October fun

It has been a fun filled October! We had a week-long break from school and enjoyed it on Bintan Island in Indonesia. The girls participated in many of the activities for kids and mom and dad lounged by the pool or on the beach. Ida Jane even went to circus school, trying the tight rope and the trapeze.









Here is a video of Ida Jane on the trapeze!






Pizza making was one of the fun activities for kids!


We returned on a Friday night and the next day was our big Halloween party! The girls had a blast. Harper was a good witch.


Ida Jane was a pirate.



Mom and Dad even dressed up.



Ida Jane helped daddy gut the pumpkin.


The girls got to dress up for the Indian holiday of Diwali for school.


Here are a few other cute pics from this month.

Ida Jane is 5!

Things have been super busy here in Singapore, with the beginning of a new school year, soccer, swim lessons, mid-Autumn festival and Ida Jane's big fifth birthday!

The birthday celebrations began with a trip to Hard Rock Cafe, where Ida Jane enjoyed being the center of attention. Everyone sang to her and she even got a hot fudge sundae!




Ida Jane had a blast at her birthday party. Lots of good friends were in attendance and everyone enjoyed the pirate theme.




We cannot believe our little Ida Jane is already 5!!

The girls have been enjoying their swim lessons with Coach Patrick.




Harper sings pretty much all the time...




Ida Jane is loving soccer. She is the only girl, but that doesn't bother her one bit!

Here she is learning how to play goalie!



Both girls are really enjoying school and mom is enjoying having them with her at Overseas Family School. At school, every holiday is celebrated, so the girls dressed up in traditional Hari Raya clothing.


With all of this going on, we still manage to get out and about in Singapore from time to time. Here are the girls dancing at Clarke Quay fountain.


We all enjoyed dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Check out Ida's skills with the chopsticks! Harper is still getting the hang of it...



A few days ago was the Mid-Autumn Festival. The girls loved the lanterns around town and enjoyed attending the celebration put on by our condominium.



Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of autumn!!

U.S. 2011

We recently returned from our fabulous trip to the U.S. We got to see lots of family and friends. It was a fun-filled five weeks. We started out and ended at Nana and Papa's farm in Ohio...

It was great to see Great Grandmama and Great Granddad.




Hanging out with Nana was a lot of fun.


The girls really enjoyed the great outdoors!



Junior beekeepers!


Ida Jane loved babysitting for Logan.


Harper liked being silly with Hayley


Next we headed to the lake in Indiana...


We were thrilled to see Great Grandma Gerber.

Fun on the boat with Evan and Hayley.



Relaxing...



Uncle Steve even stopped by for a visit!


Then it was on to Disney World! We spent 3 fantastic days there with Amy's side of the family.
The girls posed for lots of pictures with the characters and their cousins Grayce and Maddy...





We loved the rides!




Big girls at dinner with Grayce and Maddy.


After Disney, we headed down to Meme and Baba's house in Naples. The beach was one of our favorite places...







The girls got a golf lesson from Uncle Tim and got to ride in the golf cart with Baba.




The Fourth of July parade was a lot of fun.






We were sad to say goodbye to Meme and Baba.


Near the end of our trip we spent some time with some good friends in upstate New York. The girls had a blast with Alexandra and Emily and mommy was happy to spend her big 40th birthday with Lora and Christene.





After five weeks of fun we headed home. We were ready to be airplane free for awhile!


We are getting back into our Singapore groove. Ida Jane loves Olivia!


Harper has been developing her own style. She insists on a braid on one side and a ponytail on the other. She says she likes it because it is different and very special.

What a great summer! It's back to school next week!