Early Adventures of Babies H & L - Italy Part 2: Venice

The morning that we left for Venice was pretty relaxing. Our train didn't leave until 10am, and the train station was only a 15 minute tram ride from our apartment. And of course, in typical Newsome family fashion, we were fully packed and ready to go at 8am. So we bummed around the apartment, took some walks around the  neighborhood, and tried to kill some time before heading out. Unlike our train to Turin, I didn't seat all of us together - G and I were in the designated "stroller seats" while Miss J and L were at a table. The extra space was nice for Baby H because it was hard to really rock her at one of the table seats, and I think G appreciated having some "alone time" on the train.

Daddy with the stroller (sans baby, who is with me)

Miss J and L, having fun on train!

We arrived in Venice and decided to take a water taxi from the train station to our flat.  We could have taken a water bus, but with the luggage and the kids, we thought the premium for the water taxi was worth it.

We're on a boat!!

We stayed in an amazing Air BnB next to the Rialto Bridge, which worked out perfectly because my sister's family stayed in an Air BnB just on other side of the bridge - just a quick 5 minute walk from flat to flat! We arrived 2 days before my sister, which gave us a chance to relax, unpack, and do some wandering around the city. The girls were running low on diapers, but we learned that the two of them can actually wear the same sized diaper in a pinch - yes, Baby H is THAT big that she can share diapers with L! It allowed us to only buy one small package to get through the rest of the trip instead of 2.

The Rialto Bridge

"Kiss Mommy's Cheek!"

We took L to Murano one morning while Miss J stayed home with Baby H. It was both fun and somewhat terrifying to have a 2-year-old around so much delicate and expensive glass!  She wanted to touch everything, so G had her in a vicelike grip to prevent that as much as possible. Since I couldn't buy anything to put on display, I opted for some wearable art instead.

More gold than glass, but still very pretty!

The day my sister arrived, we packed up the girls and walked over to hang out with my sister's in-laws before dinner so that they could meet our girls. The last time G and I had seen them was at my sister's wedding 4 years ago, so it was really nice to hang out with everyone again. My brother-in-law's 2 siblings are 8 and 10 years older than him, so only a few years older than G and I, and their kids range in age from 7 to 14. L loved following the youngest girl around, but was super shy every time we tried to introduce them! And of course, Baby H decided to have her first big diaper blow-out while we were hanging out at their apartment. 

Baby H with Auntie, just before epic diaper blowout!

Since our girls wake up early, but the cousins tend to sleep in, Auntie joined us for an early (9am...not really that early) morning gondola ride.  It was super fun, super cheesy, and we all loved it!

Morning gondola ride around Venice

Having Miss J with us was so amazing because it allowed G and I to go out later at night for dinner. Even with naps, L can't manage much past 7pm, and my sister's family was a party of 12 -- 8 adults and 4 kids, so dinners with them, while amazingly delicious and fun for us, are a bit boring for a 2-year old.

G and I got to have dinners without the girls - date nights in such a romantic city!

By the end of the trip, we were all exhausted, our bellies were full, and we were ready to go home - even if we only had a few more weeks of "normal" before the chaos of moving started!  More on that next! 

L stole my sunglasses - I think she looks better in them than I do

Gifts from Auntie D!

My sister cuddling her god-daughter

2 generations of sisters!

This would be totally instagram worthy, if not for my paci accessory clipped to my purse!

L, passed out on the flight home

Baby H, also passed out on the flight home

Dubai Visitors! Sarah & Ben

Technically, this post should fall under the category of "early adventures of Baby L". I didn't label it this way since for some of our adventures with Sarah & Ben, Baby L actually stayed home with her nanny, Miss J, because travelling with her is not always the easiest.

The last time I saw Sarah and Ben was at their wedding last year in April. G had seen them more recently because he went to Houston to pack up the house. We were so happy to see them and looking forward to the week hanging out!  Their flight arrived late on Thursday night, so unfortunately, Baby L was already fast asleep by the time we got home. The good news is Baby L is like clockwork, so they got to see her bright and early at 5:30am the next morning!  In this case, jet lag for them wasn't so bad!

