A couple of months ago a friend told me about the group The Piano Guys and said they were coming to Manila.  I had never heard of them before, but after watching some YouTube videos they produced I quickly ordered 2 tickets.  It turned out to be a mother/daughter date and we had so much fun!  It is made up of a guy on the piano and another on the cello…and sometimes other friends help out.  They are very talented and very funny.  We were thoroughly entertained and the crowd was great that they came back 2-3 times for an encore performance.

We had great seats for our mother/daughter date

The Piano Guys during their performance

10 days after school started this year there was a holiday on a Wednesday and then the following Monday. We decided to pull Kalani out of school for 2 days and go on another vacation!  We headed up north to Baguio where there were trees that resembled pine trees and reminded us of Tahoe in California.  The only down side to our trip was that there was a monsoon…good thing we have a driver who took care of us and all of the driving.

Driving to Baguio during a monsoon. So thankful we have a driver.

We either had rain or fog during the drive. It took us about 5 hours to get there with a lunch stop along the way.

Since we had our own car and driver we created our own itinerary of things to see on our first day in Baguio. Thanks to the hotel for their recommendations and TripAdivsor for other people’s experiences, we put together a nice day of activities.

1st stop: Botanical Garden

There was a drizzle while exploring the Botanical Garden, but we all had a good time.

2nd stop: The Good Shepherd Convent where we bought homemade goodies

3rd stop: Mind’s View Park

Souvenir item for sale…minus the laptop

Mason was excited to get a wooden snake for his treat and to get a photo with this “cool dog”

It was still raining pretty good while we were at Mine’s View Park. The local way to get rid of the water that collects on the tarps without getting water in all the shops.

4th stop: Bell Church with some history of China on site as well

Leaving the Bell church Matt was asked if he wouldn’t mind taking a photo with some Filipinas

5th stop: Tam-Awan Village

The next day we decided to drive from Baguio to Banaue to see the 2000 year old rice terraces.  It was a beautiful drive that took 6 hours to reach our destination.  We only looked at the rice terraces for about 10 minutes because of a downpour.  So we took a longer, safer way home that took 8 hours.  The kids and adults did very well on that 14 hour car ride!

The clouds would come and go on our drive to Banaue…but it was still a beautiful drive

We stopped to stretch our legs and check out Ambuklao Dam on our way to Banaue

Banaue Rice Terraces

Local Igorot ladies that wait for tourist to come take a photo. Matt gave this lady more than the usual tip!

On the way home from Banaue we pulled off the side of the road and purchased some wood furniture at a rock bottom price!

We stayed at The Manor at Camp John Hay and had a wonderful time. Matt and I worked out every day and then got a massage. The kids loved exploring the place (when it wasn’t raining) and they also had art classes at the hotel.  We met up with a co-worker/basketball teammate of Matt’s for dinner on Saturday night. Also on Saturday, 4 families from our church arrived in Baguio but stayed at another hotel.  We actually didn’t get to see any of our church friends until church on Sunday…before we headed back to Manila.

The kids each painted 3 art pieces at the hotel on a rainy day.

Our Manila church friends that were in Baguio the same time as us.

Random lion head we saw on our drive back to Manila

Bridal Veil Falls was a good place for pictures and to get out and stretch our legs while heading home.

Before we return home to the states, I want to go back to Baguio when it isn’t raining and we can pick local strawberries! More Baguio photos here.

My brother and his wife welcomed a new daughter to their family. Baby and mother are doing very well and we cannot wait to see this little one. Now my parents have 9 grandchildren…5 boys and 4 girls.

Baby Kina

My sister-in-law gave birth to this sweet thing on September 23 via C-section.  Kina weighed in at 7lbs 9oz and 19 3/4″ long.

Summer has come and gone and we filled it full of fun!  We spent most of the summer in Manila with friends taking drama/soccer classes, bowling, ice skating, going to movies, museums and being together as a family.  We did have a couple of getaways during the summer.  A few days in Singapore and then a long weekend at Canyon Cove Resort in the Philippines.  Summer time here means that it is the rainy season, but that didn’t stop up from staying busy and making memories!

Kalani participated in a drama class for a month where she made some wonderful friends. At the end they performed an original play.

Mason played soccer twice a week for about a month. He really liked being the goalie.

We went to Manila Ocean Park where they had a “North Pole” with snow…it was really cold!

We had a day of bowling with friends.

A day at the Mind Museum with friends.

Dancing/playing at a friend’s house

Mason’s tooth got infected and had to be pulled

Kalani learned how to make her chin turn into a face

We had a “Friends Party” just because

Our extended family came over

We met more family members in person

We enjoyed watching the FIBA Asia games

Now Mason does “preschool” with me at home

Kalani is now in grade 4 and has 2 of her good friends in her class this year

Some friends of ours invited us to spend a weekend with them for the birthday celebration of their daughter who is Kalani’s friend.  It happened to be over a 3 day weekend so we took advantage of that and had a wonderful time being with friends and enjoying the beach and resort.  We drove about 2 hours to get to Canyon Cove Resort.  With it being a holiday weekend, we didn’t get any promotion deals, so we felt like we paid too much for the rooms and food.  The buffet breakfast was okay if you wanted to eat the local Filipino type breakfast, but after 2 days of it we were done.  We arrived on Thursday evening and left Saturday afternoon…you know that the food wasn’t great when “Jolliebee” is a better option.  Still, we had a good time hanging out with friends and being on the beach and Kalani and Matt got to ride a jet ski!

The resort had a nice pool, access to the beach, play ground, fish spa and volleyball court.

Mason loved having his “Big Boy Friends” around, and I think they also liked having him around as well.

Kalani loved having friends around to swim with.

We had some fun playing sand volleyball.

When it wasn’t overcast too much, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.