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One last Trip

I know you’ve all had your fill of beautiful blue water photos and are ready for more photos of the boys but one more day people. Toddler pics are coming I promise!

But first one last trip with my friend Jenny. Jenny and family are leaving Manila in a couple weeks so it was nice to have one last trip before she leaves.

Our first stop was twin lagoon. We pulled into this pretty little lagoon.

We then had to swim to the middle of these two cliffs and climb up some stairs.

Then it was down some stairs into another lagoon. This lagoon was entirely empty. We were the only ones in there. It was a bit scary with deep water but I figured I may never be back so I would go for it.

I took this picture to see if anything was swimming beneath me in this deep dark lagoon. Inconclusive!

But, when I wasn’t worried about the creatures in the lagoon and looked around I was shocked once again at the beauty of Coron.

After that we headed off to snorkel near a sunken World War II ship.

Our last stop was a beautiful little beach.

Even though it started raining right after we arrived it was still so beautiful and peaceful sitting there under a bamboo hut listening to the rain and chatting with my friend. It’s moments like these that stick in your mind long after you travel places and you remember long after you’ve left. One of the hardest things about this lifestyle is having to say goodbye to friends you make. On the flip side, one of the best things about this lifestyle is getting to take a trip like this to say goodbye.

More Palawan

My second day in Palawan was all work. A full day of seminars for the media, some of it interesting. But the next day we took all the media out to see some of the work USAID is doing in Palwan. This meant snorkeling and a trip back to Kayangan Lake.

Hello media.

It was such a beautiful day.

Our first stop was Siete Pecados, the 7 sisters, to snorkel. Siete Pecados is a cluster of seven small islands. According to legend, seven sisters went swimming against their mother’s wishes. As a consequence they alk drowned and afterwards seven small islands sprouted from the sea.

Our next stop was back to Kayangan Lake. It was even more worth the 150 stairs the second time!

There is something so calming and mystical about this place. The second time was even better than the first.

To finish off a great day we went out for best pizza I’ve had in the Philippines.

Followed by this…Yes i was dubious too but this dessert was delicious! I even had seconds. Besides young coconut I have no idea what was even in it. But it was yummy!

Right Place, Right Time

Sometimes you’re just in the right place at the right time! Every 6 months Public Affairs plans a Media Seminar for media from all over the Philippines to come learn about U.S. Government programs. The seminar is always right at the Embassy one floor down from my office. But this time I had the genius idea of suggesting to have the seminar in Coron, a small town in Palawan, a beautiful island in the Philippines. It tied in with other programming and it was miraculously approved!

Not only did I get to go to Palawan for work but my good friend at work also came for another program. We had two days of work and then stayed on for an extra day to snorkel.

But first we had to get there. First up, a propeller plane that landed on this little runway with no one else around.

Then it was a 40 minute drive over these bridges….

But we made it and it actually was a short and easy trip, despite my dramatics.

We flew up early and had some time before the media arrived to take a boat trip to Kayangan Lake where sacred spirits are believed to have once dwelled. A ritual was performed to transfer the spirits before the lake was open to the public.

After a short car ride to the bay we headed out on a boat.

Thank you Go Pro for giving me Gumby arms.

We pulled me into Kayangan Cove and stopped for some lunch.

Why yes, we did use children’s bug stickers.

You have to walk up 150 steps but halfway up you see this view and it’s worth it.

When you get down to the other side you have a beautiful crystal clear lake surrounded by amazing limestone cliffs.

We were amazingly one of a handful of people there and there was noone else around!

Not bad for a work day!

This things Dreams are made of

A new Casino opened up in Manila, City of Dreams. So we decided to bring he kids to play blackjack a couple weekends ago. Just kidding, we took them to Dreamplay, a kids dream located in the casino. It’s full of activities based on Dreamworks movies.

We had breakfast at a nearby hotel and headed over.

Malcolm managed to fall asleep in the ten minutes it took to get from the hotel to the casino. Don’t worry, he woke right up and got to play too.

