The Field Trip That Never Was

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FYI: This is a long narrative. And this is a personal blog. You'll get bored if you don't care. So don't read. 

Am I being an irresponsible parent? Earlier was LB's first school field trip; and unfortunately, we stayed home. I woke up late; 45 minutes after the assembly time. I never thought my phone's alarm won't work this time. Hey pink C3, I thought we're cool? You just failed me. Of all the days that it would have topak, bakit ngayon pa? Hay. Can't blame the phone though, she's two years old na and weathered storm (hinulog ni LB sa plangganang may nakababad) and bruises (naihulog at hinulog na ni LB ng maraming beses).

When I got the chance to talk to one of the teachers, I felt worse --- the money I paid for the trip was non-refundable. I wanted to puke. I wasted Php 2000 from my husband's hard-earned money! Now I am literally in tears while typing this. And guess where he is right now? Working --- ARMY way --- not in front of the papers inside a comfortable office. I was a mess. I wanted to argue with them that it was not stated in the letter they gave us, but my mind went blank already. I still wanted to go, that was what I cared about. LB was still blissfully sleeping when I was talking to her teacher. She only woke up due to loud sobs from a distressed woman beside her.

Rayala Dialogues: Buzz, iPhone & Jose Rizal

LB watching Puss in Boots for the 7th time (only for a day!), I pulled up her left arm and struggled to smell her arm pit. 

LB: Nanaaaaay. (giggling and resisting) 
B: Smell kili-kili please.
LB: Okay.
B: (on the motion of doing it already when…) 
LB: Wait, smell kili-kili, buy me Buzz Lightyear. (sweetly grinning)
B: Ay, ayaw ko na.
LB: Okay, donut na lang. (with a convincing smile a la sales man)
B: Sure. 

And ayun, ni-boodle fight ko kili-kili niya, nakalimutan niyang humingi ng donut. Pero at least, marunong ng barter. 

When Little Bebeng Met a Little Gentleman

I feel guilty for not going to church every Sunday. It is my obligation as a Christian parent to bring my child to Sunday School to learn about the Bible and Jesus. LB basically knows who Jesus is and what He can do for us as I have mentioned here. But I think it'll be more exciting if she'll meet Jonah, Samson, David, Peter, Paul, Mary and Martha --- characters and heroes a lot better than Woody, Merida and Puss. Anyway, we really wanted to let the sunshine touch our skin as we've been in house arrest and locked up in our own home after our umbrellas were stolen at the facade of the house (yes, we were scared!); so we went to Marikina Sports Complex (MSC). 

Aside from the really nice running track it has, MSC designated a small part of the place to be its playground for tots who can't jog and run continuously in an oval with their parents yet. That's where I brought LB. As we were walking towards the gate, I can feel her excitement and she even asked me "Nanay, are you happy?" So I said "YES!" with a grin. She replied, "oh, I can't wait!" She's becoming more kikay as days pass by. Too much Barbie, perhaps. About 5 meters from the playground, we've heard shrieks and giggles from the kids playing --- LB ran to its direction and just let happiness enveloped her childhood. Bliss.

Wanted: Furniture and Appliances

I now have guests here in the house. Remember my fellow army wife kumare that I featured here and here? Her, baby Y and kumpare are now blissfully sleeping inside our room. Yup, LB and I are co-sleeping with them. As much as I want to give them privacy and VIP treatment, we only have one mattress (no bed frame!) and one electric fan. I know it sounded kawawa but hey, we're bonding as a family! Haha! Well, despite the love-hate relationship of my 4-year-old jealousy-stricken preschooler and kumare's 15-month-old innocent toddler, you can never question the friendship.  

So after dinner, since kumpare was really sleepy and tired from the long travel, he was sitting in our plastic chair, trying to relax when... BAM! He fell off as one of its feet broke.  Now I realized that we really have lots of things to buy for the house (note that these are not just luho, we really need them to make this home a "normal" place to live in):

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Crazy Children are Beautiful

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Why do I get so cranky? Is this just my period or I've been possessed? I'll scream. Please.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There you have it. Thank you. Now let me tell you something. Get a chair and listen. This is my story.

Review: Kid StarMaker's Little Mermaid Cartoon DVD

It has been a while since I have received Kid StarMaker products, and the first that I did a post about was her Ballerina Princess book. LB super loves it now that it's almost torn apart. 

She brought it along with us in our Zambales and Baguio trips. What she also brought was her Little Mermaid Cartoon DVD, where she starred as the Little Mermaid! {photos were taken when we were still at MIL's house}

Our First Family Trip to Baguio City

I've always loved Baguio City. The first time I went there was when I was 3 years old; I can't remember a single thing we did there. I only saw the photos my late father took. Mama said we were there to celebrate my younger brother's 1st birthday. My eldest sister, M rode a horse together with my other sister, N. I also saw a photo of Papa with my brother A, riding the horse, too. What the eff was my problem as a child? Why didn't I have a photo riding the horse in Wright Park? I felt a bit sad. So when I was growing up, I promised myself I will be Mikee Cojuangco of a rider. I went to Baguio a lot of time already but I never rode, not even once; not even a cute pony. What is just wrong with me? So, maybe it was not time yet. I thought, "hey R has plans to go there after New Year's so I might this time..." Lo and behold, ang mahaaaaaal. Php200 for 30 minutes? Are you kidding me? Si Sophia na nga lang. Sulit na sulit ang bayad sa ngiti at hagikhik niya. Feeling niya rancho namin ang nilalakaran ng pink pony niya. And, who would take pictures for posterity if I will ride, right? Speaking of photos, I did take a lot! Here's a photo essay of how R's homecoming and Sophia's first Baguio adventure went through. I will make side kwento na rin. 

