2011 in review

(Daddy reviews)

We are already one-third through January in the brand new year of 2012, and we thought it would be nice for us to look back at some of the highlights in 2011 and look forward to the new year ahead.

2011, was in many ways, a very busy and fun year for all of my monkies. It was the year whereby the monkies had lots of chances to explore various interesting events and items.

In January, Ash celebrated his 6th Birthday and it marked the start of the countdown to his Primary school-going life. Oh, and we made matching tees and romper for our 3 cheekiemonkies.

In February, the commercial we filmed for Crocs back in 2010 was finally given the go-ahead and we were able to share it on our blog. The boys had a marvelous time during the filming process, more so since they were able to keep the remote-controlled helicopter after the shoot!



In March, the 2 boys were featured in NLB's Serangoon Public Library brochure for its opening at NEX Shopping Mall. We too ventured to Sunway Lagoon with their buddies during the week-long March school holidays!

In April, we found 2 new places to put our skate scooters to good use - the Punggol Promenade AND the Sentosa Boardwalk. Perfect places for the family, if you ask us!

In May, the monkies found a new love in Lotus Desaru where they were absolutely enamored of the waterpark within the resort. And we made sure the boys kept fit by taking part in the Cold Storage Kids Run too. Heh.

In June, Ash was invited by the Peranakan Museum for a Cooking Capers Workshop where he tried his hands at concocting a spice-infused lime juice, cold tofu salad & ang ku kueh. We made a last minute decision to travel to KL for a short break and met up with a few superheroes (and villains) in the process.

In July, we were invited to the official media launch of Disney Junior (Asia) at Sentosa and boy, did the boys had a blast there!

Oh, and we had one of our most memorable holidays (read: basically doing nothing) at Cebu. The boys obviously enjoyed themselves, but Ale was also very much taken in by the beautiful beach.

In August, the boys had a go at the JD Bug Training Bike in a bid to learn to ride a bicycle, which was given to us by the folks at Baby a2z Pte Ltd. Progress to date? I think Ash will be able to do it soon, while Ayd still needs more balance.

Ayd celebrated his 5th Birthday too, and we threw an Angry Birds Party for him! And our King Piggy was even picked up and featured on Parentmap.com, a US-based parenting website. I, too was kept busy in August as I was kindly requested by Tourism New South Wales to pen a short write-up about our Sydney trip in 2010.

In September, we did 2 advertorials for HoneyIsGood.com and Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Mooncakes and the boys tried their hands at constructing their very own kites at the Kite Festival. Also, we collected yet another medal for our run at the Dads For Life Father & Child Challenge.

In October, Ale turned ONE year old! And yes, the wifey finally had the chance to fully strategise and roll out a girly-themed party.

In November, it was a particularly important moment when Ash had his Kindergarten graduation to signify the passage into primary school life. The monkies were also invited to the Common Spaces @ Science Centre play installation to try out the various hands-on activities.

And since it was the start of the year-end school holidays, I challenged myself to come out with a list of 100 holiday activities that I could indulge the monkies with before 2012 came rolling by.

In December, it was by far the busiest, wildest and most fun month for our family ever! We kicked off the month by burning some calories at the Standard Chartered Kids Dash, and then piled all back while in Hong Kong with our good friends & kids.

Then our blog was selected to be one of the 5 Official Bloggers for the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2012, and this gave lots of opportunities for the boys & I to be involved in some of the most interesting events leading up to the Countdown, like the collection of wishes for the Wishing Spheres at the Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre and the experience of going round Marina Bay in a boat to see the Spheres really close.

And since it was the Christmas festive month, we were also invited to the Looney Tunes Christmas Show at Suntec and the Jewel Box Hilltop Celebrations.

Lastly, on New Year's Eve, Ayd & I had the most awesome Countdown at Marina Bay!

And that marked a beautiful end to our fun-filled year in 2011. We will definitely be very much looking forward to 2012! Thank you, dear readers, for being a very special part of our journey!