Mind Museum in Taguig

Because she asks so many why's and I don't have the answer to each and every one of them, I promised Gabbie to take her to science museum one day. Then dealgrocer had a promo for The Mind Museum in Taguig where tickets were sold at 50% off. I purchased four tickets and scheduled our trip to September.

The kids were allowed to roam around and try things on their own. Rafa was most fascinated in the dinosaurs as one of her favorite apps in my iPad is about the the different kinds of dinosaurs.

Gabbie, on the other hand was into the evolution of man. She was amazed at how good looking people now came from monkey-looking people in the past.

I guess the most fun part of our museum tour is when we got "electrocuted" and our hairs stood up from their roots because of that. So funny :) 

A few days after out science museum trip, Gabbie went to me and made a sound in her mouth that mimics sound of a heatbeat. And then she told me, "You heard it, Mommy? That's the sound of our hearts here (pointing to her chest). I learned that from the museum."

I felt proud of our Gabbie. :)

Super long vacation

The kids had so far the longest weekend for this year when a typhoon named Maring intensified a southwest monsoon (habagat) affecting the northern part of the country where it rained for almost one week. 

For Gabbie, it began on a no-class Friday when we had their PTC and their first quarter grades were released. Then come Monday when the whole Metro Manila was under signal number 1 and there were some flooding in most areas. On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, there were still no classes due to rains and floods in Marikina. Wednesday and the next Monday had been declared even earlier as regular holiday (Ninoy Aquino Day and National Heroes Day, respectively).

All in all, it was 11 days of really long vacation for the kids. And since there was no chance to play outside, what else can they do but read books, watch a little of their favorite cartoons, doodle, color, do art works and read their books again and again.

Oh I remember there was one afternoon when they took advantage of the clear skies and were able to go out and play a little.

Here's looking forward to another long weekend (sans the rain) to enjoy playing outdoors again...

Star Pupil for 1st Q :)

Ate Gabbie did it again, despite some difficulties reviewing and some errors in her exams and even seat works.

She even surprised me at how she waited for the right time to open a toy I got for her a month ago, and that is when she gets this award that I told her she can only get if she studies and reviews her lessons well.

So aside from being good in academics, I commend Ate Gabbie for her EQ that proved that delayed gratification  works for us.

Congratulations Ate Gabbie! Keep up the good work :)

Breakfast at Rustic Mornings

There's a hidden breakfast haven in one corner of Marikina that we just recently discovered. It's called  Rustic Mornings by Isabelo. The place is simply elegant, very welcoming and cozy and the food tastes great as well, at a reasonably affordable price. 

Foggy Tagaytay

We had an impromptu trip to Tagaytay last weekend when the Nacuas invited us to Nica's birthday celebration in Natures Discovery Camp in Tagaytay City. It was such a short notice but invites like this shouldn't be declined; these guys are like family, although they live thousands of miles away from us. The last time I saw them was before Gabbie was born. Daddy Mike is Nica's ninong and Tito Nax is Rafa's ninong as well. Macan was our wedding coordinator and has been a good friend eversince. Everytime Daddy Mike goes to Germany. He would always have a dinner or lunch at the Nacua's, and the kids always get pasalubong from them.

And so we went to Tagaytay right after Rafa's regular check up in Capitol Medical, at already past 1 in the afternoon. We were there around 3PM. The surrounding was a little hazy at first then would get a little darker as we drove towards the swimming party venue. There were some point where there was zero visibility that we had to pull over for our safety. When we reached the Camp, all I could see was fog all over. We were like floating in the clouds, and it was really cold. But that didn't stop the girls from plunging into the water as if it was summer.

The fog subsided an hour or so later, and the kids continued to enjoy the pool which by the way, had fresh water and didn't smell of chlorine whatsoever. It was cold but it was nice and the kids had so much fun we had to literally drag Gabbie out of the water when it was already time to pack up.

Thank you Nacua family for the foggy Tagaytay experience. Hehe. Hope to see you again, soon. And hopefully the next time the kids would be experiencing not just fog, but also snow, in Germany :)

A Weekend in Daddy's Hometown

A few weeks ago we went home to Daddy Mike's hometown-Calapan, Mindoro- to visit the oldies and to spend some time with balikbayan relatives from the US. It was just an overnight stay but the kids had so much fun bonding and catching up on each others' whereabouts. These are Gabbie and Rafa's Tita Kate and Tito Sid. Yea, tito and tita because they are daddy's cousins. Tita Kate is a few months older than Gabbie and Sid will be her Ninong probably on her confirmation.

The kids had soooo much fun playing together that even in their sleep, they were inseparable (until Gabbie started dreaming and Kate started kicking) and during the travel back to Manila, they were all seated at the backseat (which rarely happens to my kids).

Last Saturday, after their 3-week vacation, the balikbayan family flew back home and as expected, saying goodbye was not very easy.

Oh well, at least they'll have time to miss each other and when they come back in 2 or 3 years, they will again have a lot of catching up to do.

Rafa And Her Bike

She's only one year and 7 months old and she can already pedal her bike on her own. She also enjoys swimming and running. Hmmm I think I can see a future triathlete in the making.

Gabbie Joins SM Little Star

Whenever we pass by a talent search, singing, dancing or even modeling contests in the malls, Gabbie would express her desire to join. I always tell her there will be perfect time for it and that we should prepare and practice for it.

Since then every time I set up our videoke and magic sing, she would sit beside me, browse through the song list and choose the songs that she'd want to sing. Her usual line up when she was small includes Twinkle Little Star, Alphabet Song and some nursery rhymes she learned in their nursery class. Now her list  includes Firework, A Whole New World and A Thousand Years.

Last week, we saw a poster in their school about SM Malls' search for SM Little Star. This is a yearly talent search by SM where kids aged 4 to 6 years old who can sing, act, dance or do any other talents can join.As expected, she expressed her desire to join. I was hesitant at first, because we only had a few days to practice and prepare the documents required, although I know that she knows the song A Thousand Years (Breaking Dawn) by heart and we have a ready copy of her birth certificate at home.

So two days before the event we went to SM to have her photo taken and submit them together with the birth certificate and application form to the Admin. I got her music accompaniment from a music store then we went home and did some practice. Good thing it was already Friday.

Come Sunday, audition day, we were at the venue at the time we were advised to come, 1PM. The show would start at 2PM. We submitted our music DVD, but it wasn't working in their sound system! Mike went back to the music store to find compatible cds but there was none. I talked to the sound system technician and he said that it would work if we have a laptop where we can play the DVD and the laptop will then be connected to their speakers. When I went back to Gabbie who was surprisingly patiently waiting in her seat for her turn (she was contestant number 25), she whispered, "Mommy, I'm already excited to sing." My heart wanted to melt. We couldn't fail her so we must find a way to make her music cd work. So we called home and asked my sister to bring my laptop to SM Masinag (it was only a few minute travel, thank God).

When the laptop arrived, daddy Mike "fixed" everything with the sound system technician. Thank Heavens it worked! So we sat back waiting for our turn. When the 4th batch of girl performers was called, he went back to the backstage to prepare the cd and lo and behold, the laptop hanged! I saw Gabbie excitedly waiting for her turn to come up the stage and perform then I said a little prayer. Thy will be done, Lord. Then when contestant number 24 was up the stage showing her talent, daddy Mike did a thumbs up sign and I heard myself sigh in relief. I smiled and went in front of the stage and readied my camera.




She did not make it to the next round but this was all we wanted her to experience. She made her dream of performing on a real stage and in front of many people come true. And we're proud of her for doing a good job.

:)