Cycling 3.1

So fast after my report on Kecil's mastery of 2 wheel bike, Kecil 'complained' of the bike being too small for her.
To quote her, "My knees are bumping into the handle!"
Dang.

So, Daddy decided that for our Christmas holiday trip, we are due for another epic loot.

Yes, another bike.

From the very same shop, we got this baby, and lugged it across 2 countries before finally made it home here. This time round, we decided to bring the bike to a proper bike store to be assembled (we got it still in the box, the parts still un-assembled and the tyres not yet inflated). Unlike the Hello Kitty bike, this one has gears and two (two!) suspensions. We were not taking chances, and indeed, by the time we got the bike, we were glad for the decision. The work looked kind of complicated!

Anyway... it was test drive time.

This 'big' bike is definitely quite a jump from the Hello Kitty one. Although both Mama and Daddy agreed that it was just the right size for Kecil, the height of the saddle (and the bar) definitely took some getting used to. The weight so did not help (the bike is pretty heavy thanks to the middle suspension).

It took a lot of tries, a few falls, LOADS of practice and encouragement, but finally Kecil is 'road-worthy'. Why, just last weekend, we cycled together, Mama, Daddy & Kecil. Only no pics because Mama's hand was full with the bike and the not-sufficiently-trained Dog. Not sufficient, because I can't trust the Dog to stay on our side without the leash. Holding the leash, this Mama had to be very careful not to get pulled down by the Dog.

One unprecedented effect? Kecil wears her shorts and pants more often now during her cycling days. Hahaha.... No more dresses, because they can't be worn for cycling, no? Oh, and did you notice how she purposely matched her clothes to the bike?

The bike might be new, but it's already getting some scratches and other signs of some hard use. Sigh.... Still, I guess that's better than for the bike to be buried in an inch of dust of disuse.

And for those of you who were reading my title and wondering, here's cycling 1.1:

Then the trike seat broke. Me thinks Kecil got too heavy for it. That's how we came to epic loot numero uno, aka the Hello Kitty bike, and cycling 2.1:

Still with the leash while she built up her muscles. Sure enough, she did grow enough strength to push and ride her own bike without Mama's leash. Ehmm... let's kind of forget that Mama had to bring the bike to the bike shop to have it's brake fixed before I dared to let her go on her own, eh?

So that was cycling 2.2, complete with the fashion statement. Haha...

Then there was cycling 2.3 when the wheels came off, but you already know that, right?

Cheers for you, Little Girl. Take care always, on the road, but also have fun! Cheers!

Outing for three: horsing around

As mentioned before, despite the many pictures, our sojourn at the mangrove park was pretty short. Why, it was not even lunch time by the time we finished there!
And since Little Girls can be quite stubborn, here was where we ended up: checking out our ranch.

Haha... kidding.... it was the horse stable nearby. We've been here before (and again!), but never with Kecil's friends.

It was kind of cool to be back there with Kecil's friends, especially since Jessica had never ridden a horse before. Still, despite their 'prior experience' with horses, Ami & Kecil were just as excited as Jess. I guess there is something special about horses for little girls.

Especially when you get to feed them...

Still, up close, the horses did feel kind of big.... I think Jess just realised that:

Thank God for friends. They served as source of encouragements, not to mention fellow model-to-be:

Anyway, it was soon time to gear up and ride! So.. with a bit of boost... off they went:

Ow... not before Daddy strike a proud-daddy pose, though.

The ride was only half hour long, but me thinks the girls had fun. We sent the girls to their respective homes for lunch then. It was a fun morning, but Mama and Daddy had something to do for the afternoon: a shopping trip out of town.

Bonus point from the long drive? Kecil got on to another 'horsey' ride:

Bahahaha.... anyway, thanks to all Kecil's friends for a lovely weekend morning. This Mama can still see more outings together in the future, what with Kecil and her tendencies to announce every single outing plan to the neighbourhood. (*not complaining, not complaining. She's happy, that's the most important thing)

Until then!

Outing for Three: Mangrove Park

Why don't we start our painful way overdue catching up with this story? This outing happened way before the Christmas holidays, but at least the picture stack had been 'organised', unlike the rest. Ha!

The holiday mood must had been upon us very early last year, for even during the weeks before Christmas, weekends would find us on yet another location, outing or bent on some activity or another. Like that Sunday when we visited the mangrove park.

We had intended to visit this place since the beginning of time, but the last time we tried, it was closed still. Then apparently the park changed hands into the current management, and it was again ready to receive visitors. When we told Kecil about the plan, she was very excited! Soooo excited that she had to tell everyone. Just guess who ended up going there:

Ha! Daddy, the guide (in green), three (THREE!) little girls and Mama (behind the camera, of course).
Well, it so happened that the other two girls did not have any plans for the day, so when Kecil shouted: "Who wants to go to the mangrove park?"
... we suddenly acquired two more participants.
Instakids, you said? I'd say.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the view was pretty breathtaking. There was a wooden walkway for visitors to walk on so we can view the mangrove without getting wet. The girls picked their steps very carefully at first to avoid the gaps between the planks, but soon they were confident enough to be on their usual pace (read: running around).

There were like two huts along the path which I suppose served as rest stops or observation points. We enjoyed the view while our guided pointed out objects of interest around the hut.

Further up the beach, the wooden pathway opened up to let visitors go down on the ground to get closer to the mangrove trees. This Mama asked the girls if they thought there were witches buried under the sand on the account of the 'fingers'. They were smarter than that, though. Haha.... And they were pretty excited to touch those 'fingers'.

The wooden walkway was not too long. It simply curved into a little part of the bay before meeting solid ground once again, and right after that green metal bridge, we found ourselves back on the path we were on earlier. So the girls decided to retraced our steps through the walkway again. This time with more confidence.

Then we got lost.

Haha! Kidding. We went off the path to take a closer look at the mangrove nursery before going back to the walkway.

Running around and finding their own way around, you see what I meant by more confidence? Which, of course, was good, since it gave time for Mama and Daddy to take some beauty shots:

Then finally it was time to go. Jessica got hold of Mama's big camera, and she managed to get a good shot of our guide for the day:

It was a good time at the Mangrove park, even if it was pretty short. The girls had a great time. But you don't really think that that was the end of it, right? The adventures continued, but perhaps it will be another post. In the meantime, here's our little adventurers:

Cheers!

Missing again!

Well.... as predicted, we went missing again, for the whole month!
We do hope you had some GREAT HOLIDAYS & a FANTASTIC NEW YEAR so far, just as we did (and do!).
Let it also be said that the stack of photos this Mama mentioned before? Downright puny and laughable compared to what I have right now, with the addition of our holidays at home, roadtrip, more excursions, not to mention an epic luggage (pictured above).
Well... slowly but surely, the tortoise said. So... we'll just leave you in the meantime with a new banner, for an exciting new year. We are still waiting for Kecil's school to start, just so Mama can get back to the hang of things around here. Until then!