Third

It's been a while since I blogged but I still have lots of stories to share! (I'm posting them backdated in case you were wondering). Sam blames mum and dad for the hiatus and that's a little bit true as we filled our time while they were here but it's also because I have a lazy streak!

While mum and dad were here we combined a short business meeting with a night out for the two of us. We had a funny experience in Toy Kingdom where we were buying Josh's birthday present - he is very keen on having a remote controlled car. Steve decided he wanted one - apparently so the girls had one to play with. Hands up if you think that is the only reason?!! Anyway, he made this poor guy go through box after box trying to find one with a different frequency so that his and Josh's controls didn't interfere. I noticed this guy's name was Third. I imagine that he was the third boy or the third child in his family, but what really mad me smile was that, knowing the difficulty Filipinos have with the 'th' sound I'm sure it was pronounced "turd".

"I have no nappy"

After Church we went to eat lunch. Naomi announced to my mum and dad that she had no nappy on. When I investigate it's true! She tells us "it fell off" in the Apple shop and "the man sweeped it up"!! Mum had seen the shop assistant with a brush but had not realised what was going on. It'll probably be a while before we return to the Apple shop.

Pictures from Bohol

Excitement

Granny and Grandpa Guille are on a 'plane right now winging their way to us and the excitement levels in our house are almost unbearable. Rose and Josh are keyed up. I took Rose out to the mall this morning and on the way she pointed out every aeroplane she saw, asking "Are Granny and Grandpa on that 'plane?" I patiently explained that they were probably in Dubai airport waiting for the second 'plane. She did get it eventually.

Part of the excitement is our own trip to the beach which we leave for just a few hours after Granny and Grandpa arrive. We are off to Bohol (click here if you want to feel jealous!). We haven't been before but lots of our friends have and they have all really liked it there. There are some cool things to see - like the famous Chocolate Hills and the tarsiers - so next week (we arrive home on Friday) you can expect to see some pictures. We hope we get more sun than rain :-)

Extreme Solutions

We are all in the car driving to the mall and we start discussing ways to help Rose break her habit of sucking her fingers. Everyone starts offering ideas. Josh had a couple. One of which was to tie her hand to her head (Steve had already suggested tying her arm behind her back) but my favourite was "chop her arm off". I had to smile as I said - "Well it would definitely work, Josh, but I think it's a bit of an extreme solution!".

One of THOSE days

I went shopping in the morning and tried to do a bank to bank transfer at the small branch by the supermarket. First I queued in the wrong place but after looking at the "serving number 55" and the 77 in my hand I approached the desk and asked where I needed to be. Thankfully, it was a different desk that only had 3 people waiting. It's kind of strange here, that people queue at the desks by sitting at the desk so there is very little privacy - you know the business of the neighbour sat next to you!

Anyway, the chap asked me if I had the form yet and I said no, so he asked for my bill receipt. I said I didn't have a bill, I wanted to do a bank transfer. Oh no, he couldn't do that. So I left and did the shopping. The supermarket was in one of its cleaning flurries which means that all the produce is dumped in trollies in the aisles and you have to hoke around to find what you want (usually, following Murphy's Law, on the bottom of the trolley!).

After shopping I went to our usual branch of our bank and asked there about a bank to bank transfer. No, ma'am, not possible. The thing is I have done it there before for another resort but obviously asked the wrong person in the bank today.

So, I go home to put the shopping put away and make lunch and get ready to swim and the beautiful sun of the morning disappears, the rain clouds roll in - fast under a strong wind - and we have the mother of all thunderstorms. About 15 minutes after Steve left to run up to school!! Naomi starts worrying that daddy will be soaking wet.

