Bella’s First Time at the Theatres – The Gingerbread Man by iTheatre

Bella attended her first play (The Gingerbread Man by iTheatre) over the weekend with her big brother Jah and us in tow. :p Well it was technically her second exposure to the world of theatre (her first was with her school last month). But we all know how differently kids behave in school and with their parents.

I was extremely apprehensive about taking her with us, given that she is often little Miss Ants-in-her-pants. However I have to say I was alittle surprised at her level of understanding and enthusiasm.

As usual we arrived about 45 minutes ahead of time which gave both Jah and Bella time to settle down and Bella was more than happy to follow her brother around for the ‘mandatory’ photo-taking. Jah was also extremely happy to have his little sister around to ‘show off to’.

Before even purchasing the tickets, Joel and I had agreed that we would divide and conquer. We decided that Joel would take Bella outside when she starts to misbehave/ cry. Note I said when and not if because we didn’t expect her to last the entire show at all!

Yes this is how we divide and conquer

But not only did she last through the entire show, she also looked like she enjoyed herself quite abit. The catchy tunes from the show definitely helped! While she was definitely still Miss Ants-in-her-pants, moving from Joel’s lap to her chair more than 10 times in that 50 mins, she was also quite transfixed by what was happening on-stage and was bobbing along to the music at various points of the show. 🙂

The serious theatre goers

The jolly theatre goers

I probably had the better end of the deal because I was in charge of Mr I’m a Big Boy and I can use my indoor voice (Jah) but I was very glad that he was not thrown off by his sister’s constant fidgeting.

Nah..we are happy theatre goers

I love the fact that the show had so much audience interaction that it was perfectly acceptable and fun to watch Jah and Bella shout out responses to the cast. The audience was a boisterous bunch and the storyline made it fun for them.

The show is targeted at children 3 years and up but given that Bella is just shy of 2 years old and we made it through ‘unscathed’, I’ll say it would work perfectly fine for a 2 year old as well. That being said, while it was all fun to hear kids shouting out responses and the cast being ever so game to entertain and interact, I fully appreciate and thank the ushers for stepping forward to request that crying babies be soothed at the back or outside the theatre.

We are totally looking forward to bringing Bella with us on all future plays! (in fact we already have 3 of those lined up! 🙂 ) At the end of the day, there is no crying that can’t be soothed by quickly stepping out of the theatre (if and when it happens) and the ability to let both siblings spend a day out at the theaters together far outweighs everything else. 🙂

One of our next few adventures 🙂

My theatre boy and theatre girl

Theatre Boy and Theatre Girl’s Mummy

18May2015

Cold Storage Kids Run 2015 [Media Invite]

Posted in Media Invite, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

Jah and Bella participated in their first ever run on Sunday during the Cold Storage Kids Run 2015. In fact it was also the first run for Joel and I :p and I have to say we had quite abit of fun.

The morning started really early for us! With the reporting time for our category (the Jolly Kiwi for 2-4 years old) starting at 8am, we made sure that we were parked and on our way to Gardens By the Bay (GBTB) by 7am. Honestly we would never have been able to catch such an awesome ‘sunrise’/ morning view if not for the race. We parked quite a distance away at MBS, just to make sure that we didn’t get caught in any jam or no parking situation.

Rewarded with an awesome view for waking up early

With our (more than 1 km) walk to GBTB, I was quite worried that the kids would be exhausted even before the race began. I noted Jah’s solemn face and quietness while we were waiting to enter our holding area and was wondering if he was thrown off, tired and perhaps almost tipping over to meltdown mode. But I soon realize that his ‘stillness’ was actually him mentally focusing and psyching himself up for the run. Wow!

Well organised and well ventilated holding area

Mr Super Focus did not want to be in this holding area family pic

I don’t know what everyone else is looking at…5 secs to flag off!!!

When asked if he wanted to walk or run, he very determinedly shouted Run! And boy, did this little fella run. In fact he ran for the entire 800m and even caught up with the kids from the first wave of his category, only stopping to check if I was still behind him. I stopped him shy of the finish line to ask if he wanted a balloon which they were giving out to the little runners. He paused, considered and said no! lets go! I saw the determination and the competitiveness in his eyes and I had a proud mummy moment. 🙂

I can’t believe he is only 3.5 years old..call me bias but I think he did fantastic..

Congratulations my boy!

If you are wondering why there are no photos of Bella running, its because Jah and I blazed off right from the starting line and Papa Joel was left to deal with the little sister who insisted on papa taxi (riding on Joel’s shoulder) all the way. :p Nevertheless it was still really nice to be able to participate in the same category for their first run and to do it as a family (the advantage of having kids close in age).

