Recognition ceremony

Were you wondering a bit about the erratic posts lately? Indeed Mama and Kecil had been a bit preoccupied. And the fact that Skool is over is so not helping with Mama's schedule.
But yes, Skool is over. We are now officially on summer break, even if nature have not seem to realize it yet (we still have plenty of cold winds and dark clouds around!).
And to mark the end of the Skool term, we had recognition ceremony, just like last year.

It's funny how as we are now in our third year in this location, we are already clocking quite a few recurring events such as this recognition ceremony, the food festivals (this year and last year), the field trips (this year and last year), even our epic holidays (this year and last year). But that was just this Mama speaking. Back to the recognition ceremony, we did not have it in Skool as the Skool community had greatly increased in size since last year, and so we had it in a rented venue near Kecil's house.

As it happened, Kecil had that paper crown of hers lying around in the house as we were getting ready. No escaping it, we ended up with a paper-crowned princess this year. The good part? Daddy managed to make it this time round, from the beginning!

Having had another recognition ceremony under her belt, Kecil is pretty confident this time round, less confused with all the hulabaloo. Look, she even agreed to pose next to the balloons for Mama!

And after taking a good look at her certificate, she went on to show off to her friend.

Look at the proud Daddy showing off Kecil's medals:

And some scenes around the room:

As usual, the highlight of the ceremony was the students' performance. This time round, Kecil did not freeze up in action, she was actually dancing happily and following the teachers' instructions. It was such a great sight to see, and it was so worth jostling with the rest of the proud parents for the best position to see the kids doing their stuff.

This Mama had decided to simply enjoy the moment instead of stressing over documentation. (Well... actually that was a lame excuse. Let's just say Mama got a bit teary eyed at the sight, hm?) But it was really good. I am so looking forward to more of the kind.

Well, Kecil, this Mama and Daddy are definitely very proud of you. With the summer holidays started, Mama might have to do more of entertaining the Little One and perhaps we'll be less present in this space as we go out to enjoy each other company and the weather, whatever it may be.

Cheers and until next time!

The Army dress

The swimming suit was not the only gift from Eyang that she trusted to Kecil's Tantes to bring over. Among other things, she sent this camouflage pattern dress for Kecil, as well as the purple batik you saw on the visits post.
There was a bit hesitation on Kecil's part when Mama pushed this dress on her (it would have been such a waste were she to outgrow her clothes before wearing them, no?).
After that purple batik, she has been a bit averse to dresses which are too long, but we managed to get her into the dress.

And when Mama took out her camera.... boy oh boy does the girl turn into a kid model in an instant!

And so we had a bit of fun in taking pics this morning. The photo op was soon followed with a trip to the market (shopping!) with Kecil carrying her Dora pencil case as her 'purse'.
It would seem that Kecil loves her Camo dress. I'm glad. Especially since we still have a pair of Camo pants that I need to convince her to wear. Perhaps soon.

Here's to more photoops, both Mama shots and Kecil shots. Until then!

Swimwear preview

It was sunny and hot that day, and since we just got a new swimming suit for Kecil, we decided to go out for a swim, both for the photo-op opportunity and for cooling down.

Kecil gamely grabbed her toy and her float, and we walked past the flowers to the pool.

Can you spot Mama's shadow taking pics?

Final verdict for the new swimsuit:

It's a cute and convenient one-piece, with cute flowers and beads and all.

Just too bad that with the pink color (which Kecil loves!) it no longer co-ordinate with her float.

That's really minor, no?

So yes, we really do love the suit. Thank you, Eyang!

Here's a cheer for many more good weather days for swimming and showing off the suit!

Visits: Walkies & Bye bye!

The good weather continued to hold through the duration of Tante's stay, and with no more destinations planned, we went on our normal walks in the late afternoon, enjoying the beautiful light and company, while Kecil went on with her flower gathering routine.

Among other things, we walked, and took pictures, every one of us: Mama, Tantes and even Kecil!

Kecil Shot

Mama shot Tante shooting

Mama shot

And all too soon, it was time again to make the long trip to Manila to send Tantes off. We stopped along the highway to get some gifts for the Tantes to bring home, a chance that was used by Kecil to explore the nearby playground.

It was a pretty tiring trip, so there weren't many pics this time round.

But all in all, we had a good time with the two Tantes, and we look forward to many more visits from the family. Until next time, Tante!

(and hopefully no more fighting over gadgets next time!)

Visits: Manila part 2

The journey from Intramurros to Makati took quite a while, and Kecil actually managed to sleep along the way. So since Mama was carrying Kecil during the trip, no pics. Thank goodness we soon arrived at our destination, and Kecil woke up. Mama's hand was getting totally numb. (In fact, it took about 3 days for the pain to go away, but that's a different story)

Makati, as the 'center of civilization', has a totally different feel from the area surrounding Intramurros.

The beautiful late afternoon sun did help in making the scene even more beautiful.

Still, I guess one can still get lost even in Makati. Especially when  you are just a little girl with a penchant for wearing a certain non-descript cat on your clothes and shoes. Hmm....

We saw weird trucks and funny buildings, and Kecil got a hit from pressing all the pedestrian buttons at every junction. Soon, we managed to find our way to Greenbelt, where we just sat down and rest our tired feet. Kecil, however, managed to find her own form of entertainment.

The water fountain! Indeed. It's funny how little boys and girls are always attracted to water. Here's an old picture of Kecil in this exact same spot:

Those, I believe, were taken like about 2 years back. Nowadays, Kecil's game has gotten more sophisticated:

... complete with testing the waters, a new friend, even taking off her shoes and rolling her pants to prevent them from getting wet. Good thing too, because nowadays, Mama does not carry extra pair of clothes for her. She's a big girl already. 

Look, she even can take a picture of Mama taking a picture of her:

Well, after Greenbelt, basically we met up with Daddy, had dinner and made our way home. It was a good, tiring day out. But the Tantes are still around, so stay tuned for more stories of Tantes' visit. Cheers!