Melbourne Cup Party

Molly Forsberg organized a group of us to go to the Melbourne Cup Luncheon. The Melbourne Cup is actually a National Australian holiday, all the Aussies get the day off work. So this would be simliar to the Kentucky Derby.

It was great fun to see all the ladies decked out in their best with spectacular hats. Free flow champagne ensured that we all relaxed and had fun. We were able to bet a little and our table all won some money or some prizes.

Kirk didn't label the pictures so here are the people in them:
Group photo, Heather Pigott and Audrey Nord, Kath and Missy Stevens, Missy and Heather, Lisa McLaughlin and Molly Forsberg, Lisa with a bird on her head, Kath and Lisa, Kath and Audrey.

Shanghai Duathalon

Romo talked us into doing a mini duathlon. This was a 4k run, a 17k bike ride, finished by a 4k run. In this picture is Joe Taverna, Keri Taverna, Mike Romanski, Kath, and Dave Rockett. Kirk ended up hurting his back so he was unable to do this with us.

It was a really windy day and so made for a tough bike ride. Joe came in first for the whole tbing and Keri came in first for the females. Our goals was to finish in 100 minutes and Romo and I brought up the rear in under 100! We had a lot of fun.

Halloween

This year, Elizabeth was Hannah Montana and Alex was a Transformer for Halloween. We went to Vizcaya trick or treating. The kids got a lot of candy. I think Elizabeth looks like a mini drag queen!

I bought pumpkins at Carrefour. They had big ones this year, they haven't in the past. You don't even want to know what I paid for them. It was hilarious walking through the store with a cart full of pumpkins. Xiao Zhu was with me and everyone kept asking her if we were really going to eat all of them. Chinese people eat pumpkins, they don't carve them, let them rot and throw them away. Kind of makes sense i guess :)

After trick or treating, we went to the Pigott's house for a party. Missy made some great finger cookies, see pic. There was a ton of Halloween food there. I think Missy's costume was the best.

School Pictures

Elizabeth 1st Grade
Alex Pre K4
Here are the kids school photos. They turned out nice.

Here is the Chinese thing about them.....they airbrushed Elizabeth's mole off of her nose! I didn't ask them to, it's part of Elizabeth. But my guess is that they are so focused on how people look on the outside, they thought they should take it off. I didn't have time to complain to the company so I guess I'm complaining here.

Concordia Volleyball Tournament

Concordia hosted a volleyball tournament. The PE teachers took the kids to watch the early games on Friday during PE class. The kids got to learn a little about volleyball but what they learned most is how hard the kids work and how to support team and school spirit.

We took them at night to watch the finals. Elizabeth was so excited, she made cheer signs and brought her pom poms. Alex even got into the school spirit. Alex lost interest after the first game, but Elizabeth and Kirk stuck it out.

Concordia Fall Carnival

The school doesn't really celebrate Halloween. Not sure, guess it's anti Christian? I won't rant about that.

Anyway, they put on a fall carnival again this year. Kids couldn't wear their costumes, but had a great time running around to all the games and the bounce houses.

You can see our apartment right from school. Kirk took the pic.

Singapore & Bintan Island

Singapore Pictures
Bintan Island Pictures


We took a vacation during the October holiday with the Taverna family - Joe, Keri, Emily, Joey, and Matthew. We started out in Singapore for a few days and toured the city and finished our vacation with a few days on the beach on Bintan Island, Indonesia.

Singapore is a really nice city/country. The first day we got there, we went to Little India. This is an area of town with lots of small shops, restaurants, and Hindu temples. The girls had lots of fun shopping and Emily and Elizabeth even got Henna tattoos on their hands. We loaded up on bangles and bindis. We didn't eat since we went in the morning directly after breakfast but the food smelled good.

The next day, we went to the zoo. Everyone says how great it is and they are not lying. Truly the best zoo we've ever visitied specifically because we were able to get so close to the animals. We only spent a half day here but could have easily spent a whole day here.

After the zoo, we did the Night Safari. This is next to the zoo and you can either walk through or take a train. We opted for the train. Here we saw animals in their natural habitat - specifically the nocturnals. Really cool because you couldn't see any fences and it gave the illusion that you were directly next to the animals.

Kath and Elizabeth got to see Peline and Crystal Tan one morning for breakfast. If you have followed our blog, you'll know that Elizabeth and Crystal were best friends at Concordia. They moved back home to Singapore this summer. It was great to see them.