I have to say that the organization of the run and the choice of venue was superb. We loved that the race was kept confined to a ‘safe’ location versus the ‘roads’ but yet we had tons of space and greenery to enjoy post-race. The process from holding area to start of race to the picking up of kids was very smooth and I have heard from a lot of friends who were equally impressed and very surprised at how well run the race was. Jah and Bella met up with friends after collecting their medals and certificates and had a nice time just chilling and savouring their ‘victory’/ achievement.

Jah with his first medal…a moment worth documenting

Enjoying a birds eye view

Celebration!

JahBella and Friend(s)

Jah was especially pleased with himself and wanted to go for another round right after. My worries about having to drag tired children across GBTB to MBS were unfounded as the kids were so upbeat and ready to continue racing each other.

I’ll race you to MBS!!

I am really glad I brought Jah to experience his first run..possibly and hopefully developing a new found interest. Super proud of him and the competitive yet sensitive spirit he showed. He couldn’t stop talking about his first race experience and in fact was still so pumped up all the way till bedtime. Despite his excitement, he stopped to remind me that he nearly bumped into some ‘babies’ in his hurry to get to the finish line. He wanted to know if the babies were ok and if he hurt them because he was ‘not careful enough’. 🙂

I expect to be hearing his ‘victory’ story for many more days to come and answering his questions so that he can relive this fun experience in his mind over and over again. I’m absolutely sure we will be joining many more races to come and hopefully Bella will be there for the running and not just the apples :p

Until Cold Storage Kids Run 2016!!!!

Disclaimer: We were invited to participate in the Cold Storage Kids Run 2015 and we had an awesome time! Thank you for the invite!

15May2015

June School Holidays 2015 – Event Listings

Posted in Event Listings, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

The June School Holidays are right round the corner and although Jah and Bella are not old enough to ‘enjoy’ a month long of school holidays (haha they wish!!!) but they will definitely get to enjoy the array of activities that is available out there because of the school holidays.

So if you are wondering what to do or where to bring your kids over the next couple of weeks..here are some of the activity line-ups.

29 May – 28 Jun 2015 – Barney’s Jukebox Party @ City Square Mall

Get set for a rollercoaster of fun and excitement with plenty of activities related to the affable Barney, BJ and Baby Bop. For the third year running, the lovable purple dinosaur will take the stage at City Square Mall with a first ever retro-themed performance – Barney’s Jukebox Party.

The fun continues at City Green park as it transforms into a venue for fun and laughter with the “Good Ole Fun In The Park” retro carnival. Families can look forward to old school carnival games and rides such as the Pirate Ship, Carousel, Bumper Car, Tea Cup and more.

CSM06-04-15 GSS 2015 Barney Pre-Pub EDM A5 R9.indd

29 May – 28 Jun 2015 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dojo Experience @ Downtown East Events Square

An interactive event that is set in the Dojo training grounds of the Turtles, families and kids can explore the training grounds and participate in a series of secret ninja activities for an added dose of healthy fun. Taking place on weekdays (including Vesak Day) 1pm to 8pm as well as weekends from 11am to 8pm. Entry passes for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dojo Experience will be given to patrons with a spend of $20*

This event will feature the following activities:

• Games and activity stations for kids from age six where they have the opportunity to test their courage, teamwork, accuracy and agility through a variety of Turtles-themed games (Ninja Zipline, Tag Team Ninjas, Villains Takedown and Epic String Maze.

• Meet-and-Greet Sessions on the weekends with the different Turtles

6 & 7 June 2015 – Nickelodeon Slime Cup 2015 @ Downtown East

The fun family weekend Nickelodeon Slime Cup 2015 event will take place from 11am to 7pm and admission is free. The event will feature:

• Opening / Closing Ceremony: Nickelodeon Slime Cup 2015 will kick off with an Opening Ceremony featuring all your favourite Nickelodeon characters, followed by a fun dance and sing along session for everyone to participate. The Closing Ceremony will include a prize presentation of the final Soccer Showdown challenge with the ultimate sliming of the winner!

· Meet-and-Greet Sessions: Have your camera ready to get up close and personal with your favourite Nickelodeon friends at Meet-and-Greet sessions during the event!

· Mini SEA games in Nickster style: Get excited for the upcoming SEA Games with fun activities and challenges inspired by various sports at the event

· Slime Throne: Capture the surprised expressions of your kids as they get to experience slime all over their body and look out for our instant photo giveaways!

