Little Girl on Her 5th! ♥

Today is my daughter's 5th birthday and we are so proud of all her achievements at such an early age. 

Her celebration, this time, is a bit different from her previous birthdays. Since she's in school already, she requested to celebrate her birthday with her classmates. She specifically wanted to blow candles on her birthday cake, have some ice cream and eats snacks with her friends.

And we obliged. *smile*

Now that she's 5, she can really appreciate and truly enjoy such celebrations. She knows it's her day and she's been excited the whole time!

She's been doing a Birthday countdown, every day!

Every time she wakes up or even at any random time, she would always ask me, "Mommy, how many days before my birthday?!" And she really squeaks when I say it's getting nearer. Until one day, she's the one who's already reminding me how near her birthday is. Lol! Kids!

After her celebration in school, we had one surprise for her. From the school, we went a different way that is very familiar to her. She was already wondering and asking if we're going to swim. And no, I didn't answer. Instead, I continued changing her uniform to a swimwear. Until she realized and got really really excited! Lol! She loves the water, she just loves the pool. Hopefully, we could get her to attend swimming lessons so she could fully enjoy the waters. Now, that needs to be taken cared of, it's a bit hard to find swimming lessons here in Bohol.

Then after our swim, we went home and took some rest - well for her that is because I cooked dinner! *grin*

The day ended with sumptuous dinner over at my half-sister's place. It was really fun, especially the part where she opened her gifts! There's a lot of cheering going on!

Happy Birthday, my dear CL! Thank you for continuously giving us laughs with your wild and crazy antics, surprising us with your witty talks, for melting our hearts with your sweet gestures and I love yous, for being smart, and for being such a good girl.

I love you, my Little Girl!

♥♥♥ 

Holiday Travel: We Survived!

Today, as I sat here, I'm finally feeling the exhaustion from our holiday travel. Feels like I'm going to have a fever. But anyway, at least I get to finally blog about how we (I) survived our Holiday travel.

Every year, since I got married, we spend our holidays at my in-laws' hometown in Bataan - New Year to be specific. It was easy before when we were still living in the Metro because Bataan is just a BUS away from our home.
However, now that we're here in Bohol, this was the 1st Holiday travel we did, and we literally crossed the waters to get there. And since it was the Holidays, would you imagine the volume of passengers traveling - by land, air, and water?
Bohol - Cebu - Manila - Bataan - Manila - Cebu - Bohol
That was our itinerary. We spent our Christmas in Cebu, at hubby's place, because he works there. Then went to Manila for our Bataan travel and spent our New Year there.
It was the most tiring travel ever! 2-day rest is not enough to get all the energy back! Plus, the most dreadful post-travel part are the countless laundry waiting, the cleaning, and the organizing. I love packing things better than this! Argh!
But of course, everything is worth it. We get to spend the Holidays with our loved ones, my daughter enjoyed playing with her cousins, and she definitely enjoyed riding the airplane! That, alone, is enough to compensate all the stress and restless nights - and the gastos too! Lol!
And for all you travelers out there, here's a little tip from me which really worked and lessen the "baggage" - given that your destination is somewhere you are already familiar with or staying with a friend or a relative.
Tip #1 - Bring sachets of shampoo and conditioner instead of bottles. If there's a store near the house you're staying with, you can buy there instead. If you have small containers designed for travelers, use it. It saves space and weight of your baggage. Forget bringing big bottles of perfumes or colognes, if you have a smaller atomizer, then much better. Don't bring too much makeup, bring only those you constantly use.
Tip #2 - If possible, bring 1 pair of shoes or sandals that match your planned wardrobe (see tip#5), and of course don't forget to bring your slippers. Don't bring too many accessories as well, they may end up being lost or left behind.
Tip #3 - Don't bring too much gadget! You're there to spend time with your family, to catch up and to bond with them. But please, don't forget to bring your trusty digicam! You don't want to miss to capture those moments! *wink*
Tip #4 - Ask your host if they have spare towels for you, or if you've been going home yearly or twice a year, you can just leave your towel (and extra clothes) behind so you can use it for your next visit. But if you are an OCD, better bring your own towel but not the thick ones - your goal here is to save space on your luggage. For us, since we stayed at my in-laws, me and hubby didn't bring our towels, instead, we used the extra towels there. He brought lesser shirts too and just borrowed from his father. The only towel we bring every time we go home is my daughter's.
Tip #5 - Plan out your wardrobe for your entire trip or travel, including your sleeping wear. Pair it up, or mix and match. This is the first time I did this, which really was of big help because I only brought clothes we could use. On our 7-day stay in Bataan, I paired up 3 pambahays, 1 pantulog, 3 pang alis, 3 extra blouses, undergarments of course and the one we used for New Year's eve. My daughter had a few extra pairs, though, but still, I didn't end up bringing tons of clothes that ends up unused, which always happens to me before. Ever heard of "Dala mo na ata isang kabinet mo eh!" - yeah, that kind of thing. So this one's a success. The key is MAGLABA - wash them!
Tip #6 - ROLL UP YOUR CLOTHES! I know there's a science behind rolling clothes when you put them inside the bag, and it is effective! My daughter's clothes were rolled up and stored in a zip lock bag, then me and hubby's were used to fill all the spaces in the bag.

In the end, the 3 of us traveled with only one bag + my own shoulder bag of course! :)

Sorry for my little grumpy girl, we've been waiting for our flight in the wee hours - without sleep!

I hope, these would work for you. And I hope, next year, we could invest in one luggage bag - they're a bit pricey, though. Luckily, hubby is strong enough to carry our bag around. Lol!
And if you have any tips to add on, please please let me know. I want to learn how you travel light too. ^_^
Happy 2016 everyone!!!  PS If traveling with a child, don't get midnight flights. Puyat, pagod at nakakaawa yung bata! Plus, we've been kicked out from our original ETD twice! Maybe because of lesser passengers on that hour, so they need to transfer from one flight to another just to fill all the seats? I don't know. I'm just glad it's an hour difference only from our booked time. 
PPS Purchase tickets ahead - meaning months ahead! Be always on the look out of promo fares, and take advantage of it! What happened to us was, I was left with no choice but to book a 12:40am flight because that was the cheapest left. We were able to save a huge amount, yes. But I'd prefer morning flights instead. Lesson learned here!