Happiness is... dedicating time for family

We might not always travel far during the holidays and more often than not, we simply stay in Singapore or at most travel to Malaysia.

That has been the case for us this year because it's really costly travelling as a family of six and since the hubby is the sole breadwinner of our family, it's tough on him and we know there are luxuries that we ought to forfeit. So for goals like having a family holiday to Japan, seeing the northern lights or bringing Angel back to Sweden where she was born, going on a campervan holiday in Australia, well, they just have to wait.

That said, we are already very blessed to be able to travel to nearby countries, be able to afford to dine in restaurants, treat ourselves to good food every now and then, buy new clothes, play in arcades which can be really expensive, and bring our parents on short trips.

In June, we had activity lined up after activity since it was the school holidays and I just wanted to make the most of each day we had. In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about knowing the importance of family time.

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We had a sumptuous steamboat dinner with our parents and though it's been so many years, we still count our blessings to know that our mums and dads can get along and bond over beer and good food. They are a constant reminder that time with our loved ones is precious and finite, and we really need to cherish every oppprtunity we get together.

After all, they are not the only ones ageing. I feel old sometimes too and my kids are getting so tall and big these days already. If anything, I wish they will have learnt from us on how much we cherish kinship and how we make time for family, no matter how busy life gets.

Family runs? Bring them on.

While the hubby might not understand why we go through the hassle of driving so far, waking so early and queueing so long just to register ourselves, and waiting for hours for a short run, I see it as something we would otherwise not do on a weekend and end up sleeping in.

So we made it to Cold Storage Kids Run 2025 and the best part was seeing how Ansel would get down to run on his own even if he still asked to be carried for some parts of the 1.6km run. The older kids also ran an additional 2km with Papa to get to his car which was parked super far away. So yes, it was still a great Sunday workout for everyone!

If you haven't been on Luge before, you need to try it! The kids and I were stoked to visit Luge Sentosa and I think we went down the different slopes a grand total of five times.

Ansel still needs to ride tandem with me but you know what, it won't be long before he can ride solo like Korkor and Jiejies and I'm pretty sure I will miss this feeling of having a little one who needs my company.

The beach is also a nice place to hang out and I think we don't visit it enough. Well, at least we still do so from time to time and it's also nice to feel the gentle waves on our feet, step into the warm sand and feel the sun rays shining all around us as we soak in these golden moments.

I remember we used to go to indoor playgrounds aplenty when the girls were still little and I don't wanna shortchange the boys too. So we still head to playgrounds whenever we get the opportunity, we cherish every media invite and it's a bonus if the two teenager sisters decide to come along and play tag with the brothers instead of being glued to their devices.

Inflatable playgrounds are still very fun too and we visited this one at Marina Square that took the shape of our childhood playgrounds, including the iconic dragon one. I always love playing, running and sliding down with the kids instead of sipping on a cup of tea and rest nearby, because these years really do not last. And yes, I want them to remember me as the fun Mama who gets into the action with them and even makes a fool of herself at times.

We also made our way to the Nickelodian themed inflatable playground which featured characters like Spongebob, Dora and Paw Patrol. Besides jumping and running around for two hours and challenging ourselves to whizz down a really steep vertical slide, a highlight was seeing Ansel hug his favourite Pups, Chase and Marshall, for a total of six times. Haha. Yes, it definitely made his day.

Fans of BBT? Yeah, I guess we are, especially my two middle kids. So when we heard about the chance to attend a DIY Boba workshop, you bet we jumped at it. The kids had fun designing their own aprons as well as rolling and making their own bobas. Fun!

Movie lovers? Yeah we are, and I think this would never change no matter how old we get. At least, I hope so because movies are a good reason for the family to come together to spend time and have a meal after.

This month, we watched How to Train Your Dragon as well as Jurassic World and they were both pretty cool movies that we enjoyed tremendously.

We still make time to exercise together and go on night outings to the playground. I mean, the girls have prettt much outgrown slides and kiddy stuff but they still like swings and love monkey bars - see how they tried to make a heart shape by hanging upside down.

During the holidays, we also made cookies and pizzas at Kith Summer Camp and the kids enjoyed that hands on session very much. It's always nice to get them involved in such baking or cooking activities and get them off their screens.

The girls and I also had a DIY bookmark and card making session and did some really cute stuff using dried flowers.

Do you all like mookata? We do and it's one of those things we love to eat every once in a while. The hubby is usually with us too because he will take charge of the cooking and it also means the kids get to spend time with Papa during the precious weekend.

The airport remains as one of our favourite hangouts and one of the things we love to do after an event is to order A&W takeaway in Jewel and sit around the Vortex to enjoy our supper. Yes, curly fries and root beer float!

The boys still enjoy Zoomoov rides and kiddy play and it's such a blessing that these two have each other for company. Yup, the girls are growing too fast and I wish time would slow down a little at times for me to enjoy their childhood years a little more.

Another place we love to visit is IKEA! I mean, we can just go there without any aim in mind and still have a wonderful time admiring the showrooms, eating the yummy food and having the 50 cents soft serve afterwards.

This was the last time Asher could enter the kids' playground too as he is growing taller (the maximum height is 130cm). So it was a bittersweet moment as the boys spent their last hour in the play area together and the next time we come, Ansel will be all alone there. But oh well, life stops for no one, right?

It's a good thing that my kids enjoy karaoke as much as I do and even a better thing that there is a Teo Heng outlet in our neighbourhood. So we love to dabao dinner over and just sing our hearts out for a couple of hours. This is precious family bonding time to me and I hope they will still make time for such sessions even when they are older.

Another activity we would do every week is swimming and while the firstborn is not a water lover, the other three still love to splash around and have fun playing in the pool.

As for arcade, it's something they all love because there are so many different fun games to play. So it's usually a treat for them during the school holidays and it's even more fun when the hubby and I join in the action and we can have friendly competitions with each other.

Lastly, we also went on a 17-pax family trip to VIP Fishing Resort and Desaru and I will share more of our trip in the next post. It's never easy yet it's such a huge blessing to be able to plan for such trips and we are so lucky that our parents can still travel with us.

One of the highlights was releasing our own fireworks and I didn't do it because we had limited quantity and because I was always the one filming. But I loved seeing my parents and kids experiencing it and glad that I captured that moment for each of them.

Being the adventurous mum, I took the kids out to kayaking despite the fact that the crew said there might be jellyfish in the ocean. I insisted that Ansel ride with me (in the same seat) while Asher was in front of me so I can take care of them. And guess what? Ansel slept for more than the journey and we still managed to have a good time together. Yes, I continued to paddled while supporting weight on me.

It was also my parents' first time kayaking and kudos to them for not going back early or giving up halfway despite some hiccups like how my Dad stepped nto the water instead of into the kayak and how they went further and further and needed a guide to help pull them back. I am so proud of you, Mummy and Daddy.

Yup, I will share lots more details about the trip soon but meanwhile, that concludes our eventful month of June and it was a good break that we all enjoyed.

No matter how busy life gets, we must always make time to spend with our loved ones because one day when you look back, these are the moments that matter most and you will be glad that you made the most of them while you had the chance to.

Till the next post of "Happiness is"!