Packing Checklst for a 4D3N Beach Vacation

It's less than a month away from my year end vacation! It's getting excited, basically I've done nothing except booked the air tickets and accommodation! But I am really excited to plan out my travel packing list as we will be flying Air Asia with limited luggage of 40kg for 4 of us Hahaha. Well, my hubby said "You don't need to bring lots for a beach vacation!" Well, he's going to faint when he sees my packing list >:P

In my Carry-on Bag (7kg per person except infant)
- Valid passports
- Identify cards (I learnt my lesson of not carrying my ID when travelling!)
- Cash (local currency & SGD)
- 2 Pens for filling out paper works
- All confirmations printed (E-Tickets, Hotel Confirmation and travel insurance)
- Mobile and Charger
- Those items with *

First Aid Kit
- Panadol (for Adults & Children)
- Antihistamine for allergy relief
- Smecta antidiarrheal
- Saline Nose Spray
- Band-aids
- Antiseptic cream
- Eye Drop
-Thermometer

Personal Care
- Sunscreen for Adults & Children (Body & Face etc)
- Aloe Vera Gel for after sun care
- Bugs Spray
- Travel size laundry detergent
- Travel size dish detergent
- Baby wipes*
- Insulated Bottle for Toddler Milk Making
- Make-up (& Remover)
- Hair care including Shampoo, conditioner, brush, styling gel, hairbands
- Razor & shaving creams
- Toothbrush & Toothpaste for Adults & Children
- Eye care (Contact lens, Sunglasses, Spectacles)
- Body & Face wash
- Hand Sanitiser
- Children Wetbag & Extra Ziplock Bags
- Pocket Tissues
- Beach Towels for Children
- Reading Books for Adults and Children
- Ipad and charger*
- Camera and accessories (Memory card, charger)*
- Food/Snack (Chips and Toddler Biscuits)*

Kid/Toodler Stuff
- Travel Stroller or baby carrier
- Small Toys*
- Night cuddles (Elmo & bolster)
- Beach Toys
- Water bottles
- Diapers and Travel Change Pads
- Pool Toys and Floats
- Milk powder (Milk powder dispenser)

Clothing (I've not decided how many sets to bring *evil grin)
- Shorts
- 1 sweater for night
- Swimwear (Including Swim Diaper)
- Tops (Casual, Mid casual)
- Undergarment
- Socks
- Dresses
- Sports shoes/Dress Shoe?
- Sandals
- Sleeping Clothes
- Beach Bag
- Hats/Caps

This is my preliminary list :P Let's see if I will have extra stuff packed in on actual day :D

Full time working mum

I tried not to blog about heavy topics because this is supposed to be about my loves, I only want to record my happiness and not the complains. But I chanced upon this blog which is very relevant to my everyday worries.

http://kidsrsimple.com/2014/05/28/a-peek-into-the-after-work-hours-of-a-ftwm/

I desperately comb through the blogs,  hoping to find a mum with situation similar to me and secretly hoping to have a situation worse off Then me so that I will be comforted. Unfortunately,  no. I know my problems yet I could not rectify it, which makes me quite miserable.

Being FTWM,  is not easy at all. While most of the readings I came across are making decisions to be Sahm,  when the most important point you have to consider is financial burden. Once it's sorted out, you just have to make it work. For FTWM,  you are juggling continously. Your single colleagues will never understand that when you leave office on time, you are going to do a more challenging job. You can't bring your emotions to work and you just feel like slapping the 100th person who asked you why are you so tired after a weekend. Also, the decision to be a FTWM is always easier to make, But you didn't realised that behind this decision you also must have some kind of support.  Like are you going to force your parents to take care of your kids If you can't fetch them from child/student care on time? Are you going to let your kids be independent to be responsible for their own academics (do homework while mummy & daddy are still doing late night overtime). Would you hate yourself If you have neglected your child and they turn astray?

No conclusion.

Loom Love

Loom Bands Beginner :D

Finally, we bought a box of Loom Bands

We have been hesitating. It wasn't too expensive, But we were bothered with the safety hazards, the mess it could create and whether G will be patient enough to learn how to play with it.

To be honest, we are curious and it's quite cool for parents to give loom bands to their kids right?

A little knowledge read up (so we don't play blindly :P)

Rainbow Loom was invented in 2011 by Cheong Choon Ng, a Malaysian-born engineer from Michigan. He was inspired by his daughters, while watching them made rubber-band jewellery. This is targeted at children between 8 to 14, but had picked up popularity among the younger ones too. It became so popular and even the Duchess of Cambridge was spotted wearing it during her New Zealand Trip!

 We bought this starter Kit from Kiddy Palace $24.90 

The rainbow happy colours: )

There are cheaper options. Random shops selling around $10 for a big box. You have many choices, many price options. We didn't research much on which brands are safe and since it was an impulse purchase, so we rather get from a reputable shop. I rules I set to G, includes that she cannot wear to sleep.
Note: If you wanted to get the original Rainbow Loom, you can find www.pupsikstudio.com.

 Daddy teaching G how to weave

 It was not too hard for her to pick up

 She showed me how to do the fishtail pattern

 The rainbow basic loom done by me, the pinky and white done by daddy.

 She made the blue and white fishtail.

I made this blue and red fishtail for Aiden and G named it Spiderman band (Spidey colours).

This is G's National Day band :D

Rainbow fishtail band

Triple Single Band

There are still many different style that you can create with this rubber bands! 

All toys can have some dangers if you did not monitor closely on how it is used in play. But it seems to be a good option of letting the little ones to break away from TV, tablets, handphone... Have fun with creativity :)

Our First National Day Parade

NDP 2014

I had never enjoyed NDP as a kid. From my memory,  I only remembered the endless rehearsals that we had to attend and got to forgo my weekends due to all it. It was hot, humid and needless to say, tiring!  The parade was boring to me.

