Months ago we were asked by our brother-in-law if we could fly to Hawaii to celebrate Matt’s older sister’s 40th birthday with them! Of course we said yes. Matt was in charge of planning the activities and our brother-in-law was in charge of getting us a car and place to stay. I was on vacation and just did what I was told! And the birthday girl could do whatever she wanted. We really only had two full-days to spend in Kona, Hawaii and we spent them well.
After a 10 hour flight from Manila to Honolulu, we had an hour flight to Kona on this plane ALOHA…we arrived in KonaWhile exploring our AirBnB we felt this earthquake
Day 1
We had this red jeep to drive around KonaWe got up early and swam with wild dolphinsAfter nearly 10 years of trying to find dolphins in the wild, we finally were successfulWe took this rainbow to mean that we would be successful in seeing manta raysThis manta ray came near us while on our late afternoon dusk diveAround 30 feet below water we hung out at a “camp fire” and saw at least three different manta rays swoop through to filter-feed on the plankton that gathered in the lightMy one request for this trip was to have L&L. It was a perfect dinner after our dives
Matt put this video together of our dolphin and manta ray experience
Day 2
The birthday girl and her brotherAfter sleeping in, we spent the day at the beachOur early flight from Kona to Honolulu was full of military personal
Our kids had their spring break during the last week of February. So Matt planned out a fun 3-day itinerary and we invited some friends to join us. We were only a few hours out of Manila, but it was nice to get-away from the city and create memories as a family.
Day 1
Lunch at Marcia Adams near TagaytaySunset at Lago de Oro resortNo electronics on this road trip, so they played cards
Day 2
We drove about 90 minutes to Canyon CoveWe got to play on this inflatable island by ourselves for an hour or soView from our room of Canyon Cove
Day 3
Morning snorkeling near Canyon Cove resortWe drove a couple of hours to People’s Park in TagaytayWe spent hours on this outside porch at the Air BnB talking and enjoying the fresh air in Highlands, Tagaytay
Day 4
We drove about an hour away to arrive at Republic Wake Park. While Matt & Tia did some wake boarding, the boys played in the pool while Kalani watched themA couple of Matt’s former co-workers from Chevron met us at Republic Wake ParkAfter lunch we drove 45 minutes to Enchanted Kingdom to meet up with some friendsBlake’s first time on roller coasters and he LOVED it
We knew we were moving to the Philippines in August 2018. Towards the end of that month our friends (living in Indonesia) posted on Facebook that they would be spending Christmas in Phuket, Thailand and asked if anyone wanted to join them. Matt & I saw the post and quickly said, YES! We met Derek & Cathy in the Philippines in 2012 and became fast friends. Our kids got along well with each other and the parents too six years ago and still today. They booked the hotel, Horizon Karon Beach Resort, and once we got to Phuket we came up with an itinerary for our duration there.
We are so excited to travel to Phuket, Thailand to see our friends!
Day 1
We rented a “Party Van” to take us to and from churchNormally this small branch in Phuket has 40 people in attendance. But because of all of the visitors and tourists during the Christmas season, there were nearly 100 people at church. One couple visiting from the states actually knows my uncle!If we are going to stay walking distance from a beach, you better believe we were going to visitThere is a three year difference between these girls, and they hadn’t seen each other in five years. But, they never ran out of things to say.Double Date Night for the adults inside another “Party Van”. Using the Grab app in Phuket was fun because you never knew what type of car was going to pick you up!
Day 2
View of Phuket at the start of our Half-Day Island Tour + Elephant TrekkingMason and Blake got to hold this Sea Eagle…but we liked to call it a “Seagull-Eagle”We got to visit the Big Buddha. Mason was pouting and didn’t want to be in the photo.We stopped to visit Chalong TempleOur “white monkey” getting a photo with another monkey after a showElephant rides for everyoneMason getting some elephant love after our ride with other elephantsThe resort had a Christmas Eve party for all of the guests and the kids got their face painted
Day 3
Christmas morning with the gifts we brought from the PhilippinesWe got to spend Christmas evening at FantaSea togetherThe evening show at FantaSea was just behind us. They make everyone turn in their phones, so there are no photos from the showA few more mannequins at this store
Day 4
Bathing an elephant…trying NOT to think about what’s in the waterMatt trying to get the monkey to climb on him outside of Wat Suwan Khuha (Cave Temple) Inside Wat Suwan Khuha is Buddha laying down. To show respect, all women have to cover their legsWe had a quiet bamboo river raft rideCooling off at a small waterfall
Day 5
Island hopping tour to Phi Phi Island and othersThe kids enjoyed each other company on the boat ride and did a good job of not getting sunburnedWhile on a short stay on Rang Yai Island we ran into some good friends of ours. They use to live in the Philippines with us (their daughter was in Mason’s kinder and 1st grade class) and now are in Hong Kong. We had no idea each other was in Phuket for Christmas
Day 6
The “Dab” kids saying good-byeThe oldest two were glad to reconnect in PhuketThe dads that work hard to make these fun vacations possible for usThe moms who had a great time catching up…maybe we will visit them on their next assignment
At the end of November we had plane tickets to fly to Cebu for the long weekend. But Blake started to seem sick and after taking him to the doctors we found out that he had the “mouth” part of Hand-Foot-Mouth virus. So, Matt & the oldest two went to Plantation Bay resort in Cebu, while Blake and Tia stayed in our empty condo resting.
They got to have a private cooking class at the resortWaiting for the boat to arrive for their island hopping tourTheir dad takes them to the resort’s clubWith no one else really in the club the kids could take center stageMassage while in the jacuzziThese three had a great time at Plantation Bay. Hopefully Blake and Tia will be able to join them on another stay there.
During the three years that we lived in the Philippines the first time (2013-2015) we traveled to a lot of foreign countries. Now that we are back and planning on living here for a couple of decades, we want to explore more of the Philippines! Many people travel to Subic Bay as a get-away from Manila and we finally went to see what it’s all about. November 1 & 2 are holidays here, so we drove up to Subic for a long weekend.
Since our driver had the day off, Matt and I drove our huge 11 passenger Super Grandia up to Subic Bay. Our first stop was at Zoobic Safari.
The drive to Subic is quiet and full of natureFeeding a baby tiger from a bottle We got inside a caged jeepney and drove around a secure area where adult tigers came up to the jeepney in search of meat. The guides then threw meat on the roof of the jeepney to entice the tigers to jump on top for a fun ride.We got to go fishing for crocodiles
In the morning we spent time at Ocean Adventure. The best dolphin and sea lion shows we have every experienced were here. They were educational and very funny. Then in the late afternoon we went to the nearby Adventure Beach Water Park. (no photos since we were busy swimming and having fun)
Ready to discover what Ocean Adventure is all about3-D art if always funKalani getting ready to feed a sea lionBlake is excited to feed the sea lion some fishWe paid for Mason to have a dolphin encounter (he is the shirtless kid)
