ANZAC biscuits

Matthew was flying down to Perth on ANZAC day so the boys baked some ANZAC biscuits a day before. They turned out really really nice. I must say much better than when I bake.
They enjoyed baking together but most of all - eating what they baked themselves was the best part!

Fringe cut

Ashely had her third fringe cut the other day. She looks so cute. You think it's way short right? but it just grows too fast... So better this way I think!

Happy 10th Anniversary

To us! This is the only photo we remembered to take on the actual day (22nd April).

10 years went past full of excitement. We started off living in different countries (US and Japan), building our own house in Osaka, Japan. Moving to Brunei and having two boys. Moving again to Singapore and having Ashley. We have done so many trips together before and after kids. I hope our next 10 years will also be full of adventure!

One last swim

We were quite tired after the excursion into Phuket Town but we had to make sure we had our one last dip in the kiddy pool before we packed up our togs. It cooled all of us down very nicely.

We got a new Samsung Galaxy camera free from the bank. So for this holiday I left my big Canon at home and used this instead. I am still getting used to the camera, and not 100% sure if I like it or not. We tried to take some action shots:

Nope Ashley and I didn't go on the slide. We just pretended we came down. She loved all the water around her so much though.

It was our anniversary night so we had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. Ashley was asleep before we left our room and Oliver didn't last long either. He fell asleep on the restaurant sofa after a few bites. Luca? He was still going strong and entertained us for the entire dinner. We dressed up nicely but somehow we forgot to take photos of us together :( I guess we just have to have another date night in Singapore to celebrate this special day just the two of us alone!

Butterfly Garden & Insect world

The boys had a choice of going to Phuket Aquarium which was only 5 min drive from the hotel or to go to Butterfly and Insect world in Phuket Town. We were kind of hoping they would say aquarium to make the day short but they were certain they wanted to go to the Butterfly and Insects world. So we hired a taxi and went into town for the day.

It was a good place for our kids age. Not too small, not too big. The first part had lots of insects both alive and mounted. Oliver was very impressed by these big tarantulas.

There was lots of educational information with fantastic displays.

Once we got to the butterfly part we needed to be extra careful not to walk into butterflies and not to stand on them. Unfortunately it was quite humid so we couldn't stay long as Ashley was getting too hot in the buggy.

We zoomed around the garden. There were lots of different kinds and colours of butterflies just flying around. Luca especially thought it was such great fun!

He waited so patiently for this butterfly to come and land on his finger - so cute!

One landed on Matthew instead:

We saw this cool leafy looking insect too:

The big ones like this were just too much for me, they were almost scary...

Out of all the displays I think this was the most fascinating one of all. Lots of cocoons at different stages. Some were still green, some were almost ready to hatch.

After leaving the place our driver took us to a jewellery factory where I tried lots and lots of things hoping to get something special for the special day. But we didn't end up buying anything as my fingers are quite small and most of the designs didn't allow resizing :( They told me I need to make an original one from scratch... Maybe next time!  

The true resort holiday

The rest of the holiday was absolutely fantastic. We were recommended to do a day trip to Coral Island which is only 20min away from the resort by speedboat but in the end we decided Ashley is too small to enjoy the whole day on the beach so instead we took full advantage of this gorgeous resort. The facility and activities available were just amazing. As I mentioned in the earlier post, having 4 different swimming pools made it less crowded all the time.

The best part was these gorgeous gazebos.

There were only a few of these in the resort. Because there is no charge to use them, you just need to put a beach towel down to reserve it. We even saw some people having big arguments on the previous day - yes they were very popular. Luckily we have a very early riser in the family and Matthew took her for a walk in her buggy at 6:30 in the morning with some beach towels.

It was a brilliant idea. The boys could swim on the lower level pool, while I played with Ashley in the shade. Once she fell asleep I got to chill out looking at the amazing beach view. They designed it so perfectly having the water around you made it cooler and there were nice sea breezes coming in all the time.

We also had some smoothies and pizza:

Luca having a quiet time:

The shallow water around it was just perfect for our kids:

I went for a swim too:

This is the view from the other side:

The kids were exhausted by the time we finished lunch so we brought them back to the room and made all of them have a good nap. While all the kids were down I suggested Matthew go and have fun on the paddle board. Having the room on the 4th floor I could see him quite well with my camera. Can you see him?

We spent some time on the beach the next day. The hotel had sailing boats and canoes available. So we tried them both. If you know how to sail yourself you can do so or if you are not confident (like us) there was a guy who sailed the boat for you. 

Can you see the boat? They went quite far out. 

Canoeing was great fun for the boys. They enjoyed it so much Matthew had to take them out twice!

I wasn't expecting the water to be this clear. This is just in front of the hotel swimming pool. We didn't need to go anywhere else. This was fantastic!

To my surprise all these activities and facilities were free of charge! No hassle of making bookings etc we just showed up. We couldn't have had any more fun. I highly recommend to stay in this resort if you are planning a holiday in Phuket.  

Odd mix

Across the road from the hotel. Fish spa, Thai food and Swedish cuisine???

Easter Sunday 2014

The boys went to bed slightly late so I was sort of hoping they would sleep in a bit but as you guessed no such thing as sleeping in when you are on holiday... They were up way before the sunrise. Oliver was very interested and stood there to watch the sun come up and the sky change colour.

Once it was a decent time (they woke up before 6am...) we had a lovely breakfast in the room.

They ate their breakfast so well as they knew what was coming - Easter egg hunt! They were so amazed the rabbit came and hid all these chocolates while they were having breakfast. They swear they weren't there the previous day or in the morning. Having some extra room made it more interesting to look.

Once they enjoyed some chocolate we sent the boys to the kids club. They were hosting some egg and face painting. Our boys are never really keen for face paint though.

They didn't want to stay there long, instead they wanted to be in the pool - of course!

The resort was set up so well with the view and the location of the restaurants etc. The food was very good too. I had this yummy club sandwich twice while we were there,

We cannot keep the kids in the sun all day. It was certainly much hotter and stronger than we are used to in Singapore. Also we didn't feel like doing lots each day - just wanted to take it easy. You become more restrained when you have three little ones with you.

While the boys had a snooze Ashley and Matthew enjoyed the Formula 1 once again.

Once the sun was lower we went out again to the beach. It was just a perfect idea to get some fresh air before dinner. The kids absolutely loved it!

The beach was very tidal and at low tide we could see some starfish and crabs moving on the sand. We could walk miles into the sea.

And finish to up our wonderful day 2 in Phuket, the boys enjoyed the huge bath. I was so glad we chose this relaxing type of holiday. Everyone was so happy!