Auntie love!!!

As a side note here, just after we got back from Vietnam, we bought Baby L a Baby Einstein activity jumper. Holy cow, she loves that thing. There is no thought for stepping, crawling, only jumping. At night, pre-jumper, she used to kick me with alternating legs. Now, post-jumper, she kicks me with both legs at the same time as if she is jumping in her jumper. She is also reaching for things, and her facial expressions are priceless. Here is one of my favorite videos that G sent me while I was at work.

Hop hop hop! Give me the soda can!!!

Anyway, back to Sarah & Ben. They brought Baby L tons of goodies from her Mimi and Granddad's church as well as missing parts for Baby L's dresser. Apparently, Graco Storkcraft sent the exact same WRONG parts, and Sarah & Ben unknowingly dragged them halfway around the world! Fortunately, Ben is very mechanically inclined, and he took all the wrong parts and magically assembled the dresser anyway. The day was saved! Thanks Ben!!!

Baby L's nursery is now complete! And a whole section of her closet is now free, thanks to Ben!

Later that day, we went out to Friday brunch at Tribeca, a nearby restaurant that had gluten free menu options for Sarah.  The food was ok, and the unlimited drinks were a little disappointing - the only beer they had available was Budweiser, so none of us drank much. G wasn't even drunk when we left (unlike that one time at the Four Seasons in Abu Dhabi...) The food was ok, though I don't think G and I will be going back unless it's a stop on a pub crawl.

On Saturday the whole family ventured to Mall of the Emirates for lunch. Sarah and Ben were still struggling from jet lag, so we didn't explore the mall much - we headed back home for a relaxing afternoon.

Sunday, Miss J stayed with Baby L while we went on a desert safari. G and I had yet to do one of these since I had so much trouble with motion sickness while I was pregnant. We figured now that Baby L is almost 6 months old, we could leave her for several hours and be ok (which, it was totally ok!). We booked with an Emirati company called Platinum Heritage, and the expense was well worth it. We were picked up in a Range Rover and were driven to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. 

G and I in the scarves provided by the tour company

We saw a surprisingly large amount of wildlife, from gerbils to gazelles to the beautiful oryx pictured above. After bumming around the desert and taking pictures, we had breakfast at the 5-star Al Maha Resort. The views were stunning and the food was delicious!

Arabian Oryx at the reserve

Our driver and guide saw that we were interested in the classic land rovers, so he also took us on a super quick 5-minute ride in one. It wasn't a part of our tour package, and it was so fun!!!

Old school class land rover! Noisy and smelly, and a ton of fun!

That night we went out to dinner at Gourmet by KCal at the Le Meridian hotel. It is a gluten-free restaurant, and they had delicious gluten-free pizzas and desserts. 

Monday we explored the gold and spice souqs in an area of old Dubai called Deira. The gold souq was as fabulous as it sounds, you can buy anything from the simplest gold bangle to the most ostentatious gold bib necklace. The gold shops were very nice and enclosed, and just outside them were hawkers trying to sell their trinkets (anyone want a pashmina scarf? how about a faux-lex Rolex?). The spice souq was a little disappointing - while yes, there were spices, the vendors all pretty much had the same bins of spices. I think we were expecting a bit more variety.

Tuesday was Ben and Sarah's last day, and we wrapped up their stay in Dubai with the big finale - the Burj Khalifa! 

Whole family at Burj Khalifa observation deck, including #grumpybaby

After our tour of the Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest tower, we had a brunch and then explored Dubai Mall. One of Sarah's friends in Houston loves TWG Tea, so we stopped and picked a few boxes. We also purchased some more footie pajamas for Baby L since she's grown out of almost all of her current ones! She was, of course, asleep for most of this.

Baby L, fast asleep, as we explore Dubai Mall.

