First Family Vacation

I know that many families in Singapore, especially those with dual incomes, travel for leisure together regularly. My family, however, can ill afford to indulge in such luxuries, not just because Joshua has been the sole breadwinner, but also because we have a large family by our nation's standard. The only time we travelled overseas were with clear purposes:

1) To attend my BFF's wedding as her matron of honour (my firstborn was only 8 months old)

2) To attend church camps (once with 3 kids and another with four)

3) Our first and second honeymoon cum visiting my BFF

When I started browsing for part-time jobs end of last year, I had thoughts of saving up for a family vacation, among other reasons. For the four months I did manage to work before my health took a turn for the worse, I could not earn enough for what I had originally in mind; Star Cruise. Thus, after much research, deliberation and calculations, I decided on a trip to Legoland Malaysia.

We fuelled up on a heavy Macdonald's breakfast before catching the bus transfer. I was prepared for traffic jams and long queues at the customs because it was the school holidays and made sure the kids all packed books and toys to occupy themselves. Thankfully, the journey took only 2 hours; the return trip was even shorter.

I was glad that we could lunch at Secret Recipe at the nearby Medini Mall. That small shopping center proved to be very useful for us to settle mealtimes apart from the complimentary continental breakfast and the snacking throughout the time we were at the theme park. When we arrived at the hotel, there were plenty of activities to entertain the children while we waited for our Ninjago room to be ready. They spent most of the time at the Games Room playing the lego video game with the exception of my second-born who was more interested in building a giant house with me using foam lego bricks. Joshua and I could relax a bit at the cafe as the kiddos were at play.

It is finished!

And here comes the destroyer... LOL

The girls created this. So cute!

By the time we got our key card, we were ready to go upstairs. The lift was soooo cool with funky music and disco lights. Watch the video below to see how they 'live it up' in the elevator. Hahaha... The hotel room did not disappoint us at all. Apart from the beautiful themed decor and wall games, there was a welcome treasure hunt to accomplish and the prize was a board game that could amuse the older ones. The younger ones were duly charmed by the duplo legos available.

Bingo!

We finished off the day with a nice dinner at Absolute Thai and a magic show at the hotel lobby. Back at our room, I used the bed covers to drape over the sides of the bunk bed, creating a cozy tent effect. The boys totally loved it! Joshua and I had a really hard time calming the four young ones down for bedtime because they were overly excited. *nervous smiles* However, we still managed to end on a happy note when I burst into contagious laughter as I entered the toilet to see what my elder two did to their toothbrushes!

Can you spot the toothbrushes? *wink*

The children woke up eager the next morning and we had a leisurely breakfast at one of the best buffets we ever had. Then, off we went to have a funtastic day at the theme park! I'm so grateful that the place was not very crowded and we could go for every ride and try all the stuff we wanted. The only sad part was that the Observation Tower was under maintenance. For those rides that the kids liked, they were able to go for them multiples times. Their favourites were the Lego Ninjago The Ride, Beetle Bounce, and even the most thrilling one The Great Lego Race. To my surprise, Joram, despite being the youngest, turned out to be quite the adrenaline junkie too! And of course, how can he not LOVE the Driving School so much that he went there three times no matter the long waiting duration?

The look on Joram's face!

Pretending to lick the
giant popsicle... *facepalm*

Totally lost count how many times he went on this. Hehe...

Joram's favourite event

The firstborn already had his 'license'
when we celebrated his 10th birthday.

This time, it's the younger siblings' turn.

Family tees as souvenirs

We spent the entire day at the park from opening to closing, thanking God the whole time for the beautiful weather even though the forecast was not supposed to be favourable. After a quick dinner at KFC (would have been quicker if not for the sloooow service), we barely made it to the last bus home. What an epic vacation we had! I'm praying that I will be able to smoothly transit back to work next year when Joram goes P1 so that we can have more disposable income to travel with the family in the future.