Those are shots taken on our way to the City of Pines. We left the camp around 4 in the morning and had breakfast at Jollibee in Pangasinan.

First stop: Philippine Military Academy. I can see how R was so excited when we were about to enter the gates of his home of four years. He was in the front seat of the car so I didn't see if he was teary-eyed or what. Haha! But one thing I was very sure of, the king wanted to show off his Alma Mater to his princess.

It was actually not allowed for anyone civilians to have their photos taken at the Borromeo Field, because of its sanctity. Ayan, may siga. #maypinagmanahan

I haven't met a mom who doesn't love taking photos of her child. So there, Sophia's photos forever. I love my model! She's a natural. 

Feeling bagong mag-jowa na nagdedate, here are Dodong and Inday's day-off souvenirs. Panglagay sa wallet. Teka, ipapa-develop ko muna.

We actually wanted to go to the infamous Flirtation Walk again. We went there in 2007 during PMA Alumni Homecoming, but this sign stopped us. I wonder why. Wait, hindi civilian ang asawa ko. At dependents niya kami, dapat pala pinaglaban ko yun. Char.

Anyway, R is a proud Anak ng Baka - a cadet who belongs to the 1st Batallion, Bravo Company of the CCAFP. That makes me Manugang ng Baka and Sophia, an Apo ng Baka. Apir. :p

It was still holiday break for the rest of the cadets, that's why the Plebes were the King of Barracks. They were everywhere. So when R found a fellow Anak ng Baka, Sophia and I pose with them as they do a very quick "gathering" and marching - whatever it was called.

At dahil hindi ko pa naman nobyo si R when he was still a cadet, ang bagets na lang pinagdiskitahan ko. Infer ha, ang bango niya. Sana maka-graduate siya para madagdagan ang mababangong sundalo ng Pilipinas. Haha!

So whenever's a beautiful bulaklak with a colorful talulot, pic pac galore yan for sure. Addicting. ♥

My stomach churned and craved for real food so off we went to Barrio Fiesta for Crispy Pata and Sinigang na Sugpo. Jeez, camp food was anything but fish and bland and a sight of pity. I literally wolfed down more than two cups of rice. My tiny Tyra Banks of a model loved the papier-maché statues of Cory Aquino, Cardinal Sin and the Igorots. She specifically told me, not asked, to take photos of her with them. Crazy kid. 

Guess what - Sophia took a photo of where REKELI (her imaginary friend) was sitting. Is that cute or what? Sometimes, it's scaring the sh*t out of me.

When I was doggone tired and sleepy, I begged the hyper explorers to have at least an hour of rest. We stayed at the officers' quarters in PMA Naval Base. No water heater and no extra blanket. Army way, yes it was. 

Then we headed to Wright Park so our little equestrienne can go "yeeha" for 30 minutes. It was one of our family's happiest moments. Whenever the little girl's happy, Nanay and Tatay are happy, too. Only she was tulala when we were about to leave her pink pony behind. :(

The king didn't pass the chance to enjoy whatever we can in the summer capital of the country; that even if it's getting dark already, we still rode the boat in Burnham Park (which as of posting this, is now drained and dug up for the reason I don't know). Sophia wanted the pink cobra boat but we went to the wrong direction. So we settled for the mermaid boat instead. Honestly, it's nothing fancy. Haha! But we did bother to give it a try no? It's Php150 for 30 minutes and judging from Sophia's reaction, she didn't enjoy. Well, I guess it's nothing new to her since she has rode a number of boat rides when we went to the islands of Magalawa and Potipot.  But again, photos for posterity! :)

I promised to meet with my Baguio-based friend, D and her new guy so we went to Solibao for dinner. Read a snippet of what I got to say about the resto, here. Dhimson, D's boyfriend is from Ifugao so as a GI (geographically-idiot, heehee), I learned a lot about the Cordillera Region and not just the Banawe Rice Terraces. Really, I'm poor at these things. 

The next day, we went to Vizco's for a heavenly breakfast and bought some pasalubong after. Then we rolled home. It was not easy being in the passenger seat while R's driving - because I was the navigator! I learned to read Google Maps from his phone. Cheers! That's another new thing for me this 2013. Kidding aside, it never was easy to be just a passenger. All because I wanted to sleep but I feel I can't. I felt the need to entertain the driver. Oh, thank you my Lord, for the gift of gab. But hey, I think R likes it much better if I'm asleep. Well, he can't avoid me. He will be with this talkative lady for the rest of his life. Haha! And we planned to conquer Luzon (then Visayas then Mindanao before the world) after this Baguio trip. So help us, God. ♥