The metro ride home seemed longer than the ride there, I think because the metro was so crowded. There were three strollers in the women & children's cabin, and we had to frequently remind men trying to hop onto the cabin that it was for women & children only. After a few stops, the train was a little less crowded, and Baby L started hamming it up for the other passengers (as usual). She was fussy again by the end, so I took her out of the stroller to watch the buildings zoom past the window.

I like to eat my feet!

We finished the night at a restaurant called Scene that has a stunning view of the Marina (wish I'd taken a picture!).  We are so thankful that Sarah & Ben could make the time to visit us, and we can't wait to see them again!

Early Adventures of Baby L - Vietnam Part 1

After a short and easy flight from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City (which...let’s be honest, most people still call Saigon) we collected all of our luggage, made a quick stop at Viettel to buy a local SIM card, and met my dad and step mom.  They were so excited to see Baby L, especially my step mom since she wasn’t able to visit us back in September! And sure enough, they made a beeline to the baby and started playing with her before even saying hello to G or me - apparently, this is a fairly common experience among parents when introducing the grandkids. Don’t worry Dad, I still love you ;-).

The grandparents were super excited to see Baby L!!!

In Southern Vietnam, when talking about relatives, we refer to aunts, uncles, and cousins by their number in their family line. The father is always #1, and then each child is numbered in birth order after that. So for example, my uncle, who is the eldest in my dad’s family, is referred to as Uncle 2. My dad’s eldest sister is Auntie 3, and so on and so forth — my dad happens to be #6.  It gets even more complicated because there are actually four different words for uncle and four different words for aunt, depending on whether they are on your mother’s or father’s side and if they are older or younger than your mother or father.

Anyway, after landing in Saigon, we made our way to our hotel to freshen up for dinner with Auntie 4 and her family. Later in our trip, this caused a few ruffled feathers because traditionally, we should have gone to see my father’s mother first before seeing anyone else. Logistically though, it would have been more difficult, and I think the family is slowly starting to change how rigid they are with traditions.

Anyway, dinner with my cousins was great! My aunt and uncle had a young fox slaughtered and prepared in multiple ways - it was a ridiculous amount of food. They also learned that pork is hard for us to get in UAE, so they also ordered a bunch of pork dishes - G and I were sooooo full by the end. We hoped Baby L would take a nap during dinner, but with all of the excitement of a big family dinner, she was wide awake (if maybe a big cranky). Between my cousins, their spouses, their kids, and us, it was a lot for her to take in!

Baby L with one of my cousin's wives

The next morning, we went to see a seamstress and a tailor so G and I could have clothes made for Baby L’s baptism later in the week. I picked very graphic white fabric with black print for my dress, and a light gray cashmere wool for G’s suit. After getting measured, we ate a quick lunch and headed to Dong Nai Province where my grandmother and Aunts 3, 8, and 9 lived. The trip took about 2 hours, and Baby L napped in her car seat for most of it.  I pulled her out while we were on the ferry, and she flirted and made friends with a number of the motorcyclists riding on the ferry next to our van.

Baby L making friends with motorcyclists on the ferry!

We finally made it to grandmother’s house, and we were welcomed with some delicious grass-jelly coconut dessert and enjoyed yummy custard apples that my step mother brought along.  After everyone unpacked, G and I were able to collect the most recent goodies that our friends had shipped to Dad to bring to us!  

Custard Apples

Grass jelly dessert with coconut milk

The most exciting one was the quilt that my friend Kristy from the blog A Chrome and Cotton Home made for Baby L. It goes with her nursery perfectly, and we just adore it! Kristy also sent us the book Intersteller Cinderella, which is a welcome addition to the space theme.

Beautiful star quilt from a dear friend!

We received a stack of board books and baby fresh food feeders from my friend Beth, a mother-of-four in Rochester, MN. I think the bibs also came from her, Dad wasn’t sure. If they came from someone else, please chime in so we can thank you properly!

Last, and probably G’s favorite, one of my besties in Houston (aka Kim 1, who also spoiled Baby L with tons of shower gifts!) sent him a pair of Astros World Series T-Shirts. Go ‘Stros!!!

