Hunting

Just in case you were wondering, the Dog continues to have her daily walkies, with the occasional Minnie Mice tagging along. (This Mama did not quite know what happened, but it would seem that the Minnie Mouse craze is going on: Kecil and her mouse-ear headband, Ami in her super-large bow, Minnie Mouse style)

While we did not always get the two girls together everyday, it so happened that they just did go together the previous day (with both Mamas) when they saw something interesting, something that they were determined to find again.

And they did! Look! Usagi! Aka rabbit!
Well, the rabbit was pretty spooked by the girls. It ran away just as soon as the girls got too close, much to their disappointment. Mama had to stay a bit further away and hold the Dog, who was so ready to chase the rabbit.
Of course, Daddy would like to add that most likely the rabbit was either spooked by the girls' super-sized appendage (the bow and the ears), or even Ami's Totoro bag. Ha!

Anyway we moved on.

And we were just walking nicely, when we chanced upon yet another cute animal:

A cute little puppy! 
Just in case you can't see it, you should click on the image to enlarge it. The puppy is at the base of the electric pole. And please, no smart ass comments on how a pair of black labrador could get a totally brown, puny pup. I'm not even convinced that the pup is a lab itself.

For many days, we would walk around, and nothing of note would happen. Yet come one day, suddenly it was more of an animal encounter field trip than simply a walk around the block.
Well, the kids were absolutely charmed, the dog-handler kuya amused, the pup got extra petting while Mama got her pics. I guess it was a win win situation for all parties concerned.

Besides, better other people's puppy than their own pony, yes? Let them enjoy other people's pets, just don't bug this Mama (and Ami's) for their own.

Here's for more 'animal-hunting' in the future. Cheers!

Field Trip 2013: End

Although we were done with the 'Island', we did not immediately leave the premises since the grounds were to be where we had our lunch. You see the huts behind the kids? Tables, shade, benches, and some entertainment (in the form of dinosaur's ride), it was the perfect picnic ground. Of course, the kids were the first to finish, and they started trying the 'rides'.

Well, this Mama was happy indeed, with Kecil's apparent fearlessness. Of course, that was before the fearlessness started to manifest in dissatisfaction. You see, the ride pictured above is basically on a small herbivore. The thing is, not a meter away, there was also a similar ride, but on a gigantic T-Rex. So... yeah, obviously the Kiddo wanted to ride THAT one.

Oh yeah. The face of Dinosaur Island, indeed.

Anyway, thankfully it was time to leave. Otherwise, she might bug Mama for yet another ride on the T-Rex. This Mama was also relieved to leave because Kecil started bragging to another classmate who was not allowed the ride. Not nice.

Our next spot was something called the Paradise Ranch. I think it was supposed to be a sort of park, with a few animals roaming around, a butterfly park, fish pond, a few villas, etc. But foremost in my impression of the place was the HEAT! It was already afternoon, so ... I suppose it was the hottest part of the day, kind of. Thankfully, Kecil was not so affected. Why, she even participated in a dance competition on stage, and won!

Youngest among the 4 competitor (one of whom even backed down, too shy), Kecil walked away with a new pink T-shirt for her efforts. Hihi... I am one proud Mama.

We spent a bit of time at the pond, feeding the fish and watching the ducks. We followed our guide around the 'Ranch'. By then, Mama was too hot and tired to pull out the camera. It didn't help that the park actually did not have any eateries.
Anyway, it was good that we moved on to the next spot, the zoo.

The zoo was not big, but we did get to see an owl up close. Plus, a very important point for the Kid, it had a horse for riding. What is it with little girls and horses anyway?

There were also a few feeding opportunity. I think it was our first view of the bear cat. The looked very much like a bear, but with a long tail and an attitude that fits a cat to a T. You know, like lazing around on cables 2 meters above the ground kind of attitude? At the barn area, you were able to give milk (from tiny bottles) to the goat kids, but my observant Kiddo actually noticed a stack of grass in front of the person in charge, and chose to get the grass instead. We got ourselves a huge handful of grass with which we fed the various animals around the barn: llama, horse, deer, goats, even a hungry Japanese cow. (No pics. Mama was the one who fed the cow, since it was too tall for Kecil)

As part of the group package, students get to pose with this cute bird. Of course, Kecil did not want to be left behind. Lastly, before we left the area, Kecil also tried the Mega Slide at the park:

So cool.

