Totally Spoiled

Yes, I'm totally spoiled. Not by my parents or grandparents - I think I was generally raised with good manners and such. But, when it comes to having two small kids to take care of, and living here in the Philippines, I'm spoiled.

I try not to talk about it too much ... lest you think I don't actually take care of my own children, which is certainly not the case! This weekend, we went to Anilao for my scuba certification dives. We stayed at: http://pierunoresort.com.ph which is more upscale than most dive "resorts," but the facilities seemed sufficent for bringing two small children: clean beds, no charge for extra towels, and railings around the eating areas that Danger Baby (ie, Patch) could not squeeze through.

Greg wanted to come diving, too, to practice his new skills and so we could dive together. After all, as my dive instructor put it, we're lifelong buddies. (fyi - two important rules of diving: always exhale when ascending even a little bit and don't ever lose your buddy!)

The only real way for the two of us to travel 60 feet underwater together was to bring along Lea, our new nanny (yaya, colloquially). It turned out really well - we had a super fun time diving, and the kids and Lea had a super fun time splashing at the ocean's edge (rocks, not sand, in Anilao - but they didn't care). Obviously, bringing a nanny is a normal thing for a dive resort in the Philippines, because our bill even had a "yaya rate" that was 50% of the regular rate. Not really sure why Lea was half off, since she eats and showers just like we do, but I'm not complaining.

Diving is way less expensive here compared to other places in the world ... but for us, we'll probably equalize that out by brining our yaya. Price up, but I'll be happy to be spoiled for the next two years and enjoy some diving with Greg!