Matt has great co-workers that tell him about places to go and things to try.  He has a co-worker in California who married a Filipina, so they return to the Philippines often and recommended a resort owned by his brother in-law called Eagle Point.  With it being the “All Saints Day” holiday, we decided to take a day trip to that resort.  The drive was about 1.5 hours away, and being from Texas we are use to having to drive to get anywhere!

Because it was a holiday we wanted to treat our household help, so we took them along for a “vacation” type of day and to also help with the kids so Matt and I could enjoy ourselves as well.  (They had the actual holiday off on Thursday, but the day after they came to work…think of it as Thanksgiving day as the holiday, and then Black Friday was the day that we took our day trip)

Something we were not aware of was the tolls on the road.  It was a lot like traveling in Europe where we kept having to stop on the freeway to pay tolls.  We paid about $8 each way just in tolls.

Day trip to Eagle Point from Makati, Manila = 100 minutes drive with no traffic one way.

Loading up in the “shuttle” to take us from the parking lot to the resort

Kalani helping her dad out with sunscreen so he won’t get burn.

Matt trying to get Kalani to snorkel in the pool with the black tip sharks…she didn’t want to do that.

Matt did get Kalani to snorkel with him out in the ocean.

Mason also tried snorkeling in the ocean with his mom.

The resort is called “Eagle Point” and they had about 6 “Filipino Eagles” there and a few other birds as well in their aviary.

The kids (and adults) really enjoyed this slide

Since we spent the day at the resort, we ate at their lunch buffet.  It was pretty good food with a decent selection and reasonably priced.  We spent around $65 for 5 adults and 2 children to swim, snorkel and eat lunch.  We will most likely return to this resort again and probably stay the night so we don’t have to be in the car for 3-5 hours in one day.

When Matt and I came on a house hunting trip to the Philippines in September, we were told about The Mind Museum.  I love taking the kids to museums and letting them learn while having fun.  So, we spent a couple of hours there and had Kalani bring along a friend she met at church.

Learning about static electricity

Crazy mom hair!

Kalani inside a large bubble

Mason making a bubble “just like his sister”

The museum wasn’t super cheap, but it was a needed activity for our family.  You can only do the same things a number of times at the temporary housing before you get stir crazy.  It was also a bit upsetting that we paid $11-$15 person and could only be there during a certain 3 hour time frame.  But, the museum was pretty cool and there were things that we didn’t get around to seeing or doing.  I’m sure that we will attend again before we leave the country.

We have now been in the Philippines as a family for a week!  With traveling there are the pros and cons, so here is my attempt capture our first week of the good and bad.

CONS:

-Living in temporary housing.  This isn’t that bad since they are serviced apartments with a yummy breakfast buffet, nice fitness center, 2 pools and hot tub.  But, it does mean that we have to move again in a few weeks once our furniture arrives.

-Not having our things.  We traveled with 6 suitcases and 3 carry-ons…I guess we could have brought 2 more suitcases, but really we didn’t have room in the cars for more suitcases and I didn’t want to try to maneuver more suitcases either.

-Arriving on a Holiday Week.  The International school was out for the whole week, so Kalani wasn’t able to start school and make friends right away.  Many people were  gone from church traveling and stores were closed for “All Saint’s Day” as well.

 -Jet-lag.  I was told that it takes about one day for every hour difference from your “host” country to over come jet-lag.  And that seems to be the case since everyone tells us that it took them about 2 weeks to overcome their jet-lag. (The Philippines is 13 hours ahead of Texas during day-light savings)

PROS:

-Having our driver on-call 24/7. We got picked up from the airport  by our driver in a new Toyota Fortuner.   It is a company policy for us NOT to drive in the country.  And really we don’t want to drive here since we would most likely be in an accident or cause accidents daily if we did drive.

-Having “Help”.  We hired the help from the family we replaced and they are FABULOUS!  We have a maid/cook and nanny. I came to the realization yesterday that they are another Tia, and I am getting use to it quickly.