Plus of course, Bà Ngoại and Ông Ngoại (Vietnamese for maternal grandfather and grandmother - aka Dad and step mom) brought Baby L a bunch of cute clothes since she’d grown out the clothes they got her previously.

Seriously, how cute is this little jumper from Bà Ngoại and Ông Ngoại?!?

We spent that evening and the next day relaxing and rearranging our luggage for our side trip to Hanoi. Dad and G went to the village church to make arrangements for Baby L’s baptism and we had some delicious meals cooked by both my dad and my aunties - there was never any shortage of food!

And just like that, it was time to jet off to the next thing! G and I consolidated ourselves and Baby L into 2 small suitcases, and Bà Ngoại and Ông Ngoại into 1 large suitcase. With Baby L’s stroller and car seat, we barely fit into my cousin’s land cruiser, but we made it!  Back in Saigon, we made one quick stop at the tailor shop for G to do a final fitting of his suit jacket, then we were off to the airport. Dad booked us on Vietnam Airlines business class, and we got to fly on a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Saigon to Hanoi! Baby L and I had fun in our gigantic airplane seat. She also slept like a dream on the Dreamliner - pun intended!

Family flying business class on a dreamliner!

My sleepy Michigangster - onesie courtesy of my bestie Jamie!

During our two nights in Hanoi, we stayed entirely in the old quarter. Hanoi was so cold! And rainy! Colder than we expected! 

We've arrived in Hanoi!  

We met up for dinner with one of my friends from Houston who had been working and living in South East Asia teaching English, toured the temple on Hoan Kim Lake, and walked around the busy streets and shops of Hanoi’s old quarter. Ông Ngoại and Bà Ngoại got to spend some quality time with Baby L, which meant G and I got to go out for both a solo lunch AND dinner! It was an unexpected and welcome treat for us during our hectic travels. We had lunch at a chain that we saw featured on the travel channel called “Wrap and Roll”, which was pretty decent, and we had dinner at a little hidden in a back street of the old quarter that had a pretty good bun cha and an excellent flan. I’m pretty picky about my flan since most restaurants tend to over-bake the flan or weigh it down with too many eggs, but this flan was light and creamy and delicious!

Baby L and Bà Ngoại napping while we went to lunch

Our next stop was Ha Long Bay. I remembered it being a 3 hour drive from Hanoi to the port, but because of road construction and new speed laws, it took us 4 1/2 hours to get there...and Baby L was cranky and unwilling to nap pretty much the entire way.  G had caught a sniffle and cough in Hanoi, so he was also pretty miserable during the car ride. When we finally arrived at the port, it was like in the movies, the clouds parted and the sun was shining which lifted everyone’s mood, including mine! We went through our check in process for the cruise, made our way to our cabins, and then we were off! Dad and I had cruised with Au Co before, and we had a great time — so we were excited to do it again. I guess I probably could have looked into booking with other tour operators, but one of my favorite excursions on the Au Co cruise is the Bhahaya Community Farm on Cat Ba Island, so we obviously had to do that again! Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Rock formations of Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay, which means bay of the descending dragon, is a UNESCO world heritage site. There are thousands of limestone karsts and islets in the bay which makes navigation in the area extra challenging! The first time I went with Dad and my sister in early 2015 - it was foggy and misty the whole time, which made the bay seem very mysterious.  This time it was sunny for most of the trip, which gave the bay a more welcoming feel. I found both weather conditions equally beautiful in their own way!

Our cruise ship is the white one just behind me!

On the first day of the cruise, there were two excursions, one to a natural cave and the other to a floating fishing village. Because of Baby L’s exhaustion from lack of sleep, we went on the first excursion but skipped the second. G and the grandparents both went to see the fishing village, and Dad reported back that it was much smaller than the village we had gone to see in 2015. I think it’s still incredible that people live on these floating rafts and make their livelihood solely on the water. 