That explains why I was never interested to bring G to attend any NDP in the past 4 years. So, what actually changes my mind? We attended the 49th National Day Parade, as a family and yes it's with the newest edition of the family, the baby Aiden!

Many people will sweat, even hearing this! Here are the list of questions that went through my mind:
- Can he sit through the 4 hours?
- What about his meals?
- What if he throws his tantrums there? (You know how terrible it can get!)
- What if he poops: ( ?
- How to change his diaper there?

Anyway, here we are!

 Little G dressed up as "The Flag"

 Aiden matches his red Mickey Tee with a pair of army pants ... #patriotic! 

 The super long queue =_=" to the gate entrance 

 

We are finally seated at the green area!  Got a good seat,  I considered it as the "extra legroom" seats!

Everything went well. The view was spectacular and G is busy digging her NDP unpack for goodies while Aiden was busy filling up his tummy with the sandwiches I had prepared.As I expected, there will be lot's of people with selfie sticks! Sigh, too bad I could not get it in time for the parade. So, most of the photos will be without me :(

Fun time Selfie-ing

With my dear girl

The very hungry boy

 More photos before program starts

 Patriotic poses

 Budding photographer

He is the future...

I didn't expect the parade got me excited! The red lions parachutists, the good old National Day songs, the short clips of the extraordinary people which brought tears in my eyes, the beautiful fireworks of course. All are my fav!

Here are some shots of the parade:

The Red Lions

Nice shot of landing!  :P

Daddy boasting about His parachute experience... 

programs that I basically didn't pay attention as I was busy snapping pictures =_="

I love those balloons decorations, it feels very "in" & young... Haha...

Nice colours!

He fell asleep despite of the loud noise...  

Power Lah!

Lastly, the grand finale fireworks! 

Tips for surviving an event with kids:

- Bring lots of food that they like!

- Bring hassle free food such as bread, cookies, packet milk instead of formula milk etc

- Bring pull up pants in case cannot find place to change diaper!

- Bring big packet of wet wipes!

- Bring a strong person along so in case of uncontrollable tantrums,  the muscular daddy can carry the kid out =_=" 

- No stroller please (Anyway, it's not allowed )

(Disclaimer:  Not 100% foolproof )

Our Family Trip, Melbourne Final Post!

Towards the end of our vacation

Maybe as you aged, You don't wish to stay away from home for too long. I was glad that we were going back to Melbourne city and departing the next day. No itineraries were planned ahead, which is good as I really miss SHOPPING!

We left our car at the hotel because it was like totally impossible to drive without turning round and round and got lost :( Really noob, but we were glad we choose public transport and it really saves us time.

Target - Get More, Pay Less http://www.target.com.au/

Top on my list. Is it quite unusual? Why am I shopping in an American retailer when I am in Oz land? I am not sure if I am missing out on any good deals in Melbourne but TARGET is too awesome! It's near my hotel and I love cheap stuff! hahaha XD I bought mostly kids clothings that simply can't resist as those nice little dresses, tops, pants are all so lovely at a really affordable price that allows you to spam buy (I know there's no such word, to me it means buy buy buy buy buy)! Check it out if you are in the USA!

 This smart All-Time-favourite white shirt, one of the great buy from Target.

I am a romper lover. I can't remember how much it cost, but I don't think I will buy anything more than AUD 10?

I had more girls clothings for girls but I am keeping it for CNY :) So, no preview hehe

Oh, the toys are great too when compared to Singapore. But still far too expensive when you compare to Amazon.

HarbourTown - There's no town like it http://harbourtownmelbourne.com.au/

Well, I really had too little time to shop, especially when the stores closes really early. I did manage to get some clothings for myself, and can't remember what else. They had a huge car park, so after we checked out of our hotel, we actually went back to HarbourTown, to park there and shop.



I got some simple tops and this cotton white dress from one of the shops over there. Simple style, simple price, quite a good buy. By the way the above pix are taken in Singapore, only to show some of the great (cheap) buys in oz.

Daddy & Girl enjoying the cookies they bought in HarbourTown and even "Tabao" to the airport and eat... (It's not very nice, I tried...) It's their great buy!

Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) http://www.dfo.com.au/home/

I felt that it's a waste of my time. Perhaps I am spoiled by USA factory outlets.

Queen Victoria Market - Since 1878 http://www.qvm.com.au/

Filled with lots of Chinese sellers selling low quality goods. Out of respect for the long history, I shall not make any remark. Anyway, I bought souvenir tees from an Australian (look alike) seller, thinking the quality should be better. Haha and the (pink) tee I bought for G, shrink into baby size...  

Some random photos which I love, taken in Melbourne city:

Little girl, we don't have time for this...

Mummy, can I draw on the wall too?

 



You can tell that I love this place right? I love grafiti, Hosier Lane

 

 

Likes: =_= It was okay
Dislikes: DFO, crowded city
Bonus: Target store, Hoiser Lane



My Aiden is feeling better!

I can only say...  I am Happy: )

Signs of hungriness always good: ) My little one is back,  I knew it. By evening he was hungry And active And I am so thankful!

 The colorful Ward 62 @ KKH

 Yes, he's off the drip so can go for walks.

Dad & son bonding!

 He received gifts from Daddy & mummy! 

 He had been staring at other kids balloons And so I bought one for him. Looks like it's the trend now to buy balloons for kids during hospital stay haha. All the wards are filled with these beautiful balloons (it's not cheap!)

Capture this by chance And I thought this shot is so high fashion model look Lol 

P/s: Active is good, hungry is good, naughty is good! Hope we can go home Soon: )