Our family went to Cebu, Philippines, again for Thanksgiving this year. This is Tay's second Thanksgiving spent at Plantation Bay Resort, and as before, it was an all-around wonderful and relaxing trip. Last Thanksgiving, we spent it with another family, the Lees, but this year, it was just the three of us. Now that Tay is just around the corner from turning two, this trip was quite filled with adventure, and in her familiar surroundings, she was quite at home. Even many of the staff at the resort recognized her; it was a pleasant reunion of sorts. :)
We arrived late (around 2am) on the 22nd and got settled into our one-bedroom suite on the resort. The next morning, we awoke to the warm sun shining through our window shades...what a wonderful way to wake up. :) We sauntered to breakfast at Kilimanjaro Cafe (as we did every morning during previous visits) and had a filling breakfast with delicious Pan de Sal (rolls) and sweet sweet mango. This was the first trip that Tay actually started enjoying mangos...she never really cared for them before, but I think the taste is growing on her.
Shortly following breakfast, we covered ourselves in sunscreen and made our way to the pool where we spent the rest of the morning until lunch time, which we ordered to the room before nap time. After nap time, we were back in the water for many more hours of splashing around until the daylight grew dim and we headed to dinner. This was pretty much our routine throughout the week we spent there, but we did venture off the resort for a trip to a Timex store and dinner at Cowrie Cove (located on Shangri La resort). The dinner at Cowrie Cove was delicious and the grounds were beautiful (what we could see of it); since it was dark when we went, we talked about coming back to see the grounds during daytime, but we never did make another trip out because we wanted to enjoy as much time as we could with Tay in the water and sun.
For four of the mornings, though, I went and did my skills and dives for my Open Water scuba certification. Yes, I passed all of them without any troubles and got my certification, but I did have a casualty. After the third open water dive, there were a lot of waves, so I lost my contact out of my left eye. I also said hello to many tiny, invisible jelly fish...which my hands, face, and top of my ear didn't appreciate, but I think I'm immune to them now. Also, during my mask removal skills training, I went under to remove my mask and replace it, but instead of removing just my mask, I also removed my regulator...why, I have no idea. I think I might have been a little more nervous than I thought I was. Anyhow, I just calmly replaced my regulator and proceeded to replace my mask, so all was well...my instructor just got a good chuckle. The coolest things I did get to see on the dives were a small black & white striped sea snake, two lion fish and two stone fish...and of course many many little nemo's and dori's...:)
Anyhow, while I was gone during the dives (about 2 hours each), Tay got to spend a lot of time with Appa, which both enjoyed a great deal. Tay totally was a daddy's girl the entire trip (almost to the point where I felt like I got my feelings hurt), but it really was sweet to see the two of them just loving on each other, kissing, and cuddling...I have a lot of pictures of it, too. Jeff is the "fun" parent...Tay always wants him to take her down the slides and go splashing around with her. I am the "sleep" parent, who makes sure her general needs are met. Eh, I guess I can live with that...
This trip, we also went to the Char-B-Q they held on Galapagos beach and the Hawaiian Luau. The Char-B-Q was pretty good; the scallops were absolutely delcious and so was the lamb, although they ran out pretty quickly. Tay particularly enjoyed the grilled corn on the cob. The show at the Hawaiian Luau was very impressive, but it started raining shortly after the show began, so we didn't stay for too long. The food was ok, but not too impressive. We did enjoy the curried shrimp, though...and the almond jello. Tay mostly enjoyed the noodles and rice as well as the chicken stirfry.
Before we left on our trip, I picked up a couple new books to take with us (as I was getting pretty tired of reading the same books over and over). While we were in Cebu, we probably read those "couple" of books about a thousand times, so by the end of the week, Tay was reading them along with me as I read them to her. It's so cute how she now finishes my sentences to each page and even adds the inflections I add to make the book more interesting. She seems to be picking up the concept of "opposites" as well; like, up and down and wet and dry...big and little.
Now that we're back in Korea, she'll point at a large truck and say, "Wow! Beeeg tuk" and then when a small car passes, she'll say, "leel cah" as she uses her thumb and forefinger to show "little." She's no longer my little baby anymore...she's a full-grown toddler with a mind and opinions of her own. Tay's always been an affection and loving child, but now, she's very decisively loving and sweet when she wants to be, and if she's upset with you, she'll even give you the cold shoulder or the pout. But funny thing is, she'll give you the pout and then realize that she's pouting and giggle a little because that little lip protruding always makes us laugh (so she, in turn, also laughs).
My, my...in a little over a week, Tay turns 21 months old. It truly is amazing how quickly time flies. Some days I wish I could rewind time to enjoy her younger days again, but more and more, I am so glad that she is who she is today! I look forward to who she will be a month from now, a year from now...10 years from now...30 years from now...
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