I was supposed to post this as a follow up to this last Tuesday.  Sorry for the delay!  I am posting it now, at almost 1am because in a few hours, our restless feet will be going somewhere blog worthy again (hopefully!).  Come to think of it, I haven’t even gotten around to finishing the entries from our July vacation!  But I will…one way or another. 

oOo

Halloween and the day immediately after were filled with treats.  No tricks whatsoever!

October 31st

We originally planned to go trick or treating at the Outlet Mall, but ended up at another mall closer to where we live.  Our group of 12 (5 adults and 7 kids) were at the mall at exactly 6pm.

It’s funny how Abby just automatically raises one arm, as if to fly, when I take pictures.

Here’s another pic with Abby raising her arm.

See what I mean?  But here’s one of Abby in the trademark hands-on-waist Superman stance.

It took us about an hour and a half to complete our rounds of participating stores at the mall.  The kids enjoyed a few of their treats right away!

From the mall, we went around my friend’s neighborhood.  It was a beautiful night and the weather was perfect!  It was our (Hubby, Abby and me) first time to go house to house and we all had so much fun, specially because we had wonderful company.

We are already looking forward to next year.  In our own neighborhood perhaps?  And I mean where our own house will be?  Come on, think positively with me!

November 1st

The day after halloween, we attended our first halloween/costume party.  It was potluck and with six families in attendance, it was a halloween fiesta!

I was able to convince Hubby to at least wear a cape.  I used the cape I had from last year, while Abby wore her Snow Princess costume, which now fits her perfectly (it was still too long for her last year!).

Photo by one of our paparazzi friends, A.S.

I’m glad Abby agreed to wear this costume.  She initially wanted to wear the pink Barbie gown she wore at the mall exactly a week before the party.

The kids were kept busy with game after game after game plus some crafts.  They all brought home tons of treats.  It felt like Christmas!

Abby being mummified by Nicole

The kids sticking eyes, nose and mouth to each of their pumpkins.

Here’s a short slideshow of pics from the party, all of which were taken by A.S.  I’m still waiting for the pics from the rest of our paparazzi friends.

Halloween isn’t ’til the 31st but a lot of establishments, malls specially, and bookstores like Borders, already had a head start on the Halloween fun.  We kicked-off the Halloween festivities last Saturday at our second favorite mall (our most favorite being the Outlet Mall).

The mall festivities was from 12nn to 2pm.  There were games, arts and crafts, a bounce house for jumping fun and photo op sponsored by the Picture People.  I was initially afraid to dress Abby up in a costume because she might end up being the only child in costume.  I immediately felt relieved as soon as we got to the activity area and saw little princesses, superheroes, furry animals and the like milling around.

What’s halloween without candy?

I miss my pamangkins (nephew and neices) back home a lot more than I already do during festivities like this.  I know soon, we’ll be trick or treating together again…here. *wink*

Liwanag ng haring araw ang bumati sa amin noong magpunta kami sa Sea World noong ika-5 ng Hulyo.  Damang-dama naman talaga ang init ng Tag-Init (Summer) dito sa Texas.  Kaya naman sa makailang punta namin sa Sea World, sa unang pagkakataon ay napagpasyahan naming magbabad sa Lost Lagoon ng Sea World.

Gagamitin ko na ang pagkakataon ito upang mailathala ang mga larawang kinuha namin noong araw na iyon.  Oktubre na at hindi ko pa nailalathala ang marami pang larawan noong Tag-Init!

Panangga sa liwanag ng araw ang pink shades ni Abby.

Hindi ba’t maliwanag pa sa sikat ng araw na magkamukha kaming mag-ina?

Talaga namang nagliwanag ang mukha ng mag-ama dala ng kanilang mga ngiti.

Sa aming pagtatampisaw sa tubig, disposable waterproof camera ang aming ginamit.  Ito ay natutunan namin sa aming mga kaibigang si Meeya at ang kaniyang asawa nang magkasama kami noong isang taon sa Schlitterbahn.

Narito ang mga kuha mula sa disposable camera.  Pasensya na sa hindi kagandahang quality ng mga larawan.  Pero ipinapangako kong maganda naman ang quality ng mga ngiti!

Ang sarap magbabad sa tubig!

Talaga namang nag-enjoy si Abby sa pagangkas sa mga naglalakihang mga salbabida (tube) at sa paglangoy mag-isa (salamat sa life vest!).

Kung minsa’y kumakandong siya sa akin at dalawa kaming nakaupo sa malaking tube.