Baby L was exhausted, so we skipped the excursion in favor of naptime

Cruise day two started with Cat Ba Island (my favorite!) where G and the grandparents rode bicycles while Baby L and I took a golf cart.  In the afternoon, the cruise offered another excursion involving kayaks and fishing boats and Baby L and I took a little rest. I suspect she also came down with G’s little head cold so rest was good for both of us. That night, we were treated to classic Vietnamese music on a one-string instrument, which Baby L LOVED! She was so enthralled! Unfortunately, she also fell asleep fairly quickly, so instead of staying to listen more, I put her to bed. G wasn’t feeling 100% either with his cold and a full day of physical exertion, so we were all in bed by 8:30pm.

Farming valley of Cat Ba Island

The last day, the cruise wrapped up its itinerary with a traditional tea ceremony, and a leisurely drive to the airport. Somehow, the drive back seemed much shorter than the drive there! Since Baby L was under the weather, she slept most of the way, so I was able to get a nap in as well. Thank goodness!

Last day on the cruise ship!

At the airport, we were able to get on an earlier flight back to Saigon, which was great because it meant more rest for everyone! Stay tuned for Vietnam Part 2 - Baby L’s baptism and trip to my Uncle’s church! 

On our way back go warm and sunny Saigon!

Early Adventures of Baby L - Singapore!

While we booked our big trip to Asia in October, we have really been planning to go since we knew we were pregnant. The first leg of our adventure to Singapore is extra special for G because he was born there. Both his dad and his grandfather were on expat assignment in Singapore in the early 1980s . Less than a year after G was born, his parents repatriated to Texas, and other than a mission trip to Mexico, G never left the US again (until he met me, of course!)

G back in Singapore after over 3 years!

Our trip had a bit of a rocky start. We planned to leave at 6pm. We were all packed and ready at 5:30pm so we decided to go ahead and leave early.  Good thing we did! It took us 30 minutes to get all our luggage down to ground level and loaded up into our Uber XL. Baby L was for a grand total of about 5 minutes, and then she started screaming bloody murder in her car seat. Eventually, she wore herself out and fell asleep as we pulled into the airport terminal - it was past her bedtime anyway. We gave our Uber driver an extra tip since he was such a good sport (and drove very conservatively, despite her crying!)

Baby L was super grumpy the whole car ride to the airport!

 At the airport, Emirates family check in seemed to take forever (also why we leave early when traveling with the little one!) G had to argue with the check-in agent about our luggage allowance since we packed per the guidelines on the website. She finally asked her colleague and was able to sort it out. By this time, Baby L had woken up and was flirting shamelessly with our check-in agent!

Baby L and I at the Dubai Airport

Security and boarding was mostly uneventful (we had a diaper blow-out and spit up on G’s shirt along the way) and once we were on the plane, we met a lovely Irish couple with a 7 month old boy. He and Baby L hit it off right away and made very similar cooing noises and liked to touch each others’ hands - it was too cute! After takeoff, they brought out Baby L’s bassinet, and she snuggled off to sleep. We had a rough flight, and since the seatbelt light kept coming on, she didn’t stay in her bassinet for long - policy is that when the seatbelt light is on, she must be in my lap. Of the 6.5 hours of the flight, she probably spent a good 4 of it on my lap. We got to Singapore and we were all quite tired, and at the same time excited to start the first leg of our adventure!

Baby L and I on our first airplane ride together!

We stayed at the iconic Marina Bay Sands resort and hotel. While we waited to check in, we had brunch at Din Tai Fung - one of our favorites! We then explored the Gardens By the Bay until it started raining, then headed back to the hotel to eat a late lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen. Between the rain, our full bellies, and red-eye flight, we were ready for an afternoon nap - and we all slept longer than we meant to! G set his alarm for 6pm and we slept right through it until 8pm - even Baby L!  

Marina Bay Sands Hotel in the background - the famous infinity pools is at the top!

Baby L giggling with her towel elephant!

