TooManyFlowers

The week Mark arrived home from a short visit in Australia, we planned a short break in a hotel about 30 min away

The Mabuhi Manor

Our room two stories with a little kitchen and fridge and a spa!!

It had HOT showers (Sarah was happy)

It had a POOL (The boys were happy)

It had airconditioning (Mum was happy)

It had a buffet Breakfast (Ben was happy)

It had a private bedroom and big bathroom (dad was happy)

It had Cable TV (Josh and Essie were happy)

It had Asia Mall (the biggest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere) Sarah and I were happy

It had Star City, a big amusement park close by (Isaac Josiah and Sarah were happy)

So we slept, we ate we swam and we shopped

Ahhhhh Bliss

Sipped Fresh Coconut Juice by the poolside

Yummm

My wet girls!

Ball play, fun except when hit in the neck!!Stop laughing GOP

We had LOTS of hot showers and veged in front of the TV

We spent ages in Star City and the kids went on ALL of the rides, I was the official photographer and bag minder!!

Some insane ride that twists you upside down …James Sarah Josh and Ben loved this ride they did it 6 times

They actually like this torture!!

The Flying Carpet- BIG deep swings like being seasick James said!!

Essie and I on a Spaceship ride

Isaac makes THE funniest faces on rides…we just crack up each time!!!

Mr Guapo (handsome) a very cool Joe!!

The Cool Dino Exhibit that Esther Screamed the WHOLE way around because they moved and made REAL noises!!

The Filo Pose!!

They had the coolest collection of dino eggs I have seen !!!

Essie on her favourite the merry go round….on a Printhcess Horth (as she says it!)

This was the MOTHER of all Merry Go rounds Two stories high!!

Ahhhhhh it was LOTS of fun and good family time

Thanks GOP for releasing us

Appreciated

Funny though we all came back sick with coughs and colds

We were healthier in Baseco, imagine that healthier in a slum!!

Well even in Manila you put you rubbish bags outside and your 10 year old leaps over it  (of course he could have tried to maneuver around it)  and successfully  trips and cuts his knee on a tin !!

(NO NOT RUSTY, AND YES A NICE CLEAN CUT)

All I can say is that this kinda stuff happens in Adelaide too

So after a quick trip to the excellent Manila Doctors Hospital, we have a great knee with a pretty 2 inch scar with five stitches!!

On ya Jo!!!

PS This happened when James and Josh were away too, typical!!

PPS I say good thing I can handle cuts and injections James would have fainted!!

LIFE WAS JUST SIMPLER BACK THEN!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1920’s, 30’s 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s !!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks some of us took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a Ute on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Red Rooster.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn’t open on the weekends, somehow we didn’t starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Fruit Tingles and some fire crackers to blow up frogs and lizards with.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren’t overweight because……
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and cubby houses and played in creek beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape or DVD movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms……….

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no Lawsuits from these accidents.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross buns at Easter time…….no really!
We were given BB guns and sling shots for our 10th birthdays,
We drank milk laced with Strontium 90 from cows that had eaten grass covered in nuclear fallout from the atomic testing at Maralinga in 1956.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mum didn’t have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!
Footy had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
Our teachers used to belt us with big sticks and leather straps and bully’s always ruled the playground at school.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
Our parents got married before they had children

and didn’t invent stupid names for their kids like ‘Kiora’ and ‘Blade’…..
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 70 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!

NOW THAT MAKES YOU THINK HEY!!!

I just had to post this 100% for cute factor

10% on harsh for the environment, but come on cute is cute….

AND

The making of it…..

AND

Another cute one!

AND

Yet another…….they are on a roll!

I JUST FOUND THIS VERY FUNNY…….

IT IS A GOOD THING WE DID NOT KNOW BEFORE WE DID IT!!!

PARENT - Job Description

POSITION :
Mum, Mummy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging,
permanent work in an
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication
and organizational skills and be willing to work
variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.
Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,
until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule
and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat
in case, this time, the screams from
the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and
coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be a willing to be indispensable one minute,
an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a
half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for
the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this!   You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because
of the assumption that college will help them
become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension,
no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered;
this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love,
and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

AND A FOOTNOTE ‘THERE IS NO RETIREMENT  –  EVER!!!