Adam’s favorite movie these days is How to Train a Dragon so he was in heaven when he got to build and fly his own.

But his favorite part was when he got to bake cookies with Gingy from Shrek.

Of course the exit is through the gift store so we had to of course get a little treat as Adam calls it. He of course chose a Toothless dragon doll.

Mommy and daddy got a treat too when both boys fell asleep on the way home and took long naps.

Up, up and away!

After a wonderful year in the toddler room at Amerikids School Adam had his first graduation. As Adam says ‘Did you know, I’m Amerikids’. It’s too cute to corrent and tell him he’s actually American.

The school, his class and his teachers have all been wonderful and Adam has grown and learned so much. His little report card was just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. His teacher wrote that Adam has all the qualities of an ideal student-inquisitive, observant and enthusiastic. And that Adam loves to learn by just observing and is an active participant in class discussions and can very well articulate what he wants to share. I love thinking of him in his classroom observing and participating, enthusiastic and inquisitive. She also told us how he helps the younger children in the class when they need help. I love the sweet, smart little boy he is turning into and every day I love spending time with him more and more. I hope he always love school and to learn and never stops being so curious and observant.

Of course we started off with the star spangled banner, which Adam has been singing on loop at top volume ever since. Is there a more addictive song to sing at the top of your lungs? I don’t think so.

Guess who was the guest speaker at the graduation? U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines – Philip S. Goldberg! To quote the Ambassador, he may be the highest level speaker at any of their graduations. But you never know Mr. Ambassador- the president may speak at his Harvard graduation, no pressure Adam!

As you can see Adam took in every word and was intrigued.

Even more intrigued.

Then it was time for diplomas. I’m used to being at the end of the alphabet so I was shocked when Adam was called first. Ali, first of the alphabet! Adam was hysterical, he had no clue what to do. His teacher prompted him on stage where he meandered over to the Ambassador, took his diploma, kind of shook his hand and then stood there until someone prompted him off.

Daddy was in the US for training but don’t worry, he has gotten to hear many rendition of the Star Spangled Banner since his return.

Adam's eggplant

Adam’s class has been growing vegetables all year and last week we finally got to enjoy the fruits of their labor! Adam has been growing eggplants and he brought one home the other day. We added it to some vegetable skewers and gobbled it all up! Thanks Adam!

Cabin Fever

I have a lot to catch you up on! Between needing the computer to watch Game of Thrones at night and being the only person in my office for the whole month of June it’s been hard to find time to update my faithful readers, yes mom I’m talking about you.

So let’s start where we left off, Baguio. I’ve told you about hiking and horseback riding but what else did we do you might ask.

Well, first we had to get there, luckily I have two great boys who handled 6 hours in the car like troopers.

Once we arrived we were all SO happy to be out of the car. And not only were we outside of the car but we had trees and grass to play in! Living in Manila one of the things I miss the most is green space, parks, trees.

Adam must have spent a half hour looking at this huge butterfly. He was so into animals and nature this trip, butterflies, frogs, horses of course.

Our friends Jenny and Joe came up the same weekend. There girls are the same age as Adam and Malcolm and the kids all loved having friends to play with.

The weather was amazing! When we left Manila it was 97 degrees (at 6:30 am!) and when we got to Baguio it was 67! It was so nice to snuggle under the covers. It was so much fun to break out our sweaters for the first time (!) since last year when were in Baguio.

We lit fires every night! Perfect for making smores.

This was Malcolm’s spot all weekend.

Except when he was playing with the flashlight.

Or the teeball.

Or cuddling with Maria.

What else did we do? Well a whole lot of this and it was great.

Me too, me too!

These two with their chubby cheeks and bellies and crossed little legs!

And then people this happened! We were at the playground right outside the Embassy Compound and there was a fire station with an old fire truck (remind me to keep a close eye on that fireplace!). I asked the firemen if the kids could see the fire truck and the response was sure, it’s open. Might I add that the keys were in the ignition! Once inside these two pressed every button in sight until some fireman wised up and came and took the keys out of the ignition (ten minutes later) and turned off all the lights they had turned on.

