It is almost becoming a tradition for my side of the family to get together during National Day
It used to be just another public holiday for us but since the kids came along, National Day celebration takes on a new meaning
It’s like many things in our lives that change after we became parents
Many of the mundane became not so mundane
One of the greatest joy as a parent is seeing the eyes of the kids light up at the simplest discoveries
Sometimes during the event’s weekly rehearsal, while the dad was away
I packed the kids in the car just about bedtime and made a dash to town just to catch the fireworks display
We got lucky once and caught a glimpse of the display while cruising along the highway
The kids were thrilled
So far, we have not been successful in getting enough tickets for everyone to be at the parade and we almost always ended up in a hotel room that offers a bird’s eye view of the event
It isn’t cheap perhaps even a little extravagant but we reckoned that money can’t always buy happiness….if it can….spend it
So this year, we did the same even when the dad couldn’t join us as he had to work
Everyone came with food and my husband and I spent the night cooking
It was tiring but worth it
We reached town early and were out parading in patriotic colours with flags in hand soon after checking into the hotel
Everyone seems to be in a party mood and the gaiety is contagious
It makes me happy just walking on the streets, mingling with the crowd under the blistering heat
The kids weren’t very happy though to be sitting still and taking pictures
They were happier roaming the streets with flags in hands
or climbing barricade
watching the crowd streamed by
we met an inspiring young man who set himself a challenging task of photographing 46 faces for National Day
He was here with an umbrella in hand to help shield off the glare from the harsh sunlight, determined to get a shot of Marcus
He was at his 5th when he took this shot of Marcus
Edited : you can find his work on Facebook here and his online portfolio here
We took many pictures and by the time the fireworks came on, my camera battery was totally flat
I ended up taking this picture with my camera phone
Not a perfect shot but we had a perfect evening celebrating the country’s birthday with our family
well almost …. it will be 100% perfect if the dad was there to join us