Because of our complicated plans I have to go and meet Steve at school but forget to take him a towel or clean, dry clothes!! By this time the roads are flooding too and I realise I should have waited for the rain to subside as we need to bring our friend's small car down to the house. However, said car has a seriously flat tyre - to the rim and is going nowhere! Other small car will be incapable of driving through the huge puddles. We decide to stop at the bank and do a cash withdrawal and deposit at the bank of the resort - which happens to be next door to our bank. However, the queue - in the "fast lane" has 9 people ahead of me. In 20 minutes, 2 go through then the electricity goes off, then back on then off again then stays on but they stop serving at the counter. They make no announcement what is going on and my frustration levels are rising so I decide to leave as Josh is in the car with Steve and I know what that is like!!

Steve, meanwhile decides the water has subsided enough to get the second car home so runs back up to school while I drive home. His PA informs him that the bank we are trying to deposit in stays open till 6 so when he arrives back at home I go out again to deposit and do it in 20 minutes total!!

Steve had a fun experience though. He sheltered under a Sari-Sari store in the worst of the storm and saw one kid come out to shower in the rain, a group of ladies bring their washing to do in the rain and a group of 4 men run yelling into the trees brandishing their bolos (machetes) and re-appear with a very long, dead, python in their hands. Guess they had a satisfying dinner.

B Day

Rose and Naomi modelling their new dresses.

Yep, we finally made it to the 4th July. Steve and I had stayed up late the night before, playing games with some friends. Naomi started being sick about 10:30 and carried on every 20 minutes or so until about 2:30. I changed her sheets 3 times before I finally cottoned on to putting a towel under her!! She also got really good at telling me before she was about to be sick so we made it to the toilet in time. I also ended up sleeping in her bed with her until she stopped being sick so that we got to the toilet quicker. Rose woke up at 6:00 and announced "It's my birthday". I thought that maybe it was going to be a long day!

We went swimming after lunch, picked up Rose's friend at the pool, met her other friend at the play place and took the kids to an inflatable playground.

We went home, had spaghetti for dinner at Rose's request. Later, the girls and Joshua watched Rose's new "Princess" VCD and ate popcorn. (We put Naomi to bed first as she had missed most of the previous night's sleep. She wasn't too impressed but I offered to read 2 books and that won her over).

Rose wanted a mermaid cake which was a big hit!

Watching the film and eating popcorn

I went up to the girls about 8:30 and sat in the room with them for a while to try and calm them down but one of the girls thought they were in trouble and got upset. I left and Rose and her other friend sorted the situation out (I sat and listened on the stairs!). They eventually went to sleep about 10 when we went up to bed. But they had fun and Rose is 6.

A Visit to the Dentist

This morning I took the kids for their scale and polish at the dentists. Josh told me even before we got there that he was "going to be a good boy"! He and Rose were great and let the dentist do her job. Naomi was happy to get into the chair but had to be coaxed to lay her head back with the chair. each time we have gone she has taken another step. Last time Steve took them and she allowed the dentist to brush her teeth. This time Naomi let her scale and polish her top teeth before she had enough. We convinced her to let the Dra brush all her teeth though. But she was glad to get out of the chair!

The dentist told Rose she had to stop sucking her fingers because it is affecting her teeth - no surprises there. Dra told her she would look like a horse if she continues which obviously made an impression on Rose because she has decided to stop. Although she is finding it difficult she is making a real effort.

Rose did tell me it was very hard not to suck her fingers when she rubs Scooby on her lip as it doesn't feel right without her fingers in her mouth.

Giant Clams

We went back down to "rocky beach" today and I had much more success diving! In fact, I had two firsts - navigating myself and my dive buddy on our own dive (a bit pressured but successful!) and seeing giant clams!

On the banca ride to the clam site Paul told us the clams were 20-30 feet. I said, "Wow! That really is a giant clam". Sarah said "No. That's how deep they are." We all had a good laugh on me. I wish I had an underwater camera though, to show you the clams as they were pretty amazing. They were about 1/2 metre across. I also saw the most beautiful formations of coral in a lovely brown and white colour that made me think of autumn.

The fish are used to being fed so came and swam up close.

I love the creativity of God