We're going to the Zoo, the Zoo, the Zoo ..............

OK so the first pic is absolutely nothing to do with the zoo, but is of Ollie having came second in sprint race at his school sports day - hence the ribbon, well done Mr K excellent stuff!

Typical Daddy takes the camera with enough battery for ooooh one photo - well done Dad. Anyway a good one to get of him and his mate Takashi.


Now to the zoo and weird as this has gone in reverse order. Check these Cheetah shots, wonderful huh!!! Just at that moment we happened past this cage and hey presto cuddling Cheetahs - amazing!









Now Mr Kennett is shooting up to almost the same size as a giraffe - cool T-shirt too Ollie - the eyes are luminescant - cool!! Think you wore it to bed so you could see the eyes light up!



Poor old Ollie did not get to go to the water park as he was playing on the swings and stuff and then they closed it down - but as you can see someone did get to go and had a great time - soaking wet running around in the fountains/pools/slides etc. Ha Ha!!!

Mr Kennett goes "ape" on a zip wire thing, carefully watched by his little sister of course.

Here is Mary with the kids and her cousin, Marisol who joined us as she was off for Chinese New Year and would have been alone - so all off to the zoo for a nice day out!!

Splosh

Splash

Splish

I like dancing - oh yes!

What I forgot to do was .....

Yep OK I slipped up - I was supposed to actually explain each photo/video - so only way for me to now do that is refer this blog to the order of the photos themselves on previous blog - dear me. OK here we go;

Photo #1; Mum on a chairlift;

OK this is on Sentosa, a small man made island just off Singapore, the new location for Universal Studios and a bit of a playground and beach resort for Singapore. So whilst Ollie and I were riding the Luge (like a go-kart, down a steep hillside track), Mum took the easy/more gentle option of riding the chairlift down and up the hill for the views.

Photo #2 & #3; Ollie at his Chinese New Year school assembly - all in red as is the Chinese custom. Great assembly with lots of his school mates acting/singing/dancing on stage - great fun. The group shot is with hsi wonderful teacher Miss Atima (one sad announcement is that Ollie only has 4 more months with Miss Atima - very sad!!!!)

Photo #4; Merlion;

The emblem of Singapore is the Merlion - half lion and half fish and protector of Singapore. This is a huge mock-up of one that you get a lift within and stand in his mouth and on top of his head for great views all around.

Photo #5; Oliver all grown up?

Yes the wee man standing behind a mock up of a 2nd World War soldier loading the big guns. Big body small head Mr Kennett, ha ha!!!

Photo #6; Hotel

The big white building you can see is the Rasa Sentosa Resort Hotel, where Mum, Ollie, Amy, Mary and I stayed for 2 days one night towards the end of Mum's trip for a chill out and to stop me working so she could actually see me (sorry Mum). Great fun, relaxing, good food, swimming pools - lovely, just lovely!

Photo #7; View from Merlion's Head

This the new resorts place on Sentosa at which you can see the Universal Studios development, apparently opening next week - Ollie cannot wait, he really can't!!!!! (cough cough, neither can I of course!!!!

Photo #8 & #9; Atop Merlion's Head

Some lovely family shots from atop the big Merlion head that you saw the photo of earlier. Great views from up here. Look at the face of Amy - ha ha she loves heights Nan (didn't get that from you did she!!!!)

Photo #10; O's

Ollie in an O with an O in his hand = O, O, O bless him. Could I say poser Mr K???

Photo #11, #12, #13, #14 and #15; Botanic Gardens

Stunning shots in the botanic gardens of Singapore, beautiful. Lovely ones of Mum with the kids and one of a very cute squirrel munching on a banana flower upside down. Very cute!

The to close two videos of well dare I say any more - I like to dance says Amy and I love time with my big brother in the swimming pool, especially going down the slides - brave little thing Amy (yes I could not video the ones of you coming down the slide alone as I was at the bottom ready to catch you), very brave and very funny!!!!

And here come the photos!!!!

Oh Headstones

Sorry before the pictures I did forget to include this.

