Exploring the Landmarks of the World

Our recent trip to the United States has reignited Mavi’s interest in geography, and he asked me if he could review our landmarks of the world figures to check the places he has already visited.

Holiday Homecoming Part II

The highlights of our stay at my parents house were the New Year's celebration and our island beach escapade. 

It is a tradition in our family to gather  and celebrate all together on New Year’s eve.  It was Mavi’s first time to party with his grandparents, uncles and aunties.. and cousins!  (Sorry can’t post family pictures for privacy :D)

Seeing a whole roasted pig for the first time.

I was teaching him how to light a sparkler!

And the little boy so interested with this horn.

After the New Year, we headed out to an island beach resort which is 4 hrs drive from home.  I really wanted Mavi to experience how we enjoy the beach in the Philippines. It’s not just about swimming in the water but doing lots of play and island adventure as well.

Making sandcastle :)

Island hopping with cousin

Beach

  

Starfish!

Cave!

 

Riding in front of the fishing boat is so much compared to being inside.  Mavi with my not so little brother.

 

Early morning walk at the beach, finding dead corals, shells and hermit crabs!

                   

Oh we are missing all of these already!! 

My son suffered separation anxiety for awhile. But I comforted him that we’ll have lots of family adventures here as well once it is springtime. I know its different with other families and relatives around, but we can’t do anything about it since they’re millions miles away from us. I love it that Mavi appreciated the trip, that he was able to appreciate the presence of other family  members and felt the love that they have for him (and his brother). 

Now I can’t wait to go back! LOL

Holiday Homecoming Part I

As you all know, family and I went home last month to celebrate Christmas and New Year with the family in our homeland.  I've always wanted Mavi to experience how it's like to celebrate the holidays at home, to be with grandparents, cousins and relatives and to enjoy the local sights and festivities.

So allow me to share some pictures from our trip. First stop, the in-laws!

Zoocobia
We always visit the zoo whenever we go places. And we’re so lucky that there’s a new zoo located near my in-laws place.  Because we were considered as “VIP”, we get to have our own tour guide and had a close encounter with most of the animals in the zoo. 

Here we get to….

Hold a parrot

   

Get lost in the Garden Maze

          

Go Carting

Feed the ostrich

 

Feed the monkey

 

Feed a camel, goat, and donkey

And see in person the animal that produces one of the most expensive coffees in the world, the wild civet. 

Sky Ranch
We love that there was a night carnival in town!  First time for Mavi to be out at night (not in the cold), and enjoying the carnival ride!

Dinosaur Island
Saving the best for last, we visited the newly established Dinosaur Island, just a few minutes from the in-law’s place.  Mavi's obsessed with dinosaurs and he was ecstatic upon arrival!

The Dinosaur Island is right in the middle of a rainforest, and that dinosaur statues were so impressive! It's like an outdoor museum of dinosaurs, and even if their animation and sound effects were limited, Mavi and the entire had a wonderful time viewing the elect... dinosaurs.

Aside from these sights, we get to visit relatives as well. After celebrating Christmas at my in-laws house, we travelled again for a day via a domestic flight going to my folk’s house to spend the New Year. Pictures coming up for Part II!

3 Weeks Vacation

Hello everyone! You might be wondering why I wasn't active in the past few weeks.  We're on vacation. I have to admit this is unplanned though, so my plans for September-October activities are on-hold.  I didn't bring my laptop with me so even if I have something to share on the activities we did early September, I cannot post it because the pictures are in my hard-drive.

We still have a few more days left, and am preparing again for another 22hour flight back.  My son is born a traveller, he's been crossing continents/countries for the past 4 years and never gave me a headache. Everyone calls him a jet-setter boy!

In a few weeks time, we'll be back in our regular programming, but for now.... we're enjoying this!