-Church Members.  I think that if you want to travel and/or live overseas you should be Mormon since there are members all over the world and you automatically become included into the local network of Mormons at the new location.  Our branch here has nearly 200 members with 98% active!  We have also been invited over for dinner 3 (edit: make that 4!) times during our first week.  A thoughtful co-worker also invited us to lunch and a movie on Saturday.

-New Adventures.  We love to get out and try new things.

-Friendliness of locals.  Super nice and friendly people everywhere we go.

-Spending time together as a family.

Highlights of the week:

Halloween party for the kids at our temporary serviced  apartments

Mason found a dinosaur at the Mind Museum

Kids rode on these animals in the mall…kind of like bumper cars

We dropped the kids off at a play place for an hour where there were toys, slides, computers, etc

Snorkeling with black tip sharks

We are looking forward to more adventures during the next 2-3 years while we live here.  And REALLY looking forward to having our furniture and belongings with us so it will feel more like home.  And REALLY REALLY looking forward to friends and family visiting us!

I never did an end of the year re-cap of our homeschool year for 2011-2012.  So, this is to try to capture the fun things that we did during the year.

We tried Co-op for the first semester and these are the other kids that also participated

Homeschool friends held a “Thanksgiving Fest” at their home

A couple of families came over to make candy houses…these are Mason’s and Kalani’s master pieces

Valentine party and card exchange…Lots of kids and lots of fun

Easter Egg Hunt and picnic with friends

We attended the Houston Symphony

Kalani had a science class once a month at the Natural Science Museum…this class was about teeth

We hosted a book club at our home twice a month…this was a fun activity for “James and the Giant Peach”

A group of us went camping

The kids had art club twice a month and end of the year they made tie-dye shirts

We attended the Police Academy during Police Week

We went back to a wildlife park that we attended a couple of years ago

We do our schooling at the dining table

We have loved homeschooling.  I have a good idea of what Kalani knows and what she struggles with.  We try to teach her about the world and her interests.  If she has a question, we search out the answer.  We also do many social activities so she can interact with other kids and I can interact with adults.  And because Kalani is around adults often, she isn’t afraid to ask questions or make comments to them.

More homeschool photos

This past week Matt had a conference in San Diego, California.  Since Matt already had a hotel and frequent flyer miles, we decided to make it a family trip!  San Diego was great.  The weather was nice, warm during the day and cooler in the evenings…something different from the Houston weather we are use to.  The kids and I were really only in San Diego for 2 full days.  We arrived to the hotel around 5pm Monday night and then checked out of the hotel on Thursday at noon.  But, during the time that we were there the kids and I had a jam packed schedule!

MONDAY:  Fly in to San Diego, rent a car, drive to have dinner with cousins

Dinner with Sam & Melinda (Sam is Matt’s first cousin)

TUESDAY: Mormon Battalion Museum, San Diego Temple, LegoLand, Padres Game

We traveled back to 1847 to learn about the Mormon Battalion and what they did for San Diego

Across from the Mormon Battalion there are these old homes that have been restored that the kids liked walking around to look at.

San Diego Temple is now where Kalani wants to get married

Padres vs. Pirates at Petco Park. One of the CR vendors was hosting.

WEDNESDAY: San Diego Zoo, swimming, walking around San Diego

San Diego Zoo is HUGE and great for all ages

Kids had fun swimming in the hotel pool…but it was a bit too cold for Tia. We are use to the 80* swimming pool water, and this water wasn’t that warm.

Walking around San Diego in the evenings. As we are passing some restaurants a few of the hostesses outside smile and wave to Mason commenting how cute he is as we pass by. He then calls out “Mom! All the big girls love me! They say hi to me! .. And I say hi to them!”

THURSDAY:  Playing at a nearby park and flying back to Texas

Having tired kids is a good indicator of how much we crammed in a few days.

We had a great time being together as a family.   Fun memories were made and you can see more photos of our vacation here:  San Diego Vacation