We ate at People’s Palace a few times

We watched Matt play basketball

Rosalyn found the grandmother of her co-worker selling vegetables at a local wet-market

We walked around the neighborhood of that local market and received many stares since foreigners aren’t normally seen in that area

Matt and Drew spent some brother time wakeboarding

The boys also took their parents to Sky Ranch in Tagaytay so they can see life outside of Manila

Grandpa magic with Blake to keep him happy

We waited to have Blake blessed until his grandparents arrived. 3 generations of Farleys in one photo.

Drew convinced Peter to get a suit tailored made by the same tailor who made the 1980’s James Bond suits

Peter was invited to do a presentation at The Medical City hospital that Angela and Matt were able to attend

Our private pool at one of the villas which the kids really enjoyed.

Beautiful ocean view as seen from the Shangri-La with wonderful weather while we were there.

Family in the ocean and enjoying the white powder sand at the public beach.

We had our own private dinner at our villa where enjoyed a 3 course meal and had some good conversations.

Lost in paradise!

We spent time doing puzzles at home since we both enjoy them

Getting fake eyelashes

Trying on jeans at Greenhills

Bowling with Mason

Evening out with Kalani to watch the performance STOMP

Fabric shopping at the place where stores come to get their fabric

Meeting our cousin Marites in Manila

We went to the Mall of Asia to watch the fireworks

We got out of Manila and went to Tagaytay and rode the Ferris wheel at Sky Ranch

We took her to watch a PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) game with a friend who recently received her mission call to Temple Square

We watched Matt play basketball a couple of times as well

The night before she left we watched the Transformer premier at the Director’s Club movie theater

And she took me to the hospital before she left for her flight. She missed Blake being born by 10 minutes!

The route we traveled in northern Luzon in 5 days. We discovered once again how beautiful this country is outside of the big city.

Our first stop was to Baler where we stayed at Coasta Pacifica. We stayed here for 2 nights and enjoyed the swimming pool, beach, having a tour of the area and getting out of the car. There were 2 routes to get to Baler and google maps recommended we take the route that goes through the mountain which tacked on 3 extra hours.

All of the kids on a surf board. This was Blake’s first time in the ocean/pool & Kalani’s first time back in the ocean after being stung by a jellyfish

Our “city tour” took us to Cunayan Falls. The kids were a bit disappointed that they didn’t have their swimsuits, but we told them they could swim in their clothes like the locals and that made them happy

We got to explore the “Millennium Balete Tree” where you can walk through it since there is a path “carved out”. And the kids could have stayed here for a couple of hours climbing all over it

We left Baler and the only road to get to Tuguegarao was a bit scary at times with it only being dirt roads, land slides and washed away in some places

On this road to Tuguegarao we saw some of the descendants of the very first people in the Philippines called “aeta“

After a few hours in the car we made it to Tuguegarao and met up with our good friend Mavis. She and our driver Juan joined us exploring the Callao caves

There are 7 “openings” at Callao caves and in the 2nd opening is a “church” that holds services once or twice a month

We said our good-byes to Mavis and continued driving north to reach Cagayan Holiday & Leisure Resort. This is where the Survivor Cagayan crew stayed

Cagayan Holiday & Leisure Resort has a bunch of homes (our had 5 bedrooms & private pool) to rent out, a casino & private airstrip…mostly caters to Chinese clients who like to gamble

On our way to our next destination we came across the “Filipino Family Vehicle”

We stopped at Pagudpud beach and enjoyed the powder white sand and beautiful scenery. They call this place the Boracay of the north.

Our hotel on the north/west of Luzon was at Fort Ilocandia and it was wonderful. There was so much to do/see at the resort that we will most likely go back since we didn’t get to do everything we wanted to

We got in this jeep and went on some sand dunes as a family

Mason really liked sliding down the sand dunes

Kalani went horseback riding around the resort and on the beach

She also tried out archery for the first time

After staying at 3 wonderful resorts, our last hotel in La Union would be considered a dive in comparison. But, we enjoyed a walk on the beach and were now only 6-7 hours away from home.

We enjoyed the beautiful countryside of Norhern Luzon

This is our room at the Intercontinental Hotel, which had this spectacular view of Victoria Harbor

We took a tram up to Victoria Peak

BIG groups of Filipinos were gathered at parks playing games since they all had the day off

On our tour of Hong Kong Island we stopped at a local market

Over 1,000 people live in this apartment building. There are many of these apartment buildings all over Hong Kong

A nice quiet area on Hong Kong Island

Heading back to our hotel, we passed this “ship” that is really a department store inside

We took the metro to head to Lantau Island. We were headed to the Big Buddha, but these girls were going to Hong Kong Disney

Heading up to the Big Buddha by cable car

Our tour guide arranged for us to have a glass bottom cable car going up to Big Buddha

From the cable car we could see construction of a bridge that will give another access to mainland China

Off the cable car and we see Buddha in the distance and western types of shops for the tourists

Buddha (34 meters high) is blessing us as we climbed the 268 steps to reach the statue

Across from the Big Buddha is the Po Lin Monastery. Here are statues of Buddha as Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

We hit up the “Ladies Market” to buy some cheap gifts for the kids

We also went to the Night Market to have a look, but they basically have the same things as the Ladies Market

Our last day we started out visiting the beautiful Nan Lian Garden which is right in the middle of the city

Chi Lin Nunnery was just across the bridge of the Nan Lian Garden

Guardians of Buddha

People get fortune sticks at the temple and then go to these fortune tellers to find out their future. There are at least 2 dozen of these fortune tellers on site

It was wonerful to spend time together as a couple and we really enjoyed our tour guide and driver

Blake arrived at 4:10am on June 26 and weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long

My sister was at the hospital with us until 4am when she then had to leave to catch her flight back to USA…she missed meeting her new nephew by 10 minutes!

Although we had been up for nearly 24 hours, we were so happy to meet our new son

Just over 36 hours old and we are ready to go home

Kalani and Mason couldn’t wait to go to the hospital to meet Blake and hold him

Now we have the 3 Amigos!

They may not grow up to look alike, but they start off as newborns looking like siblings (From left to right: Kalani, Mason, Blake)

Blake is now 1month old weighing in at 10 pounds 3.5 ounces and 22 inches