catching up series: birthday weekend

It's another weekend and that means it's time for another throwback kwento! We're still in July 2016, by the way, and we're celebrating triple birthdays -- mine, my sister's, and my sister-in-law's. We're all July celebrants. ♡

Honestly, it's really not my thing to celebrate my birthday. I actually checked my old blog posts (via the labels), and I only found one birthday celebration with the family. That was back in 2012. But as I've said, 2016 was a special year, so we opted to celebrate. We decided to go bowling before dinner but before everything else, since we arrived at the mall first, Mithril had a little shopping sesh. 

Wait, lookie, that's lola! Nakakatuwa lang to look back at days like this because now, lola is a already bedridden. She had an accident New Year's eve of 2018 and she never got to walk again. It's been so nice to see photos of her since I re-started this catching up series. Even the kids get entertained seeing old photos as I blog. Being a "memory keeper" really isn't easy but definitely so worth it. I say this as I encourage myself to finish all my backlogs and to continue writing for as long as I can. :)

So anyway, I guess it's safe to say that aside from actually playing bowling, we also had fun posing with the bowling balls. Haha! People these days talaga. Photos or it didn't happen. :)) Partly, it's a good thing because we would have something to look back to. But of course, we should not forget to enjoy the moment too even as we try to "document", especially now that vlogging is the "IN" thing. 

After our pictorial, este bowling pala, we had dinner at Jay-J's. Again the usual Filipino food! Napaka-adventurous talaga namin when it comes to food, no? :P You really can't bring the parentals to a Korean, Chinese or Japanese resto. Filipino lang talaga, filipino lang! Haha! Our staples are Crispy Pata (dad's fave!), Sisig, Kare-Kare, Kaldereta, Roasted Chicken, Crabs and Shrimps, Pinakbet for veggies, and then Pancit or Pancit Malabon. Ayan ganyan. Paulit-ulit lang kami whatever the occasion is, whether we eat out or we cook at home. Haha! :))

And during this tough time (Read: Pandemic & ECQ!), I am definitely missing going out with the family. We had summer plans for the kiddos and looks like nothing will turn into reality at this point. But of course, we're still thankful and grateful that we are all safely stuck at home, with roof above our heads and food on our table. Really praying for this pandemic to be over soon.

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catching up series: let it gooo ♪♫♪

Reminder yet again that on this side of the world, it's 2016. July 2016 to be exact and our dear Carin (my niece) is celebrating her 4th birthday. But in reality, she's seven already. Hahaha! Backlogssss! :P

It was a Frozen-themed party held at Sangkalan Bar and Grill in QC. Can you imagine? The first Frozen movie was released in 2013 but three years after, kids are still hooked to it! It was also Faye's theme when she turned five back in 2014. And as always, it was mommy (ate Tin) who baked the cakes and it was me who made the birthday banner and balloon columns. Team DIY forever and ever. :)

The party was hosted by Cait (Carin's big sister), and as usual, there were a lot of games for the kiddos! I remember Faye being so competitive. Well, she's always so competitive naman. She even won in the Trip to Jerusalem game. There's a video below of her winning moment. Hehe!

The host, ate Cait. 

Stop Dance

Trip to Jerusalem

Faye's Winning Moment :P

You know what else I can vividly remember? The kids' chaos! Haha! In the photo below, Avie and Mithril were fighting on who gets to be carried by their favorite aunt -- who else? MEEE! Hahaha! I had to carry both of them because #superauntie is always after fairness. Back then, Avie was just two years old and Mithril was one, and they were frenemies! Fast forward to now, they can already tolerate each other. Thank goodness!

Avie and Mithril fighting over auntie :P

Mithy and auntie Pie
Carin and auntie Tin

Avie and ate Cait

Bear Fam!

auntie Dang and Mithy

As for Mithril's OOTD, this was the time I loved dressing her up like a grown-up. Hehe! Earlier that year, I loved dressing her up in gowns. Look here and here! :) It's been my self-assigned task to style her (and buy her outfits haha) since she was little and I can't wait to share more of her OOTDs here. Til then! Happy Sunday! ❤

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catching up series: for our amazing dads

First of all, I would just like to remind you that it's 2016 on the blog right now. It's actually June 2016 and it's Father's day. Hehehe! Kaya ko to! Pasasaan ba't matatapos din 'tong catching up series na 'to. :P

So anyway, we usually don't celebrate days like this. I was trying to look for old posts to link up but I only found THIS, a father's day celebration back in 2011. I didn't even find one for mother's day. I  tried to recall what we usually do and I realized that oftentimes, we would only buy a cake or cook good food at home. Minsan nga, wala pa completely.

