Hot Enough for Ya?

Today was the hottest day here yet. The real feel temperature was 105. Stupid me, I walked around in it for more than three hours total. Yes. Three hours pushing a double stroller loaded up with two kids and a backpack! What in the world is wrong with me? Obviously, my brain is baked from the heat.

By the way, my new do did not hold up. When you're that hot and sweaty, even the best of hair cuts don't hold work. Heck, if I'm being honest, I looked like I'd been swimming - that's how wet my hair was by the time I got home. Oh I also heard that EVERY place here charges what I paid and most color doesn't come out as good as mine. So... I guess that's something. 

To dodge the heat, me and my short hairdo - and oh, yea the kids - met Heather and Mason at a playspace on the Singapore River at Clarke Quay. I should have taken a taxi, but no - I walked in the extreme heat - to a place to get cool. I'm feeling about as bright as a 10 watt bulb.

The place is called Royce's Gym. I was very excited to go because it's billed as a sensory gym which is a perfect place for Maisie, my sensory child. Turns out, it's not as much of a sensory gym as it is just a great play area. I have never, ever seen so many toys in one place. Seriously. Toys R Us has nothing on this place. 

Hudson stuck by the double train table most of the time though he also found the car ramps fascinating. Maisie? She was all about the Barbies. Forget all the sensory swings and other things that would be good for focusing her. There was just no separating her from the two dozen or more long-legged, perky-breasted dolls. 

 

We grabbed lunch and they were both asleep before I even got to the door of the mall. So I walked to the salon to pick up something I left there yesterday, then walked home. I was sure I'd melt like the Wicked Witch of the West - all to keep my little ones napping. Hudson has to learn to nap in his bed. That's it!

One of the things that's been hard here is that we have very few toys with us. Keeping two toddlers busy all day without playthings has been a Herculean challenge. I flip on the TV the very minute they're both out of bed to keep them from running around screaming to appease the cranky, kid-hating neighbors. Most days, the kids and I do a new "Singapore thing" and go swimming, but there are a lot of empty hours that all the coloring books and LeapPad games in the world just won't fill.

Watching the kids today, I knew what I had to do:

I bought a memebership to Royce's. If I take a taxi, it's not all that far. If we go just once a week until we leave, the membership will pay for itself. A kid's job is to play and that's hard to do when they don't have any toys. Cheryl will take them again tomorrow while I.... ready for this... HOUSE HUNT! I figure I better see what's here in case we do end up coming back full time. I love looking at real estate so I'm pumped! I just hope the realtor has an air-conditioned car!

Meanwhile, Maisie is STILL awake and it's 2.5 hours past her bedtime! Tom is out for a business dinner and I'm watching yet more educational TV - about the only thing in English is Discovery, BBC, TLC and the like. I'm learning so much!