I have two December babies, which means their birthdays always fall during the year end school holidays. While we used to plan themed parties for the girls to celebrate with their friends, since Covid hit, we have switched to more intimate, family celebrations instead.
I asked Asher if he would like to invite some friends over to celebrate his 9th birthday and while he did ponder about it and ask some of his closest friends, it did not materialise as his friends were busy with travelling and holiday activities. For us, we also went on an epic 17-pax family holiday to Bali too and that was one of the highlights for his birthday.
As always, I hope for my birthday kid to feel special and deeply loved on his or her birthday. Thus, no matter how busy we are, we will always make time for family play and bonding activities. Here's sharing all we did to celebrate Asher's special day.
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The first thing he did in the morning when he woke up was to open his presents! Yup, it's something that always thrills the kids as I always keep their presents a surprise from them. It's a great way to kickstart the day with such big smiles, right?
For lunch, we made our way to Golden Mile Tower to have a family steamboat. It's one of Asher's favourite places to dine in and he loves the food here, and this day was all about him and the things he loves to eat and do.
In the afternoon, we made our way to Marina Square to visit VroomTown, woohoo! It was something that Asher wanted to try for a long time but I thought the cost was not justified so we patiently waited till his birthday to grant him this wish.
He had a blast with Ansel as they drove around town, pumped 'petrol', collected candies and had fun at the indoor playground. While the girls waited for us at a cafe - it would be too costly to bring so many kids to VroomTown - the hubby and I accompanied the boys and they were delighted. It was a short 1-hour drive that did wonders to fuel his joy and fill his heart with fond memories.
If there's one thing Asher cannot get enough of, it's arcade. Haha. Yup, he loves to play all sorts of arcade games and if not for the cost factor, I think he could stay there for days on end and not be bored. So we made our way to Timezone to let him have some fun playing with his siblings and even treated him to a VR motorcycle ride which is more expensive than usual. We used our tickets to award him with a small shooting toy which made him over the moon.
The day flew past in a flash and soon it was time for dinner. The hubby, who specially made time to be with us today, decided to splurge a little and treat us to a hearty hotpot meal at Haidilao. Yeap, you guessed, it's Asher's favourite too! It's his second time celebrating his birthday here and this time, he got a small cake and a fruit platter. woohoo.
The lucky boy also had a chance to witness this 变脸 performance up close and the artiste even came up close to him and gave him an opportunity to touch his mask and once Asher did that, the mask changed immediately. Yeap, he got a thrill out of it and he also received a keychain that made him smile too.
Good things come in twos and thanks to Haidilao, they offered us 30 minutes of complimentary playtime for the kids and well, we decided to redeem it on the spot and stay on to play while Papa went to work. There was a little bit of resistance from the sisters who were tired and wanted to take a ride home. But the boys were feeling enthusiastic and just wanted to play so I managed to convince the girls to accompany them and everyone had fun in the end even though it was just a short session.
That sounds like a fun-filled and packed day already, right?
When we got home, we had a cosy mum-and-kids celebration, complete with ice-cream, strawberries and bananas, to end the day for Asher. May all your dreams come true, my love!
Wait, that's not all! The next day, we made our way to Adventure HQ at HomeTeamNS Khatib to continue the fun. It was a combined celebration for Ariel and Asher whose birthdays are just two days apart and we had a full day of fun and adventure here.
This is the largest indoor adventure park in Singapore and features eight installations across four stories of action-packed fun. These include rock climbing walls, Singapore's longest indoor slide, a labyrinth of tunnels within caves, Ninja courses, obstacle courses and more.
So while the hubby took care of Ansel, who has not met the minimum age for Adventure HQ yet, and played at T-Play which is an indoor playground right beside, I had the chance to bond with the older ones and experience an adrenaline rush with them.
While we enjoyed challenging ourselves at the interactive climbing walls - some of them are unique to us, especially the Jump-in-the-air elements which require us to take a leap of faith, we also let out squeals of delights at the firemen slides and conquered the dark tunnels and caves too.
But what made the day truly memorable for me was how Asher and I made it through the obstacle rope course, side by side. By this time, he was actually feeling exhausted after overcoming all the other courses and he felt like he couldn't do this.
So I asked him to take a break first, and kept encouraging him and reassuring him that I would be by his side no matter what. Sensing my faith in him and seeing his sisters take the first step, that was when he decided to push himself a little more and not give up. We put on our harnesses and started to navigate through the obstacles together. Sure, we were not as fast or as brave as the elder sisters but the important thing was we pushed on and didn't give up halfway.
The staff was so thoughtful and sweet to play the "Happy Birthday" song for the kids too and hearing it while we were in mid-air made us smile and gave us the strength and positivity to go on.
It was harder than it looked but we did it step by step and slowly but surely, we made our way to the finishing line. I love going on such challenges with my kids because it brings out the sporty side of us, build our resilience, gives us the chance to push beyond our limits, provides a sense of achievement and satisfaction, and leaves behind happy, fond memories in our hearts.
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