This was our daily morning life in the USA…. can you see why Hunter didn’t want to leave? :)

Waking up to a picture-perfect view out the window

Preparing breakfast at home

“WAHEY it’s a brand new day!”, says Dancing Baby

All rugged up and ready to head out

The Cheesecake Factory is a must-visit for me every time I visit the USA.. and thankfully they have branches in all the areas I’ve been in over the past few years, so I’ve had no worries popping into one.

What’s strange about The Cheesecake Factory is that all the branches I’ve ever been to are in stand-alone buildings. They’re usually back-to-back with a big mall, not inside the mall like what you’d expect. The area inside is huge, with high ceilings, and very cozy.

Service has always been excellent there. Then again, I’ve always found service pretty superb in the USA – guess it’s one of the benefits of having a tipping culture!

The Cheesecake Factory

The warmly-lit interior

I actually really like their ‘regular’ menu which features superb Popcorn shrimp, burgers, fries etc etc. But this time, we were just there for drinks and dessert. Obviously, their cheesecake menu is GIGANTIC. The difficult problem being, it’s pretty difficult deciding on just ONE cheesecake for yourself! The slices are pretty large too, so little-to-no chance of you being able to finish 2 slices yourself.

Obviously I coudn’t resist the Red velvet cheesecake! It looked really luscious… and the red velvet cake really was lovely. Very moist, dense and paired very well with the creamy cheesecake. I think that it should’ve been 70/30 red velvet to cheesecake ratio though, instead of 50/50, but that’s just me!

Red velvet cheesecake

Dad opted for the Pumpkin cheesecake which was cheesecake blended with pumpkin. It didn’t excite me, mainly because I found it weird having a pumpkin-flavoured cheesecake?? It was very creamy though and my parents enjoyed it.

Pumpkin cheesecake and Hot chocolate

Oh, my aunt also has this giant tractor thing, which is a grass cutter (to mow her gigantic lawn). Guess who went a little wild over it?

Hunter likes vehicles. Just a little bit.

We spent one wonderful week in the Princeton area and its surroundings. It was really nice to wander around the areas, poke our noses around, and generally enjoy ourselves. There wasn’t actually that much to do in terms of shopping or dining, so it was more of a laid-back week for us.

Though… we did find a Walmart!! An absolutely GIGANTIC one, which really delighted Mum and I as we could explore it for hours. Literally, because Hunter took his normal 2-hour nap in the stroller and so we could wander around checking it all out.

It was fun :)

People there did think we were mad, but here we are taking a photo in Walmart!

I never thought a simple grilled cheese sandwich would be exciting, but this was FREAKIN’ AMAZING.

No trip to the USA is complete without a visit to Cinnabon.. one of my holy grails

Had a Whoopie Pie (soft chocolate cake with marshmallow cream) for the first time. So yummy!

Dunno what possessed me to get a Dunkin Donut, since they’re in both SG and AU. Thought it’d be awesome in the USA, but nope… only average

Carter absolutely loving being in his carrier. Excuse the girly-outfit, borrowed it off my girl friend’s daughter! Poor child, this photo is probably gonna come back to haunt him in the future ;)

A typical house in the area. Though the hanging dolls aren’t typical, obviously. They were hung there for Halloween!

Outside one of the little cafes we ate at

We found a little farmland type place where Hunter loved running around in the great outdoors, checking out the animals. Most of all, he discovered a proper, working tractor!! OH HAPPINESS AND JOY!!! It was like his dream come true, and I loved seeing his reaction when he got to sit in it. SHEER HAPPINESS was an understatement.

Man vs Wild

Wandering around checking out the sheep

OH BOY A TRACTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lost in his own (tractor) world…

Outside a real life farmhouse

Touching a real pumpkin for the first time (though he tried to pick it up, unsuccessfully)

Earning his keep at the water pump

“That a way, Mum!”

I found the USA really baby-friendly. Loved how the malls had these push cars that we could pop Hunter into, and push him all around. And of course, our wheels-obsessed boy was in seventh heaven! He would have alllll the patience in the world whilst I shopped ;)

“Like my wheels?”

