Snow Day

It's the end of November, and suddenly it's already snowing in Vancouver. The snow started late Saturday night (November 25th) and continued for the next three days. The snow was so thick that Mommy found herself stranded with the kids for a whole day. Here is Mommy, Melur and Arman's little adventure on Monday, November 27th...

Daddy went to work. He managed to get a ride from our neighbor next door. That was lucky of him since the bus wasn't working. Mommy on the other hand, had to stay at home. Heba (our Nanny) could not make it. Just as well since there was a big power outage that affected the whole university, and Acadia Park included. Everything was down - classes cancelled, offices closed... even the on-campus McDonalds. The power outage started at 2am. It got really cold early that morning since no power meant no heater! However, we all managed to sleep soundly through it.

Melur and Arman woke up around 9am. After brushing their teeths (no shower since we didn't have hot water), we all had breakfast. Nothing fancy just peanut-butter and jelly with cold milk (no cooking either since we don't have gas). Afterwards, we all went out to the back and played in the snow. Everything was totally covered with snow. Mommy couldn't even get the back gate to open since the snow was too thick. We climbed it instead. We also took some pictures, made a snowman and rolled around in the snow for a bit. We stayed out for about 45 minutes and then came in when it got too cold.

We stayed in-doors for the rest of the day. We spent time reading books and playing hide-n-seek. Lunch was biscuits and cold milk. Arman and Melur were such troopers. They didn't make a fuss at all. They did ask for warm milk though, but understood that it wasn't possible. We all snuggled and slept for 2 hours in the living room to past the afternoon away. The power returned around 5pm, and Daddy came back about an hour later.

So that's what happened on November 27th, 2006.

Ice Skating at Kitsilano Rink

It's our third straight Saturday at Kitsilano Ice Rink. Melur just loves to skate. She's been asking for rollerblades, so I thought we'd try ice skating first. Lo and behold, Melur starts skating on her own on her second trip, without using the little red cone that all the other kids are using! Our Saturdays have become somewhat of a ritual. We visit the Vancouver library and pick out a few books. Then ice skating. And after that, groceries at Safeway.
Here we see Melur with the little red cone, which acts like training wheels. Some Malaysian students joined us for the first 2 trips, so it's been been fun. We'd definitely go again if we had the chance. Too bad Mommy hasn't been able to come along. But I've been keeping her up-to-date with pictures and videos of Melur and Arman from a camera phone. I got a camera phone for Mommy (for her birthday) which I've been borrowing on these Saturday rituals. Poor Arman. He doesn't take too well to ice skating. Because of his leg structure, he's unable to stand on the ice with the ice skates on. I basically sat with him the first day, while Melur skated with the Malaysian students. I was able to carry him around on the ice on the second trip, just to give him a taste of skating.
Here's Arman sitting on the side lines. I can't very well be carrying him the entire 75-minute session. I gotta rest too. But he's getting the hang of it. He's starting to stand on his own on the ice. But still no skating. I've gotta groom him. I'm thinking the skating may help him orient his legs properly, so that they'll grow straighter. What do you think? Worth a shot, right?
Melur and Arman made some friends on the ice. Here is Oliver, around Arman's age, if I had to guess. And already he's skating like a pro - No Red Cones! So as you can tell, Melur and Oliver get along just fine. We can't wait for our next skating session. If we're back in Malaysia, we'll be sure to go skating at Sunway Pyramid Mall. What a Lovely Family Activity!

Raya Open House at Richmond

Another weekend, another Raya, and this time in it's in Richmond. It's a lot closer to our UBC home than Coquitlam... well, still over an hour away via public transport. Thankfully, Ayu was able to come along this time to make it all the more festive.

We all wore our Baju Raya, and enjoyed each others company. Lepak! Here is Wei Kee hanging out with Arman and Mommy.

Melur, of course, was hanging out with the same friends she made at Coquitlam, Feeza and Ain. Add Kak Ina, and we get a quartet of girls.

Malaysian food galore. When else would we enjoy such exquisite Malaysian food so far away from Malaysia?

Well.. nothing much else happened today. I just hung out with the guys.

Looking forward to our next get together.