We decided to have a late dinner at Yamamoto near the MBS Casino and then take a late night stroll around the Bay.  On a Friday evening, the restaurants and bars around the Bay were all hopping! As we made our way to the historic Merlion, we passed by some girls giving away free ice cream popsicles - in the dark, we couldn’t see the flavors, so I picked a yellow bar and G picked a brown one. His ended up being red-bean (not chocolate. Bummer.) and mine ended up being DURIAN!! I was so excited. It was so delicious. Less than 24 hours in Asia and I just happened to stumble upon some beloved stinky fruit. 

SOOO excited for my DURIAN ice cream pop! It was SOO GOOD!!!

Family Photo with the historic Singapore Merlion

The next morning, Baby L slept in until 8! She’s normally a 5:30am baby, so her jet lag was definitely a nice treat. While G went downstairs to the cafe for some breakfast pastries and coffee, Baby L decided to make my morning challenging. She wet herself and her changing mat while I was changing her, and after I moved her to a clean towel on the bed so I could clean her changing mat, she pooped all over the towel. She then proceeded to giggle and try to roll into her poop. Luckily, I scooped her up just in time, and got both of us cleaned up and dressed before G got back with breakfast. Whew!

As I mentioned earlier, G was born in Singapore, so we took a short cab tour of places from his history - Mount Alvernia Hospital where he was born, Mimosa Park where his parents lived, and Lucky Plaza where his parents used to shop. The cab driver seemed bemused at our itinerary, and once he learned it was because G was born in Singapore, he was actually pretty excited about our trip down memory lane.  He even took this photo for us in front of the Mimosa Park apartment buildings!

The buildings where G lived after he was born

Baby L slept through the drive (thankfully) and our driver dropped us off at Lau Pa Sat for lunch. We met with my manager one of my previous assignments - she had just moved to Singapore late last year. I had hoped to meet with one of my supervisors from that assignment as well, but unfortunately she and her family weren’t back from their holiday travel just yet! Anyway, it was fun catching up with my manager and she introduced us to lots of yummy (and cheap!) hawker stand foods. Baby L was also a sweetie sitting on my manager’s lap, and didn’t fuss at all!  

Famous hawker stands at Lau Pa Sat pavilion

MBS is famous for its huge infinity pool, so we decided to spend the afternoon poolside, despite the cloudy weather. The views were incredible! The water was too cold for Baby L, so we let her take a nap while we took a quick dip.

Baby L is not impressed by the Infinity Pool....

...but we were absolutely impressed! What a view!

Our final touristy activity in Singapore was dinner and a little shopping in Chinatown. We bought Baby L a classic Chinese-style dress, but her little fatty rolls around her neck prevent her from wearing it! Poor thing! We enjoyed delicious pepper crab for dinner, though it is probably not wise to choose a meal that covers your hands in pepper sauce when you have a sleeping infant with you. When she woke up crying, I had to wipe and wipe and wipe my hands before picking her up, and then G had to breakdown the crabs and mud lobster for me so I could eat it with chopsticks. It was so yummy!

Yummy pepper crab! Also very messy.  Not a good idea when handling an infant!

We headed home for an early night and gave Baby L a bath in the sink of our hotel room.  She was absolutely adorable and loved it!

Happy baby in the sink bath - she JUST barely fit! Giggles and splashes all around!

Happy baby is happy mommy!

Sunday, we headed to back to Changi Airport. One of the top tourist attractions in Singapore is actually the airport, so we took some to explore the different features including the enchanted gardens with their Koi ponds, and the butterfly garden.  Baby L was wide awake the whole time from sensory overload, so by the time we got on the airplane, she was exhausted! 

Hello Kitty Christmas - Singapore Style!

Baby L enthralled by the butterflies and flowers in the butterfly garden!

Fortunately, since I booked this Singapore Airlines flight on miles, we flew business class and had a little more room for her to sleep on my lap while I enjoyed lunch. G was so thrilled to see his birthplace, and we will definitely have to come back again for a longer stay!

What a spoiled little baby - her first business class flight at only 4.5 months old!