Category Archives: Uncategorized

For our last day in Hanoi we decided to drive out to Ninh Binh and do some sightseeing.  Our tour guide picked us up and we started out.  The drive was over two hours but thankfully we were equipped with our kindles.  As we drove out of Hanoi it started to rain. We were hopefulContinue reading “Long car rides and steak”

We had big plans to spend a night on the Dragon Boat in Halong Bay but a storm rolling through Vietnam meant we stayed put in Hanoi the whole time. Luckily there was tons to keep up busy.  First up we took a dip in the beautiful pool.  Next up we headed to this greatContinue reading “Basically locals or very good tourists!”

Oh my goodness, busy work days and an exciting new Season of Homeland (well, new for us!) means I never finished telling you all about our trip to Vietnam!  Sometimes you can sight-see with kids and everything goes perfectly. Then there are the other times when it is humid, muggy and there is a lotContinue reading “Ho Chi Minh”

We decided to take Grandma Gertch to Vietnam! We were excited to go back and there is now a direct flight to Hanoi, except it leaves at 10 pm.  Unfortunately Randy had to go to Mongolia so couldn’t take more time off to come with us. But he had just returned after two week awayContinue reading “Back to Vietnam”

Guess who came back to the Philippines! Secretary Kerry! The last time he was here I was seven months pregnant with Malcolm and it was my second day of work.  I was asked to fill in for a sick Public Affairs officer and ride along with his motorcade. Pretty exciting, except I had absolutely zeroContinue reading “Kerry & Me”

I have been so lucky to meet some great moms in my building. They are not from the embassy and its’ nice to have a different group of friends to grab a drink with or talk with. They are all wonderful moms and I love spending time with them, with kids or without.  All ourContinue reading “Go for Gold”

First day of school this year. Adam is back in his Pre-K class and Malcolm is back in his toddler class. I am so glad they get another year at this amazing pre-school. It is at the other Embassy compound, close to the embassy where we work so we are able to join for activities.Continue reading “One for the Albums”

Grandma is in Manila! We’ve been keeping busy! We took her to our favorite pizza place- Motorinos. We styled all the new clothes that Grandma brought! We showed Grandma all the new places that have opened in our neighborhood since last year. We took Grandma back to the Mind Museum which has a new dinosaurContinue reading “Grandma Gertch comes to town!”

We had one week after Italy before Grandma Gertch came to town. We needed to defeat jetlag and get back into the swing of Manila life! Some highlights- Late night ice-cream to keep everyone up past 6 pm.  A note on jetlag and how we defeat it, we keep the boys up as late asContinue reading “Jetlag”

I know you’re all sad to hear this but here it is, we have finally reached the very last of our Italian post. For the end of our trip we piled up our stuff into the car and headed to Rome. It was a five hour drive so we needed lots of snacks and kindles. Continue reading “Roma”