Maximizing Summer Vacation With Family Without Breaking The Bank

How have you been spending your hot summer days of late?

My health has suffered the wrath of this uber hot weather. Extremely hot, humid weather outside and winter like temp in the office is a recipe for disaster, healthwise. Yesterday I finally went to see a doctor. Now, I have to take plenty of medicines to hasten my recovery.

Anyways, as much as I wanted to make this summer a fruitful, learning filled experience for the little miss, coming home exhausted from trying days at work just makes me look forward to lazy, home-confined weekends divided into bonding times with the husband and the little miss and an hour or two of me-time. Me-time mostly spent window shopping.

I've been looking to update my office wardrobe and that of the little miss’s as well as she seemed to have undergone a growth spurt lately and I found just the perfect online shop to search for fashionable women’s (and little girls’ too) clothes at Zalora. This online shop is just the perfect place to burn my free time on since it caters not only to women but to the entire family as well (I couldn't resist looking at the men's section as well and making mental lists of several things that I can score for the husband). While I build up my shopping funds, I content myself with ogling and listing pretty things that I come across online.

my baby girl, all grown up

 Apart from online window shopping, I'm equally ecstatic to get my cooking mojo back so I also spend some of my weekend time at the kitchen experimenting on some recipes. I tried baking blueberry muffins today and made some cookie dough in advance for the little miss's afternoon snacks this week. She's about to start her summer classes (got her free passes to an 8-session ballet class) as well and she's bringing some homemade cookies to share with her classmates.

can you spot her from this crowd of pink?

We've had chances to raid the village facilities too lately - the pool and the playground - particularly and this is one activity that I've sort of missed doing too. When the kid was still a toddler, we used to spend plenty of time strolling and playing at the playground. Now, we're making the excuse to visit the playground so we can limit her TV and computer time.

We still have a couple of activities lined up this summer. But I will have to reserve them for the later part of this month and maybe early May. I hope to recover completely this week so I can finally spend more time outdoors with my loves (if only to kill time at the playground and the pool). I'm also thinking of coming up with a summer income generating project (inspired by what my friend Maqui and her adorable little Aki's summer project) for the little miss since there's an ongoing basketball tournament in our village. I'm thinking of letting her sell ice pops and homemade cookies to the tournament participants.

Plenty of ideas, eh? I hope before summer ends, I get to actually do half of them.

Family day is always the BEST day!

Earlier today. 

Several things happening these past few weeks that reminded me how important my family is.

Plenty of things here on earth could be temporal. But there are some - no matter how intangible -that transcends time. 

Relationships. Values. Memories. [on a good day, I could probably go on and on...but for now this is what comes to mind]

We spent a good deal of our day time today walking around this beautiful place in Manila called Intramuros. This place is so rich - of stories that our kids could benefit from. My kid had a lot of questions for me today. I wasn't able to give quick answers to most. I will have to brush up on Philippine history and get back to her soon. Or I might just refer her to her lolo who was my most favorite history teacher (yes, I probably will just do that).

But apart from the historical value of today's trip, we also took home a lot of reflective insights. We took a jeepney from Lawton to Intramuros and along the way, we were once again reminded of how lucky we are. I took that opportunity to point out to the kid what privileges she enjoys and reminded her as well not to take those privileges for granted because as how privileges are -- not everyone is afforded with those.

Today was a good day. Today was a day filled with gratefulness and appreciation to the brim.

Merry Christmas!

So we're finally settled in my Antique now. We've been officially on vacation since last Friday but my siblings planned something out for our family and we made a stopover at the nearby Guimaras Island (will make a separate post of that weekend soon) for the kids to frolic a bit and get some more color before we hit it off for the holidays.

I'm that feeling that Christmas-y yet. I probably won't till maybe a few hours before. There's a reason for that but I'm not going to ruin this post by sharing that here. Maybe it's also partly because this feels so new again -- the idea of spending Christmas away from our Cavite home -- but the kid already claimed it by announcing: I LIKE CHRISTMAS HERE AT LOLA'S.

