Skool ....

It was more than two years back when we enrolled Kecil in her old Skool. The Skool was small then, just as the Kiddo herself.

I remember how getting her into the uniform took a bit of an effort since we kind of got it as a 'hand-down', a gift that was (and still is!) very much appreciated.
The Skool had since grown by leaps and bounds, just as the Kid herself, and it was a great privilege, indeed, to be part of that growth, watching, supporting, being involved.

I do not 'own' the Skool's new location pic, but you can check them out here.
We really love Kecil's Skool. In fact, I would go out on a limb to say that it's probably the best school you would find around where we live. Kecil had learnt so much from them, not to mention having an amazing time overall through out her stay there. However, Mama and Daddy agreed that she would probably move to an international school by the time she reach grade 1. The said move happened earlier than expected due to some other factors, and we are quite a bit sad about it.
That being said, it is only right that we give the Skool credit for all the happy time we had with it and wish them the very best in their endeavour educating bright, young minds. We are definitely very grateful for all that the Skool had done to us and especially to Kecil.

Check out some of the highlights of Kecil's Skool years:

The very first field trip to the Beach

Kecil's first recognition as the 'Friendliest Student'

First time in the 'proper uniform'

Her 3rd Birthday celebration: part 1, part 2, part 3

Family Day

Halloween!

Why, there was even the photoshoot for the Skool:

There are many more post on Kecil's old Skool which are not listed here. Those can be found here.

It's been a good 2 years plus with the Skool. This study year, however, Kecil only spent a quarter in the Skool before moving on, which should explain the relative lack of pictures. We did, however, made an effort to take a few pics, especially in the days leading to Kecil's last day in Skool.

 And of course, on the last day, we took a few pics of Kecil with her teachers.

Thank you for everything, Teachers, Skool. Again, all the best for the future. Cheers!

Back to Skool

After a long long summer holiday, which included the unfinished Summer Indo Trip series (ha!), we are finally back into the rainy season, and also, the Skool season. Ohoho!!!
Somehow Daddy was called to his Manila office during the first week of school, and so, on the second day of Skool, we took public transport.
Turned out to be a good thing too, as then Mama managed to take this shot.

This Mama had not covered the Skool for a long while, but as you know, they've moved to a new building, with many exciting improvements inside the Skool.
Also, this term being a new study year, Kecil is now no longer in Nursery, she is now a Kindergarten student!

There were new friends, new classroom, new teachers, and after 3 long months, Kecil was back into her shy, clingy self. Ow, there were dramas and tears, all right, but she's getting better. It helps that she generally perked up after a while. Why, every time Mama picked her up at the end of the Skool day, she was usually all smiles!

It's lovely to see her in uniform again, even if she insisted on various 'unique' touches such as those gargantuan Minnie ears. I guess Kecil will not be Kecil without them, hm?

We are looking forward to the rest of the term, homework, activities and all. Oh, and don't forget the rains! The rainy (punctuated by storms) season has started while we were away. Let's see how that will affect our updates here. Ha!

Cheers!

As for the Summer Indo Trip series, Mama is not giving up on it yet, just that Mama is currently working on one big stumbling block of a post. Hopefully once that one is out of the way, we'll continue the series as there are still a huge stack of beautiful pics to share. Gambatte, Mama!

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!

Skool's Christmas around the World

Back to the Christmas celebration, inside, the Skool was already fully decorated with flags and festive decoration. Already, many students had arrived, all decked in the various costumes of their respective 'countries'.

Some of the big boys, representing Spain, Pakistan, Russia and Vietnam...

while the younger kids were busily (and excitedly) matching their flags with the ones on the stage.

Similar to last year, the students walked the length of the stage (well... actually last year there was no stage, so they walked the length of the room), and then they took turn to introduced themselves as well as the country they represented. Kecil was all smiles during her turn. She just kept looking for her Mama in the wrong direction (Mama's bad for moving to another spot in the room in order to get better picture angle, haha..)

And as it turned out, she's really Mama's girl, lifting her skirt up like that in order to walk better. Ha!

There was some simple dance and singing, but as usual, all the rush to record the kids in action did not create a pretty picture. Soon enough, it was time to eat while the judges deliberate for the awards (for best costumes, etc). Kids, being kids, mostly ate a few bites before they ran off playing with their peers.

Kecil did not win any award, unfortunately, haha....
Well... soon it was time to exchange presents (and play with the toys found inside them!).

And everybody got themselves a Christmas sock, with one very special stocking stuffer...

A lit up googles! How cool is that? It was definitely a huge hit with the kids.

Everyone was so keen on showing off their goggles (and pose for Mama, of course!)

So of course the teachers decided that the students can bring along their goggles for the following event: group picture.

Uh... so I guess lost kids and over-eager parents do not mix to create a nice group picture.

Well... but that was our Christmas celebration in Skool this year. It was fun, and it was really great to see all the effort that went into it: the decoration, the costumes, participation... good stuff. We definitely look forward to many more successful Skool events at the new building. Until then, cheers!