We have had no grand plans for the last few days of 2012. In fact, I did not know that I would be able to take off from work until the Friday right before Christmas. Believe it or not, this was already a huge step up from what I had to do during the last few days leading up to 2012. Sometimes I do question myself whether it's worth working so hard. That topic alone perhaps warrants an entire blog all to itself. As for now, I was happy to spend the entire holiday at home simply chilling out.
The strange thing was that neither my hu*****and nor I was in the mood to cook now that we had all the time in the world in our hands, so we ate out almost every day.
One lunch was had at this wonderful Japanese restaurant. A modest yet beautifully decorated Christmas tree at the door.
The lunch menu was a steal. For $9.95, you get to pick three items. For my daughter, the order included a Udon noodle, one California roll and one spicy tuna roll.
She loves California rolls, and the Udon turned out to her liking as well (huge relief on my part :-)). The spicy tuna roll was more for the grown-ups :-).
I ordered three rolls - Unagi, hamachi, and egg plant tempura.
The only thing my son could possibly eat would be the shrimp tempura, so my hu*****and ordered a bento box to share with him.
The shrimp tempura was not really to his liking, unfortunately. He blamed it on the trip to Baskin Robbins earlier in the morning. Ice cream before lunch? You might frown disapprovingly, but, hey, it's the holiday :-).
Another day was spent on seeing the live performance - How to train your dragons? We had a delicious lunch with my daughter's BFF's family before the show. The dragons were pretty spectacular, especially seeing with kids' eyes. Both of them enjoyed the show very much.
We also got a new scooter for our 5 year old. Daddy took him to the park and gave him a scooter lesson. Eager to show off his newly acquired skills, he insisted on bringing along the scooter instead of his bike the next day when we made it out to our favorite trail along a reservoir.
On the way there, my little boy sought out road signs to read out aloud. Laughters bursted out when he read aloud seriously the sign "Golf Course Dr" as "Golf Course Doctor". Little moments such as this are very often what great memories are made of. Don't you agree?
When we got there, the reservoir was as beautiful as ever, especially with the pampas grass in the foreground.
My little boy showing off on his scooter.
The gorgeous red along the trail..
My daughter took a moment to appreciate the little waterfall on the side of the trail.
My precious trio taking in the serene beauty of the water.
Who would not get mesmerised with scenery like this?
The kids also found a lot of acorns on the side of the trail, and they had much fun planting them. I overheard the big sis give instruction to her little brother - no planting two seeds together, because they would compete with each other on water and food :-).
On her way back, my daughter found herself a comfy spot on the side to wait up for her slow poke brother :-).
Forever afraid of cold weather, Mommy was all bundled up..Definitely the most bundled up on the trail.
Both kids fell asleep on the drive back. Another day passed - ordinary yet full of precious moments and memories.
Today is the last day of 2012. This would be the dress I'd like to wear to a New Year's Eve party if we were without kids who could not possibly stay up to welcome the new year.
However, I would not trade them for anything in the whole world, let alone a piece of fabric:-).
We will welcome the new year in our dreams tonight.
Have a prosperous 2013, everyone!