Walang zoom ang  disposable camera.  Literal na close-up itong kuhang ito dahil talagang kinailangan kong ilapit ang camera kay Abby.

Tuwang-tuwang kaming dumaan sa ilalim ng mga sprinklers.

Maliwanag din ang ngiti ng mama na itinuturo ng arrow!  Nakisali sa picture! Hahaha!

Mabuti at nakahiligan ni Abby ang paglangoy.

Malapit na rin namin siyang ienroll sa swim class.

Ilang beses kaming umikot sa languyang ito sakay ng tube o paminsan minsa’y naglalakad sa tubig.

Nang magsawa sa lazy river, lumipat naman kami sa laruan ng mga bata.  At ito ang mga kuha doon…

Kulang ang 27 exposures sa akin.  Dahil bawa’t galaw ni Abby ay gusto kong kunan ng litrato.  Hindi ko tuloy nakuhanan ang wave pool. :D  Next year na lang ulit.  Sarado na ngayon ang Lost Lagoon ng Sea World dahil Fall na.

Sana ay naibigan ninyo ang mga larawan.

Mga bagay na nangangailangan at nagbibigay ng liwanag ang isa ko pang lahok sa LP.

Mabuhay!

Mabuhay, y’all!  How was your weekend?  I hope it was happy and wonderful just like ours.  I’ll go right ahead and tell you all about it. :D  This is a picture heavy entry so I’ll try to talk less. Hee hee.

The highlight of our weekend was our trip to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm, not to pick out our Christmas Tree, but for the Pumpkin Festival.  Last year, we missed going to a pumpkin patch.  We more than made up for that lost opportunity this year.  We had 6-times the fun because we were with 5 other families (plus our family makes 6!).  It was our first outing with our NFFs (new found friends). ;)  All in all, we were 12 adults and 21 kids.  You can say we had a little barrio fiesta going.  Hahaha!

It took a few minutes for Abby to snap out of a sumpong that came out of nowhere.  She is her mother’s daughter.  Ha!

See what I mean?  How could one not smile when mutant pumpkins abound?  Here’s another pic of my unsmiling lovely daughter with me…

Third time’s a charm so here’s a third photo of an unsmiling Abby.  Hmp!  Sayang ang family picture!

Celebrity sighting at Elgin, Texas!  Here’s the paparazzi!  Hee hee!

Our NFFs are photo enthusiasts, just like me!  And they all have dslrs to show for it.  I’m the only one with a full feature p&s (never forget the “full feature” part!).  I’ve done pretty well in keeping my dslr ache at bay.  But it’s going to be harder to ignore if we were to hang out with our paparazzi friends.  Say it with me, I. Dont. Need.  A. DSlr.  Bwahahaha!  Who am I kidding?!  Seriously, I still have to do hundreds of SPs (sponsored posts) in my working blogs before I can afford a camera upgrade.  Send me your positive vibes, please!

Going back to the pumpkin patch, Abby snapped out of her sumpong after I threatened to put her on a bus that’ll take her home she saw the pumpkin painting station.  You can say the price for her smile is $3.  Hee hee.

After she picked out the pumpkin of her choice, she immediately went to work.

From the pumpkin painting station, we headed over to the duck races.

It makes for good arm work-out, I tell you! Hee hee!

I don’t recall the day being windy.  But why is my hair such an awful mess?

After so many rounds of duck racing, Abby and Hubby ran off to the trees.

I’m now seriously considering getting a real tree for Christmas.

Thank God, Abby’s almost her normal camera loving self.

We had lunch afterwards.  Sausage wraps were dirt cheap at $1.50.  And they’re so good, too!  An ear of corn cost $1.50 as well while a cup of lemonade is $.075.  We only spent $8.50 for lunch!  Between you and me, Hubby had 2 sausage wraps!  Hahaha! Our friends Rene and Veron brought some baon of Spam musubi/onigiri (spam and rice wrapped in nori/seaweed) and spaghetti. Yum!

After a filling lunch, the kids went to ride on ponies.  It’s the second week in a row that Abby went pony riding.  That’s another $3 damage to the pocket…Hubby’s pocket. Hahaha!

A trip to the pumpkin patch isn’t complete without a hay ride!

Abby and Lica

Hubby and Jun and some of the other dads reminisced their jeepney riding days with their upong bente singko!

We got down at another area of the farm where there were sand art…

…train rides…

…scarecrows…

…antique tractors…

…a speed boat.

There were picnic tables and a playground, too!

