16th November 2009...

My family finally arrived in Ames... I was waiting for the bus to go to Monday's evening class, and I saw Adik drove the van, with 4 familiar faces in it. Kinda excited, I ran to greet them at the parking lot -- and ended taking the next bus to class..

19th November 2009...

I took Daddy, Angah and Apit to the campus for sightseeing.. Let them see the place where Adik and I study, and also let Daddy walked down memory lane looking at the places where his classes were held during his undergrad...We covered most of the grounds..including Jack Trice Stadium.. I was pretty ecstatic myself, as I never been to the Athletic Facilities..

L to R: Daddy, Me, Apit and Angah

We decided to start our trip by going to the Minnesota.. Before that, we rented a Chevy Tahoe for the whole week (9 days)..

Hubby besides the Tahoe

In front of the huge Christmas Tree in The Mall of America

The next day, we went to the St. Anthony Waterfall, The Art Museum and tour around The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. We had lunch at the Marina Grill and Deli, and drove back to Ames in the evening.

My siblings, the 4 of us -- Apit, Me, Angah and Adik

Hubby and I

We arrived in Ames around 9pm.. So we got the next day to rest before we continued our journey to Chicago and Detroit... We did not do any shopping while in Minnesota, as all of us were waiting for the Black Friday deals..

Semalam, anak dara mommy dah pun 2 thn.. dah besar dah... dan makin mengada2 sekarang... huhuh.... So sempena birthday dia yang kedua ni, of course la aku and En Suami belikan birthday present untuk dia... we all ni punya la beria-ia tempah hadiah tu awal bulan ari tu, sbb expected shipping dalam 2 weeks... kira sedang eloklah kalau sampai minggu ni... nak dijadikan cerita, dalam 3 hari je dah sampai dah birthday present tu... since aku order present tu kat walmart.com, we all pilih option Site-to-Store, means tak de shipping cost since walmart deliver item tu kat branch dia yg nearest dgn umah... So around 2 week ago, punyalah excited nak gi amik present Fatihah tu.. (aku yg terlebih excited ngalahkan birthday girl)... mana taknya, hadiah tu besar... jeng jeng jeng... nak tau apa hadiahnya...

Toddler Coupe.. comel, kan? hehe... sebab we all pakat nak beli benda ni pun sblm2 ni, dia suka betul main kereta ni (jiran Jaja punya)... dia punyalah suka bila tgk hadiah birthday ni... tak habis2 tunjuk "Car..car.." Haa.. apalagi, balik tu terus la pasang... bertungkus lumus jejaka2 tu pasangkan kereta.. aku cuma jadi pemerhati... hehe...

Masa tgh pasang tu, si kecik ni punya la tak sabar, merengek2 nak duduk dalam car dia tu... puaslah pujuk suruh sabar dulu... mengamuk sampai meraung nak duduk dalam car... isk isk... features coupe tu mmg menarik... ada ruang letak brg kat belakang, ada hon and stering...

Puas hati... dah dapat duduk... makanya, sampai tgh malam sibuk nak main car... huhuhu....

Kek ice-cream Midnight Delight

Talking Elmo

Rasa cam tak caya je Fatihah dah besar... tapi masih lagi tak nak stop susu badan... huhuhu... ari tu dah try letak kopi, tapi yg kelakarnya dia belasah jugak... isk isk isk.... ni aku tgh nak try cara lain pulak... ari tu ada org tanya, Fatihah dah pandai buat apa skrg? Mcm2... mulut tu asyik bercakap aje walaupun ada antaranya tu tak tau le apa yg dia cakap... becok betul.. yg paling kelakar bila dia suka tiru aku tgh cakap on the phone... masa tu dia sibuk juga nak bercakap sambil pegang handset mainan... aku gelak dia gelak, aku cakap dia pun ikut cakap jugak... Fatihah, Fatihah.. yg paling kitorang tak daya nak tahan gelak tu bila dia sibuk suruh daddy online.."Appa..(grandpa)... onyain(online).." kalau daddy tak online mesti dia mengamuk... hahaha.... macam2 la anak mommy ni....

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY!! MOMMY LOVE TIHAH :))

Walaupun dah seminggu Aidilfitri berlalu, kami ingin mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada mama, daddy, apit and angah di KL, mak di Jengka, sanak saudara, sahabat handai dan rakan2 sekalian di KPTM Kuantan, Kolej Komuniti Kuantan, UiTM, dan mereka yang mengenali kami di mana jua anda berada. Maaf zahir dan batin.

Tunggu punya tunggu, at last keluar gak la kat Salam Perantauan Kosmo! 20 Sept 2009 :))

Sejak semester bermula, aku tak de masa nak jenguk blog. Walaupun aku amik 10 jam kredit -- 3 kelas (statistik, construction acct and financial mgmt, intro to basic research), mmg tak cukup masa nak bersenggang/melepak...I was pretty much occupied with research work... 40 jam seminggu kena keje ye... well, nak komplen pun tak leh, dah aku cari penyakit nak smbung belajar, so ni la nya... hehe...

