discovering the joy of play outdoor with kids..

About 3 months ago, I wrote a post to encourage parents putting down their smart phone and spending more time with kids. So during this 3 months period, I did follow the 3 suggestions I gave to myself, and other parents about how to cut down time spent on phone.

Just in case you might be wondering, did I end up spending more time with my kids? Definitely! And how's the result??? I must say I am extremely satisfied so far, Renzo being the usual Renzo still have his little drama episodes at times but overall I think he's getting back on the right track! The result on Rynus is indeed even more obvious. He's getting more and more interactive, vocal and expressive. The worries about our late bloomer's "speech delay" (as compared to Renzo only) were all gone by now.

Especially during the past 3 weeks, we've sent our be loved helper back to her hometown for her son's primary school graduation. And she will only be back in another 2.5 weeks, right that's a total of 5.5 weeks holiday for her, hooray!!! So this, allows forces us to spend a lot more time with the boys outdoor. By the way, the whole Chan family is pretty homely kind except for little Rynus who seems to enjoy playing outdoor more. So in the past when we have our hardworking helper maintaining the house spick and span at all times, we didn't mind letting the kids lazying their entire Saturday and Sunday off on the couch. But now, we rather bring them out during the weekends, time flies faster, their energy get exhausted faster, and we can clean up the mess at home faster also, considering there won't be much mess since most of the time we are all out.

So during our 1st "maid-less" weekend, we made an impromptu trip to Malaysia Legoland and stayed 1 night at their Legoland resort hotel. Daddy Chan's last minute decision to visit "The Little Big Club" nearby was brilliant! Hearing the boys' loud cheers upon seeing their favorite Thomas Train made the trip all worthwhile, and being able to take a ride on it, is definitely a dream come true to them.

 

I had so much fun editing a simple video clip from that trip and seeing the boys sitting down side by side to watch it again and again, made me chuckle nonstop with them too. 

And nothing beats this marvelous piece of drawing from Renzo a few days after our trip, he did it purely based on his memory about the legoland hotel, water park, theme park, and even the traffic jam at the custom.

During our 2nd "maid-less" weekend, we brought the kids to Wild Wild Wet at Downtown East to enjoy some wet play time with their cousins. And also to Pasir Ris Park for the boys to practice some cycling skills and get rewarded with their ice creams on the beach.

 

And during our 3rd "maid-less" weekend, since the boys have had enough water play and sun tanning, we brought them on Rynus' favorite 518 bus ride to Renzo's favorite indoor playhouse - Cool de Sac and Suntec City. Although Renzo seems to have outgrown his interest in this playhouse, and Rynus seems to only enjoy the first half of his bus ride, they both slept peacefully on their journey home after a short few hours of play.

Outdoor play is a great way to encourage parents give their undivided attention to kids, no time for phones except for taking pictures and videos. We forged deep bonds with the boys by playing with them and there are just so much more laughter and pleasure in moving up and down the slides or dipping in the water (than reading a book at home of course). I got a strong sense of accomplishment while watching them build their muscles along with their imagination and confidence. I feel so proud hanging out with my children and playing like a kid myself. And we have so much more fun topics to share after lights off time at night in bed!