Abby and Hubby played their favorite game where Abby jumps and Hubby catches here.  Abby used a big bundle of hay as her launch pad.

Ang saya-saya ng mag-ama!

And to prove to you that our NFFs are real and not just a figment of my imagination, here’s our group picture.

To take this pic, the paparazzi laid down their cameras (5 in all) on a picnic table and set the self-timer to 10 seconds.  Two people got cut off from my shot.  Sorry Edwin and Rene!  Hee hee.

And here’s a pic of the kiddos!

It’s too bad one family left earlier and didn’t get to join the group pic.

Our day didn’t end here.  This only accounts for 5 hours of the 12-hour fiesta.  To be continued as always.

Have a wonderful week ahead, pumpkins! :D  Cheers!

On August 1st, I received an email from Gracie, advising me to checkout the website of the UST High School Alumni Association.  Gracie and I are alumnae of USTHS.  What got me truly excited was that the website has an E-Veritas, the online version of the high school yearbook (Veritas).  Believe it or not, yearbooks from as far back as 1948 are posted online, most of them at least!

So what does my blog post title have to do with anything?  You see, UST HS is one of the ties that bind Hubby and me together.  It was where we first met, a meeting which ultimately led to us being bound together for eternity.  Hee hee.  But our ties with UST extends beyond Hubby and me.  Thank God for the E-Veritas, I will be able to accompany my explanation with some very interesting illustrations…yearbook photos! *wink*

1.  Daddy Cho

You can’t imagine how ecstatic I was to see my Dad’s high school grad pics.  It took me a few minutes of anxious searching.  Finding him was one of my greatest eureka moments ever!  My Dad graduated from UST HS,  in 1962, valedictorian might I add. *wink*

Reading the caption below his photo, I couldn’t help but smile.  He was class business manager (that must be the equivalent of treasurer), a PMT Cdt. Lt. Col., an SCA Catechist and a member of Pax Romana and the Intramural Basketball League.  His motto was, and I quote, “The attainment of today is the foundation of tomorrow.” Serious!  Well, I’ve always loved my Dad’s sense of humor.  Hee hee.  Peace, Daddy!

Here’s the only photo of my Dad that I have with me…

What a difference 16 years make!

2.  Lola Goly

After I found my Dad’s photo, I immediately checked out the faculty pages for the same year (1962) next, looking for a specific lady.  Alas, I found her…Lola Goly, Hubby’s maternal grandma.

Lola Goly was possibly one of my dad’s English teachers.  Although there’s no way to confirm it now, I have a strong feeling that my dad was once Lola Goly’s student.  In fact, one of Lola Goly’s best friends, Mrs. Constantino, was my Dad’s Biology teacher…and mine, too!

3.  Tito Jess

Tito Jess is the husband of my MIL’s sister, Ninang Petite and dad of Saudi Sexpat, Pinky.  He was from Batch ‘64, which means that for 2 years, he, my dad and Lola Goly, were under one building and walking - possibly passing each other -  in the same halls.  I don’t know if Lola Goly became Tito Jess’ teacher, but if that were the case, did they ever think there was a possibility that they’ll be each other’s “in-law”?  Hee hee.

4.  Tita Aileen

Tita Aileen was my Social Studies teacher when I was a freshman.  On my senior year, I found out she was the aunt (by virtue of marriage to Hubby’s uncle) of one of my ardent suitors (oh, I had many! hahaha!), referring to Hubby, of course.  She’s Lola Goly’s daughter-in-law.  It’s funny how Tita Aileen remembers some of my classmates, but not me.  Hahaha!  That’s how well I blended with the classroom walls. *wink* Peace, Tita Aileen!

5.  Munchkin Daddy

Where’s Hubby?

Sirit?

Bwahahaha!  I did ask his permission if I can post his yearbook photo.  Promise!  This is obviously a badly taken picture.  Really!  It doesn’t give justice to Hubby’s inherent good looks.  Naks! His prom photo was a hundred times better than this one!  He was my date, by the way.  Kilig!

6.  Munchkin Mommy

Where am I?

Would you be able to guess which two girls are my close friends/barkada?

That was too easy!  I haven’t changed a bit!  Hee hee!

Well, I have nothing to say for myself.  Hahaha!  Except maybe. “Gosh I look good!”  :P  Oh yeah, Hubby and I graduated exactly 30 years after my Dad did.

There you are.  I’m amazed at how yearbook photos bring about an avalanche of memories…good ones!

Have a wonderful weekend y’all!