room, I think also because Daddy and I were in there with her (yes we both had to squeeze our big butts through the small opening!!), this time and bouncing up and down with her.

Oh and she must be remembering her fun time at the fun fair 'coz she jumped on one of their little red cars (or maybe it's the Wiggles that she remembered!!) and went tootting away.

But really, I think Daddy was the one who had the most fun! He was playing with a number of the older kids...so much so that one of the mothers came round so that she could pull her kids off Daddys back!That was funny. Well, we'll see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully, not rain.

Are you Happy to see me?

After our lovely morning trip to the fair (see post below), we came home to prepare for a little visit from an ex-colleague of mine, Emily and her two sweet kids, Eva and Bobby. (Emily, in fact, was the one who recommended me to MESSAGE!!) It was great to see them again, I think the last time we had a good afternoon together just us was at Christmas! Eva's such a lovely little girl now, and she's so fair. Reminds me of a little delicate doll.

After a spot of tea with some lovely cakes, and lots of squabbling over toys (Bibou's not very good with sharing, especially when it comes to her toys grrr), we all headed out to Parc Heller to visit the animals. Bibou once again was in top form, teaching Bob and Eva where to go to get the leaves to feed the animals (all 3 goats and 1 sheep! The rest were on vacation!). We had brought some bread, so the kiddies fed the bread to the animals until they were mostly gone (I'd saved some so that we can feed the ducks later). By the end of the feeding session, the kiddies were all good friends. Bibou was even handing some of her leaves to Bobby to feed the goats! And Eva and Bibou were squealing with laughter running to and from the trees to pluck the leaves (actually to and from me who was plucking the leaves for them).

Soon, the goats were 'too full'. They didn't want any more leaves! So off to the playground it is. The three of them had a lot of fun, running around the different playgrounds and enjoying all the different activities, the swings, see saws, monkey bars etc. Oh and we even got to feed the ducks. This feeding the animal thing is really very popular with the kids!

All too soon, the dark clouds that were 'threatening' for the past hour or so, really looked like it wasn't going to threaten anymore. So we rushed home, and just in time. 'coz it started to pour... hard! Everyone was in, I dished out a quick meal for the kiddies and by the time dinner was over, the downpour was over and it was sadly, time to say bye bye to Emily and Eva and Bobby. Bibou was sooo tired from the hectic, busy day of running around and enjoying new things and she went to bed without a peep. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Daddy and I agreed that it was a very lovely day. Oh and check out these photos of Bibou hanging on to one of the zucchinis from our garden. Bibou was wondering why we were making her hold it. Yup, we've let them grown to incredible sizes again this year. Time to bake another zucchini bread again eh!?

Funfair Fun

This morning when we got up and looked out of the window, there were spots of sunshine!! Yippee! However, when I looked at the weather forecast, they'd predicted thunderstorm and more rain! Arrggh. Well, we thought, let's trust what we see, but not take a chance. So we all got dressed in a hurry, got into the car and rushed into Paris. We were going to visit the fair at the Tuleries Garden, just in front of the Louvre.

I dressed Bibou up a little bit 'sportive'. She had on her new shoes, they looked like Converse hightops lol. Even though they are a bit big for her feet right now, (she's in between sizes, her 23s are too small), she really likes them. She likes showing them off.

And show off she did, especially to the two Flos whom we visited before going to the fair. We were all hungry and decided to go to our favoirte brunch place right smack in the middle of Paris. It's called cusine and confidence and run by a great couple called Flo and Flo! We'd not see them for a while, and they were fawning over Bibou. She had a lot of fun playing with them too, they totally were into her. They even had this HUGGGE can of Chuppa Chups (lollies on a stick, or lollipop) which we promptly sat her on. She enjoyed that! They also had a big lollipop and she was given that to play around with too (fortunately, she wasn't offered and didn't ask for any!!) And to top off the visit, we had a really scrumplious brunch.

After that wonderful meal and really meeting up with good ole friends, we strolled over to the big park next to the famous Lourve, called the Jardin des Tuleries. For the summer, there is a huge fun fair going on, with all the usual delights such as the ferris wheel, spin arounds, bumper cars, fun houses, 'scary' houses and of course all the little stalls where you can loose all your money trying to win a small toy by shooting the balloons, scooping up the duckies etc. The first thing we got to was a merry go round, and Bibou got all excited! I guess she remembered the great time she had when we went on the merry go round a month or two ago. We got our tickets, Bibou and I and hopped on. It was an old one, and wasn't very smooth. I hung on to Bibou for dear life, thinking that it might fall on us any time soon! But she was oblivious to it all, and was having a ball of a time (she probably thought the noisy, jerky movements were all part of the ride). We had a fun time playing peekaboo with Daddy and the camera, hence the funny faces we had in the picture. Apparently, Daddy said we looked so funny that he almost dropped the camera!

Next, we came to this water ride (very mini one), with fixed boats / other vehicles that went round in a circle. She climbed on board and couldn't stop laughing!! Round and round she went, (in a powerboat with sails observed a very amused Daddy). At first, she was more interested in what was going around her, and looked and every other boats / cars around her, and the other kids... but soon, each time she passed us, she gave a big belly laugh. She even started to give me some high fives. That came to an end, and she wanted to stay on. I managed to get her off by telling her that there were other rides coming!

She was persuaded, and good thing too. 'coz next was this wonderful car 'racing' track which went up and down (still on a track though, so very safe). She really enjoyed that. She was even wriggling in her car with laughter.

Finally, we came to this huge, and I mean huge, like 3-4 stories high slide with lots of 'bumps' that you slide down on a carpet. We didn't think that Bibou would feel comfortable coming down on it so we just stood there to watch. However, when we tried to leave, Bibou didn't want to leave. She wanted to go on it! OK, so Daddy took her up and then put her on his lap to slide down. Well, she didn't utter a peep all the way down, but I think she was bottling it all up! 'coz as soon as she got to the bottom, she burst out into tears! But she was calmed down immediately, once I quickly scooped her up into my arms. We went onto a few more of the less 'frightening' car rides and then off back home to wait for Emily and gang.

Wiggle on Mates!

If you are a parent of a young child right now, you probably know the song, 'Fruit Salad', and the group the Wiggles! Yes, we've also caught the 'Wiggles craze' when I bought 2 DVDs back from my recent London Trip. Their brightly colored clothes and sets, their wonderfully infectious songs and dance keep not only Bibou entertained, Daddy and I find ourselves singing their silly songs ourselves!

So I couldn't resist snapping some shots of Bibou as she was dancing to one of the Wiggles song (probably Hot Potato, or 'quack quack'). She's following the dance steps and trying to keep time... all in her lovely new Strawberry Shortcake boots (gosh, don't get me started on her shoes! - Bibou's feet just keep growing and growing. Shoes now don't last more than 2 months!).

She's a really sweetie and still a big fan of shoes (should have called her Imelda lol. The other day, I could have sworn that there was drool in her mouth when we brought her to a shoe shop). Anyway, as I was snapping these pix, we told her that she was going to the (neighbourhood) park to run around and get rid of her energy before bedtime. She immediately went to get our shoes for us!

Oh something new this week, she can handle the zip by herself now (well, you will have to make sure that the zips are lined up for her). She's happily zipping up her coats and anything that have zips right now! Ah, the things that make her happy.