Progressive School : Field Trip to Tagaytay

 A few weeks ago I accompanied Sophie to her first ever field trip. We headed off to Tagaytay City as early as 630am and by 9am we got to our first stop, Paradizoo Farm. This place is the sister company of Zoobic Safari , under the Zoomanity Theme Parks umbrella. We've been to Zoobic Safari and the difference would have to be that Paradizoo houses more of the petting animals and flower and vegetable gardens while Zoobic's main attraction are the tigers and several rare breed animals. 

You can feed the camels, ponies, cows,etc. 

you can milk the goat

Feel na feel niya ang kanyang wide-brimmed straw hat

one part of the flower garden

Sophie and the other kids listened to kuya explain the life cycle of bees. 

then we're off to butterfly garden where they also explained the life cycle and types of butterflies

Next on the itinerary was Yoki's Farm where we also had our lunch. This place is totally amazing, the owner has a vast collection of buddhas and artifacts pertaining to Chinese and Filipino cultures and all other sorts. Here are just a few of those:

Seryoso kayo?

the golden Buddha is about 30 feet tall

Kalesa or horse-driven carriage.You can actually ride and touch the sculptures

dragon ship collections made of authentic jade, he's got more than two of this in his collection! 

Kids were taught hydrophonic technique of planting lettuce. That means these veggies never touched soil. I also took the opportunity to stock up on our green leafy veggies as they sell it at a very cheap price :)

On our way back to Manila, we dropped by a pasalubong store (forgot the name of the store) for a demo on how to make a buko pie. 

Psst. Bawal magchismisan, makinig kay kuya...

Our last out of town stop, Gardenia plant! Picture taking inside the plant was not allowed but the tour was really educational. Did you know that Gardenia breads are actually untouched by human hands during it's baking process? And because the whole process is done by machine, the breads go through a quality control check that make sure the finished products are free of lead content. 

The best part of the trip (for kids, that is) was the trip to Kidzone in Mall of Asia. They got to play for a full hour and, boy, imagine the sweat afterwards! After which, they were whisked to an ice cream station and were taught how to make their favorite dessert in the world!

Sophie's 5th Birthday Part2 : Trip to Ocean Adventure

We got these certs and reserved them especially for Sophie's birthday. 

Once inside the park, you will be given a tour schedule with highlights on what shows you can watch based on the time of your arrival and the seating availability. This way, shows are not overcrowded and visitors are well guided. In fairness, Ocean Adventure Park is very organized- parking is a breeze, toilets are clean, the whole area is well kept plus the attendants are very courteous.

First on our schedule is the Adventures of Olongapo Jones show

These guys are really amazing! Galing how well they're coordinated in their stunts. Entertainment to the max :)

We also enjoyed the sea lion show.

The kids can't get enough of the Seatrek and Aquarium tours

Sophie was excited to see a giant birthday cake for her

Last on our schedule was the dolphin show. It was fun and the whole show emphasized on caring for our ocean and protecting the sea creatures. 

I missed my blog and I missed Mommy Moments. Been very busy but let me make a shameless plug for our new programs My Beloved, Good Daughter and Legacy. Please watch our new shows and thank you for making our network still No. 1 in ratings! Shameless talaga, di ba? :)

Toy Addiction

Do you know these guys? These are Edward, Percy, Thomas, James, Gordon and Emily. They are Sophie and Sam's train collection from the series Thomas and Friends. There are more that came in different shapes and sizes last December as Christmas gifts for the little ones. 

Hubby and I always wonder how Sam can memorize the names of all the trains (there are more like Cranky, Toby, etc.) when they practically all look alike. But I guess when a kid is really into something, even at 2 years old, he just knows. 

One thing nice about having all these different trains : I use them to exercise the little boy's color recognition. He answers eagerly when I ask the colors of his fave trains. 

He just loves these guys so much he even brings them to bed, with matching kumot pa.

Sam and his train tracks

Rudy Project Sports Watch

Last month, I got this from the mail: my new Rudy Project sports watch. Yay! 

In partnership with Rudy Project, BDO gave away Rudy project stuff to new VISA cardholders with a minimum amount spend. I chose the white watch over the bag and shades. 

When I first opened the box, I was not at all ecstatic as I thought I'll be. This watch actually sat on my drawer for almost a month, I'm torn between giving it away or using it. I'm actually pretty happy with the G-Shock that hubby gave me before and it serves its purpose well. Plus, I recently got a Cartier Tank watch from my dad which is one of my precious item of the moment :) Since we were kids, Papa loves giving us watches as he wants us to be very conscious of time. Until now, he loves to buy watches but I think only the youngest sibling inherited the early bird attitude.

Last week, I finally gave the RP watch a road test; wore it to work as I was going for the sporty Friday look and it looked cute with my Adidas red and white shirt. So finally, I've decided to keep it :)

Happy Thoughts

I have lots of that these days. God really knows how to keep us balanced.

Work right now is kinda toxic! I get home every night with a tad of energy to make a conversation with my husband. He asked why and I said "By lunchtime I feel like I’ve been raped by 3 horses. Lunchtime pa lang 'yan!" So imagine how I feel at the end of the day. Haay. This too shall pass…

On the other hand, my personal life is awe-inspiring right now. 

With husband getting on the physical regimen and making a personal effort now to live a healthy lifestyle, that brings a smile to my face.

Sophie naman is vying for top of the class. Yay! Progressive schools don’t have honor rolls but the ‘most holistic child’ is their version of it. A Holistic child is someone who has show exemplary development in all aspects of learning - mental, physical, socioemotional, etc.- from the first day of school until the last assessment period. During our 2nd trimester parent-teacher meet last week, my daughter’s teacher showed us Sophie’s progress and eagerly relayed how fast Sophie finished the assessment exam. What else is nice? Somehow she had mastered the art of working fast. Remember my post here? She's still OC but faster. I just let her remember our new mantra when working on art – mabilis at maganda (quick and beautiful) :)  I let her say that when we're working on her homework so she will be conscious of time and at the same time not sacrifice quality of her work. Looks like its working. Whether Sophie makes it to the top or not, I’m already so proud of my little girl :)

My little boy Sam is also an achiever on his own. Last January 14 was his first out-of-town trip without the diapers! Yay again! He is turning 3 in two months time and although he is off diapers during daytime and nighttime since he turned two, our trip to Subic was his first long trip without the diapers. Hubby asked, ‘what if ma-wiwi siya during the trip’ and I said with conviction, ‘marunong na ‘yan magsabi. We will stop in the middle of SCTEX if he wants to go wiwi. It’s now or never’ I’m that confident of my boy. And yes, we made it to Subic and back without a single drop of wiwi out of place. Last week, we went from QC to Makati and nobody even worried if Sam should use a diaper or not. Good boy Sam!