Yes, Christmas is definitely better here. I wouldn't have to worry about what to plan for our Noche Buena (oh yes, my mom will take care of that). And nothing will always beat sharing a Christmas meal with family.

So yes, we're wishing you a Merry Christmas! I hope no matter what circumstance you are in, you are spending Christmas with a heart filled with overwhelming joy and hope.

Weekend Love: Kiddie Fun At Star City

I never developed a fondness for theme parks. When I visit a place I would rather raid the local palengke, bakery, museum or zoo. But of course, when you become a mother, your preferences take the back seat when you plan something with your kid.

When the company I work for announced that they are sponsoring an Employee Fun Day at Star City my instant reaction was to delete that email. Good thing the announcement came in installments and on the 3rd email, I realized that although this is not something I would personally define as fun it actually could be something that might be fun to the kid. So I asked the husband's opinion and he decided we will go for the little miss's sake.

Friday morning, the kid could hardly contain her excitement for our trip. We're going to "ROCK" City! Yehey!!! Before we could react to say she might be referring to a different place she immediately corrected herself -- "ay Star City pala".

Being the clueless parents that we are, we only paid admission for the kid and decided to just pay per ride inside when the kid has finally chosen the rides that she'll take. But when we got in, she wanted to immediately try the Pirate Adventure with my cousin and her Ate Inday. I inquired at the nearby booth and was told a "per ride" option is not available in Star City. If you want to try the rides you will have to purchase a Ride-All-You-Can pass. We had to walk all the way back to the main entrance so we can avail of the corporate discount. We were able to get her RAYC ticket for only P270 (normally P400/person). Had we inquired before we got in, it would have saved us the hassle of the long walk back and the relentless whining from the kid. But...these things just happens. Moving on...

Weekend Love: Sunshine Kitchen

Weekends are sacred to our family. The best weekend for us would be one spent entirely at home doing just about any "lazy" activity there is (movie marathons, trying out simple recipes with the little miss, siestas that would extend through the entire afternoon).

But we also value friendships. So connecting regularly with friends is also important to us. And for that, we also make a conscious effort to allot one of our weekend days at least once or twice in a month to spend outside of the house. 

Last Saturday, we left home early to meet up with my college girl friends and also long time roommates/housemates (Half of the time I lived away from home, I played house with these girls). I picked Sunshine Kitchen at the Fort Strip in Bonifacio Global City as our meeting place because I still had an unused Groupon voucher which was about to expire. I was saving that voucher up for a special occasion and I thought this was just the perfect time for it.

Although I did read a couple of good reviews of this restaurant I preferred to set my expectations at low. After all, I really am just after spending lunch with my favorite people. I called the restaurant 2 days before to reserve a table since we are a party of 5 and I really wouldn't want to wait long when I'm with the little miss. She borders on tantrum attack everytime we're made to wait for a table to free up. 

We arrived in Sunshine Kitchen about 15 minutes before my reserved time and the table was already ready. I guess, when they asked me to confirm our reservation around 11 am that morning they were just about to prepare our table. I say, they already won me over just by doing that (yes, I'm shallow I won't deny it hehe). I rarely get a callback for confirmation every time I make dining reservations.

The room is very airy. I immediately loved the ambiance. I also like their rustic the interiors. Both my husband and I have a common attraction to wooden furniture so yes, we were smitten by the place. We were handed over a menu. It was just a list of what they had. I did wish they had a better one, maybe something that had photos of their best sellers at least so people like my husband (who didn't get to browse their menu online beforehand) would not have a hard time choosing what to order.

sadly i wasn't able to take a photo of the braised beef and the friend chicken

I ordered 3 items for our party of 5 - Four-cheese pizza, Braised Beef and Fried Chicken. We were initially set on ordering their best seller - the 6 hour slow cooked Porchetta - but at 12:30 they were already out of stock. It must be that good, no? I was also planning to order a pasta dish when my college friends arrived but when the food came (we had to wait for about 15-20 minutes for our food to be ready), they were just enough for light eaters like us. My little girl, who is a cheese monster, had 3 slices of pizza. The chicken servings were just big enough, were cooked well and very crisp. The braised beef that we ordered was good enough to share. It was very tender and the sauce complimented the mashed potato that came with it on the side. Each of the items we ordered had a real home-cooked feel. Being somebody who loves to cook at home, that is another plus.

