Posted 7:39 AM by Anne Wilhoit
It’s the 29th of August here in Singapore and many of you know what that means for me. I told David this morning that really, I have one more day of being 34 because It’s not August 29th in the states yet. That is where I was born and celebrated every other b-day…does this argument work? No way thought my family…the girls jumped on my bed and sang “Happy Birthday”. We did not have time for breakfast in bed being that it is a school morning, but I did get to open a few presents. David also brought me a cup of coffee. Not a bad way to start the day. If I have to face “35” a good cup of coffee will surely help!

Here is a story for the record book. On Tuesday afternoon Katie was coming up from the pool from her swim lesson. I had come up with Amanda already. Katie could not “ring” up to our apartment because my elevator phone was not working. So, she rode the elevator up to the 11th floor with her friend Taylor, then walk the 2 flights back down to the 9th. I opened our door, put the door stop in, and went out in the hall to meet Katie. As we turned to go back into the apartment, we were faced with a CLOSED DOOR. Not only was it closed, it was LOCKED. Amanda was inside. The guards do not have keys to our apartments. I quickly ran upstairs to our friend’s place and called David. He was just getting the taxi and would be home in 30 minutes. I came back down and lay down on the porch floor to look under the door. Just a few moments later Amanda came walking out of the playroom calling ”mommy”. She was not distraught, just looking for me. I had to explain that I was outside the door. She said “mommy in”. I asked her if she could open the door and she came over and I could see under the threshold…she was trying to reach the door knob to no avail. I could smell the fish baking away in the oven. This is not good. Don’t panic. David will be home soon. Katie was getting a little upset at the fact that we were locked out and Amanda was in there all by herself. Amanda did not seem too bothered…she said ”I go watch TV” and walked back down to the playroom. She was gone about another 6 or 7 minutes and came back out again. I explained (all the while lying down on the hard floor trying to look under the door), that we could not come in. Could she help mommy by getting the key out of my coin purse? She could not reach it…it was up on my desk. I coached her: “Go get the stool from your bathroom”. She left and returned with the stool. I talked her through putting the stool up by the desk, standing up on it, and reaching for the coin purse. She got it! The rest is a piece of cake…she loves taking that key out of my purse and unlocking the door when we come home. She got the key out and walked over by the door. I asked her to slide the key under the door. A foreign concept for her…I don’t think she really understood that. So she said “mommy do”. I explained it again…put the key on the floor and push it under the little crack. SHE DID IT! We were in and celebrating Amanda…”what a big girl!”…”what a big helper!”. You deserve a treat! On my gosh…the fish! I called David, then my neighbor. David got home about 15 minutes later. Amanda saved the day. This was one of my worst nightmares come true, but it all turned out ok. My friend now has one of my spare keys hidden outside her apartment (We have no where to hide it outside our place…no mat, no plant, etc). I learned my lesson.

Posted 8:11 AM by Anne Wilhoit
Two in school? Well, almost. Katie starts first grade tomorrow. We have met her teacher, finished the paperwork, seen her classroom, and found out who is in her class. She was excited to find out that her friend Lucy will be in her class. They were in class together last year and have shared some play dates. Katie also knows a few of the other children but is looking forward to making “new” friends too. Katie’s new teacher has been teaching first grade for 15 years and seems like a delight. We are anxious to get things started although after having Katie around for the last 2 months, I think I’m really going to miss her during the day. Which brings me to Amanda. She started “school” yesterday. It is a little pre-school program from 9-1 on Monday and Wednesday. The academy is called Kinderland and it is at the local Shopping Mall, Great World City. So, the plan is after Katie boards the bus in the morning I will walk Amanda over to her class. I can leave the stroller there, walk home and have a few hours to myself for working out, doing paperwork, and who knows?...maybe I’ll even put a picture or two in a photo album! I’ll keep you posted on how Amanda does because there were a lot of tears yesterday.
I took my first tennis lesson in over 12 years yesterday. It was very frustrating! There are a few gals around here who are starting to play a little so I’m hoping to as well. I definitely need some lessons and practice before even trying to play a game. So, we will see how it goes. I have to wait another week to see if the instructor’s schedule will work with mine. This morning, I’m feeling some muscles in my back which I have not felt in a while!
We are off to go get ready for an outing to the zoo today!

