American Clubbin'

Saturday, December 17

This just happened to be one of my favorite days we had in Singapore.

My mom was so on the ball this trip. She scheduled a time for us to go to the American Club to make ginger bread houses on Saturday morning.

So, off we went!

I got to ride in a Taxi with Michelle and the girls, and we took the opportunity to practice using the camera!

The kids were definitely still on a "high" of being together and couldn't sit still, so our nice-cousins-picture-in-front-of-the-tree turned out like this:

We were pretty jazzed when we walked into the room and they had complimentary cookies and drinks ready for everyone. Wahoo!

Ashley got to stay home and enjoy a nice, long nap.

We missed her and Chad, but we had some fun together. Take a look:

You know you have a good Grandma when she takes you up to show you that you can stand in front of the projector and see yourself on the Big Screen.

This alone could have occupied these 4 busy-bodies for hours.

Okay, okay. We will quit goofing around, and get down to some gingerbread business.

Karli and Sydney decided to work together.

I was amazed when we opened the kits. I was picturing some graham crackers, and some royal icing with some gum drops, but HOLY COW! These people didn't mess around.

Inside the kit there was FRESH GINGERBREAD along with two giant pastry bags filled with royal icing. There was also lots of candies and cookies to decorate the house.

There was a professional pastry chef who was giving directions and we followed them the best we could.

Karli and Sydney's finished product.

I thought it turned out pretty awesome!

Landon & Keely got to work together and also did a stellar job.

I thought Keely would eat most of the decorations, but I'm pretty sure she didn't even eat a single one! She's so professional!

Landon & Keely's finished product:

While we were busy with the gingerbread houses, this cute little thing was busy enjoying a nap and some fresh, Singapore fruit with her Daddy.

At the American club, we packed up our houses and went downstairs to change into our swimsuits!

"We are Triplets"

Grandpa, Ashley and Chad all met us for some swimming and a poolside lunch!

Ashley spent most of her time exploring the splash pad, which is funny, because last time we were here, Karli was 18 months and was way too timid to go near them!

Not this girl.

She even made and international friend:

I love this action shot of Karli.

I wish I had one of these contraptions at my house. So cool.

We took a lunch break to enjoy some good ole' American food.

Sometimes there's nothing like a burger and some curly fries.

Someone came around and gave each of the kids balloons and we couldn't believe how excited they were about it. We had no idea what fun was ahead...

Apparently, we chose to go swimming at the American Club on the last day of Swim School. So basically, we crashed a giant carnival/party for the swim students. No one seemed to mind and the kids had so much fun. What a great surprise!!

First up- there was a clown making balloon animals. He was good, really good!

He made Karli a cute little pink dog.

I wasn't going to have him make Ashley anything, but he insisted and said "I have perfect one for cute baby" and made her this little flower bracelet. I think it was perfect and Ashley sure enjoyed it.

Next up: the bouncy slide! Landon was the only one old enough to go on it, but we all enjoyed cheering him on!

Next Up: Face Painting!

Here is Karli's transformation into a lion:

Rarrrr! You can admit it, you're a little bit scared, huh!

She sat perfectly still and her lion face turned out great!

Landon chose to be a Super Hero!

Sydney chose a butterfly:

And Keely chose a Princess!

Speaking of Keely...Lots of family members ask me what Keely is like because they don't get to be around her very much. When I saw the following pictures, I knew that this would explain Keely pretty well.

So--here she is, in all of her glory:

Gotta love her!

After crashing the swim school celebration, we headed home.

Here is a picture of us at the taxi stand. It was pouring rain, and taxis were hard to come by, so everyone decided to walk home. But, Michelle, Karli, Keely, Ashley, the gingerbread houses, and I opted to wait for a Taxi. We thought for sure we would beat those suckers home.

Long story short, we didn't understand Singapore taxi etiquette, and we have terrible luck.

So, an hour later, we finally arrived home.

The rest of them had been home for a good 45 minutes.

We passed my mom, walking in the rain, back toward the American club to look for us.

Michelle and I have really good luck in situations like these. Dangit.

Here's Ashley, waiting for a taxi.

My thoughts exactly.

We arrived home just in time to join Sydney playing "Taxi"

and to have a snack, with our somewhat smudged faces.

Who knew that the Ottesons were such amazing party crashers!

What a FABULOUS day!