Will our family come back again to dine here? Definitely. The resto is kid-friendly and one of the waiters were even kind enough to ask my little girl if she wanted anything else. That made the kid feel like a real grown up. I also love that despite being at full capacity on lunch hour, my friends and I can hear each other very well. We were able to chat to our heart's content. It was just like were dining at home, only I didn't have to worry about food and all. Oh and my voucher was even good enough to let us try 2 of the desserts on the restaurant's menu - Key Lime Ice Cream and the Salted Caramel Cheesecake. Both were really good. I was transported to dessert heaven. I would come back to this place, even just for the dessert (but I will -- to try the Porchetta). In my opinion, this place is worth spending good food money in. Even without the group buy discount, I would pick this restaurant to eat in.

Good food, Great Company!

I will stop my blabbering here. If you want to find out more about the Sunshine Kitchen, check out their Facebook page. Or Google for more interesting food reviews like this one.

--------------------------------------------------

Sunshine Kitchen

2/F Fort Pointe Bldg 1,

The Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City

(0928) 821 26 25

Store Hours: Sundays-Wednesdays from 11am-2pm; 6-10:30pm, Th-Sat 11am-2pm; 6pm-2am)

Maia Travels: A Weekend At T-House, Tagaytay

The minute our kid laid eyes on our wedding photo album, T-house (where I had my bridal preparations done) immediately grabbed her attention. Every year, during our anniversary, my husband and I would troop over to Tagaytay to hear mass at the church where we got married and last year we decided it was time for us to bring the kid along as well. T-house is conveniently located beside the church and she immediately saw it.

"I want to see what's inside, Mommy! Can we get in, please?"

Unfortunately, our anniversary trip to Tagaytay is always riddled with other plans so we never had the chance to take the kid inside even for a peek. But the kid is persistent. Once in a while she would take out our wedding album and declare "ONE DAY, I WILL GO AND SEE THIS PLACE".

Finally!

Thanks to Deal Grocer, her ONE DAY finally happened last weekend. The husband booked us an overnight stay mainly to celebrate my 35th birthday quietly (away from the noise of the city). We planned to do it on a Saturday, but apparently, you will need to book at least 2 weeks prior if you want to reserve a slot. So we grabbed the next best thing which was Sunday. Being a commuting family, we prayed hard for good weather. But an hour before we left the house, the sky turned grey. It dampened my mood but not the kid's. And her excitement is really contagious it seemed to push the gloomy clouds away. After a heavy but brief downpour, the sky cleared and we headed out. Kid was singing and hopping. You can tell she's over her head happy. 

grey as grey can be. but didn't stop us from having the best weekend ever!

T-house is 4 rides away from our place (3 jeepney transfers and one bus ride). Because of the prior downpour, it took us almost an hour and a half to get to the place (twice the travel time of 45 minutes on ordinary, sunny Sundays). Oh and we also made a short stopover at the grocery to buy snacks (mostly chips and cookies for the kid. READ: Junk haha). We planned to stay in for the rest of the day so we wanted to be armed and ready with our potato couching must-haves.

"Mommy, are you going to wear your white gown again when we have our pictures taken?" It just dawned on me that the kid was probably expecting us to 'get married' again. To replicate everything that she saw in our wedding pictures. Oh my poor little girl. In between chuckles, the husband explained to the little girl that we are just checking in to rest for now. When she's a little older, maybe we can replicate our wedding again even if just in pictures. (OR maybe we can afford to do a renewal of vows with immediate family members then, we'll see). She didn't cry (thankfully). I guess, she didn't make room for tantrums and drama on this trip (fortunately for us!).

