Trip to Anilao

 2nd post today-These boat pictures were all taken on Greg's phone since some days the water was rather rough

 It is a cool thing to do when underwater but the outfits for diving are not the greatest for picture taking-oh well

 Below are some view of the resort where we stayed as we were coming back in from diving

 Other view from the boat

 There were nipa huts where you could eat, hang out, and play games

 Ashley does NOT believe in keeping the cards she has a secret!

 Greg got a combination of sun/wind burn out on the boat

 Ryan relaxing in the hammock

 the restaurant

 Ryan was playing on the sand volleyball court

 The beach was rocky-Greg keeps reminding me that we do live on a volcanic island

 Ashley having her turn in the hammock

 no she didn't flip out but I had to help her get out without falling

 View from our beach

 area for dive gear cleaning

 This was the van!  You have to say that in a high squeaky voice-we were driven to our dive site in this one day.  I laughed b/c I thought it looked like a baby pick up truck

 part of the dive shop

 Playing out in the water!

 Ashley talking to Mr. Dexter-he is the instructor that Greg got his advanced certification from while we were home last summer and we dove with him here again-really nice guy!

 We also had ice cream in the nipa hut a couple of afternoons!

 Scott getting geared up for his dive!

The diving here was very interesting-some of our favorite things we saw were:  eels, huge clams that you could put your hands inside and feel them close-but not tightly, an octopus, a HUGE-250-300 school of jackfish, sea cucumbers, and starfish.  Even though we just dove right off the shore and swam under the dock the kids had been jumping off of-Scott got to see lots of fish and we fed some pieces of bread.  It was a fun weekend and we were all sad when it was time to go home.

Spirit Week at School

 Last Monday was Disney or character day-Scott is Batman and Ryan is Spiderman.  It was so funny to see all the kids dressed up on the bus-girls in their princess dresses, etc.  They were all so excited!

Tuesday was pajama day-Ryan and I were talking about his Fun Games Club after school Tuesday and whether his teacher from last year (who leads the club) would wear her pjs-I wasn't very sure b/c she is always dressed very stylishly and professionally but Ryan told me all about her pretty purple pajamas with flower-y pants and she wore slippers!  Yeah for school spirit!

Wednesday was twin day-Scott and 2 of his friends wore these plane shirts we had and Ryan and a friend in his class wore these striped polos

Daniel, Ryan, David-Daniel's younger brother and his friend that he was twins with that day

Daniel is Ashley's little friend Hannah's brother and their mom is my friend Sheila

The kids cam home early on Wednesday from school because the power had gone out at school.  The boys did homework, Ashley had a quick nap, and then we all went swimming.

Thursday was supposed to be clash day-when they asked me what that meant I almost said "it's what you look like when I let you pick out your own clothes sometimes" but I did not!

However there was NO school on Thursday because the school had blown 2 substations and there was a problem with the back-up generator and the part was supposed to arrive for repairs to be made on Thursday.  The boys were sad to miss clash day, but we made the best of it.   Ashley went on to school that morning, Scott had a brief playdate with a friend here in the neighborhood, Ryan and I played Go Fish and bowled on the wii just the 2 of us, and then I took the boys to lunch-let them choose and we got to eat at McDonald's before we went to get Ashley from school! 

Friday was house rally day-so they wore their gold house shirts  and Scott had his face painted.


Definitely a fun week

"Regular" happenings here

 It is the rainy season here and the hotels all run rainy season specials-still funny to me!  Also, it is a 'ber month and either September 3 or 4 I was at the mall and heard the first Christmas music of the "season"  That same day as I was shopping, I saw Easter egg shaped chocolate candies-I bought them!  Now if I can just keep up with them and not eat them until Easter????

 Scott getting his Brent Pride Award-so proud of him!

 for contributing to class discussion in Math and Language Arts, getting along with his peers and being focused in class!

 The trampoline-a new addition to our house

 Ashley jumping with her "Aunt Todd blanket" tied around her as a cape so she can jump as "SuperGirl"

 Above is Ashley in a dress that had been mine-dresses were worn a lot shorter in the 70s

 Here she is off on a safari with hat, binoculars, and pajamas

 no maybe a headband and wings would be better!

 Diving class in the pool-we tried to get Ryan to go under and breathe and see what was under the water while on a trip here but the shallow water was rough and made it hard for him to stand up and be comfortable trying something new so we rented a tank and decided to try in the pool

 of course Ashley wanted a turn-could hardly stop talking for long with the regulator in her mouth but she had fun trying it out-pictures of Scott diving soon

 Ashley has been drawing/coloring so much lately I think both fridges are covered and we are going to have to start wall papering the house with her pictures

Below is Ariel-didn't you recognize her with the red hair and green body/tail?

 a rainbow and she wrote Mister Sun down the side-they have a song about Mr. Sun at school

 Just a random drawing but part of it made me laugh REALLY hard

 the small blue thing is not a jellyfish-as I had thought-I was told it was a whale that wears pants????????  I've never seen one of those before!

 Making our refrigerator "fancy"

 She is the pink person and Greg is the green one and the pool rectangle is our pool

 I think all these blue circles are clouds????

 The sell elephant paintings at the circus-maybe I could open an etsy shop to sell drawings??????