· Main Challenge – Soccer Showdown: In each 2 to 2.5-hour session your kids get to participate in different soccer challenges. The challenge is open to all individuals and no pre-registration is required. There will be 3 sessions daily with 3 winners per session.

30Apr2015

KidsStop – Science Centre (Review)

Posted in Reviews, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

The weather has been very unforgiving in recent weeks and there are only that many water play trips we can make before the kids threaten to catch a cold or get totally bored of it. So we decided to make our way all across the island to Jurong where you will find Kidsstop within the grounds of the Science Centre.

For those who are familiar with Kidzania, I would say KidsStop is a little like Kidzania but probably in a slightly less structured set-up. Kids get exposed to various occupations such s builder, doctor, pilot, archaeologist, chef etc and they get to play and explore these occupations with some lessons in science throw in.

We weren’t sure if Jah would take to the place or be totally lost and we were even more unsure or actually had no expectations when it came to whether Bella might enjoy the place. But both kids were absolutely blown away. They were very happy with all the larger than life structures and we’re happy to roam about and move from ‘station’ to ‘station’.

First stop – totally fascinated with being a builder and playing dress up

Jah and Bella handling the cockpit on their own

Our pilots for this flight

Archaeologists hard at work

Doing some grocery shopping on his own

Dealing with the check-out process

Time for our little chefs to do some cooking

I’m scared so I’m just going to sit outside the space shuttle and let my brother do his thing

Ostrich Syndrome

How many teddy bears do I weigh?

Trying their hands at being surgeons (no pun intended)

Reinforcing what we learnt at the dentist

Kidsstop sessions are split into a morning and afternoon session. We were there for the morning session which lasted from 10am to 130pm. We figured they would last till about 1130 or so before we would grab lunch somewhere. While they did last till 1130am before we dragged them out to grab lunch, Jah and Bella also requested for an encore session after lunch before we finally had to drag them home with promises of another trip soon.

Round 2 – getting the hang of things and decided to wear the costume as well

Meimei you can sit here and be my co-pilot

Thankfully food is available just outside the entrance of Kidsstop which meant that the adults did not have to put up with another Macdonalds meal and the kids didn’t have to deal with a car ride to the nearby malls. Food at the Kids Cafe was pretty decent, given that the mains were coming from the Chinese restaurant next door. Yet it offered a child friendly environment which made it less daunting for parents with hungry and tired kids. :p

So if you are looking for a place to beat the heat but yet you don’t want to be crawling around an indoor playground then Kidsstop might be worth a drive to. Especially so after they lowered their admission price which makes it a lot more affordable for big families or for return visitors. Do remember to bring your IC though as there are different rates for Singaporeans and Foreign visitors.

Jah woke up from his nap that evening and the first thing he asked was “mummy can we go to Kidsstop again? It’s so fun, I really like it!” 🙂 so yes I guess we will be going back soon..

JahBella’s Mummy

27Apr2015

Pasir Ris Park for Kids – JahBella’s favourite playground

Posted in Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

This post has been long overdue but I am kind of glad that I had put it off until now. Pasir Ris Park has been one of our favourite go to places on weekend mornings since Bella came along. Not only is it Papa and Mummy’s favourite places because it’s super easy on the pocket ;). Except for the money you have to spend on the ice cream and drinks from ‘ice cream uncle’s’ van, everything else is free.

And the reason why I’m glad that I’ve put off the post till now is because today was one of those days where Jah and Bella were ultra adventurous.

They normally spend a couple of minutes playing with one or two things in the park (yes there are tons! as you will see from my photos) Then they will spend the rest of the time just playing with their sand toys and sending me or Joel on multiple water collection trips. There is a water point for washing up so no worries about the kids getting grubby.

We brought our picnic mats just to have a place to sit at while the kids play with the sand. But we had no such need because we spent an hour going from ‘station to station’. We have also done family picnics there before so if preparing some finger food or snacks is your thing then there are lots of big spaces to plop yourself for the morning.

There are lots of ‘stations’/ play areas for different age groups. Playgrounds from the smaller ones to spiderweb climb areas for the bigger or more proficient kids and then there is also everything in between. The kids will never get bored because there is just so many activities to choose from. Even the simplest of structure which to me, looked like looked well just like an ordinary ‘useless’ structure, was a source of amusement for the kids. They spent a good 15 mins scaling it up and down and walking through and around it. Yes my imagination leaves much to be desired but I’m amazed by their creativity.

So if you are looking for a really good park to spend some time at, you can try Pasir Ris Park (the end near the Home Team Chalets). Now I’ll just let the rest of the photos do the talking.