Day 1 - Saturday, August 6

We arrived without incident, and even managed to get all19 pieces of luggage into one van. It was a tight squeeze, but we made it. After breakfast at the hotel (which we checked into at 6 am), Ben went to meet the realtor to get keys to our new home while B3, AK, and I went to the pool. There was actually a chilly breeze in the shade, and that may very well be the last time I say those words in Singapore. After baths, the kids and I took a much needed nap. It was midnight on our internal clocks, and they (OK, we) were crashing. Two hours later, Ben returned and woke us up.
It did not go well.
There was weeping, wailing, collapsing, resisting, tears, limp body falling, stumbling, and more wailing. We really needed to get them up and out of our hotel room to keep them awake, so we had planned to walk over to a store adjacent to Ben's office building. After about 20 minutes of the hysteria, we finally made it out of the door. B3 hade calmed enough to go, but AK was still carrying on s fabulously that I was actually concerned that someone would think that she was being abducted or was in some sort of serious pain. We walked a good ways in underground malls that were teeming with people. Singaporeans are shoppers, and it was Saturday evening. Also, there were hundreds grouped around tables set up in the mall for some sort of travel fair. I so wish I had taken my camera to capture the madness.
We bought a few essentials to take to our condo today: toilet paper, Oreos, cheese and crackers. All the while AK was still wailing and complaining that she "hurt allllll ovvvvveeeeerrrrrrrrr!" Poor girl. I was afraid that she would make herself sick, but she finally snapped out of it when we spied some Angry Bird junk at a mall kiosk. Evidently, the thought of Angry Bird hats, purses, pencils, phone covers, pencil boxes, notebooks and more. Evidently, video game merchandise has healing value even without buying a thing.
Next, we learned a very important lesson - always carry cash. We stopped for pizza, and our bill was $27. A $30 purchase must be made to use a card. Who knew? Fortunately, we did have cash, and a crisis was averted. It's not normal for me to always have cash, so I'm hoping I've learned a lesson.
During the entire walk back, AK kept asking, "Can I go to bed when we get back?". By 7 pm, we were all in bed and asleep shortly thereafter. AK and B3 slept until 3 am and played, squealed, and watched videos until 5 am when Ben and I finally gave in and got up, too. Thank goodness for hotel TVs that hook into laptops for easy video viewing!!

Today we move into our condo. At least tomorrow morning there will be more room for them to play when they're up at 5. I'm optimistic they'll make it that long. We'll see...