We went to West Coast Park to meet up with DN and R today. It actually poured big time! No way! But…. it kinda cooled down the weather so that was nice.

Sophie was quite happy to dig her feet into the sand and pick up sticks along the way, just like in Vanuatu. I think she really missed that.

Thank God my mum came along and she was happily (er… I think) hanging out with Soph while I caught up with the other mummies!

P/s I really love this pic of my mum and Soph. They both look so happy! It helps that Soph can smile and pose on command now, somewhat willingly. Check out the stick she picked up. It took me almost 5 mins to convince her to let it go before we got into the car.

I loveeeee staying with my in laws. This was my lunch for today – garlic prawns, braised beef, stir fried veggies and cold crab!!!

I’m happily surfing in Singapore, no worries about bandwidth and length of time used. Phew. I found this on Kids Craft Weekly (a kids craft site which I subscribe to and Sophie’s friend Summer is on the homepage!) today, so true and so cute: -

Recipe for Preserving Children

Ingredients
• 1 grassy field
• 1 half-dozen children (or more)
• Several dogs (and puppies, if available)
• 1 brook
• Pebbles

Method
1. Into field pour children and dogs, allowing to mix well.
2. Pour brook over pebbles till slightly frothy.
3. When children are nicely brown cool in warm bath.
4. When dry, serve with milk and fresh baked gingerbread.

I really miss the great outdoors. Sophie has been wanting to go to the playground but it’s really too hot. I think she misses running around. She’s really gotten a lot tougher… like almost muscular, something that we only realised when we got back and she seems heavier too. And her appetite has increased, always hungry. Oh and she’s very tanned too.

I really think children need to run and climb the whole day. Seriously. I’m not quite sure how to continue doing it here.

Anyways, the best we could do was to go swimming! So we did that today and hung out with our friends. Sorry no photos coz very lazy to take photos now that we’re home. I’ll try to do that more soon. Btw, this is a picture of us canoeing in Vanuatu, very shiok.

We finally found some worthy shopping spots in Auckland. This time round we managed to check out Ponsenby and Parnell. A little similar to Brunswick in Melbourne. Quaint lifestyle shops in Victorian restored buildings, cool local design and some inde art galleries. Here’s Sophie checking out some font art…… right.

Sophie has a soft spot for sweets – cakes, ice cream, hot chocolate, candies etc……….. ok pretty much just like any other kid.

P/s I love this pic, check out the waitress laughing at her. During our stay in Auckland, we took a ferry to Devonport, a little seaside village. Very quaint and pretty. Here’s where we stopped for lunch.

Missing you guys….. if you see this, have a wonderful holiday and journey back home!

Dearest Sophie,

I can’t believe that you’re almost three!

Mummy was observing you on the plane on the way back to Singapore from Auckland and you seemed to have become such a big girl all of a sudden. You were wearing jeans, sitting upright in your own seat, one knee up resting against the table, earphones on, watching the TV show of your choice…. amazing. Pity I forgot to snap a picture.

Happy turning one month older sweets! We love you so much!

Love
Mummy

After the outreach, we went with the Grobs to see Mt Yasur, one of the world’s most accessible active volcano, in Tanna. Vanuatu is made up of a few islands and Tanna is one of the islands in the south. It takes about 40 mins to fly to Tanna.

I mean, how often does one get to be so close to an active volcano right? We had to go and the experience turned out pretty amazing.

It was a 1 and a half hour drive from the hotel to the volcano on bumpy road. Tanna is hardly developed, mostly jungle and no tar roads at all. It was crazy! The guide was driving real fast because we needed to get there before the sunset! Sophie fell asleep halfway and when she woke up, she THREW UP VOLCANO STYLE on mama me!!!!!! Great. That was a good introduction to volcanoes. Thank God I brought along a sweater so I had to change out of my vomit soaked tank top into the sweater in the middle of nowhere. I had to make do with the pants tho. Eeks.

When we got to the foot of the volcano, it was getting dark, just the right time. It also stopped drizzling, which was good. We climbed up to the mouth of the volcano and spent about 45 mins watching the volcano. It was constantly erupting. We managed to get some good shots and videos too. Very cool! A bit scary at times, esp for Sophie. Check out the videos (Part 1 2 3 4) James put up.

Sadly, it started to rain again and we had to come down and head back to the hotel.

The hotel was a nice change – outdoor warm shower, nice bed, lovely food and overlooking the beach. I’m glad we took the short break to Tanna. Minus the puking, I really enjoyed everything else.

P/s Btw, the puking happened again on our flight back, small plane, but this time our lil one was super smart she had the puke bag ready and threw up in it. Phew.

We’re back!!!!!!!! WAH IT FEELS LIKE A FURNACE.

We left Vanuatu on Sunday and we’re back in Auckland, NZ. We’ll be here for a few days and then we’re coming home to Singapore!

We are so enjoying the warm shower, lovely hotel room, Jap food, shopping and Borders. We even watched Star Trek at the cinema with Sophie today! She fell asleep after a while… hiak! Oooo I love God, being on missions and Vanuatu but………… i’m really a city girl at heart. I bought a pair of Riders skinny jeans. Hee, nice.