Trick and Treat at Seri Fantasy World and Manila Ocean Park

No, this post isn't about Halloween.  We've just entered a new year, and that occasion is too far to blog about! (LOL)  This is about the places our family recently have been to, where we definitely have been "tricked" and treated for some fun family bonding and learning experience!

Late last year, I was able to purchase some discount vouchers for Seri Fantasy World from Ensogo.  So when the holiday season was over this year and most people are back to work and school, we headed off to Manila Ocean Park, where Seri Fantasy World is located.

I think Seri Fantasy World is the country's first theme destination that offers unique and interesting attractions about the art and science of 3D technology.  Brought to the Philippines by the same developer of Seri World in Jeju Island, South Korea, Seri Fantasy World provides fun learning experiences through its educational and entertaining attractions like the Trick Art Museum, Mirror Maze, 3D Cinema Plus and Kids' Paradise.  I especially enjoyed our picture-taking in the Trick Art Museum, which is sort of an art gallery of 3-dimentional hand-painted art by famous artists from Korea.  The 3D optical illusions are very interesting and fun to look at when you have your picture taken with the art pieces.  Really nice art tricks they got there!

Parenting Tips: How to Positively Influence Your Child

Inspired by our recent trip to a pottery farm, I remember a beautiful poem I first encountered in a parenting seminar.  Likened to a potter, parents have the influence to mold a young child’s innocent and yielding heart like a piece of living clay.  And the poem goes…

A Parent’s Influence

I took a piece of plastic clay

And idly fashioned it one day;

And as my fingers pressed it still,

It moved and yielded at my will.

I came again when days were past,
The form I gave it still it bore,
And as my fingers pressed it still,

I could change that form no more.

I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art,
A young child's soft and yielding heart.
I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon,
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change it never more.

- Author Unknown

T.E.A.C.H. Green: My Earth-Friendly Tips

As a supporter of “green living”, I mentioned in my previous post some “acts of green” that we do at home.  And everyday I get a daily dose of green living tips from one of my sidebar widgets, which I find really helpful as a friendly reminder and as a good information dissemination tool.  Conservation, recycling and re-planting are just some of the common earth-friendly tips that we hear or read about.  But to put together all that I want to share to you today, there are 5 major earth-friendly tips that my mind can think of right now as I write this blog post, and I found an acronym to best describe them, that is T.E.A.C.H. Green!  Here goes:

1.  Teach –  As parents, I believe it is our social responsibility to help our children understand about the one world they live in, and teach them how to be more environmentally aware and socially responsible for their actions towards their environment.  As a homeschooling mom to my 2 preschoolers, I try to incorporate this in our homeschool subjects, like in Science, Arts and in our simple Social Study lessons.  We also try to do some simple environment-friendly projects like planting a tree and growing a plant and recycling old materials and transforming them into works of art.  We also get a lot of interesting facts about our world and how to take care of it by reading the National Geographic Kids Almanac book and other related materials.

Our Recent "Homeschool" Family Field Trips

Our children are young, and they still have a lot of places and opportunities to explore.  Most of the time, my husband and I bring them to places that they have not visited yet.  And as a homeschooling family, we occasionally do our own family “field trips”.  My husband and I intentionally bring our children to places where they could find opportunities to learn and explore, at the same time, enjoy and have fun.

Here are some snapshots of recent field trips that we had as a family:

First, the Science Discovery Center in SM Mall of Asia to expose the kids to the different wonders of science...

After watching a short film inside the Planetarium, we somehow felt how it was being in outer space. Cool!

The kids enjoyed watching this robot play the electric keyboard.

My Top 5 Favorite Stores

I’m not really a “shopaholic” person.  As much as possible, I try to buy only what I or my family need, and I mean this of course falls within the categories of food, shelter and clothing, and to add one more, education.  Gone were the days that I splurge on shopping for myself ever since we had children.  I guess I’m the kind of person who would prefer to be lazing in the beach or savoring the quietness of nature than being in the crowded malls.  The grocery store is, of course, the only store we commonly go to for obvious reasons.  But there are simply some specialty stores that I really love going to for great finds, quality service, and for personal/family health care.  And let me just share them to you today – my top 5 favorite stores!  Unfortunately, I don’t have any photo of me and my family in any of these stores, but I can share to you the links to their website, in case you get interested, too.

In random order, my top 5 favorite stores are:

Daddy Moment Special Edition - Our Father's Day Celebration

Last Sunday, the whole “Baranggay” (that's how we call our big family) is at our parents’ house again to celebrate another special occasion - Father’s Day.  I gave my dad a card with a personal note in it, and my kids made a card, too, for their Papa.  As usual, the food was a feast!

My little boy was camera-shy that time...

My "Barangay's" Mother's Day Celebration

Other than birthdays, Christmas, New Year, my parents’ anniversary, Valentine and Easter, there are two more special occasions that my family celebrates, and these are Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.  (Oh, and I remember one more…Grandparents’ Day!)

Last May 8, the whole “Barangay” is at our parents’ house once again to have a different kind of Mother’s Day celebration.  I wrote “Barangay”, by the way, because that’s what we label our family since we’re big in number, quite an exaggeration, I know…but we’re really a bunch.  Anyway, I mentioned that this year’s Mother’s Day celebration in the family was kind of different from the previous years’ celebration mainly because Mom didn’t do any of the cooking, which is so not her.  Instead, we agreed that each of us (her daughters and daughters-in-law) would prepare a dish for her and the whole family – kind of like a pot bless - so Mom can just relax and take a day off from cooking.  For my contribution, very different from our usual Sunday get-together lunch menu, I decided to cook a Thai cuisine called Tom Yum soup, similar to the Filipino "sinigang" dish except that it’s spicier and is made up of shrimps and squids specially flavored with lemon, tomatoes, ginger and cilantro.  Even though may be a little bit of mucus oozed from their noses (LOL), many of the family members liked the soup’s spicy taste.  It’s actually a favorite soup of mine which I discovered from my frequent trips to Thailand in the past.  It’s just too bad I forgot to take a photo of my dish. :(

Anyway, here are some of our photos…

Mommy Moments - Birthdays!

 

For the first time, I'm joining my good friend Mommy Chris' "Mommmy Moments" this week!  The theme is all about birthdays.  Birthdays are indeed very special moments to cherish and to celebrate God's goodness and faithfulness.  My kids are always looking forward to celebrating their birthday every year.  And here are some snapshots of our recent birthday celebrations...

Our Daughter's Fifth Birthday

Even though there was a nationwide brownout that day because of a typhoon and even though my little girl did not get her desired "Barbie" cake because it was temporarily phased out, we still managed to celebrate our sweet little daughter's 5th birthday at home.  Oh, and she also got two awards that day - Best in Art and Best in Math & Science!  Good job, my dear!

Our Son's Fourth Birthday

We first celebrated our son's 4th birthday this year with all our homeschool friends in the area.  And on the day of his birthday, we went out as a family to a children's play house and restaurant called Fun Ranch. The kids had a blast!

And finally....My birthday!

Had an exquisite and sumptuous dinner with my family, and was serenaded by the restaurant's staff and crew that evening.  What a lovely surprise!  Loved it!

Thank you Lord for the precious birthday moments a mother like me will always cherish!