Sorry it took a while but here’s the continuation of our action-packed nomadic vacation. đ
Day 2: FORGETFULNESSÂ Friday
- We spent the morning at home — I sorting and pricing the rummageable items we brought to be put in my uncle’s yard sale, Daddy J watching TV and looking after the kids once in a while and the kids playing and being taken care of by their older cousins. đ The perks of having nephews in their tween years. đ
- We then started to prepare and pack our things for our next destination: my husband’s hometown. I really wanted us to attend the 7 Last Words service at our local church in the afternoon but Daddy J preferred that we leave after lunch at around 2pm. I gotta push for it next time. After all, Holy Week is not just about enjoying and bumming around. It’s about remembering and living up what Jesus did for us on the cross. To be honest, a Holy Week vacation without Jesus is void of complete joy. It could be fun but not joyful.
- So our nomadic vacation life continued as we started rolling at 4pm for another one-and-a-half-hour drive. The kids just slept through the ride, tired from all the playing they did in the morning.
- When we reached my in-laws’ house, we unloaded our things, bag after bag, until I noticed we had left the Little Princess’ tote bag of cloth diapers! Uh-oh. Imagine me spending hours matching the cloth diapers to the Little Princess’ clothes, using all possible means to make them all fit in a tote bag only for the cute little bum pieces to be forgotten and taken for granted…Huhuhu! But thank God we were able to load into the car the laundry bag of peed diapers and I was able to squeeze in her diaper bag a good-for-nighttime nappy (a Cottonytail HF in pretty print! đ ) and 2 training pants. We were able to survive the night and we had a few pieces to use for the next 2 days. Whew!
Day 3: Horrible Black Saturday
- Of course, we didn’t let the kids miss the customary Black Saturday swimming of hubby’s side of the family. When the scorching heat of the sun had subsided after the kids had taken their afternoon nap, we drove down to the nearby resort with hubby’s cousins, nephews and nieces to take a dip into the pool.
- We reserved a cottage, put our stuff and brought the kids to the kiddie pool. I wasn’t in my swimwear yet at that time as I planned to change into my rashguard and board shorts a little later so it was just Daddy J accompanying the 2 kids in the pool while I watched over them by the poolside. The kiddie pool was knee-deep that goes deeper up to 4 ft where the slides invitingly rest. You know what slides can do to kids. Despite our incessant warning to the Big Boy not to go far from his Daddy because he was not yet wearing his floater, the very excited Big Boy who is not so friends with the waters braved the pool, climbed up the ladder and slid his way to the 4 feet deep water without floater! I saw before my eyes how my Big Boy waved his hands while tip toeing and gasping for air because he doesn’t know how to swim. It was a horrible sight to see for me as mom. đŚ Thank God Daddy J was just a few feet away so he carried the Little Princess like a surfboard on his right arm and reached for the Big Boy, pulled him up and carried him on his other arm. He didn’t cry but I witnessed the undeniable look of fright in his face. My poor Big Boy. đŚ
- Daddy J brought the Big Boy to me and I immediately checked on him if he was okay. A little shaky as he sat beside me, the Big Boy said he went under the water. He added he didn’t want to go swimming again without me. There’s really a magical comfort that children find from their mommies. I felt that when I was a kid, too, whenever I had an aching body part usually my tooth or a pending scolding of my dad for some rules I had broken. I would always go to my mom for comfort and rescue.
- So I went back to the cottage with the Big Boy and immediately changed into my swimwear to accompany him in the pool. He gave the pool water another try with his floater on but he didn’t want to let me go even a little distance from him. There was still a trace of fear in my precious boy’s angelic face but at least he paddled again in the water. But I think the slide totally ruined his pool experience. He didn’t want to slide again even if I already went up with him to the point of bursting into tears as if an ice cream he is deliciously savoring was grabbed from him. Meanwhile, as the Big Boy struggled with the water especially the slide, the Little Princess was having the time of her life in the pool with his Daddy — leisurely wandering, swimming, paddling and floating together with their cousins. She really loves the water! đ
- After around 30 minutes of swimming, we had a break to eat merienda. The Big Boy no longer wanted to go back to the pool so we already showered him. The Little Princess, on the other hand, still longed for the water so we went back to the kiddie pool until dusk broke in which prompted us to shower and pack up.
- As I watched the kids sleep that night, tears rolled down my cheeks because of the unfortunate incident that the Big Boy experienced. My poor little Big Boy. đŚ I hugged and kissed him and whispered a prayer of thanks to the Lord that he didn’t let anything worse happen to my precious boy and he was still there soundly sleeping, lying beside me on the bed.
Notes: 1.) We already forgot to take pictures that day because of the incident. We focused instead in looking after the kids. Pardon the boring novel. 2.) It’s weird to narrate a story in bullets. Haha!
Day 4: Resurrection sunday
- I prefer calling this day as Resurrection Sunday rather than Easter Sunday because it was about the resurrection of Jesus, a remarkably pivotal event in history that completed the story and God’s gift of salvation to humankind. I was hoping to be at the church listening to God’s beautiful message of how Jesus raised from the dead and its importance and relevance in our lives but we do not have a local church to visit at Daddy J’s hometown. CCF’s online worship service could have answered my desire to hear the Resurrection Sunday message but the internet connection failed me. Anyhow, I’ve put in my search list the local church we could visit when we spend the holidays at my in-laws.
- Moving on, since we were not able to go to church, the last day of our vacation, as usual, was spent packing our things. While the kids were enjoying the company of their cousins while being looked after by their Lola who was equally enjoying attending to her apos, I was busy collecting all our laundered, pressed and folded clothes, squeezing them back to our bags and luggages just how I packed them when we left for vacation. I don’t mind packing for home because it’s way much easier and less stressful. I don’t have to think of mixing and matching our clothes. đ
- Our ETD was 2pm and we were able to leave for Manila at 2:30pm, a 30-minute improvement from our usual 1 to 2 hour delay. đ I think my packing skills have significantly improved! Hehe!
- It was a Sunday and the last day of vacation so we were caught up with the high volume of vehicles going back to Manila. Surprisingly but thankfully, there was no accident along the road.
- We made a stopover at a gas station and had dinner at Chowking so we would just rest and wouldn’t mind our growling tummies once we reached home. Both Daddy J and I noticed how Chowking’s food quality has deteriorated. Their pancit canton tasted so bland as well as their wanton soup. Their edge lies on the low price plus the selection of non-fastfood.
- As expected, we arrived home at 8:30pm, a good 6-hour travel time including our dinner break which usually takes around 4 hours.
That recaps our Holy Week vacation, nomadic edition. đ Tiring, yes. But the experience, incomparable. đ Sorry for the lack of photo documentation, my “photojournalistic skills” also went on vacation. đ
More travel stories to come! Hopefully! Hehe! đ