Moving to Australia, we were really excited to see different parts of the world. Since our plan was to only be there six months and we had a baby in the middle of it, we focused on one good trip. We decided we wanted to see Singapore. Singapore was an affordable and fun option from Perth and gave us our first experience in Asia. The trip was simply amazing! We spent nearly a week together as a family separated from the rest of the world. Work and church responsibilities were put on hold. Our phones didn't work. The only thing that followed us to Singapore was my homework and schooling, but I was able to do much of my homework at nights or ahead of time so it wasn't too overwhelming or taking away from our family time.
When we got to Singapore we stayed at a really fancy hotel called Grand Park City Hall. The rooms were quite small, but everything (especially the food) was incredible. It was a five star hotel in a great location in Singapore. One night we decided to splurge and eat dinner at the hotel. We thought it was going to cost us a couple hundred dollars because it was an all you can eat fancy buffet, but they gave us a discount for staying at the hotel and didn't charge us for a few of the kids. We all stuffed ourselves with yummy food and fancy desserts and for all of us it was less than $100. It was the best meal we had eaten since moving away from America.
We had a lot of fun navigating around. Since our family is "so big" we had to get two hotel rooms and take two taxis everywhere we went. To save space in our room, we made one of our suitcases a bed for Ava. Taking taxis was quite an experience since our phones didn't work, we just had to trust that we would arrive at the same place. Often times, my taxi would take off and then Matt's would take off in a different direction. We showed up to church about ten minutes different from one another. We would always compare the cost too and it varied a couple of dollars different. It's all part of the experience that makes it so much fun.
Singapore was so much fun. We spent a lot of time walking around the city underground because they had these connections that were like mini shopping malls and air conditioned. Outside was quite hot and humid. Being a sweaty mess didn't stop Abby from being treated like a celebrity though. She was stopped everywhere we went so people could take pictures of her.
We lucked out our first day walking around Singapore and came across a performance from locals and Malaysians. It was fun seeing some of the culture dances and other performances. While we were there we also went to the Gardens by the Bay, went to an aquarium and museum, ate yummy food, and swam at the pool. We also had yummy ice-cream (something that is nearly impossible to find in Perth). It really was such a great trip! People think we are crazy taking our kids, but that is what makes these trips so memorable. We love our family time. The kids were so well behaved and got along great too. Even showing up in the middle of the night and flying on a silly budget airline, everything was so perfect!
