Pulau Ubin and Changi Beach

On Saturday we decided to head out to Pulau Ubin for some family fun. Pulau Ubin is an island off the coast of Singapore. It is part of Singapore but very different than life on the main island. It's supposed to kind of give you a feel of what Singapore was like back in the 60s. So we packed some lunch and took a bus up to the Changi ferry terminal. We waited until there were 12 passengers and then headed out on a bumboat. 

Yes, Tatum looks awfully unhappy but I promise you she had a good time. She did fall on the walk between the bus stop and the ferry terminal and scraped her knee pretty badly. Plus the lady taking our picture was trying to get her to smile. She really doesn't like strangers these days. 

Our boat looked a little like this one.

When we got to Pulau Ubin we walked passed an incredible number of semi creepy dogs and then walked down a road just full of bike rental shops. We walked down the whole line before going back and renting some. I'm not sure what we were hoping to find by continuing, something a little less rickity  looking perhaps? :) But since we didn't find it we just went back to the first shop that could help us immediately and picked out our two beauties.

Checking out the map of the island.

The bike lady recommended I take this bike with the seat in front for Declan. I must admit it is kind of nice to ride with them in front and he certainly had a better view than poor Tatum right behind Brennan with a backpack on! But the seat was just way too close to me and my bike seat was way too low. I felt like a giant clown riding a tiny bike with my knees angled out quite oddly. 

Going to Pulau Ubin was like going to a completely different country. It was strange to think that it just took a 10 minute ride on a boat to get there.

Tatum loved riding on the bike!

A huge, straight as a ruler, tree.

We got to see some wild boars. They were a little creepy.

We rode our bikes to the Chek Jawa wetland. We walked around on the walkway there for awhile and climbed the lookout tower. 

Quite a view.

We took a little snack break at the top of the tower.

Tatum's knee from her earlier fall. Maybe eventually I will learn to carrier bandaids and other first aid products with me. I'm always so unprepared. And my kids fall a lot.

The visitors center was a really cute building/house. The kids loved running around inside. It wasn't staffed, just a few information boards and the rest was empty.

The story goes that a frog, a pig, and an elephant challenged each other to a race from Singapore to Johor, Malaysia. Whoever lost would turn into a rock. They all failed. The pig and elephant became Pulau Ubin and the frog became Pulau Sekudu or Frog Island. That is what you see in this picture. It's hard to see in the picture but the biggest rock looks a bit like a frog, hence the name and the myth I guess.

So many things are "wrong" in this picture but I love it all the same.

We took our picnic break on the patio of the visitors center.

So pretty.

Declan was starting to fall asleep as we got to the wetlands but he woke up to walk around and explore. When we got back on the bikes it didn't take him long to fall asleep. It made riding a little tricky for me. His poor head would fall forward and on more than one occasion he hit his head on the handle on the front of his seat. It never woke him up though, he would just sit back up, still asleep. So I got to try to ride while holding his head in place.

He was completely zonked.

Riding the boat back.

Oh these two. I sure do love them.

Leaving the jetty at Pulau Ubin.

Just checking out the ocean.

Declan has been a really cuddler lately. It is kind of the best thing ever.

After we got back to the main island we walked over to Changi beach. Brennan was really hoping for a decent beach for swimming. Despite all my warning, he was apparently still hopeful which resulted in lots of disappointment for him. We still had a fun couple of hours there.

I love his hair in the wind. It is hilarious.

I started writing in the sand and Tatum thought it was pretty cool. 

She wrote her name! This one was exciting because she wrote the U the right way. She usually writes it upside down.

Her M was funky so she tried it again but kept drawing the U upside down. It was funny because she would draw one, say oops that's upside down, and draw it again. Over and over. She just couldn't get it.

We bought some drinks, played at a playground and then headed home. Tatum fell asleep on the bus again. I'm starting to think that's a sign of a good day. :)

Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

On Thursday there was yet more work to bed done at our place. Painting this time and it really meant we had to be gone ALL day. Once again, Brennan's work was awesome and just told him to take the day off. Score! This time we headed to the Botanic Gardens right in the heart of the city. We are working hard to make sure we make as many rookie mistakes as possible, but that's good right? Then when all of you come visit ;) we will have made all the mistakes and hopefully learned from them so everything with be super smooth. This time we didn't really research how big the gardens are or where exactly the Children's gardens are located. So we took the train and then a bus and then realized we were on the opposite end of the gardens and had about 2 miles to walk to get where we needed to be. It was only about 3 hours after we left the house that we finally made it to our destination. No biggie. But it was totally worth it, it was a blast! Plus, what else would be doing? Might as well take a walk as a family.

Some pictures in the Botanic Gardens but before we got to the Children's Garden.

This was the rainforest walk. We saw some disgustingly huge spiders. Gross.

We made it! Time to get busy cranking so we could get some mist to cool us off.

Love this picture of Tatum getting scared by the mist.

We loved the suspended bridge. And Declan's "where are we, I just woke up face" is priceless.

Tatum was positively gleeful about the tree house. It was pretty sweet.

Playing house is a new obsession around here and these little huts just worked perfectly for it.

Declan is a bit of a drama king sometimes. It's far away but I had to document it.

More house playing.

Bananas!

Good thing we were headed to the splash pad next because this boy was covered in sand.

Family teeter totter time.

What a model. :) Haha, the other day a lady saw Declan and said "oh so..(in the exact tone of voice that would cause you to anticipate the word cute) ...chubby." Hahahahaha.

Cool tree.

It is so fun to watch Declan start to really idolize Tatum. He just loves to go sit next to her and then look up at her as if he is waiting to be told what to do next.

Twins.

Another great outing in the books. After quite some time in the splash pad we changed the kids and then made the trek home. Tatum curled up in a ball on the bus and fell right asleep.