In the Philippines, we have sari-sari stores — small shops usually attached to a person’s home, selling different sorts of goods. As a child, I dreamt of having my own, but I guess this is the closest I’m ever going to come to it. Sharing different stories — sari-sari stories — most especially from my experiences and learnings as a daughter of the King of Kings, as wife of my husband King, and as mom to our three princesses. 😊
With so many things going on during the summer, I had to make time to plan ahead for homeschooling year 2014-2015, especially since I’d be giving birth in August. I had to consider not only Danae’s subjects and lessons, but also Noelle’s. Danae was incoming grade 3, and Noelle was officially enrolled in Prep/Kinder 2, her first serious year of homeschooling. I would be having two homeschoolers at different levels, and then a newborn. And since we wouldn’t be able to go on vacation for a while, I thought a last hurrah was in order before school started.
I asked King to book us an overnight stay in one of the resorts in Laiya, Batangas. We ended up staying in Blue Coral Resort. King took a leave, and we didn’t tell the girls where we were going. We just let them sleep early, and I packed while they were asleep. They were mostly asleep in the car too, but at one point Danae woke up and saw Blue Coral’s signage on the road. So of course, there was no fooling her. She knew where we were going, as she has heard us talk about the resort before. They were both excited when we arrived.
It was a nice family trip to have before homeschool began, especially as I realized that it was our first family beach trip by ourselves. All our trips, whether locally or internationally, have always been with other people. We usually travel with my mom, and we’ve travelled with her and my brother’s family. We’ve travelled with friends too. It was a first for us to be just us four. It was a good time to bond as a family.
Breakfast at McDo. 🙂
Playing in the sand near our cottage, while the sun was still too hot. 🙂Our bodyguard. 🙂I was able to enjoy the water as well. 7 mos preggo. 🙂The water was great, but we had to vacate as soon as we saw some jelly fish. It was interesting for the kids (well, us too) because we thought it would feel soft and jelly-like, but it was more like a hard gel.King and the girls enjoyed the pool. 🙂Noelle was scared to slide down by herself but she eventually got the hang of it. It was her first time to conquer the (small) water slide! 🙂Me and my girls, after dinner. 🙂Playtime in the sand before going to bed. Had a couple of funny boo-boos — one of em picked up something gross while thinking it was a coral or rock; the other tried to pick up something that she thought was a rock but she literally freaked out & cried when it moved. Haha. 🙂They found a hermit crab. 🙂It was Danae’s first time to kayak! 🙂 I did some kayaking too, and almost tipped the kayak over with King in it, as I got down, hahaha. Heavy at 7 mos. No picture though, sorry. 🙂Danae did it on her own too, but I was in the water so I have no picture. Hopefully she has one in her dad’s cam. 🙂Last dip in the ocean, after a couple of hours in the pool. 🙂
It was a short trip but we gathered a good bunch of memories out of it. The next time we travel, there will already be 5 of us. 🙂
I am Phoebe Torres-Lucero, wife of a loving husband & my best friend, King, and mother to three wonderful, smart, active princesses who keep me on my toes.
Phoebe means bright and radiant. Torres means towers. Lucero means light. Put together, my name speaks of a tower of bright, radiant light. And that is what I hope to be as I write and share my sari-sari stories with you. 😊
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2 thoughts on “Last Hurrah Before School Started!”
that is way cool! love that danae did the kayaking! how much are the fees at the resort? did you get to cook your food or did you buy from the place?
oh we couldn’t bring food in. it was mandatory to avail of their food package, which was buffet naman. we got a discount because we went on a weekday. the kayak was 300 an hour i think, but we only lasted 30min haha. 🙂
Phoebe's Sari-Sari Stories 
that is way cool! love that danae did the kayaking! how much are the fees at the resort? did you get to cook your food or did you buy from the place?
oh we couldn’t bring food in. it was mandatory to avail of their food package, which was buffet naman. we got a discount because we went on a weekday. the kayak was 300 an hour i think, but we only lasted 30min haha. 🙂