We got to visit Kirk's favorite - Outback one night. We did some other shopping around Orchard Road area, pretty expensive stuff, so we didn't buy much. Kids also got to swim in the pool at the hotel.

Singapore is definitely a place to visit again.

After the city visit, we needed a break on the beach. We took a ferry over to Bintan Island and stayed at the Club Med for a few days. This was our first time at a Club Med and it was nice. It was all inclusive so all the kids loved going up and getting smoothies any time they wanted.

The kids had fun playing on the beach and jumping waves. There were only two pools but the kids kept busy all day in them.

We had a great time together!

After t

Alex Making Mooncakes

Wow, I think I'm caught up now. Gigi, this should keep you busy at 1:00 am when you can't sleep.

Alex's classroom had their Mid Autumn festival celebration and Ms Mellen taught them how to make moon cakes. They actually just made them with jelly and bread but the kids had fun making and eating them.

Swimming Pool at New Apartment

We had a few weekends after we moved to our new apartment where we could use the swimming pool. It is an outdoor pool and is not too bad. The kids had a lot of fun using it. Kirk took some picture of the buildings in the complex. I don't think the architecture is that nice, but the gardens surrounding the buildings are.

First Day of School

Here is the first day of school picture. The kids had a great summer day to start out. You can see we were still in our old place and had a great view of the city in this picture.

Roessler Family Picture & Video

Family pictures are always tough to get. The Dufon's got one this year, unfortunately without Kirk. The Roessler's got one but I'm not sure everyone was smiling as we were coming to the end of our trip.

Detroit Tigers Game

We got a chance to go watch the Tiger's this year. They played Seattle. The kids had a great time. Kevin's company sponsored a Detroit school corporation so our kids were able to run the bases. We were able to go down on the field and watch them run around the bases. That was AWESOME.

Thomas The Tank Engine

I'm not going to say much about this as it's out third year for going. We went to Huckleberry Railroad and rode Thomas the Tank Engine. The kids had a lot of fun.

Klein Golf Weekend

Kirk went to Crystal Mountain for his annual golf trip with his BFF Dave Klein. He doesn't see Dave much anymore since Dave left Dura so it was fun for Kirk to see everyone again.

Hanging out at the Swimming Pool

After the Harris', we went back to our apartment that we rented and swam in the pool with Ethan and Nolan. Here are some fun pictures of the kids.

Fun on Commerce Lake

Kirk went golfing for the weekend, so the kids and I went over to the Harris' house and played on the lake. Alex had fun swimming in the lake and even like tubing a little bit. Elizabeth is my daredevil. She and Ryan had fun tubing and she even started water skiing on the kid's board. I, on the other hand, am a complete loser and can not get up on one ski anymore. How sad is that!

Elizabeth Gets Her Ears Pierced

As my mom told me, I told Elizabeth that she could get her ears pierced when she could learn how to ride a two wheeler. She learned that last summer but was too chicken to get her ears pierced. She worked out her fears and did it this year. She looks so cute and has done a great job managing taking them in and out with no infections.

Chloe Rose Slivinski

Purple (Olivia's name for Nicole's baby) came on August 5. Her name is Chloe Rose Slivinski and she is beautiful. She's got chicken legs and is a little scrawny but is getting bigger every day. Olivia is a proud big sister and Elizabeth and Alex were having fun holding the baby.

Grammy's Friends & Grandchildren Get Together

Grammy and her friends organized a picnic at a splash park in Plymouth. All of Grammy's friends brought their grandkids and they all played together. Ethan, Nolan, Alex, and Elizabeth all had fun but I think Grammy had the most fun showing off her grandkids.

Chicago

It's always hard to see everyone when we come home to the US for the summer. Pelton organized a weekend when all of our friends could converge in one location. This summer was at Cronley's new house in Chicago area. The Chesna's, Wasik's, and Harris' all made it and stayed there. Chris and Sherry House made the drive across teh city for a cook out. Another of Kirk's fraternity brothers, Jim came as well. See the picture of the kids on the porch. They are all getting so big. They all played so well together. It was a lot of fun.

We spent one afternoon in the city. Elizabeth was able to take her American Girl doll, Emily to the American Girl doll store and get washed up and have her hair done. After we went to Cheesecake Factory. Wouldn't be a good trip to Michigan Ave without stopping there.