When we arrived at the hotel, kid was speechless and just beaming from ear to ear.When we were handed our key, she immediately grabbed it and proudly carried it till we got to our room.

welcome drinks and a question: "bakit F3 yung binigay na room number sa atin?
bakit hindi F1?"

"Hmmmmm, ang bango bango naman ng room natin Mommy!" 

Ahhhh soft sheets and cable TV. THIS IS THE GOOD LIFE.

She proceeded to claim her space on the bed and feign sleep (with a matching loud snore). She was so amusing to watch. The husband and I couldn't stop laughing at all her comments and observations. She really is a great travel companion now.

I'm really glad we took this trip. Seeing how happy she was, I already received the best 35th birthday gift ever.

(more photos after the jump)

Weekend Recap # 7 - Unplanned Trip and New Discoveries

Pathetic that the most I can post is about weekend updates. But better than none for now, I guess. I have yet to saddle back into getting my mother groove back. Nasty flu also had to victimize our entire household this past week. And Saturday saw us making a unplanned call to the little miss's pedia since she started running fever early morning.

It was a bad rhinitis attack that was worsened by a sneaky trip with Ate Inday to the frozen yogurt booth last Friday after the little miss's mini-intrams in school. I think she pretty well has learned her lesson now. I don't think she's ever going to ask for anything cold, iced or frozen when she's coughing. 

So while waiting for our turn at the doctor's clinic, the daddy kept saying -- "NINAKAW NA NAMAN ANG SABADO NATIN. GANUN GANUN NA LANG!" (so our entire Saturday was stolen from us again. Just like that) I shot him a killer glare and he zipped it after that. I'm sure if we didn't make the trip to the doctor's he would have been worried sick about his unica hija the entire weekend. I'll take one wasted day (if you ever consider it that way, I honestly don't Mr.) over an entire wasted weekend due to worrying. Then you will have to call work for an Emergency leave come Monday because you just couldn't bear seeing your daughter suffer anymore.

But mommies and daddies just really seemed to be wired differently. And there's a reason for that most probably. I think by having that, household decisions are balanced (doesn't happen all the time for us, but at least we often get to see the pros and cons first before we plunge into something). 

Sadly, we went home with an antibiotic prescription and 2 more additional medicines to take for a week. What seemed to have been a viral thing last week resulted to swollen tonsils (thanks to that sneaky frozen yogurt trip). Good thing, we're almost halfway through the medication and I can't help but look forward to Friday. We used to have no problems giving medicines to the little miss but since she got accustomed to just taking homeo meds, she started hating commercial meds already. So every time we need her to take her dose for the day, we had to constrain her else we end up playing chase the entire day. Somebody's gotta take the kicks and punches for now (and that's actually me) till this little miss is declared healthy again. 

Photo dumping in here again to recap the weekend that just passed:

bored. and getting a bit impatient.
had to wait for more than an hour for our turn at the doctor's clinic.

Grew tired of doodling on her notebook
so she grabbed the phone from me and starting taking pics of her feet,
her dad's phone, the walls, the door. Haha

passed by this dainty cupcake store on our way home.
i'm writing a separate post on these because I wanted to document
all the pics that I took of the store. And the little girl just loved it so much
i didn't have to force her to pose for photos.

We took these home:

Nice package eh? The girl was thrilled to hold the box since it's in her fave color!

Sunday was a lot better. Kiddo was more energetic.
We even got to sneak out for an easy 30-minute run before breakfast.
Then we hit the playground before Mr. Sun made his presence felt.
No pictures to show for that. But it was a happy morning.

I made cabbage rolls for lunch! My first time.
Wasn't bad. But wasn't great either. Plenty of room to improve.
Please check out my personal blog : tibsandfaye.blogspot.com for the recipe.

During naptime, she fashioned an imaginary TV out of her school folder.
The pic didn't show the pile of books below that was supposed to be an imaginary DVD player.
At this particular scene when I took the photo, 'KUNG FU PANDA' was showing.
She was laughing and giggling as if she was really watching a real movie.
She entertained us with her funny dialogue!
But I had to cut that short (yes, KJ mom) because she really needed that nap to recuperate fast.