Kellas kan? Jadi jugak aku buat nasi kerabu sendiri... lepas la kempunan kat nasi kerabu pok jit walaupun tak de la sesedap pok jitnyer...En Suami punya suka smpi minggu depannya aku buat nasi kerabu sekali lagi... isk... bangga dgn diri sendiri... hehe....

Aku ni jarang nak tayang2 apa yg aku masak sbb aku selalu rasa aku tak pandai masak... huhu.... aku selalu cakap kat org yg aku selalu "baling2" je bahan masa masak.. hahaha.... tapi kali ni exceptional kes... maklumlah first timer masak nasi kerabu....

Selain tu, aku ada gak la buat karipap, murtabak mini, all kinds of Nasi -- tomato, ayam, minyak, hujan panas... haha.... kekadang tu belasah western food je -- burger, pasta, etc... Bila dah masak hari2, sampai satu tahap dah tak tau nak masak apa dah, and dah bosan makan semua benda... huhu... so insya allah ahad ni nak gi Minneapolis -- berbuka kat sana dgn Kak Rosita and Abg Fazli nyer famili.. restoran Marina Grill tu serius sedap and byk choice pulak tu.... suka..suka...

Sebelum aku penn-off, aku nak cerita kisah aku yg betul2 terlupa pasal anniversary aku... aku ni jenis yg selalu ingat tarikh2 penting ni.. tapi sbb terlalu busy dgn mcm2 and fikirian pun dah tak tentu hala, anniversary sendiri pun boleh lupa... cesss... baru 3 thn kawin, dah lupa, belum berpuluh2 tahun lagi... isk isk isk.... nak tau macamana aku boleh teringat? Ha... kisahnya masa baca paper online pasal anniversary Siti Nurhaliza... utk pengetahuan Siti kawin 2 hari after aku kawin... sambil2 baca news tu, aku cakap la kat En Suami, apasal paper dok citer pasal anniversary Siti, padahal lambat lagi.... lepas tu terus terlintas dlm kepala yg dia kawin 2 hari lewat dari aku, aku terus cakap kat En Suami -- Ya Allah, camane leh lupa anniversary kawin ni? huhu... En Suami pun lupa jugak... dia pulak mmg jenis tak ingat tarikh2 ni.... makanya aku la yg kena ingat, bila aku lupa, tak jadi apa la... haha.... So sampai sudah tak celebrate lagi... nnt2 la tu... buat sekali harung dgn birthday aku, boleh???

Isk.... still tak caya yg aku lupa anniversary sendiri.... huhuhu

Kalau minggu yang sebelum tu kitorang gi fishing shopping, the week after tu pulak kitorang gi Iowa State Fair kat Des Moines. Aku tau.. citer dah basi.. tapi nak gak citer nih... hehe... so citernya, pagi Sabtu 2 minggu yang lalu, bertolak dari umah pkl 10 pg mcmtu, smpi tapak State Fair tu dlm pukul 12 lebih... seperti biasa la kan.. bila ada ekspo/karnival mcm ni mmg jam ah kawasan, semua kenderaan berpusu2 nak cari tpt parking... dari exit nak masuk ke tapak State Fair tu punyalah berbaris kenderaan... selepas sejam dalam kesesakan tu, dapatlah kitorang parking.. itupun depan rumah orang... dahlah kena bayar even though tak semahal parking lot State Fair tu, tapi time tu la local people nak buat duit -- by charging for parking space..

Cuaca time tu ok lagi.. tak panas sgt.. redup je... orang punya la ramai... mcm semut je rupanya... oh sblm terlupa, baiklah aku cerita apa kebenda Iowa State Fair (ISF) tu... Every year, Iowa akan buat mcm karnival/ekspo/pesta/funfair (semua dlm satu la kiranya) and mmg macam2 ada la kat tpt tu, dari perlbagai booth ke makanan, games and funfair rides...

Kalau pergi funfair mcm ni mestilah kena naik rides tu semua.. kalau tak, tak best ah kan... makanya, kitorang pun pilih la rides mana yg rasa mcm nak naik.. Adik memang nak naik rides yang mencabar aje.... yang aku and En Suami pulak pilih rides yang biasa je.. tambahan la aku ni penakut nak mampus... nak naik yg extreme2 ni kan.. haha...

Haishhh... lambat lagi hapdet... makin busy hoccay.. byk je citer nak post kat sini... tapi busy + malas (aku macam ada perasaan dah malas nak menulis blog... apasal eh?)..anyway... last 2 weekend, kitorang gi picnic + fishing kat Ankeny... Saylorville Lake and Big Creek State Park.. saje je sbb jejaka kat rumah sibuk nak gi fishing.. even though I am not a big fan of fishing, gi jelah.. nak gak tgk pemandangan ala2 tepi laut.. hehe...