Night times at home were relaxed and the kids’ sleep schedules were basically perfect for almost every night of the entire USA holiday (thank you thank you thank you). They adapted well to jet lag, and didn’t have issues falling asleep. Hunter, in particular, always had his own bed + room.. so he was pleased. Whew!

Skype-ing with Chris

Bathtime at night was full of giggles and fun

Loving his nightly “swim”

“Night night, Daddy!”

“Good night, world”, says the little one, all well-fed and tucked in for the night :)

What happens when you’re brave mad enough to travel with 2 kids under 2…… on a 24-hour flight?

An absolutely epic flight.

Prancing around the airport, happy as a lark. For now…

So it was 3 adults (myself and my parents) with 2 kids, which you’d think would be OK. That’s sort of true, but it made me realise it’s about the bare minimum you need to get all the logistics sorted out when travelling with 2 very young children. Let’s just say we learned a LOT in terms of organization as well as stress management! Also made me realise how critical it is to have parents that are willing to sacrifice their time, effort and sanity to help you out.. all so I could live the dream of going to USA again and seeing my friends, all entirely at their monetary expense. So grateful!!

Waiting for takeoff

To be fair, Carter was an absolute dream. That said, it was expected since he’s so young. I personally think that any baby under 6 months old is guaranteed to be a good traveller – since they do not much at all ;) And that’s exactly what Carter did – he spent the majority of the time snuggled up in the bassinet, sleeping and rousing only to nurse.

EASY!

Carter = dream flight baby

Hunter, on the other hand, was nothing short of a basket case. Normally one helluva excellent sleeper since birth, he had extreme difficulty sleeping on the plane. We’ve since realised he MUST have his own cot and own room in order to sleep.. and be alone. All of which are not possible on the flight, and so he basically went off his rocker with sleep deprivation over the 24 hours.

There were times when he was manic with laughter, jumping all around, being Mr Sociable with anyone and everyone that would give him attention. And there were also times when he was so exhausted he’d go into cranksville and make our lives a misery. Dad in particular went through hell and back, as I was handling Carter, so he was full-time with Hunter who frequently clung onto him and refused to let go for hours on end. There was much struggling, fussing, crying and wailing. It was INSANE.

Hunter = manic flight baby

There WERE rare moments of sleep-time where both kids knocked out.. but there weren’t many and I was way too stressed and hyped up from it that I couldn’t fall asleep myself!

THIS IS BETTER THAN WINNING THE LOTTERY

Basically the only way Hunter would sleep

Needless to say, we were all certified zombies when we got off the flight. Thankfully, Dad suspected this when we booked our trip, so he made sure we stayed overnight in a hotel after the flight, before the l-o-n-g drive the next day to Princeton.

The kids did very well in the car, and basically slept the whole way. Whew! The scenery was simply gorgeous.. so nice seeing autumn in the USA. Beautiful foliage!

Gorgeous views

The scenery.. just wow

Fresh air, sun on my face, wind in my hair… this is the life.

We were staying with my aunt, who has this gigantic house in a small town. IT’S GORGEOUS. The house was so large that we all had a lot of space, and Hunter had his own large bedroom too. In fact, he loved it so much he was declaring it as “home” shortly afterwards!

View from my aunt’s kitchen. The lake is her backyard!

My snuggly bear

A proper, real fireplace!!!

Hunter had a total blast running around outside. The air was cold, but it didn’t seem to bug him one bit. He was happy running around, stomping through the leaves, discovering acorns and big rocks, etc etc… It was wonderful seeing him have so much fun and discover all these new sights and sounds!

Morning walk

Enjoying the fresh air

*stomp stomp stomp*

Hunter and the great outdoors

One of our most memorable meals was a wonderful home cooked lobster dinner by my aunt. Lobster is relatively cheap there compared to Singapore, so we got to indulge! Big fat meaty lobster… dipped in hot melted butter *FAINT*. I could get used to this.

Mr Lobster, mere moments before he got devoured

Clams that were really freaky looking, but tasted awesome!

I LOVE cornbread

We spent a week in the area.. will post about the sights and sounds next!