Posted 5:51 PM by David Wilhoit
Just a few quick Amanda stories:

Yesterday, I was holding Amanda and told her she had a beautiful face. She then pointed to and stated eyes. I replied yes you have beautiful eyes. We quickly went from ears, mouth, chin, hair. I then turned the question on her and asked if there was anything on her face that WASN'T beautiful. She thought a momment and replied "BOOGGERs".

Today we went to the wet market. Walking past a vendor selling meat and fish Amanda stopped to look into a cage. Seeing it filled with frogs the comment for the next ten minutes was, "FROGGIES COME HOME". I didn't have the heart to tell her that these weren't pets.

Posted 8:01 AM by Anne Wilhoit
The suitcases are unpacked and finally everything is put away! We are feeling a little bit back to normal here in Singapore. Everyone is sleeping pretty well and although we are still waking up early (5:30) that is ok because school starts in a week and Katie will have to get up at 6:00. We will just keep on our current schedule although it is a little tempting to want to sleep in since we don’t HAVE to get up for school right now. Amanda is fighting a little cold and a very itchy foot. She has some sort of rash although the doctor assures us it is not hand/foot/mouth disease. It has really bothered her the last few days, but she has awoken this morning and so far has yet to mention it.

For those of you who have not heard or did not see us, we had a fantastic 7 week “tour” of California for our first “home leave”. As David has previously written, the girls and I made it to several places in California and spent cherished time with family and friends. Katie got to participate in a week-long soccer camp which taught her the basic skills and the rules of the game. She is looking forward to playing this fall at school. She also attended Seafari camp at Marine World with her cousins Jacqueline and Christina. The girls enjoyed learning about the animals, meeting trainers, doing crafts, and playing games. There were frequent trips to the local parks with both sets of grandparents, a trip to Lake Tahoe, a trip to the California Central Coast town of Pismo Beach, and several other trips, activities, and get-togethers. At times, it was a little tiring keeping up with the girls and moving around from place to place, but as we reflect back we will remember all the fun we had! I made it back to Singapore in fairly decent shape after traveling the whole way with the girls without David. It was long and tiring but overall, the trip went well and although they did not sleep too much thee girls were generally well behaved. Katie really helped out with Amanda too.

What is going on in Singapore? National Day was celebrated on Friday. We decided to stay away from the activities and watched them on TV. The National Day Parade is a display of the Singaporean Armed Forces. It is followed by a huge “show” - something like a mini-version of the Olympic opening ceremonies. At one point, the announcers were explaining how much rehearsal time went into the performance and mentioned how the performers really had to work hard and “brave the elements”. Katie, in turn, said…”what? Now they are bringing on Elephants?” It was a classic misunderstanding of the words, but none of us would have been surprised if elephants would have been part of the show. Around the island, there are decorations and flags everywhere. The local housing flats are very uniform in the display of one flag after the other, hanging over the balconies.

The weather has actually been very mild compared to our normal Singaporean weather. The humidity has been a lot lower which makes the heat much more bearable. We are wondering how long it will last! It was actually really enjoyable being out in the pool while the sun was out, rather than waiting for the pool to be shaded.

That’s about it for now. There is sure to be more to report as school gets started and activities gear up for the fall! We may even sign Amanda up for pre-school today. Wow, pre-school…time is flying. Love to all and God Bless America.

Posted 10:05 PM by David Wilhoit
So as you have noticed, we haven't been too diligent about updating the web site over the summer. We have been traveling quite a bit (to say the least). Anne and the girls went back to the US on June 17th returning to Singapore on this Wednesday, August 7th. I will leave the details for Anne to fill in later but they by no means have been sitting back and relaxing. They have gone to Pismo Beach, Napa twice, Santa Rosa, Tahoe, and between Saratoga (my parents) and San Mateo (Anne's parents) 287 times. This was acutally a guess.