Lepas makan tu, Mr Hubby and Adik cari port nak fishing lak... tapi kawasan fishing tu mcm jauh je dgn shelter... sbb kitorang bawak Fatihah... so malas nak duduk tepi2 tasik tu... dengan keadaan dia yg suka jalan ke sana sini, takut je dia nak masuk tasik tu... huhu... so kitorang decide gi pulak Saylorville lake, tengok keadaan kat situ camane... Masing2 mmg kagum ah dgn keluasan lake tu.. seakan tak percaya lak kat Iowa ada lake sebesar itu.. yg Mat2 and Minah2 Saleh ada aje menempel nak meng'sun bathing'kan diri... konon2 mcm kat tepi pantai... isk isk isk... masa tu dahlah pukul 12 tghari, panas terik gila2... diorang ni pakat jemurkan badan... tak koserrrr aku.... punyalah sukanya diorang kat matahari... haha...

Saylorville Lake and Dam

So... kesimpulannya, tak jadi la nak fishing sbb tak de port yg best.. lagipun masa tu tghari panas terik gila2.. makanya last minute nyer decision, we all gi Ankeny, konon2 nak tgk2 la TJ Maxx Store tu... Kak Rosita asyik cerita betapa murahya brg2 branded kat kedai tu... aku yang mmg berniat nak shopping baju sehelai dua ni pun .. apalagi... tuju je la sana... hehe..

Apanya nak fishing... dah lari dari agenda dah ni... hehe... so bila balik Ames kitorang pergi Ada Hayden Park, dengan harapan nak fishing la pulak... sudah disangka, kalau bawak si kecik tu mmg tak jadi la... last2 aku ngan fatihah balik, tinggal jejaka2 tu berfishing sampai maghrib... tapi tak dapat ikan pun... haha... 1st time kan... tak pe ah....

Sejak hari tu, ada la 3 kali lagi diorang gi mancing... kali kedua tu tak dpt ikan gak... kali ketiga dapatlah 4 ekor ala2 ikan kembung... hahaha... yg last baru ni? hambek ko... 19 ekor kekdahnya... pueh ati makan... hehehe....

Last weekend (Fri - Sun), kitorang pergi Minnesota -- specifically, Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding area. So dlm pkl 12tgh Jumaat tu bertolak, sampai Minneapolis around 3pm (byk kali stop kat rest area.. hehe). Kitorang stay kat Motel 6 Mall of America. So sesudah check-in, lepak kejap and makan2, then pergi ronda kat Mall of America (MOA). Konon2 tengok la apa2 yg menarik utk dilawati.. so lepas ronda2 kitorang decide nak gi masuk tengok Underwater Adverture ngan explore Nickolodeon Universe utk esoknya.. tapi serius mmg happening ah MOA tu.. selayaknya digelar MOA.. besar gila.. tak terjalan satu Mall tu ..

Esoknya pepagi kitorang gi kat area Stone Arch Bridge - Falls of St. Anthony. Kiranya kawasan empangan and sungguh la cantik dan berangin kawasan tu.. spend masa around sejam macam tu, then pergi makan kat kedai Arab - Marina Grill and Deli. Buffetnya reasonable and choice pun byk.. maklumlah, kitorang dah lama tak mkn daging halal kat restoran, makanya pulun ah cukup2.. hehe.. best2 and sedap food dia... sampai plan nak gi lagi mkn esok. Haha...



Next place nak visit pulak, Bakken Museum.. ni museum electric -- kiranya semua asal usul electric and electronik, power dsb semua ada dlm museum ni. Sesuailah kitorang gi, dah En Suami and Adik org electrical, kan.. mmg best ah dalam museum tu sbb ada mcm2 alat and gadget yg menunjukkan berbagai eksperimen dan bagaimana electric terhasil.. mmg bunyi agak ilmiah tapi mmg fun ah.. Kat tingkat atas museum tu, ada satu bilik -- bilik tu bilik Frankenstein, dlm bilik tu ada props semua, then ada satu switch yg bila tekan, ada suara yg akan start cerita pasal Frankenstein and ada lighting effects sepanjang cerita tu.. knowing me yg penakut, takdenya aku nak masuk bilik tu, duduk dgr cerita tu... Adik and En Suami je yg masuk... aku tunggu luar.. haha... ni ha gambar bilik tu... aku dok imagine Frankenstein tu kalau tetiba dia bgn.. mati ketakutan aku weh... haha...

Seterusnya dalam agenda pulak konon2 nak ke Como Zoo, tapi sampai je kat sana, punyalah penuh nak mampus dgn kenderaan and orang.. takde tempat parking langsung.. sampai parking area depan rumah2 org pun kena kebas... since kitorang nak gi MOA semula, we all decide lain kali je ah gi zoo. So perjalanan diteruskan ke MOA -- specifically ke Nickolodeon Universe and Underwater Adventures.


Masa kat Nickolodeon Universe tu, kitorang mmg excited la.. mana taknya, dapat jumpa Spongebob, Kai Lan, Backyardigans -- org tua yg lebih2, yg budak senyap je.. takut sbb character tu besar dari kartun.. hehe... then kitorang gi la kat area yg main games then dapat hadiah tu.. Adik main game baling bola pingpong dlm bekas yg bergerak and aku pulak main basketball hoop. Tak sangka lak, Adik dapat hadiah besar -- ni dia hadiahnya...



Aku pula yg melompat sebab excited gile.. maklumlah.. aku tak pernah menang main game mcm tu... haha... bangga seh dapat hadiah besar walaupun bkn aku yg dapatkan... haha...

Habis kat situ, kitorang masuk Underwater Adventures tu, best ah sbb byk sgt ikan2... Fatihah pulak mmg suka tgk fish... ikan ni pun ada...




The next day pulak, lepas je check out dari motel, terus tuju ke Outlet ... sampai je sana, aku rasa macam org gila... imagine la... ada 100 kedai, semua best2.. ada sale lak tu... mana satu nak gi dulu... lepas tu larat ke tak aku nak tawaf the whole area... gatal kepala wehhh... masuk kedai Nike je sejam lebih... we all semua beli sport shoes..adik siap beli jam Nike... then aku masuk Carters, beli kasut Fatihah... bila masuk kedai Coach, gila sekejap aku dibuatnya menengokkan pameran handbag2 yg harganya sgt reasonable... huhuhu... tapi sebab si kecik tu dah start grumpy, aku masuk je la mana2 kedai yg patut... ingat nanti Thanksgiving Break nak gi sana lagi shopping sakan dgn Mama and Daddy... tu baru best... hehe...


Lepas tu sempat la kitorg singgah lagi makan kat Marina Grill and Deli tu before balik Ames... so... tu cerita last week... ermm... mmg la best gi vacation2 ni... lepas tu rasa malas je bila pikir semester yg akan bermula 2 minggu lagi...anyway, plan utk esok? Gi fishing + picnic kt Polk County...

July is approaching towards the end. There goes another month, and then comes another. It's still summer, though... perfect time for vay-kay or roadtrip. Nothing new and exciting for me at the moment, just doing my thing.. day in day out..

Speaking of roadtrip, it was pretty exciting to hear stories from Kak Rosita who has been travelling for two weeks -- went to 14 states. Cool, huh? Not to mention Kak Nor and her family -- 11 States. These people seriously were having sooo much fun and enjoyed themselves! Kak Rosita and family -- I bet when she got here, they must be so damn tired.. just imagine, they just got back from Malaysia the night before, and the next day off to travel -- despite the jetlag, not to mention the time difference. Never in a million years I could do such thing! Haha... memang salutelah Kak Rosita and Abg Jalal...:))

I'm kinda excited for this coming fall. Why? New semester , of course! Ye ye aje... well, actually it was exciting for us that Daddy and mama, together with Angah and Apit -- confirmed their flight and Insya Allah will be coming over. What else would be more exciting than having the big family here? Tentatively they will be coming over mid November, and will stay here for a month. Well, god timing, guys ... we are sooo going to hit the outlets and malls during the thanksgiving break! Hell, yeah! Shopping time... wohoooo.... and we got to celebrate Aidil Adha together, too!

To end our slow summer months, we plan on going to Minnesota next Friday, and will be back on Sunday. It's time for us to have the taste of summer, so to speak. Haha. Well, kinda chillin' before Ramadhan and school starts. We'll be going to Mall of America, Albertville Outlet store, and other must-visit places. Everything has been reserved and planed -- just waiting for next week to arrive!

Ni kisah masa Father's Day dua minggu sudah...:)) Aku tau mmg aku lambat hapdet citer kat blog... mcm2 hal... so anyway, masa Father's Day yg lepas, kami pergi ke Reiman Garden (Iowa State punya taman bunga + dinosaur).. Summer ni mmg bestlah pergi... cuaca masa tu sgtlah teriknya.. Reiman Garden ni ada byk bhgian.. 1st kitorang gi Butterfly area... mmg kawasan tu kea cover dgn huge net so butterfly tu tak de la terlepas keluar... Fatihah punya la suka tgk butterfly... mmg jinak2 butterfly kat situ...

The Reiman Garden Lake

So gorgeous...

Ada pulak satu kawasan tu utk kids... namanya children's park... ada satu structure dinosaur yg ditanam bunga2 diatasnya -- very cute... ada pulak budak kecik sorang ni dah start pusing2 keliling dinosaur tu... ntah apa yg dicari ntah...hehehe..

Lepas kepenatan tawaf satu Reiman Garden tu, kitorang pun berangkat pulang... yang paling seronok pasti la si kecik yg sibuk dok tgk itu ini.. hehe... oh ya.. sempena Father's Day tu dapatlah para ayah masuk Reiman Garden free... kalau tak, kena bayar $7.00...

Father and daughter together :))

16th November 2009...

My family finally arrived in Ames... I was waiting for the bus to go to Monday's evening class, and I saw Adik drove the van, with 4 familiar faces in it. Kinda excited, I ran to greet them at the parking lot -- and ended taking the next bus to class..

19th November 2009...

I took Daddy, Angah and Apit to the campus for sightseeing.. Let them see the place where Adik and I study, and also let Daddy walked down memory lane looking at the places where his classes were held during his undergrad...We covered most of the grounds..including Jack Trice Stadium.. I was pretty ecstatic myself, as I never been to the Athletic Facilities..

L to R: Daddy, Me, Apit and Angah

We decided to start our trip by going to the Minnesota.. Before that, we rented a Chevy Tahoe for the whole week (9 days)..

Hubby besides the Tahoe

In front of the huge Christmas Tree in The Mall of America

The next day, we went to the St. Anthony Waterfall, The Art Museum and tour around The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. We had lunch at the Marina Grill and Deli, and drove back to Ames in the evening.

My siblings, the 4 of us -- Apit, Me, Angah and Adik

Hubby and I

We arrived in Ames around 9pm.. So we got the next day to rest before we continued our journey to Chicago and Detroit... We did not do any shopping while in Minnesota, as all of us were waiting for the Black Friday deals..

Semalam, anak dara mommy dah pun 2 thn.. dah besar dah... dan makin mengada2 sekarang... huhuh.... So sempena birthday dia yang kedua ni, of course la aku and En Suami belikan birthday present untuk dia... we all ni punya la beria-ia tempah hadiah tu awal bulan ari tu, sbb expected shipping dalam 2 weeks... kira sedang eloklah kalau sampai minggu ni... nak dijadikan cerita, dalam 3 hari je dah sampai dah birthday present tu... since aku order present tu kat walmart.com, we all pilih option Site-to-Store, means tak de shipping cost since walmart deliver item tu kat branch dia yg nearest dgn umah... So around 2 week ago, punyalah excited nak gi amik present Fatihah tu.. (aku yg terlebih excited ngalahkan birthday girl)... mana taknya, hadiah tu besar... jeng jeng jeng... nak tau apa hadiahnya...

Toddler Coupe.. comel, kan? hehe... sebab we all pakat nak beli benda ni pun sblm2 ni, dia suka betul main kereta ni (jiran Jaja punya)... dia punyalah suka bila tgk hadiah birthday ni... tak habis2 tunjuk "Car..car.." Haa.. apalagi, balik tu terus la pasang... bertungkus lumus jejaka2 tu pasangkan kereta.. aku cuma jadi pemerhati... hehe...

Masa tgh pasang tu, si kecik ni punya la tak sabar, merengek2 nak duduk dalam car dia tu... puaslah pujuk suruh sabar dulu... mengamuk sampai meraung nak duduk dalam car... isk isk... features coupe tu mmg menarik... ada ruang letak brg kat belakang, ada hon and stering...

Puas hati... dah dapat duduk... makanya, sampai tgh malam sibuk nak main car... huhuhu....

Kek ice-cream Midnight Delight

Talking Elmo

Rasa cam tak caya je Fatihah dah besar... tapi masih lagi tak nak stop susu badan... huhuhu... ari tu dah try letak kopi, tapi yg kelakarnya dia belasah jugak... isk isk isk.... ni aku tgh nak try cara lain pulak... ari tu ada org tanya, Fatihah dah pandai buat apa skrg? Mcm2... mulut tu asyik bercakap aje walaupun ada antaranya tu tak tau le apa yg dia cakap... becok betul.. yg paling kelakar bila dia suka tiru aku tgh cakap on the phone... masa tu dia sibuk juga nak bercakap sambil pegang handset mainan... aku gelak dia gelak, aku cakap dia pun ikut cakap jugak... Fatihah, Fatihah.. yg paling kitorang tak daya nak tahan gelak tu bila dia sibuk suruh daddy online.."Appa..(grandpa)... onyain(online).." kalau daddy tak online mesti dia mengamuk... hahaha.... macam2 la anak mommy ni....

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY!! MOMMY LOVE TIHAH :))

Walaupun dah seminggu Aidilfitri berlalu, kami ingin mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada mama, daddy, apit and angah di KL, mak di Jengka, sanak saudara, sahabat handai dan rakan2 sekalian di KPTM Kuantan, Kolej Komuniti Kuantan, UiTM, dan mereka yang mengenali kami di mana jua anda berada. Maaf zahir dan batin.

Tunggu punya tunggu, at last keluar gak la kat Salam Perantauan Kosmo! 20 Sept 2009 :))

Sejak semester bermula, aku tak de masa nak jenguk blog. Walaupun aku amik 10 jam kredit -- 3 kelas (statistik, construction acct and financial mgmt, intro to basic research), mmg tak cukup masa nak bersenggang/melepak...I was pretty much occupied with research work... 40 jam seminggu kena keje ye... well, nak komplen pun tak leh, dah aku cari penyakit nak smbung belajar, so ni la nya... hehe...

Kellas kan? Jadi jugak aku buat nasi kerabu sendiri... lepas la kempunan kat nasi kerabu pok jit walaupun tak de la sesedap pok jitnyer...En Suami punya suka smpi minggu depannya aku buat nasi kerabu sekali lagi... isk... bangga dgn diri sendiri... hehe....

Aku ni jarang nak tayang2 apa yg aku masak sbb aku selalu rasa aku tak pandai masak... huhu.... aku selalu cakap kat org yg aku selalu "baling2" je bahan masa masak.. hahaha.... tapi kali ni exceptional kes... maklumlah first timer masak nasi kerabu....

Selain tu, aku ada gak la buat karipap, murtabak mini, all kinds of Nasi -- tomato, ayam, minyak, hujan panas... haha.... kekadang tu belasah western food je -- burger, pasta, etc... Bila dah masak hari2, sampai satu tahap dah tak tau nak masak apa dah, and dah bosan makan semua benda... huhu... so insya allah ahad ni nak gi Minneapolis -- berbuka kat sana dgn Kak Rosita and Abg Fazli nyer famili.. restoran Marina Grill tu serius sedap and byk choice pulak tu.... suka..suka...

Sebelum aku penn-off, aku nak cerita kisah aku yg betul2 terlupa pasal anniversary aku... aku ni jenis yg selalu ingat tarikh2 penting ni.. tapi sbb terlalu busy dgn mcm2 and fikirian pun dah tak tentu hala, anniversary sendiri pun boleh lupa... cesss... baru 3 thn kawin, dah lupa, belum berpuluh2 tahun lagi... isk isk isk.... nak tau macamana aku boleh teringat? Ha... kisahnya masa baca paper online pasal anniversary Siti Nurhaliza... utk pengetahuan Siti kawin 2 hari after aku kawin... sambil2 baca news tu, aku cakap la kat En Suami, apasal paper dok citer pasal anniversary Siti, padahal lambat lagi.... lepas tu terus terlintas dlm kepala yg dia kawin 2 hari lewat dari aku, aku terus cakap kat En Suami -- Ya Allah, camane leh lupa anniversary kawin ni? huhu... En Suami pun lupa jugak... dia pulak mmg jenis tak ingat tarikh2 ni.... makanya aku la yg kena ingat, bila aku lupa, tak jadi apa la... haha.... So sampai sudah tak celebrate lagi... nnt2 la tu... buat sekali harung dgn birthday aku, boleh???

Isk.... still tak caya yg aku lupa anniversary sendiri.... huhuhu

Kalau minggu yang sebelum tu kitorang gi fishing shopping, the week after tu pulak kitorang gi Iowa State Fair kat Des Moines. Aku tau.. citer dah basi.. tapi nak gak citer nih... hehe... so citernya, pagi Sabtu 2 minggu yang lalu, bertolak dari umah pkl 10 pg mcmtu, smpi tapak State Fair tu dlm pukul 12 lebih... seperti biasa la kan.. bila ada ekspo/karnival mcm ni mmg jam ah kawasan, semua kenderaan berpusu2 nak cari tpt parking... dari exit nak masuk ke tapak State Fair tu punyalah berbaris kenderaan... selepas sejam dalam kesesakan tu, dapatlah kitorang parking.. itupun depan rumah orang... dahlah kena bayar even though tak semahal parking lot State Fair tu, tapi time tu la local people nak buat duit -- by charging for parking space..

Cuaca time tu ok lagi.. tak panas sgt.. redup je... orang punya la ramai... mcm semut je rupanya... oh sblm terlupa, baiklah aku cerita apa kebenda Iowa State Fair (ISF) tu... Every year, Iowa akan buat mcm karnival/ekspo/pesta/funfair (semua dlm satu la kiranya) and mmg macam2 ada la kat tpt tu, dari perlbagai booth ke makanan, games and funfair rides...

Kalau pergi funfair mcm ni mestilah kena naik rides tu semua.. kalau tak, tak best ah kan... makanya, kitorang pun pilih la rides mana yg rasa mcm nak naik.. Adik memang nak naik rides yang mencabar aje.... yang aku and En Suami pulak pilih rides yang biasa je.. tambahan la aku ni penakut nak mampus... nak naik yg extreme2 ni kan.. haha...

Haishhh... lambat lagi hapdet... makin busy hoccay.. byk je citer nak post kat sini... tapi busy + malas (aku macam ada perasaan dah malas nak menulis blog... apasal eh?)..anyway... last 2 weekend, kitorang gi picnic + fishing kat Ankeny... Saylorville Lake and Big Creek State Park.. saje je sbb jejaka kat rumah sibuk nak gi fishing.. even though I am not a big fan of fishing, gi jelah.. nak gak tgk pemandangan ala2 tepi laut.. hehe...

Lepas makan tu, Mr Hubby and Adik cari port nak fishing lak... tapi kawasan fishing tu mcm jauh je dgn shelter... sbb kitorang bawak Fatihah... so malas nak duduk tepi2 tasik tu... dengan keadaan dia yg suka jalan ke sana sini, takut je dia nak masuk tasik tu... huhu... so kitorang decide gi pulak Saylorville lake, tengok keadaan kat situ camane... Masing2 mmg kagum ah dgn keluasan lake tu.. seakan tak percaya lak kat Iowa ada lake sebesar itu.. yg Mat2 and Minah2 Saleh ada aje menempel nak meng'sun bathing'kan diri... konon2 mcm kat tepi pantai... isk isk isk... masa tu dahlah pukul 12 tghari, panas terik gila2... diorang ni pakat jemurkan badan... tak koserrrr aku.... punyalah sukanya diorang kat matahari... haha...

Saylorville Lake and Dam

So... kesimpulannya, tak jadi la nak fishing sbb tak de port yg best.. lagipun masa tu tghari panas terik gila2.. makanya last minute nyer decision, we all gi Ankeny, konon2 nak tgk2 la TJ Maxx Store tu... Kak Rosita asyik cerita betapa murahya brg2 branded kat kedai tu... aku yang mmg berniat nak shopping baju sehelai dua ni pun .. apalagi... tuju je la sana... hehe..

Apanya nak fishing... dah lari dari agenda dah ni... hehe... so bila balik Ames kitorang pergi Ada Hayden Park, dengan harapan nak fishing la pulak... sudah disangka, kalau bawak si kecik tu mmg tak jadi la... last2 aku ngan fatihah balik, tinggal jejaka2 tu berfishing sampai maghrib... tapi tak dapat ikan pun... haha... 1st time kan... tak pe ah....

Sejak hari tu, ada la 3 kali lagi diorang gi mancing... kali kedua tu tak dpt ikan gak... kali ketiga dapatlah 4 ekor ala2 ikan kembung... hahaha... yg last baru ni? hambek ko... 19 ekor kekdahnya... pueh ati makan... hehehe....

Last weekend (Fri - Sun), kitorang pergi Minnesota -- specifically, Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding area. So dlm pkl 12tgh Jumaat tu bertolak, sampai Minneapolis around 3pm (byk kali stop kat rest area.. hehe). Kitorang stay kat Motel 6 Mall of America. So sesudah check-in, lepak kejap and makan2, then pergi ronda kat Mall of America (MOA). Konon2 tengok la apa2 yg menarik utk dilawati.. so lepas ronda2 kitorang decide nak gi masuk tengok Underwater Adverture ngan explore Nickolodeon Universe utk esoknya.. tapi serius mmg happening ah MOA tu.. selayaknya digelar MOA.. besar gila.. tak terjalan satu Mall tu ..

Esoknya pepagi kitorang gi kat area Stone Arch Bridge - Falls of St. Anthony. Kiranya kawasan empangan and sungguh la cantik dan berangin kawasan tu.. spend masa around sejam macam tu, then pergi makan kat kedai Arab - Marina Grill and Deli. Buffetnya reasonable and choice pun byk.. maklumlah, kitorang dah lama tak mkn daging halal kat restoran, makanya pulun ah cukup2.. hehe.. best2 and sedap food dia... sampai plan nak gi lagi mkn esok. Haha...



Next place nak visit pulak, Bakken Museum.. ni museum electric -- kiranya semua asal usul electric and electronik, power dsb semua ada dlm museum ni. Sesuailah kitorang gi, dah En Suami and Adik org electrical, kan.. mmg best ah dalam museum tu sbb ada mcm2 alat and gadget yg menunjukkan berbagai eksperimen dan bagaimana electric terhasil.. mmg bunyi agak ilmiah tapi mmg fun ah.. Kat tingkat atas museum tu, ada satu bilik -- bilik tu bilik Frankenstein, dlm bilik tu ada props semua, then ada satu switch yg bila tekan, ada suara yg akan start cerita pasal Frankenstein and ada lighting effects sepanjang cerita tu.. knowing me yg penakut, takdenya aku nak masuk bilik tu, duduk dgr cerita tu... Adik and En Suami je yg masuk... aku tunggu luar.. haha... ni ha gambar bilik tu... aku dok imagine Frankenstein tu kalau tetiba dia bgn.. mati ketakutan aku weh... haha...

Seterusnya dalam agenda pulak konon2 nak ke Como Zoo, tapi sampai je kat sana, punyalah penuh nak mampus dgn kenderaan and orang.. takde tempat parking langsung.. sampai parking area depan rumah2 org pun kena kebas... since kitorang nak gi MOA semula, we all decide lain kali je ah gi zoo. So perjalanan diteruskan ke MOA -- specifically ke Nickolodeon Universe and Underwater Adventures.


Masa kat Nickolodeon Universe tu, kitorang mmg excited la.. mana taknya, dapat jumpa Spongebob, Kai Lan, Backyardigans -- org tua yg lebih2, yg budak senyap je.. takut sbb character tu besar dari kartun.. hehe... then kitorang gi la kat area yg main games then dapat hadiah tu.. Adik main game baling bola pingpong dlm bekas yg bergerak and aku pulak main basketball hoop. Tak sangka lak, Adik dapat hadiah besar -- ni dia hadiahnya...



Aku pula yg melompat sebab excited gile.. maklumlah.. aku tak pernah menang main game mcm tu... haha... bangga seh dapat hadiah besar walaupun bkn aku yg dapatkan... haha...

Habis kat situ, kitorang masuk Underwater Adventures tu, best ah sbb byk sgt ikan2... Fatihah pulak mmg suka tgk fish... ikan ni pun ada...




The next day pulak, lepas je check out dari motel, terus tuju ke Outlet ... sampai je sana, aku rasa macam org gila... imagine la... ada 100 kedai, semua best2.. ada sale lak tu... mana satu nak gi dulu... lepas tu larat ke tak aku nak tawaf the whole area... gatal kepala wehhh... masuk kedai Nike je sejam lebih... we all semua beli sport shoes..adik siap beli jam Nike... then aku masuk Carters, beli kasut Fatihah... bila masuk kedai Coach, gila sekejap aku dibuatnya menengokkan pameran handbag2 yg harganya sgt reasonable... huhuhu... tapi sebab si kecik tu dah start grumpy, aku masuk je la mana2 kedai yg patut... ingat nanti Thanksgiving Break nak gi sana lagi shopping sakan dgn Mama and Daddy... tu baru best... hehe...


Lepas tu sempat la kitorg singgah lagi makan kat Marina Grill and Deli tu before balik Ames... so... tu cerita last week... ermm... mmg la best gi vacation2 ni... lepas tu rasa malas je bila pikir semester yg akan bermula 2 minggu lagi...anyway, plan utk esok? Gi fishing + picnic kt Polk County...

July is approaching towards the end. There goes another month, and then comes another. It's still summer, though... perfect time for vay-kay or roadtrip. Nothing new and exciting for me at the moment, just doing my thing.. day in day out..

Speaking of roadtrip, it was pretty exciting to hear stories from Kak Rosita who has been travelling for two weeks -- went to 14 states. Cool, huh? Not to mention Kak Nor and her family -- 11 States. These people seriously were having sooo much fun and enjoyed themselves! Kak Rosita and family -- I bet when she got here, they must be so damn tired.. just imagine, they just got back from Malaysia the night before, and the next day off to travel -- despite the jetlag, not to mention the time difference. Never in a million years I could do such thing! Haha... memang salutelah Kak Rosita and Abg Jalal...:))

I'm kinda excited for this coming fall. Why? New semester , of course! Ye ye aje... well, actually it was exciting for us that Daddy and mama, together with Angah and Apit -- confirmed their flight and Insya Allah will be coming over. What else would be more exciting than having the big family here? Tentatively they will be coming over mid November, and will stay here for a month. Well, god timing, guys ... we are sooo going to hit the outlets and malls during the thanksgiving break! Hell, yeah! Shopping time... wohoooo.... and we got to celebrate Aidil Adha together, too!

To end our slow summer months, we plan on going to Minnesota next Friday, and will be back on Sunday. It's time for us to have the taste of summer, so to speak. Haha. Well, kinda chillin' before Ramadhan and school starts. We'll be going to Mall of America, Albertville Outlet store, and other must-visit places. Everything has been reserved and planed -- just waiting for next week to arrive!

Ni kisah masa Father's Day dua minggu sudah...:)) Aku tau mmg aku lambat hapdet citer kat blog... mcm2 hal... so anyway, masa Father's Day yg lepas, kami pergi ke Reiman Garden (Iowa State punya taman bunga + dinosaur).. Summer ni mmg bestlah pergi... cuaca masa tu sgtlah teriknya.. Reiman Garden ni ada byk bhgian.. 1st kitorang gi Butterfly area... mmg kawasan tu kea cover dgn huge net so butterfly tu tak de la terlepas keluar... Fatihah punya la suka tgk butterfly... mmg jinak2 butterfly kat situ...

The Reiman Garden Lake

So gorgeous...

Ada pulak satu kawasan tu utk kids... namanya children's park... ada satu structure dinosaur yg ditanam bunga2 diatasnya -- very cute... ada pulak budak kecik sorang ni dah start pusing2 keliling dinosaur tu... ntah apa yg dicari ntah...hehehe..

Lepas kepenatan tawaf satu Reiman Garden tu, kitorang pun berangkat pulang... yang paling seronok pasti la si kecik yg sibuk dok tgk itu ini.. hehe... oh ya.. sempena Father's Day tu dapatlah para ayah masuk Reiman Garden free... kalau tak, kena bayar $7.00...

Father and daughter together :))