...a day that seemed never ending, or maybe it ended but I wasn't sure which time zone or country I was in so I just rolled it into the same day assuming that this could quite possibly be the longest day ever.
Jerry and I had the brilliant idea of staying up all night the night before we left for our trip in our hopes... wishful thinking that we could catch up with our sleep on the trip. Trouble was we didn't really account on the fact that we would be overly excited and restless the entire trip.
Our good friends Cynthia and Josh took us to the airport bright and early. A bittersweet farewell as my sister Karen was also headed back to PI to continue with her studies. It's always hard to say goodbye when you're not sure when you'll be able to say hello again, so though I was super excited to be headed onto a new adventure with my boys, I could appreciate the toughness of their farewell was.
As you can tell, the kids were pretty stoked about heading out on this very big family vacation. While the adults dealt with the check in process of our trip, the kids settled themselves on the floor and watched luggages of all shapes and colors make their way on the conveyor belt and guest amongst themselves where in the world it was headed to.
Fortunately, Karen was able to be seated close to us though she had purchased her tickets separately, a blessing in so many ways. Can you tell we were both ready to sleep, not even dawning our contacts but rather our pretty geeky glasses and pajamas? HA! Normally we would have flown with Philippine Airlines but opted on saving some cash and booked with Asiana and Cebu Pacific Airlines instead. Overall we saved a good $4000, but gained about 2 extra stop overs. Both airlines were awesome! And bonus we got to stop over in Seoul, Korea and walked around the airport in Manila. It was a grueling long travel but we eventually made our way to our final destination, Iloilo.
Some of our family came and visited us at 7 am in the morning at my parent's house, which was so great. I guess because I constantly see them on Facebook, I forget that I haven't seen most of them in 17 years. How crazy is that? Everyone has been super hospitable and have done nothing but made us feel welcome. We headed out to a seaside lunch and endulged in some fresh sea food and yummy Filipino culinary treats.
Our first official family photo on this trip.
My sisters and cousins... aren't they beautiful?
Fresh Oysters good enough for 2 for only $1 (after conversion).
My wonderful boys enjoying the tropical sun.
Just couldn't miss a photo opt with a background that screams paradise!
After lunch, we headed out to the local malls and drove around admiring all the wonderful changes our little island has gone through in the last 17 years. Now the boys are all taking naps at 3pm on a Thursday afternoon, adjusting to the time change while being extremely exhausted.
Some great moments today to cherish forever:
- Being rammed into with a steward's trolly to not only end up with a bruised elbow but then having all the water bottles attack me afterwards.
- Karen likes to sleep under blankets, even when sleeping in an airline chair.
- WiFi is God's gift to FB addicts!
- Drinking out of fresh coconuts with people you love and cherish while breathing in fresh ocean breezes on an actual tropical island is pretty awesome!
- I think I've finally figured out how to get my kids to go to bed without showing a little crazy... travel.
Can't wait to share more with you all.... Mabuhay from halfway around the world! Muah!
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