We did squeeze in a field trip to the butterfly garden. This was no butterfly garden like the London Zoo where there are hundreds of butterflies. This house had about three flying butterflies and the rest were ‘stills’.

But that didn’t matter, all three of these little ones were intrigued.

The ‘manager’ of this butterfly garden spent about ten minutes asking Adam to make guns with his hands to put some butterflies on. Adam, the sweetheart, had no idea what he was talking about. Eventually we got there and Adam was so brave. He loved every minute of it and didn’t mind all the butterflies on him.

Just in case you think that it was all good times and there were no toddler breakdown, here is Adam, You may wonder what tragedy befell Adam to make him cry. A true tragedy, Malcolm refused to share the precious tic tac container.

And just in case you were worried we didn’t take some posed pictures, here you go! I’m pretty sure that I bribed Adam with a tic tac here.

And here is a throwback from last year when we went to Baguio!

I ❤️️ Horses

The part that I like best about Baguio is a tie between seeing frogs, eating marshmallows and – oh who am I kidding, it’s the horses! Always the horses!

Early Saturday morning they brought two horses right up to our cabin. Chocolate and Dixie were beautiful! Usually mommy and daddy insist on getting up on the horse with me. This time they refrained. I’m not sure if it’s because the horse wasn’t that big or because Vivian was allowed to go up alone. But either way it was magnificent!

Here’s Chocolate and his trainer.

Here you go people, photographic proof that I was up there alone!

Daddy tried to bring Malcolm over to pet Dixie but he wasn’t sure. He’s still a baby and cries.

That’s ok, More horse time for me!

Vivian wanted to switch horses and I didn’t mind. More horse time for me!

This is where it gets interesting people. Daddy took Malcolm back to nap so mommy was left in charge. Mommy usually has me on and off that horse as soon as possible. I think she’s seen Gone With the Wind one too many times. But…Vivian wanted to go on the trails and because her mommy said yes my mommy said yes!

The two horse trainers suggested we take the ‘Japanese’ trail since the ‘American’ train was a bit muddy after a rain storm the night before. Don’t be fooled, they are both part of the American compound.

I kept waiting for my mommy to find out more about the trails but it never happened. So instead here are some three other facts about Baguio.

Camp John Hay, where the U.S. Compound is is named after Teddy Roosevelt’s Secretary of state!

The Ambassador’s residence at Camp John Hay is where the Japanese officially surrendered to the U.S. during WWII, or right after I guess.

The Japanese trail is a little scary. Ok, that fact is from my mom. I thought it was tons of fun. But I could tell my mom was a little worried. Chocolate’s trainer tried to reassure her and told her Chocolate knew this trail well, but she was still worried. I could tell by the way she was muttering to herself.

But once we were on the trail we had to go to the turn around point, so more horse time for me!

We “finally made it” to the U-turn point to quote mommy. Isn’t it funny halfway around the world and I’m on U.S. property!

Vivian wanted to switch so I did. After all, this all means more horse time for me!

Before we knew it the horse ride was over! An hour long walk on the trail and I still had this huge grin on my face. I never complained once and rode my horse the entire time! I can’t wait until next time! But maybe next time I’ll take daddy.

A walk in the woods

If two toddlers take a walk in the woods will anyone hear them? The answer is of course yes, especially when it’s these two adorable ones.

We went up to Baguio for the weekend a couple weeks ago with our friends who are leaving shortly for their next post. It was so nice to be out in the woods for a couple of days away from the hustle and bustle of Manila. It was worth every second of a long 5 hour drive.

Adam and Malcolm loved having Vivian and Penelope there who are just their ages. We took a long walk with the two older ones and they loved every minute! It’s amazing how much changes in a year. Adam at three and a half can come for an hour long walk with me and enjoy every minute even when we were walking through mud, under a tree or up a hill.