Grandma | Nyan Thomas L's Blog

A Summer Trip to the USA, Part 2

More from Nyan’s summer 2019 sojourn to the American heartland — a.k.a. Grandma and Grandpa’s place!

Sparklers

Nyan had never played with sparklers before, so we took care of that on this trip. He loved them, and they quickly became a regular part of our evening routine.

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Fun with Uncle Mike

One evening we met Uncle Mike and Aunt Sarah for dinner at this big place that has all these games, including tabletop shuffleboard. (We think that’s the proper name?) Turns out that Nyan was very good at it:

There was also a lot of foosball, on an outdoor patio as a summer thunderstorm rolled in:

And some fun outside rolling an old tire around:

Kite

Grandma and Grandpa bought a kite, so we spent one breezy afternoon prepping it and getting it airborne! It was a lot of fun, until it got tangled in a tree (not pictured).

There were some missteps at first:

But we got it up in the air before long. Well, for a moment anyway:

He got it!

Rabbit

Grandma and Grandpa’s friends Dave and Bernie have a pet rabbit, Bun-Bun. Nyan always enjoys a visit.

Travel

It’s not easy to get from Singapore to Iowa; it involves three airplanes and anywhere between 25 and 30 (or more!) hours of travel, including more than 20 hours actually in the air. It’s worth it, of course, but it’s not the easiest.

But it does give one lots of time to take pictures! Here are a handful, taken at various airports and on various airplanes, including a few at the airport as we were saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa at the end of the trip. On the inbound trip, we were lucky enough to have Daddy’s friend Phil come out to O’Hare airport on a lengthy layover in Chicago for a meal and a catch-up session; Daddy and Nyan were beyond punch drunk, but it was fun — see video below. And also see a video of Nyan excitedly strapping in for the last flight before our final arrival in Iowa!

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Posted by Chris L. on July 21, 2019 in Uncategorized

Tags: family, Grandma, iowa, travel

Day Trip to Pulau Ubin

24 Dec

Nyan had been to Pulau Ubin — a sparsely populated island just offshore from Singapore, home to numerous nature preserves and hiking and biking trails — once before, back in 2015, but that’s more than three years ago. So one Sunday morning, we loaded up Grandma and Grandpa and headed over for some outdoor fun.

To get there, you have to take a 15-minute ride on a small, rickety wooden “bumboat.” It’s quite pleasant.

Once you’re there, you can wander around the tiny port town — which is home mostly to local seafood restaurants and bike rental shops — or you can go hiking or rent a bike. Outisde of the town are monkeys, waterfront trails and even an old Tudor-style house that’s now serving as a slightly run-down museum. We skipped the bikes and took a taxi van to an area called Chek Jawa Wetlands.

Among the attractions here is a somewhat rickety lookout tower, maybe 200 feet tall, offering very nice views over the jungle canopy and the water.

The highlight of Chek Jawa is the boardwalk itself, a couple miles of trail through tidal flats, mangrove forests, jungle and open water. We saw crabs, lobsters, fish, lizards and birds. It was lovely.

Pulau Ubin is definitely a place that should be near the top of the list for any visitor to Singapore. Residents too.

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Posted by Chris L. on December 24, 2018 in Uncategorized

Tags: Grandma, outdoors, Singapore

Sick Day, Basketball, and Learning to Swim

20 Dec

One day in mid-November, Nyan took the day off from school and went to the aquarium with Grandma and Grandpa. He wasn’t feeling that well, so they came home early. A couple hours later, during dinner, he got sick! Poor little guy. He started being feverish a couple hours later; he’d caught a virus! So the next day he called in sick to school and spent most of the day sleeping.

He did manage to get up later in the day for some light food and light reading.

By the next day, the fever was gone and he seemed fine, though we kept him home just to be sure. By the afternoon, he was full of beans and life. Whew. Just a quick 24-hour virus, apparently.

Another day during November, we took Grandma and Grandpa to a Singapore Slingers basketball game. It was, in fact, their opening game of the season, and a fun time was had by all! Even though the team lost.

We also did some swimming during the month, including a lesson with Pang:

Nyan also decided to become a swim instructor himself, helpfully giving extensive tips to Mommy while she swam.

Well done, Teacher Nyan!

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Posted by Chris L. on December 20, 2018 in Uncategorized

Tags: Grandma, health, mommy, swimming

Baking with Grandma and Grandpa

16 Dec

One of the many activities that Nyan did with Grandma and Grandpa was an evening at Fun Siamo, the baking studio in the mall that’s attached to Mommy’s office tower. Mommy and Nyan did it earlier in the fall, you’ll recall, and Nyan couldn’t wait to do some baking with his grandparents.

Even Grandpa got into it.

Check out Nyan’s concentration. He’s becoming a great little chef!

Putting on the final touches (complete with licking the spatula).

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And they’re done. Delicious!

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Posted by Chris L. on December 16, 2018 in Uncategorized

Tags: cooking, Grandma

Grandma and Grandpa Come to Town!

04 Dec

November was a busy month. The highlight was definitely Grandma and Grandpa flying all the way from Iowa to visit Nyan (and Mommy and Daddy) for three weeks. They got up to all sorts of fun, which we’ll be chronicling in upcoming posts. Here’s a first look at some of the general frivolity.

The day they arrived, Nyan and Daddy met them at the airport. (Mommy was in Hong Kong for a brief business trip.) Here’s our boy, anxiously watching for them to arrive at the baggage claim, and then posing while waiting for a taxi.

