A Soldier's Family at Enchanted Kingdom

After a heavy breakfast at Rowena’s, we travelled straight to Philippines’ happiest place — Enchanted Kingdom! Woohoo! Can you picture out the bouncing little brave girl shrieking in delight at the backseat of the car? She kept on asking us “are we there yet?” like on every stop, haha!

We finally arrived on our destination a little before 12noon but a few excited families have already began to pile up at the entrance. My guts told me that most were from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and R thought so, too. You see, it was November last year when EK announced that all AFP personnel can enter for free until October 31st of 2015. I believed that it was in celebration of AFP’s 79th founding anniversary. Wait, there’s more (in a sales pitch tone, of course)! Their dependents can enjoy 50% discount and up to 5 companions can slash off 25% on the ticket price. Isn’t that such a great news? Don’t forget to bring your dependent’s IDs (yours and your children’s) for validation. Yup, mistresses and illegal wives will still pay full, heehee.

Anyway, I have a confession.

The Daughter of a Soldier

Sophia was around three years and something months old when I finally felt that she knew what her father does, why he's away most of the time and why a lot of men call him "sir". 

It was December of 2009 when she first rode the plane and traveled with me and her nanny to the South to spend the holidays with her soldier dad. Unlike today when nails can already be a subject of a beautiful photograph, this momma-in-the-moment forgot to have a photo of her in front of or inside the plane for posterity. Oh well. 

The journey with my then chubby 15-month-old baby girl was a breeze. She slept the whole time, giggled to everyone who said "hi", and when we arrived, her father lovingly held his unica hija. Was the feeling mutual? Did she reciprocate the affection given? She did nothing and said nothing (of course). Ha! Our tiny trooper just smiled showing her 8 (or was it 12?) milk teeth and remained her cute bubbly self the entire vacation. We did not complain. For us, it was more than enough.

Earlier was totally a different scenario, though. 

Just Another Rayala Day

My daughter didn't go to school today because according to her- "I'm so sleepy. I can smell Tatay's pillow forever, Nay". Sigh. Yes, my husband was home Friday night and went back to his work place this morning. Usually, it is I, who feel lethargic after the king leaves the leased palace. Today was different. I managed to clean the house as early as 9:30 in the morning, cooked lunch at 11 and snoozed beside the snoring preschooler again. 30 minutes after, I tried to wake her up but to no avail. Her class starts at 2 pm and she woke up around 1:40ish. Grrr. Apparently, she stayed home for another day after her long vacation. She didn't automatically ask for food when she came down, which in fact is a part of her daily routine. She held her three My Little Pony toys, sat in the couch and stare blankly at the ceiling. I felt a tear coming so I had to ignore my emotions. I suggested we'd have the leftover chocolate cake for her *breakfast*.