But back in 2016, it was a different story. I just got hired then, *kaching kaching* $$$, so I thought it's the perfect time to treat the family. It was actually a very happy phase in my life because I finally got back to the corporate world after three friggin' years of being a bum. The whole back story is in this POST so if you have more time to spare you can click on that link later. So ayun nga, sobrang masaya lang ako nito so aside from it was father's day, I had more reasons to celebrate.

So we went out for dinner tagging along our extended family. Yep, that's my cousin's little brood. Ayaw ko ng ikwento ulit kung bakit kami laging magkakasama. If you're curious why, you gotta read more of my posts. Hahaha! JK one half. :) We had dinner at Manam, roamed around a bit and then as usual, arcade for the kids! If my memory serves me well, parang we weren't very happy with the food at Manam. Yes they serve Filipino food, which is our all-time choice, but we felt like it's too pricey considering that the food is mediocre. 

Pero teka nga, may isa pa kong issue! Damn, look at that hair! I completely forgot that I sported a hairdo this dugyot. HAHAHA! What was I thinking?? I was so surprised when I saw the photos when I was organizing and editing them. Hay, regrets, regrets!

But if there's one thing that I'm not regretting, it is that we went out to celebrate the day of our amazing dads! (Oh, nasabi na yung title! :P Haha! Gets nyo?) It makes me feel good thinking that I've been dedicating my life in giving back to the people who took care of me, not just my parents, but my older cousins too! Unfortunately, my equally amazing aunts were taken early from us because I would have loved to do the same for them. But I know they're proud of us and they're smiling from heaven because we (my sisters and I) turned out to be #superaunties too! It's the best feeling knowing that you are able to give back and pay forward also. Syempre, all that while working on yourself too! So ayun na nga, napareflect ako! I should probably write about my childhood heroes one of these days. It's just that I got to appreciate them more, now that the tables have turned. 

But for tonight, my kwento ends here. Enjoy the photos but please don't judge my hair. I can't forgive myself either. Hahaha! :))

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catching up series: worthwhile weekends

Worthwhile weekends -- May 28 and June 11, specifically! Not that I remember the exact dates but you know, Facebook is there to help. :P The first Saturday, we visited the Garcias. We just wanted to spend the weekend together, cook something special and of course, eat! Kumain lang talaga ng masarap, masaya na kami! Up until now, we make it a point to spend weekends together from time to time. And we make it a point to eat good food too. Haha!

 

And then two Saturdays after, we visited the Chuas at Rivercreek. It's a farm that was managed for a time by my cousin's hubby. This was actually the fourth time that I visited the farm. The first time was the impromptu visit with mom and the sisters. The next one was when my sister and I took care of my nephew when my cousin gave birth to her second baby, our dear Xana banana. And the third one was a year after, for Xana's first birthday celebration. Took us another year to be able to visit again but the wait was so worth it because this time around, we're visiting as a complete family. And mind you, there was nothing special to celebrate, we really just wanted to visit. 

As usual, the kids were the stars of the day. Lagi naman eh! It felt so good seeing them having fun and enjoying nature. I myself appreciated the surroundings so much. If only it's possible to leave the city, no? Who wouldn't love staying at the farm, or by the beach. Hay sarap.

Aside from enjoying the nature, can you guess what else we enjoyed? Hehehe! Food, of course! Sometimes we joke around na kung hindi siguro kami matatakaw, mayaman na kami. Haha! But seriously, I know I've recently just mentioned this but really, food is our guilty pleasure!

We spent the day just chilling and eating at the farm. As for the kids, they enjoyed the indoor pool too! This was four years ago but I can clearly remember how happy they were! When I think about it now, has it really been four years already? It's so cliché but I really just have to say this.. time flies sooo fast!!! I honestly can't wait to progress with this catching up series so I can share their most recent photos. Oh how they've grown!

  

I actually have one more farm visit to write about in this catching up series. That would be the last one though because as of this writing, my cousin's hubby no longer manages the farm. Sayang! But at least we have memories to keep and to look back to. I miss you already, Rivercreek!

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