I sneaked out of the house while she's napping to accompany my Mom and sis to the salon.
I grabbed the opportunity to get my hair trimmed too (it's been a year since I had a haircut. Yikes, I know)
The hairstylist was trying to convinced me to get a digi-perm but I was hesitating because I never had my hair 'curled' ever. So when he was blow drying, he decided to make temporary curls.
When I got home, kid was so thrilled to see my wavy hair. She was pushing for me to get it permed so we can both be curly. As of this writing however, I'm still about a thousand likes away from the husband's approval. Haha. 

Whew! That was quite a lengthy one. How's your week going so far? I hope you're having a great one!

Maia Travels: Rizal Park Tour Part III

The Children's Playground (finally, the last of my 3 part post)

Of all the places we visited in the Rizal Park compound it was in this place that the kids had so much fun. Well, I can't really blame them. It's a playground. And kids live to play. While we were in the Planetarium, they were already bugging me nonstop about it. That's why I'm still very thankful that they gave full attention to the film showing because I could clearly see then how excited they were to go to the children's playground.

We initially (Gogol's Yaya and I) planned to just walk back to the playground from the Planetarium but by 3pm, I was almost out of energy we decided to take the jeepney instead. It wasn't a long ride (just about 5 minutes from the Planetarium) but it was enough for us to regroup and recharge. By the time we got to the playground, the kid's energy were overflowing they just ran and ran and ran around like there's no tomorrow. The place was already filled with kids and adults that late afternoon but it was just large enough to still give plenty of running space for hyper kids like Maia and Gogol. It also had plenty of shaded areas which was a big welcome for us since it was very humid that day. Oh, the gift of trees indeed!

Apart from the wide open spaces, slides, and colorful hiding places another upside is the cheap entrance fee which was only for P10/person. That probably explains why even on a weekday, the park is filled with people. The downside to that is, the park maintenance couldn't police everyone and kids (and maybe even adults) would probably end up urinating on the ground or one of the pretty structures (which provides them obscurity from the other park goers). Most of the structures reek of pee and that isn't a good smell at all. It didn't bother the kids at all though so we just made sure they changed to clean clothes and their hands properly washed after they finished playing. Some of the structures that were not frequented by kids also became perfect hideaways for adults looking for privacy. On one of the turtle structures that Maia liked, there were two adults that were to me too intimate for a kid and I felt they didn't respect the presence of the kid at all. They didn't budge when to me, the park was built for kids so they should give way to those who wish to use that structure for it's real and true purpose.

Just to give you an overview of the park, here are a couple of shots I took using my phone camera:

Maia Travels: Breakfast At Antonio's

A peak at how and where the little girl spent her Saturday morning yesterday. The past 4 years we always celebrated our wedding anniversary by just attending mass at the church where we were married and grabbing a quick (fast) breaky at the nearest fastfood chain (how cozy and romantic no?). Yesterday, we thought, kid was big enough to already bring with us for a shot of fancy celebration. So we commuted our way to this little fancy resto in Alfonso, Cavite for breakfast.

Will blog more about this soon over at our family blog. In the meantime, let me direct you to the restaurant's website in case you would want to drop by this place soon.

Click for more photos here.

Weekend Snaps # 40 - Carousels, Swings and Making Friends

Lazy weekends are never complete without a visit to the playground. We skipped our palengke date on Saturday and brought the kid to the pocket park instead. What we planned to be a short stay extended to almost 2 hours.

She made a new friend without our prodding. Of course they had to warm up at first. But it didn't take long before they started playing tag, balance-balance, invading the slides. When we left the park, they were hand in hand already! She even asked E where her house is. My shy little miss finally coming out of her shell? Oh I hope so. And they also met again later that day at the pool and she proudly introduced her new friend E to her Ate Inday. 

And we witnessed 2 milestones this weekend.

