Three weeks of chaotic fun

For three short weeks, it was chaos in our family. Fun-filled chaos that is. My brother Irip, my sis-in-law Girlie, and my nephews Pau and Enzo, flew in from the UK to visit after being away for 3-1/2 years (Girlie almost 4-1/2 years). So it shouldn't be difficult to imagine the excitement Ben and I felt while waiting for them, and then when they finally got here.

To be honest, the three weeks was too short. I wish they could've stayed longer, but Irip and Girlie had to get back to work. Still, we'll take what we can get. Ben was particularly happy, as he had playmates with him for three whole weeks (a welcome respite from the usual play alone he has at home). Irip and Girlie look pretty much the same, but the kids have grown quite a bit. When they left, Enzo was just about Ben's age, and now he's 8 (almost 9) years old, and Pau is 11. They've both stretched up quite a bit. And Enzo's English accent was a blast. It was so fun listening to him talk, although I have to admit, there are many times when I couldn't understand him right away so I had to ask him to say again. Not that it mattered much, since I loved listening to him anyway.

They arrived on March 26, after staying a few days in Singapore where they visited with Girlie's brother and his family. The days prior to going home to Baler were spent either in the mall, at the doctor/dentist, and the day the trip to Baler, swimming at 9 Waves. BTW, this post is going to filled with tons of photos.

Our first outing was to the Mall of Asia. Here are some photos:

Enzo trying the mini-carousel at Timezone

Pau revving it up

Enzo aiming for a strike

Ben on a roll

Enzo and Ben at the ferris wheel

By Manila Bay (we missed the sunset)

Father and sons

That's my boy!

Ben and Pau by the fountain

Late merienda (halo halo and ensaymada) at Razon's

The Tan boys (My Boys): Ben, Enzo, Miguel, Pau, Daniel

My Boys 2

Another mall trip was to Trinoma, albeit not as many pictures:

Mom and son (Girlie and Pau)

Pau, Enzo and Ben by one of TriNoMa's fountains

As it was, most of their (at least Irip's and Girlie's) waking hours spent in Manila were either at the doctor, dentist, or hospital, but they did manage to squeeze in some fun time in between.

On April 3, we (Irip, Girlie, Pau & Enzo; Jojo, Daniel & Miguel; Ben and me) headed home to Baler to visit with Papa and Girlie's parents. During the trip home, Ben and Enzo had a talkathon. Neither wanted the other to win, and at one time during the trip, they were having a contest as to who's got a better theory for the dinosaurs' demise. It got very funny, believe me, and then it got just plain annoying, he he he.

As always, the time spent home was much welcome. My poor Papa, so used to just sitting down on his rocking chair and reading...his life was topsy-turvy for the next 10 days, he he he, but he was just as happy to see his grandchildren all together. Irip and family divided their time between the house in Brgy 4 and in Calabuanan. We went swimming a couple of times at Kuya Boy's house, visited Ermita and Pier, and the kids had a short dip in Ben's ever favorite Biklat River.

These batch of photos are from Kuya Boy's pool and yard:

The boys in the pool

Enzo's big dive

Pau enjoying the water

Ben getting ready for a dive

This looks better that it actually was

Daniel, Enzo, Miguel and Ben

Bosing 1 and Bosing 2

The two bosings with Pau...

with Daniel...

...and with Miguel

Oh my!

My Boys, again

While in Baler, Daniel and Miguel took a day to learn how to surf, and then went surfing on their own a couple of times. Here are pictures of them and some other photos from the beach.

Enzo and Daniel with the board

Miguel on the move...

and Daniel too...

...hooray!!!

Daniel nears the end of his run...

...as Miguel rides on

Nice smiles, dudes

Enzo holds on to the board

Irip and Pau

Pau and Ben on the beach

Still afraid of the water ;)

That's my cutie!

Pau and Girlie

Nice bod, Enzo ;)

Enzo feels the water

Fun fun fun

"Should I go in or should I not?"

"My feet, my feet..."

"I'm getting Mama wet"

We also went to visit Ermita and the pier again, among the usual places to visit while in Baler, and here are the photos from there:

A view (albeit very far away) of the pier from the top of the hill (Ermita)

It does look pacific, doesn't it?

Jo with Daniel, Ben, Miguel and Enzo in one of Ermita's view decks

My Boys...

...and again

Love the look, Enzo! :)

Pau and Irip

Getting their feet wet by the pier

Sunset from the pier

Daniel ponders...

as Miguel gets ready to dive in

What's with that look???

Ben with Nanay and Enzo

Enzo fronts the sun...

...as it bids bye bye

We had planned to have a picnic in Biklat River, but decided not to after Enzo had stomach flu. Actually, Irip, Girlie, Pau and Enzo all had a bad bout with their tummy while in Baler. So we spent the last day in Baler at home, and I pestered Papa to make barbecue and grill some piggy meat.

On the third Sunday of their visit, we went to Tagaytay. As much as some people say there's really nothing to see there, I disagree. We went to the People's Park in the Sky, bought the usual stuff at the Good Shepherd Convent, and then drove around to find a place to get a nice view of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano. We finally ended up at the horse place near Taal Vista Lodge, where Ben and Enzo took a ride on a horse (with help, of course). Then lunch followed at Dencio's before we started back home. Here are the photos:

Pau and his first love ;), Jollibee

Getting ready to go up the People's Park

Explorer twins

Pau and Girlie at People's Park

Irip, Pau, Auntie Iring, Ben and Enzo

Fronting the piña: Enzo, Ben, Auntie Iring, and Pau

Girlie joins the troop

Ben, Enzo, Pau with their Tito Tony

GROUP HUG!!!

Bosing 1 and Bosing 2, take two

"Your eyes are so small, Kuya Enzo":"Your eyes are so big, Ben"

Enzo and the fruits

With Taal Lake and Taal Volcano in the back

Ben rides...

...as Enzo waits his turn

The volcano on the lake

Lola Iring imbibes the Buko

Girlie and Enzo

Enzo the explorer

Waiting for the pooping boy

Pau and Irip

As it was though, the three weeks seemed to just whiz by and they had to fly back to England. Ben went with us to the airport to see them off, and was sad the whole day. I guess he missed having someone to play with. He kept asking how long it will be before Tito Irip, Auntie Girlie, Kuya Pau and Kuya Enzo will be back again for a visit. Irip had said it would be a minimum of two years, so I told Ben it'll be a little over 700 days, but he kept insisting they'll be back in 180 days.

Two days later, he's settled back to his old routine of playing by himself. Oh well, it's summertime, and he'll be playing outside again, so he'll be meeting and making some new friends from the neighborhood I hope. Until then...and the next batch of photos...Ciao and Enjoy!