Family Reunions Are A Joy!

Our Iloilo trip was such a blast! We don’t really tour the place when we’re there. Normally we visit relatives or join family reunions. This family reunion was to celebrate my aunt and uncle’s 80th birthday, and for the grandchildren to bond with one another.

I love that my girls love their cousins, just as much I love mine. They know and have bonded with their Kuya Bubuy, Ate Iday & Kuya Dutdut as we have visited them in San Carlos a couple of times already. They’ve met Kuya Woofie and Kuya Josh in Iloilo before, but since they’re much older and they’re boys, they don’t really play. Danae met Ate Inna & Chai briefly 5 years ago, but Chai was asleep because they came in late, slept over our house a little before they flew back to Ohio early the next day. So last Friday was like the first time Danae & Noelle met them.

Chai, whose name incidentally is the same as my nickname (Chy), is so much like Danae — active, smart, pretty, charming, friendly, kikay (girly girl), imaginative, but a year older. They hit it off right away. With all the time they spent together, even sleeping on the same bed for 2 nights and sleeping by 10pm without any arguing (haha), Danae got inspired to learn to play the violin like Chai and to practice news casting because “Chai is so good.” Of course they included Noelle too, and ate Inna with ate Iday would always be patient and accommodating, helping the younger ones realize their visions haha. I loved seeing my girls have so much fun with their cousins.

Danae was sad the whole time we were in the car from the apartment to the airport. She kept wishing she could stay till April, and go back to Manila the same day Chai goes back to Ohio. When we landed, she said she was glad to be home but that she still missed Chai. When she woke up Tuesday morning, she said she missed Chai. What an impact a few days make!

I’m grateful we all had that time together, 4 families sharing 1 apartment and 3 other families in the apartments beside us. We ate most of our meals together in our apartment. My brother and his son were able to join us for a whole day too. My mom did a great job preparing the place for us. We were comfortable and very well-fed!

We’re definitely looking forward to more reunions in the coming years! 🙂