One evening, we stayed up late (10pm!) to watch the movie E.T. Here’s our boy on the couch with his grandparents.

As any long-time reader of this blog knows, Nyan loves to read. So he did a lot of that with Grandma and Grandpa. See:

Toward the end of their stay, Kathy and Joe — Grandma’s cousins and close friends — happened to be in town for a few days, at the end of a weeks-long cruise through Asia. Kathy and Joe adore Nyan — Kathy came to visit him in New York when he was just a few months old — so we spent a lot of time with them. Here they are one evening, Kathy and Joe (and Grandma and Grandpa) watching as Nyan does his abacus homework.

Nyan of course likes to draw too. Here he is, explaining one of his creations to Grandpa.

Nyan helped Grandma in the kitchen too, peeling potatoes one evening:

He also enlisted their help to put up and decorate the Christmas tree toward the end of the month.

And here are a few pictures of Grandma and Grandpa (and others) out and about in Singapore.

We close with these shots of Nyan and Grandma, just hanging out and enjoying each others’ company.

We’ll have much more about their visit in upcoming posts, so stay tuned!

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Posted by Chris L. on December 4, 2018 in Uncategorized

Tags: family, Grandma

All Sorts of Fun in Iowa

03 Feb

We’re winding down our look at Nyan’s holiday visit to Iowa. Beyond the big events like Christmas Day, a road trip to Chicago and playing in the snow, Nyan’s time at Grandma and Grandpa’s was chock full of smaller but just-as-fun moments. Here are many of them, starting with a random selection of shots:

Here’s a quick video of the boy getting in the holiday spirit:

In the run-up to Christmas day, Nyan spent a fair amount of time “rearranging” and inspecting all the presents. Especially those with his name on them.

He helped Grandma bake cookies. Helped eat them too.

In the spirit of the season, Nyan one day handed Daddy a present he had gotten for him. It was…a tube of lip balm. But the thought was lovely!

Little-known fact: Grandma and Grandpa’s staircase is actually the tallest mountain in the world, and our boy scaled it:

A few more random shots:

Nyan helped Grandpa assemble a model train to run around the base of the Christmas tree, and hang ornaments on the tree too:

He and Grandpa also spent some time working on the train layout in the basement, as they always do.

It wasn’t corn on the cob season, but Nyan requested some, and Grandpa found some for him. It was… not as good as fresh corn in August. But Nyan didn’t seem to mind.

More random photos:

Last but not least: a bouncing Nyan, just bouncing.

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Posted by Chris L. on February 3, 2018 in Uncategorized

Tags: Grandma, iowa

Fun Times in Iowa, Part One

25 Jul

As we’ve seen, Nyan had a blast during his summer trip to the US in June. Train museums, pedal boats, household chores, picnics and playgrounds…. the list goes on.

But Nyan’s the kind of kid who can have fun pretty much anywhere and anytime. Let’s take a look at some of these random spots of fun he managed to have.

There was the time Daddy got him a beginner’s science kit, and Nyan made crystals, globules and all sorts of other science-y stuff.

Or the time we visited some friends of Grandma and Grandpa, and they showed Nyan their pet rabbit.

What about drawing dinosaurs on the sidewalk in chalk? Check.

Probably the most fun he had, though, was just hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Working on math homework, reading, just chilling.

We think Grandma and Grandpa were happy to have Nyan stay with them for a couple weeks. Check out all the gifts and goodies that were waiting on Nyan’s bed when we arrived:

Oh, and how could we forget? Nyan ate quite well in Iowa too.

Up next: even more random photos of random fun in the heartland.

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Posted by Chris L. on July 25, 2017 in Uncategorized

Tags: Grandma, iowa

Chores Around the House

12 Jul

During our summer trip to the US, Grandma somehow got Nyan to help out on any number of household chores. Like loading the dishwasher:

And watering the plants:

Also washing out some old planting pots, for some reason.

Obviously he’s having a blast there. Maybe that’s the key to chore-doing. He certianly enjoyed baking:

And sewing too:

Now if we can just get him to clean up his toys without being asked…

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Posted by Chris L. on July 12, 2017 in Uncategorized

Tags: Grandma, house, iowa

Return to (Iowa) City Park

09 Jul

After a few days in California, it was off to Iowa for a couple weeks with Grandma and Grandpa. One of the many places we hit up was… Iowa City’s City Park.

Yes, we have been here before. And yes, the name is just as creative as it’s always been. Whatever; it’s a lovely place right along the river, with trees, playing fields, open space, and an area with a few kid-sized rides like a merry-go-round, baby ferris wheel and a working (miniature) train on a quarter-mile oval track. Nyan’s always loved this park, and this time was no different. In fact, we went there a couple times on this visit to the homeland.

Did I mention there are ducks? There are ducks.

And rides too. Every kid loves the rides. Especially the plane.

Don’t forget the merry-go-round.

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But of course, the crème de la crème is the train. Here we had to wait patiently as it finished a run:

And a few runs around the track, with Grandma, with Grandpa, even with Daddy.

Nyan loved the train so much that he took several walks along the entire length of the track.

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The park, the train and the rides have all been there since Daddy was a boy – even before that, surely – and we hope they’ll still be there for many years to come!

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Posted by Chris L. on July 9, 2017 in Uncategorized

Tags: Grandma, iowa, outdoors

Day Trip with Grandma and Grandpa

04 Nov

During our September sojourn in Iowa, Grandma and Grandpa took Nyan for a day trip to the Mississippi River town of Dubuque. They have this cool museum that’s mostly about the river, its dams and its ships. Nyan was pretty into it: