Maia Recommends: Engineering For Kids - Philippines

Did Science ever interest you as a kid?

It really did for me. Well, it was probably due to my dad's (who is a mechanical engineer) influence and he really did talk day in and day out about science at home. He trained us to approach problems the scientific way and that really helped me a lot in solving my daily dilemmas, not only as a kid but even now as an adult.

I wanted my kid to develop interest in Science too. But I guess I was never like my dad. And since both my husband and me have day jobs that wasn't directly connected to science, it wasn't a topic that is often discussed at home. I didn't push anymore, I figured since she's now in grade school, she will eventually figure out for herself if Science is something that she likes or not.

Thankfully though, I didn't have to wait long to get my answer. A couple of weeks ago, a generous soul from Mommy Bloggers Philippines, a blogger group I belong to posted an invitation for interested mommies who would like to try out a session at the recently launched Engineering For Kids after school program at the BGC. I immediately grabbed the chance to introduce Science in a fun way to my little miss and signed up.

Finally last Saturday, the little miss and me trotted off to Bonifacio Global City with our mom-daughter partner in crime - Erl and Kelsea - to try out the Aerospace Engineering session. We made it just in time (despite the delay that Maia and I caused) for class after travelling for an hour. Thanks to Erl for the free ride. If we were commuting, I would probably have to allot at least an hour and a half since I was coming from Cavite. Good thing we picked the 9am schedule so the traffic on the roads was still free flowing. 

When we got to the venue, the kids immediately got themselves seated while Erl and I were briefed about basic info of the program. We were handed a kit that contained the list of what the offerings were for the month and a flyer that discussed the history of the program. We learned that Engineering for Kids Ph is a franchise from the US. It was started by a mom-teacher who saw the rising need for an after school program that focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. 

There are two classes offered: Juniors (4-6 yo kids) and Apprentice (7-14 yo kids). Every month, they offer new sets of topics/projects for each of the programs offered. Weekend rate is P4500 while the weekday rate is P6600 (if I remember correctly). There are 4 sessions per month for the weekend class and 6 sessions for weekday class.

The class that Maia and Kelsea tried was under the Aerospace Engineering program and for the day, the project that they were designated to work on is Stomp Rocket. The class was a group of 6 kids - 4 boys and 2 girls (Maia and Kelsea). They started off the class with a brief introduction of the parts of the rocket. Teacher Em started it with a song which immediately got the kids' attention. After about 15 minutes, the kids started working on the rocket. Before we knew it, the allotted one hour was up and the kids had started taking turns stomping on the makeshift rocket launcher.

She went back to stomp a couple more times. Gone was that timid little girl.

But while the boys couldn't wait to get their foot on the stomp rockets, the little girls took their sweet time making their rockets pretty. Maia was so proud of her rocket she immediately ran to hug me when it went up so high it almost touched the ceiling. It was a fun class and the way the activity was structured, I doubt if the kids even realized they were dealing with Science at all. I just hope a few years from now when the kid starts to study physics she would remember this experience.

Class picture minus Kelsea (Do you know how to add her via Photoshop, Erl?)

Would I recommend it? If you live near BGC, I would. But if you live farther (down South like us or up North in QC), I don't know if the travel would be all worth it since the class runs for only an hour. Or best to just call and ask where the other branches are located.

Engineering for Kids is offering early bird discount till August 8 so if this is something that you are interested to try, contact them at:

Tel Nos: (02) 224.4170 / 0917.551.8705

Email: info@smilegroup.org

They are currently doing classes at the Function room, 5/F of Forbeswood Parklane, Rizal Drive, BGC, Taguig. More info at their website: www.engineeringforkids.net

Maia's Favorite: Milo Dinosaur

As most little kids (and the not-so-little even) are, my little miss is also fond of chocolate drinks. She weaned from the bottle early. By the time she turned two, we said goodbye to formula milk. Gladly, she was never really picky with all the milk we tried and tested for her. Eventually, she decided for herself and settled on chocolate flavored milk (yes that popular brand that just couldn't decide what is it exactly -- gatas na choco or choco na gatas?, the little miss is low maintenance like that). Since then, that has been her daily choice. Although for the past 2 years, she only takes about a glass of milk daily and usually before bedtime.



Last summer, her love for chocolate milk was replaced by this latest discovery - Milo Dinosaur. Why is it called Milo Dinosaur, you ask? Wikipedia doesn't have much to say but to quote: the "Dinosaur" in the beverage's name on its own means "[a] heap of Milo or Horlickspowder on the iced drink"

How is it made, exactly? Well, it's really just a glass of Milo topped with the powder. But we add a spoonful or two of condensed milk to sweeten it a bit more. (no wonder it's a hit among kids, no?).



In a 16 oz glass:

4 heaping tbsps of Milo
2 tsps of condensed milk (no particular brand for us)
about 1/4 cup of hot water
a cup of ice
a shaker/container

Cover the bottom of the shaker/cover container (I usually use a mason jar) with condensed milk add 3 tablespoons of Milo dissolved in hot water, dump in the ice and shake to your heart's content. Once mixed thoroughly, uncap the cover and top with the remaining Milo powder.

A pack of 300g Milo used to last our household two weeks or even more. But now, our consumption has doubled. Since the kid has been skipping the bedtime milk drink for a few months now, I also sometimes opt to use fresh milk instead of plain water. She doesn't mind. As long as there's still a good portion of Milo on top of the glass.

What about your little kids? Are they fond of chocolate drinks too?

Recipe: Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have I already mentioned I'm a dessert monster? Although I try to be very conscious of my sugar intake, dessert will always be my weakness. Luckily, my little girl never really got addicted to sugar. It probably helped that I delayed the introduction of sweets to her till she was almost a year old. We don't have to tell her to stop eating candies and chocolates. She usually just stops after a piece or two.

I hope she keeps that self control even if I've been spending a lot of time with our oven of late. My latest baking adventure has yielded this soft, chewy creation which was actually inspired by my baking idol, Maggie!

Mags and I both agreed this would probably level up if you added a few chunks of macadamia nuts. I have yet to get my hands on some macadamia nuts but my taste testers (the hubs and the little girl of course) both gave their approvals already.

Maggie's cookies looked waaaay better than the ones I baked. I didn't get the chance to bookmark the recipe she shared to me earlier so I made do with the recipe that I already had printed out from Sally's Baking Addiction.



My little girl is also visiting her lola and her cousins for a week and so I packed her a dozen of these to give as pasalubongs to her cousins. I hope they liked it!

What you will need:
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (i just cut a bar of butter in half), softened to room temp
3/4 cup muscovado sugar
1 egg, at room temp, slightly whisked
1/4 cup white granulated sugar (refined sugar)
1 tbsp filled milk
2 tsps vanilla extract
2 1/2 tsps red food coloring (I used liquid)
about 80 grams of white chocolate chip cookies (you could use more, the original recipe actually called for 180grams)

ready to bake!

sometimes, i do amaze myself. all this time it's all been purely muscle power that i've been using to cream butter and sugar. so really, if you really want to learn to bake you don't have to have plenty of equipment to do it.

food color and dry ingredients added!

white chocolate chip cookies galore!

How I did it:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt (I just used a wire whisk).
2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter until smooth then add the sugar and mix thoroughly.
3. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Mix well and add the food coloring next.
4. Continue to mix then add the dry ingredients gradually (I did this in 3 sets so I didn't have a hard time mixing everything when the dough started to stiffen. Mix in the white chocolate chips. Cover dough with plastic wrap and freeze for about 30mins (or refrigerate for at least an hour)
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (around 180 Celsius).
6. When ready to bake, take our frozen dough and cut to about 1/2 inch thick and form into a ball. Line baking pans with parchment paper and place each of the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart. I added colored sprinkles to some of the dough since the colors will look attractive to the kids.
7. Bake for about 12-15 mins (top most layer of my oven).
8. Take our from oven after baking time is finished. Let cookies cool on the sheets for around 5 mins and then transfer to wire rack to cool.

Summer is Here! (Pre-elementary edition)

The kid is a week away from officially bidding preschool goodbye. I know it's just a moving up ceremony but this is the first time I am going to see my kid actually go up a stage as a culmination of something she signed up for the long haul.

In two months, we officially begin the elementary phase. I still am a little overwhelmed by the thought that I already have a kid in grade school. But yes, we are also very excited to start that new chapter of our family life.

Before that excitement starts though, there is two months that I will need to fill with activities. Activities that would require longer that 15 minutes to complete since the kid has a longer attention span now. Thank God (as always) for Pinterest, I can easily plan ahead. I haven't really gotten down to serious planning but this morning, while she was showing me her latest doodles, an idea popped in my fuzzy head. I didn't realize she still is having a hard time spelling the word "party" so I thought of coming up with 7 new words every week (of her summer break) to add to her vocabulary and help improve her spelling skills as well. I plan to give her a short quiz every Saturday morning as a review as well. I do think that will ward off boredom and will also help a lot in keeping her interested with learning and "studying". I don't really plan to make this serious so I hope I can find a way to make this project interesting.

I had her pick the 7 words on this first week.

And while we are on the subject of summer, we welcomed the hot season today by spending the entire afternoon in the pool. It was fascinating to watch the kid plunge into the big pool by herself and try her hardest to swim her way from one point to another by merely kicking her feet while clinging unto a beach ball.





Lastly, yesterday was an extremely fun-filled day as well. WE learned how to make royal icing, how to make sugar cookies and frost it. I might just add this to the kid's summer activities with her neighborhood friends as well. I do hope I get enough energy to put enough activities together in two months.

For now, I'm just really excited and so looking forward to what this summer can bring. Last year was a crazy one that I really didn't get to spend with my family but this year, I do intend to make up for that this year. Mind museum, Fun Farm's Balik Bukid, Beach with fam, Roadtrip with friends! Can't wait!

To Be Young And Carefree

I couldn't stop staring at this photo of the little miss from our recent Fun Farm trip. I remember it was quite difficult for Dom from Studio 2716 to take this photo because the little girl refused pause even for just a brief moment to have her photo taken. She kept telling me to push harder instead because parang kinikiliti kasi ako, Mommy! Gusto ko dito sa kiliti swing! (insert seemingly endless unadulterated kiddie laughter)

Among the great pictures that the photographers took of us that day, this is one of my favorites. For me, this summed up the mood for that day. Fun. Child-like. No holds barred. Free. Happy.

you can almost hear her laugh just by looking at this photo, don't you agree?

Thank you, thank you to our very patient photographers! Sa uulitin for sure!

Our Amazing Spider-Kid

There were several web-ropes like this around the Fun farm but this particular web-rope was inside the sand play area so the kids could just go ahead and climb when they get bored digging. For the little miss, we didn't really expect much as she has recently developed a slight fear of heights. I say slight because it really doesn't occur often but when it does she would really freeze up and refuse to move. 

This web-rope (sorry for the rather weird sounding term, i had to make something up as I really don't have a clue what it's called) went all the way up to the play area's ceiling and it was already quite high per our standards. We were quite surprised when the little miss stood at the bottom of it and started climbing. The daddy was hesitant to let her go at first but soon realized it was pretty safe so he eventually caved in and just watched and cheered his kid on by the sidelines. 

This really made me proud and I thought I should make a separate post of it for her to read later on. Maybe it can even inspire her when she's older. I sure hope it would!

Arts-N-Crafts: Primp-Up-My-Rockies

When Maia was still a toddler, our house converted to a daycare during the afternoons. Maia had made friends with several village kids and they soon became regulars in our household. I never worried about my little girl's social interaction then because she was with a playgroup every day. Her inherently shy demeanor started to fade away as we began to notice that she's started warming up to other kids easily. I can also tell how influential this daily interaction with other kids was to improving her communication skills. She soon became really verbal. She looked forward to these play dates everyday but all that had to end abruptly when Ate Inday left. The kid had to quickly learn to be by herself and instead make imaginary friends to invite to her 'parties'. She coped well with the changes in her environment and we could tell that she finally was having fun on her own but we also know how she longed to be with real kids to play tag, fight over toys and have real conversations with. Now that Ate Inday's back (yes, she's back! yipee!), imagine her delight. It's been two weeks and our house has never been without a kid since! The daycare resumed operations! :)

Even on a weekend, we had a kid over.  So last Saturday while Shea (Maia's BFF) spent the morning with us, I took the opportunity to inject something creative into the kids' day by giving them painting duties. I took out some stones that I brought back from our Antique vacation last April and everyone got busy primping up their little rockies. Even Ate Inday joined in the fun!

Maia, Shea and Ate Inday's masterpieces

What You Will Need:

• Stones (flat ones are better)
• Poster/tempera paint
• Googly eyes/Buttons/Beads
• Tinsel decor I saved from a few Christmases ago
• Ribbons
• Glue
• Scissors
• Paint brush
• Used newspapers

How to do it:

1. Cover the area where you plan to do the activity with used newspapers, grab a stone and paint it with your favorite color.

2. Let it dry in the sun for a few minutes.

3. While you're waiting for your little rocks to dry, the kids can be occupied by free style painting. In our case, we just handed them some scratch papers and they painted away.

Check out Shea's artwork. Isn't that pretty?

This was a funny scene. While Maia was painting on her paper,
I think she suddenly recalled their wet-on-wet painting sessions at St Michael.
She started with "Over the meadow"...
long pause, then she goes "ano nga sunod nun Mommy?" (what comes after that again, Mommy?)
I had to stifle a laugh because I know Maia always gets self-conscious when she hears us laugh over her witty/funny remarks.

4. When the rockies dried up, they each took their stones and started decorating it till their heart's content.

little girl was so engrossed with primping up her rockie

5. Primped up rockies can be made into paperweights and even as storytelling characters. Just let your kid's imagination flow!

Maia and Shea enjoyed this activity. They even showed their masterpieces to Shea's mom when she came to pick Shea up. Next time when I have more kids over, I'll have more art activities ready so they'd always look forward to spending a day in our house (talk of bribery no?). That way, the little kid will stop pressuring me and her dad to buy babies at the palengke (marketplace). Works well for me (since I am on the win-win side here).

Woodwork and Gardening Class At St Michael Playhouse

traditional photo by the daycare door

Maia recently finished Woodwork and Gardening Class At St Michael Playhouse (A Steiner inspired daycare). The class was only intended for 12 students and the slots were already filled when I called to sign up. But since we were just so eager to join, they decided to accept us. I just love everyone behind this daycare (and I bet so does Maia). 

I initially planned to have Maia join the first 2 classes - Baking and Cooking then Arts and Crafts - but I just couldn't escape my deliverables at work so I had to push plans until finally, I got clearance to at least take a day off so I could bring Maia to the first session of this last class. The class ran for 3 days - Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 2-415 in the afternoon (which was just perfect since Maia's active during this time of the day).

The class was to be Maia's first official kiddie class where she will be left on her own. I was all kinds of emotions when I was bidding her goodbye on the first day of class but she proved my fears wrong by showing to me how ready she was to be in school. When I came to pick her up she was all cheerful and just excited to tell me about the things they did in school. She showed no sign of dislike whatsoever. 

This class however being the least of my choices among St Michael's 3 offerings this summer had me setting my expectations at lowest (on second thought, it was even to none). I only had three goals enrolling Maia into this class:

- To establish a summer tradition/routine. I wanted her to have something to look forward to every summer and having already gone to summer class last year, I wanted to make it a yearly thing for her.

- To check and reinforce her independence. With her officially starting Kindergarten this June, I wanted to see how emotionally ready she was. And she did great. She was more than ready to take the plunge. Some friends were even kidding me that it's probably me who is going to suffer separation anxiety come June (and that's probably very true).

- To have fun. I really wanted for Maia to get the chance to mingle with kids other than the ones she's always with in our village. And St Michael (in my personal opinion) is one of the best places to do that because Maia gets to be in a school set up and yet don't get really burdened with school work. And I am leaving her in the hands of well-trained nurturers. Plus she gets to bond with mostly Waldorf kids who (again in my personal opinion and experience) have gentler demeanor. It wouldn't hurt if she gets to pick up some of that gentleness (I know that's shooting at the stars with only three days of exposure but...) as well. :)

I'm glad I didn't set any expectations as this turned out to be a really great, awesome experience for Maia. Till next Summer, St Michael! I hope there's going to be a repeat next year! 

one of maia's favorite activities - the freeplay! she never forgot the toys
and their 'sleeping' quarters and the minute she learned she was coming back,
she immediately planned on raiding this part of the classroom. lolz

Leaving you with photos of Maia in class (that I grabbed from St. Michael's Facebook page):

They had a wonderful class photo but I have yet to ask permission to post the photo here since it has faces of the other kids and I don't know if the parents would permit me to post them here. 

GARDENING

Getting some potting mix into her pot of Stevia plant

Day 2, "Hello There Planty!"

Day 3, "We're going home to Cavite today Planty!"

WOODWORKING

Kids helping and observing Tito Robert and a classmate at work

playing with the car wheels

the kids' creations (we aren't sure though if maia indeed made her car,
she kept saying i wasn't ready to slice mommy (which i reckon means
she didn't like the sawing part - she developed a fear of knives and
pounding lately)

ST. MICHAEL PLAYHOUSE is located at the 
Ground Floor
6241 Palma cor Manalac Sts.
Bgy. Poblacion, Makati City 1210
(just two minutes from Rockwell Drive)

Call now to schedule a school tour.
Call or text 0917-847-0848 or email 
st.michael.playhouse@gmail.com

The Farm Life According To Maia and Gogol

I was archiving my camera photos and came across these. These were shots from a day we spent in Bantud (a farm where my dad spent most of his childhood in). He's planning to raise goats here and we might just join him in this venture (crossing our fingers). For now, this place houses coconuts, an eggplant lot, and some fruit trees.

Maia and Gogol had fun climbing up and down the carrosa (a popular carriage/farm transport in my hometown, usually pulled by either a cow or carabao).

They also went crazy over the makahiya plants that were all over the place. They dismissed our plead to take cover despite being subjected to the scorching summer heat. They wouldn't hear of it. The makahiya plants are just to irresistible, it appears.

I was testing new settings on the camera app so I apologize for the inconsistent filters and messy resolutions. But the sentimental in me just had to document these photos because I could still hear the kids' unadulterated laughter and giggles while looking at them.

Leaving you with a shot of Maia just resting after a game of tag with his manong Gogol.

I WISH WE COULD JUST DECIDE TO MOVE HERE IN A HEARTBEAT. MAIA REALLY LOVES BEING HERE. SIGH.

Recipe: Maia and Ghab's Choco-Banana Pancakes

Pancakes were supposed to be in yesterday's breakfast menu. But I was rushing to be in the office early so I had to beg the kids for a one-day extension. This morning they didn't let me get away with it. Maia forcefully dragged me out of bed the minute she woke up. 

"Pancakes, Mommy!"

"Okay sige, I'll call you when I've prepared the ingredients already. You can still go back to sleep"

"Pero gising na ako eh! Hindi na ako inaantok. At gusto kong mag-mix! Ako ang magmi-mix!"

Okay, I rest my case. So we were up and about by 6am getting everything we needed out on the table. Then she called her Ate Ghabby to help us prepare the pancakes. "Crack the egg Mom and I will mix" My little commander just took over my kitchen kingdom. She actually feels like the expert pancake maker in our home ever since she learned to make one herself so I usually give her the free reign during pancake days. Her dad had to hurry up with his breakfast so we can have the entire dining table to ourselves.

Here's what we needed to make the pancakes:

1 pack 250g pancake mix (I used Maya, my pancakes usually turn out a lot fluffier when I use this brand)

1 tsp chocolate power (I used Goya here since that's what I have on stock)

a pinch of cinnamon

1 large egg, beaten till fluffy

1 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup water

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 pieces ripe bananas, sliced thinly

chocolate chips/shavings

How we did it:

1. Beat the eggs till they fluffy. 

2. Add in the remaining wet ingredients (oil, milk, water) and mix well.

3. Mix in the dry ingredients (cinnamon, pancake mix and chocolate powder)

4. Whisk till there are no more lumps. 

5. Add in the chocolate chips/shavings and mix.

6. Heat a non-stick pan (over low fire) and scoop out about half a cup of the batter unto the heated pan. 

7. Top with bananas and  flip over when the mixture start to bubble.

8. Serve hot (you may slather with butter or maple syrup, whatever you prefer to garnish it with. The kids had fun with the butter and the syrup this morning. They finished their pancakes with great gusto).

Enjoying the fruit of their labor. :)

This recipe yielded about three mickey pancakes and four 5-in circular pancakes. It might have tasted better if I dropped some vanilla syrup unto my pancake batter too but I ran out so I replaced it with cinnamon instead. It didn't came out cinnamon-y though because the chocolate probably was more overpowering. I plan to make colorful pancakes next and maybe make some traffic light pancakes just like what my friend Erlaine did with her cutie daughter (and Maia's friend) Kelsea. Pancakes are indeed fun to make with kids! Next time I hope to make my pancakes from scratch (and maybe experiment with other ingredients too). 

Let The Children Play

When we finally get the resources to fix the other bedroom and turn it into Maia's own, I will have this printed and framed. Hmmm or maybe I'll just print it now and hang in our living room as a reminder for Tibs and me what PLAY really is.

Download the poster for free here.

Summer and Bike Rides

I don't know what it is with summer and bikes but they always usher nice (the giddy kind of nice as a matter of fact) thoughts for me. I love looking at photos of kids on bikes. With rays of sunshine gently touching their tanned skin. Pretty, pretty sight aren't they? Photos like never fail to put a smile on my face. I wish Maia and I will have photos like that. 

Well, as I've mentioned in a previous post, I never learned to ride a bike. I planned to learn it but almost a year after, I have yet to hatch that plan. But yes, I will ride a bike before I reach 40 and I have a plenty of time to bring that dream into fruition. 

This bike was a gift from her maternal grandparents to her on her 3rd birthday. This has been parking in our maid's room
for months now I thought she'd never gain the interest to ride it frequently. But that has changed for the past few days.

Maia on the otherhand can almost ride her bike effortlessly. And for the past few days, she's been putting that skill to work by hitting the pedals first thing in the morning. She and her Ate Ging would round up our block. Ate Ging would attempt to push her at times but she would retort and throw a glare at her. 'STOOOOOOOOOOOOP! I  can do this!' So Ate Ging has no choice but to let her go and she would pedal away leaving her yaya scrambling and panting to catch up on her.

They would take a short break in between to grab a pandesal while waiting for me to get ready for work. Then the three of us would head to our village gate - me and yaya on foot while Maia is on her bike. We've been doing this since Monday and I'd love to make this a summer ritual. We always keep the guards amused with Maia's trademark good-bye: 'I LOVE YOU MOMMY. WE ROCK! SWEET KISS! BABAAAAAAAAAAAY! (some days she'd add in a TAKE CARE! or a SEE YOU!) Things like this keep me inspired and gives me enough fuel to survive a full day at work.

In two months, things are going to be changing a bit in our household with this little kid finally going to school. Ahhhh but that's another story worthy of a separate post. Till then, I am going to enjoy the undivided time I have with this irresistibly pretty little miss.

Trekking in Antique (and few tips I picked from this instant trip)

Taking in the awesome view

One of the things that make me look forward to our Antique vacations are the spontaneous activities that we would come up while lazing around the house. Last Friday (yes Good Friday) for example, we took the kids trekking. It's was a spur of the moment thing but then these hills are just a few minutes away from our place so with my dad volunteering to drive us we set out to put our legs to test with very little expectations of what we might see. It's been years since I last set foot in that place so I really don't know what to expect. I honestly didn't think the kids would enjoy but I still thought it to be a great experience for the kids since we also once climbed those hills as kids and the single photo of us five siblings during one of the rest/stops proved to be one very memorable photo for us. My mom had that photo framed (I wished I had a scanned copy of it to document in here) and we often would stare at it and exchange memories of that trek. That one piece of photograph had so much stories to tell and memories of that hike remained fresh in my mind up to this day. I hope when these two kids grew a little older we can take them to see the caves in those hills (mini-mountains?) because we weren't able to go this time in fear of getting lost (it was already almost dusk).

I was lagging behind. The cam-whore in me was hard at work.

brief stop. enjoying the view of trees on the other side of the mountain
trees are still plentiful on this side of the country. i fervently hope it stays that way for a loooooong time.

Refreshing sight, isn't it?

While most people would spend thousands just to enjoy the outdoors, here is us communing with nature for free. We decided to stop by this area overlooking the sea and the view is amazing. Maia marveled at expanse of trees that her eyes is feasting on. She would point here, there and over there --- "ANO YUN DADDY? ANO YUN MOMMY?" "SAN NA TAYO?" I honestly thought of telling her that place is going to be our new home but I wasn't ready for a tantrum in case she wouldn't take to my teasing. She might after all be missing home (Cavite) already and the kid gets really intense when she expresses her feelings. 

my dad really enjoyed the company of his apos during this holy week break

she loves riding on people's shoulders. probably makes her feel powerful.
"i am taller than any of you!"

The downside of spontaneous trips however is the unpreparedness. So we all took a trek and not one of us was dressed appropriately. We wore slippers. The kids were in shorts. It was a good thing though it didn't rain that day and the days before so the road we trekked on wasn't slippery. Still, there were several occasions of us slipping and literally eating dust (well, Maia did). Yet, despite a few scrapes the kids walked/climbed almost the entire way. We were just scared for the kids when we were going down so my dad volunteered to carry the little girl on his shoulders. Well, she obviously liked it so much she was shrieking in delight.

two naughty kids asking for lolo's full attention

yuck yuck ang dumi-dumi (hay naku anak, wag ka KJ)

I wonder where our feet will take us next year. Well, I'm sure it's going to be equally pretty wherever that is. My hometown and home province still has lots to offer in terms of outdoor fun. 

p.s. Here's what you might need in case you decide to go on a short trek with your little one:

(I only came up with this list with our short 30 minute trek in mind. I am not a professional hiker or trekker so best to check other lists if you're planning something more serious hehehe)

- at least a liter of water (it wasn't very hot when we started our trek but we were all thirsty when we got to top and that was about 20 mins of hiking)

- candies, nuts or chocolates

- wear leggings to protect your legs in case you slip

- better if you can wear trekking sandals or trail shoes or any footwear that can prevent you from slipping

- anti-mosquito repellents 

- flashlight

- wear a sunblock too (although it wasn't hot anymore when we set out to hike)

We only had the water bottle on hand. My sister and I had long pants (leggings) but that was just coincidental. I wished I had Maia wearing the pants instead but at least I know better next time. 

One thing that I would love for Maia to have is a passion to become an instrument in preserving and conserving our natural resources. I hope that all these exposures to the beauty of nature would eventually plant in her THAT passion.