On Saturday, the little miss rode the swing on her own for about 10 minutes (well...technically by not sitting on our laps. But the daddy was standing right behind her all along). Moments like that always pinches my heart a bit. But no matter how briefly, they always render me mystified by the thought. I am a mother to this amazing  kid. Yes, motherhood is rather overrated on my part of the world. But every time I get this sudden burst of overwhelming emotions like this one, I just can't help but silently throw my relentless thank yous to God for gifting me with this kid. 

Then Sunday we finally had to make this mall trip that we had been delaying for months now. We are not fond of weekend mall trips and are seriously scared of the mall mob (lol). But we had to do this errand now. So we planned to go first thing in the morning and it turned out to be a good strategy because there were barely any people yet when we got to the mall come opening time and the kid still had enough energy to walk almost the entire time that we were inside the mall. A carousel ride was never part of our itinerary since we wanted to leave before lunch time hits (that's when we expect the mob formation to begin) but the minute she saw us approaching the carousel area she just wouldn't take NO for an answer. And you know how persistent they can get. So we said yes but with the condition that she rides it alone. Although unexpectedly, she bravely said YES! 

lining up to get in and about to hand her ticket to kuya operator

The daddy kept shouting "don't let go. hold tight!" but eventually relaxed to enjoy listening to the little miss's squeals and wave back to the repeated "Hi's and Hello's". And when she came down, she was beaming from ear to ear. Ako lang ang walang kasama no, Mommy? Kasi big girl na ako eh.

You're only turning 4 next week, little girl. Wag magmadali. Please.

Super Long Weekend In Photos

While most of the Filipino workforce are probably still in bed, relishing the final day of our 4-day long weekend, here I am punching computer keys so early in the morning. Yes, it is month-end and here comes the monthly highlight of my job once again. It's a good thing I've accumulated a lot of photos over the weekend. Brought them to work for inspiration. And I have been on the move since 7am, and am now taking my first coffee break of the day.

As I hardly log into the computer when I'm at home, I usually spend a lot of time in Instagram. Having lost my ever beloved Blue last summer to wear and tear and well, basically, just overusage if there is such a term (what can I say, I am an addicted trigger happy wannabe-photographer momma) I had since become bestfriends with Instagram. If you're in there too, let's follow each other. I am pyxxie0703 over there.

Here are my choice pick/s (err pics):

Loving these plaid blouses that I bought from Landmark. Cheap but chic.

eager volunteer. we cleaned up the garden.

STAMPS!

feeding mingming

indoor play

A Happy Friday Post

I was scouring my brains for something nice to post today. Some cheerful mommy news to perk up the remaining hours of Friday and as a sort of joyful welcome for the weekend. But it's been hours...and I came up with NONE. NADA. NIL. 

So I'm just going to call it a day and squeeze myself into Maia's little space on the floor and shower her with kisses while she's deep in slumber. Ate Inday told us it has been an awfully tiring day for her having foregone naptime to spend a full afternoon doodling and playing with her village bff, Shea. She's probably even snoring in there and that would be fun to listen to. The snores are a rare treat for me and her dad because those always remind us that she played like real kids do during the day. And that's exactly how we always like her days to be. 

Since Monday, she's been looking forward to spending the weekend with us so we planned for another lazy family day for our Saturday. We're probably going to hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on our door tomorrow so don't bother knocking okay? This household is going to be busy being lazy tomorrow!

Have a great weekend everyone! Leaving you with Maia's version of Barney's I Love You song (plus a bonus track lolz)

Earth Day Special: Tree Planting - A Family Bonding

April 4, 2012
Hamungaya Sugarmill,
Durog, Belison, Antique

A few days before we left for Antique, my dad (Maia's lolo) called to tell his apo that he's already prepared the seedlings that they will be using for their tree planting project. For several years now (three if I remember correctly), my dad made sure the little girl and her cousin Gogol plants something to commemorate their summer together. Planting a tree is I guess my dad's way of celebrating lent. And Earth day after all is also celebrated in April so everything is just so timely. And trees and plants have played a big role in our agricultural family so it's only fitting that we always give back.

In the past, the kids would just plant their trees in my parents' backyard. My dad has been growing fruit trees since we were little kids and each time he anticipates our home coming, he would set aside a fruit tree for Maia and her cousin Gogol to plant together.