By then, the weather was not so hot anymore. Still, it was good to hear that we were going home soon after. The bus took us all the way back to Skool, from whence Daddy picked us up. It was a tiring, hot day, but it was also fun.
Thank you, Skool for organizing the field trip!

Field Trip 2013: Start

Weeks after the fact, here is Mama reporting on Kecil's Skool Fieldtrip this year. Cheers!

As part of the Skool program, Kecil went for the annual Skool Field Trip. Unlike the previous two years (2011 and 2012), we went to a different spot this year. Oh, spots, rather. Spots which are located a bit further away from the Skool, which explained the need for a different kind of transport:

The Skool actually rented 2 huge buses! This Mama personally think it made it all the more 'adventurous' for the Little One. Did I mention time spent playing with friends on the bus?

Oh yeah, while waiting for the buses to leave, during the trip itself, it was fun fun play time for the kids.

And of course, there were the destinations themselves. First up was the ice cream factory where the kids watched the factory crew made ice cream. No pics inside, though. Then we got free ice cream, so... no pics since ... well... you know how it is with Mama and food, right? Actually, Mama was not quite feeling well that day. Hence, Mama did not even bring the Big Camera! Haha..

Anyway... soon we hit the second venue on the list, where you can't get away without any pictures.

Ha! Seriously, how can you not take pictures of the Dinosaurs Island? Especially when you consider Kecil's progression of response to the place:

Many of the kids started out a bit 'lost', some were even scared! because of all the growl heard from behind the gates. Of course, the bigger boys were generally excited at the prospect of all those giant thingies...

Going past the gates to see the dinosaurs, Kecil was still 'slightly lost'. Did I mention that the dinosaurs actually moved and make pretty convincing noises? There was even this T-Rex that needed some feeding. Eh?

Oh yeah. One of the attraction on the 'Island' was feeding the dino. Strangely enough, many of the kids were very into it, including Kecil. This Mama thinks she deserves a Bravery Award for doing that. You can see in the right, Kecil was still somewhat worried that the T-Rex would eat her when she posed for Mama. Haha!

Well... somehow the dino-feeding became the turning point for Kecil. She was no longer 'lost' from the point onward. Why, she was even game enough to be 'eaten' by another dino:

One very hungry dino, indeed. Why, it was hungry enough to eat a few girls at one hap!

Hahaha!
Lastly, before we passed the gates to go back to our 'normal' world, we were treated to a show featuring the dinosaurs. Kecil was not so keen on this part, especially when she saw pictures of it while Mama was googling up the location in preparation for the field trip. But as it turned out, she was fine.
Here's the terrifying gang of dinos:

They moved and sounded pretty convincingly. Kecil's one classmate was so terrified, she cried. Then suddenly somebody played "GangNam Style", and the dinosaurs started dancing, much to the amusement of everyone.  Haha....

After the 'dance', the students were given a chance to get up close with the dinos. It was good to see Kecil no more scared.

This seems to be a good time to stop for the time being, we'll continue with the rest of the trip in the next post. Cheers!

Saturday Kites & Balloon

Suddenly, a year has passed, and we found ourselves back in the fields to watch some balloons, this time, on the other side of the fence.

Oh yes. Unlike last year, when we decided not to go into the fair due to the extremely long queue, this year we decided to come at different time slot, late afternoon. (Uhmmm... inability to wake up on time for the morning balloon flight might have to do with that decision... but... we shall not mention that further, yes?) The crowd situation was definitely better this year, or perhaps it's the afternoon timeslot.

In any case, we enjoyed our first time wandering through the fair.

A great many people were taking advantage of the windy day to fly some kites. We decided to try our hands in it as well:

... with limited success, I'm afraid. Still, we had fun in simply trying.

We watched some paragliding action:

Kecil got a chance to use her brand new umbrella (specially bought that day since she managed to break her Hello Kitty umbrella just the previous day):

... then she manage to break that new umbrella. Grrrrr..... no more umbrellas for you, kiddo!

We took some pictures:

All done while waiting for the main attraction: the night glow. That's when the balloons were supposed to get fully inflated and lit up. They only do this once the sun is down to better showcase the balloons.

Unfortunately, apparently it was too windy for ALL the balloons to go up, so there were only 3 balloons up that night. Sigh....

Still, it was a great day out, complete with a huge (and massively delicious!) lunch, thanks to Daddy's google-fu (he found a highly recommended restaurant near the fair grounds).  The late lunch filled us up so much that we were still quite full up to dinner time.

We'll see if we come back again next year, but it was really quite fun this year. Here's for more fun outing this year!