For the past few weeks I have been having to organise burials and headstones, and this I have to share. I cannot believe I am doing this for my 35 year old wife, it is a shocking thing to have to be doing. I just can't grasp what I am having to do.

I have to have her transferred from her marble urn to something bio-degradable, then organise the shipping because she is an "export", then organise a burial, then organise a head stone - can you believe it. For someone so young and full of life and loved by all only 12 months ago!

One of the things I am also doing is choosing some text to either speak or have on the headstone and I wanted to share that with you now.

"and in the end is is not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years!" So so true for Nina I think! I love this as it is so so true about her, she achieved so much in such a short life and now she lives in in her two amazing children.

"She calls my name and I come running,

I have lost the voice I listened to,

And there's a stillness now the rains stopped falling,

And there's a sadness like I never knew,

But I still see the shining of things."

Now I won't tell you where those texts came from but would open to receive comments on how you like them as something to place forever associated to the one you love!

Much Love Bri xxx

How time flies when you're NOT having fun .........

Well a toppsy turvy, roller-coaster of a ride over the past couple of weeks. A bit bumpy, but the wheels did not come off completely and me and the kids emerged from the other side as strong as before.

So with April fast approaching, which we have now booked to take Nina home to UK to be buried next to her brother, I think we can do it. We shall see on the day, but we will have friends and family with us there too. Such a sad thought though to have to say goodbye again!

So my lovely Mum comes on over to stay and help us through Ni's birthday, and the year anniversary of her passing (she had to go before Valentine's though - another horrible date/day for me now). But thank goodness she was here for the former two.

So like Miz before Mum staked her claim out in Ollie's bed room now using the new bunk-bed - great purchase (double bed beneath and single above). So for visitors it is perfect now!

4th really was a strange day, I went to work, Ollie went to school and Amy had a normal day - and then in the evening a good friend from work was leaving back to the UK and we went for some drinks in the evening - a little strange indeed. Then 5th I spoke to a few people weeks before and all agreed that we should absolutely have a celebration for her as we did last year - good timing that the 5th fell on a Friday, and we had a wonderful celebration in her honour and I would say circa 80 people including the kids came along - wonderful and I think she would have been very very proud, or jealous or both knowing her. So many glasses were chinked in her honor that evening and night - we all love you Ni and continue to miss you. Many messages from around the Globe came flooding to me as well from all corners, truly amazing - Japan, UK, America, Australia, Eastern Europe and Singapore of course - truly amazing and I thank and love you all on her behalf, and that of my kids for that - thank you so so much it means the world to us!

We also went to Botanic Gardens where i have never been, stunning place especially the orchid place, and Ollie (bless) took amazing delight telling me where he and Mummy had been photographed in there together when last there - and in fact check back to much earlier blog posts you'll see the photos - so a very sad experience in there that day, although you tend to keep to yourself - and that;s why Daddy blew up at you Ollie when you disappeared - I have already lost your Mum, I can't lose you too mate - sorry!

So my Mum just left today, sad - but we're ALL together in UK in April, so not long til then!

We concluded her trip with two days and one night on Sentosa at Rasa, you could be ANYWHERE in the world at that hotel you really could - so madness reigned with Amy and Ollie going fruit loops on the water slides in the swimming pools - yes Amy on her own going down the water slides - but under careful watch from older brother/mentor Ollie and Daddy/Nanny/Mary at the bottom. Pictures to be added to blog soon by the way.

The literally the last night a wonderful seafood meal with my true friends and literal neighbours Steve and Tracy at No SignBoard restaurant at Geylang - yummy yummy! Then amazingly Mum/Mary and kids went home and for the next hour and a half I sat and had a beer with a very good friend I have not seen for MANY years, Chris from Scotland that is the best friend of Penny and Max - amazing, had a lovely talk with him and Chris I hope you may be reading this yourself when you get home - it truly was just lovely to see you mate! More time next time though!

Well when I get time tonight look out for the photos and videos of the past few weeks!

Much love Bri and Kids xxxx