This year was different however. My dad prepared something that we could do as a family. And it turned out to be one great familly bonding experience for all of us. I just let the photos speak for themselves

top (left to right): me digging a hole for my banana plant, maia kissing her banana before we moved on with the planting,
Gogol digging a hole to plant his own tree.
bottom: our very own Kalumpit tree. hopefully next year it's going to be bigger and stronger (rawwwr hehehe sorry can't help it)

Lolo's treeplanting 101 with the kids

lolo's idea of a perfect bonding activity with maia

And here's a funny clip of my sister and dad teaching Gogol and Maia how to plant a tree. Maia was initially hesitating to touch the soil because she found it 'icky' and 'yucky' (a city kid eh?) but when she saw Gogol handling the soil like a pro, she dove right in and started throwing in some soil unto the pit too (such a competitive kid).

Summer Memories Of Antique

Antique is a coastal province in the island of Panay (Western Visayas). Belison (we are in wikipedia!) is a town about 18kms north of the provincial capital that is San Jose de Buenavista. I grew up and spent almost 20 years of my life there. It is a quiet town where not much has changed since my childhood. I used to rant about how provincial it was. How devoid it was of 'development'. But I am taking all that back now (well I did take it back some 3 years ago). I am now loving every bit of that place regardless of how it remained to be the same old. 

Since I moved to Manila some 10 or more years ago (hahaha okay just do the math), I've always made it a point to come home at least once (but if the budget would permit well as frequently as possible). My officemates then would often tease me that my savings were all going to the local airline companies' bank accounts. Yes, I admit without shame or regret that spent almost every spare peso I had then to buy plane tickets (and if I get really homesick my parents would take pity and volunteer to buy the tickets for me just so I can come home during long holiday breaks). This year however, because we wanted to make a lot of our plans happen already (plans that were on the pipe since we got married actually), Tibs and I agreed we will skip our Antique homecoming. I tried to psych myself out (tried my hardest, I swear) and used arguments such as - "Cavite is now my home, I should not look far." Or "as long as we spend our holidays together as a family, it wouldn't matter where we are." But there's this nagging thought in my head that firmly declares NO! -- I also have a family in Antique. I've never missed a holy week away from them except during the first trimester that I was pregnant with Maia because I was put on bed rest. Since I gave birth however, we kept on with this tradition and Maia has somehow grown accustomed to it too. She now looks forward to our trips to Antique (and she now enumerates fondly the specific things that she's excited about).

It's difficult to explain but I'm really THAT close to my family that no matter where our disagreements would take us, holy week get-togethers are SACRED in a sense that we just have to be together. It has sort of become our mini-reunion and I'm fervently hoping it's going to stay that way till Gogol and Maia are all grown up and till our pockets would allow us to. 

I never got around to convincing myself that we could forego one trip this year. So the inevitable will happen, the three of us are leaving for Antique again for some R&R and a lot of bonding with my family! And I just can't wait for Monday to come!

I am sharing here photos of all our past trips with Maia in tow. 

Mar 2009. Five months old and enjoying the early morning ocean breeze. Our house is just about a kilometer away from the beach.

Family pic from under my dad's mango tree. 

kids with the grannies. summer of 2009.

La Parola, Patnongon, Antique. Summer of 2010. 

mudplay! summer of 2010. 

Summer of 2010. Outdoor bath.

Summer of 2010, chasing goats.

AND HERE ARE OUR MOST RECENT PHOTOS, PRESENTING MEMORIES OF SUMMER 2011. 

this may be not comparable to 'world-class' beaches but the sunsets are just as perfect

we took a photo of the aratiles for Maia and Gogol. they loved this, by the way!

Basking on the surf with daddy

Enjoying a piggyback ride with Lolo

Sand 'box' time with manong gogol

Cow-watching with Manong Gogol (lolz)

I still have gazillions to show! But I know this post alone is quite an overload already. But I guess now you know why I can't just let this summer pass without us coming home to this wonderful place!