As facebook friends will know, Greg was off in Cambodia this weekend, exploring Angkor Wat with his sister. If blog readers are lucky, he might actually post about his trip! That left me, Wm and Patch for the weekend. Mind you, Greg's trip was actually my idea, so no one go giving him a hard time about leaving a pregnant wife with a 5 year old and 2 year old for three days.
Saturday was fine - our helpers come in for half a day anyway, and with back-to-back birthday parties, by 6PM the boys were exhausted so an easy bedtime. Sunday, however, was a challenge: Wm woke up at 4:30 AM (?!?), and while he and Patch attempted to fall back asleep in my bed, they failed miserably. As a result, all of us were cranky the whole morning. By 10:30 I couldn't take Patch's antics anymore, so off he went for an early nap. He managed to resist for 15 or 20 minutes before conking out.
By 11:30, I realized I needed a nap, too, or the afternoon was going to be worse than the morning. I must have sounded as upset / tired as I felt, because Wm understood that he wasn't supposed to bother me for 30 minutes (until both clock hands were pointing up). I finally got a quick cat nap, waking feeling much better.
Wm and I debated what to do for the afternoon - I realized it would be best if we got out of the house and preferably off the compound, since the morning attempts to go to the playground and pool failed miserably. Wm's suggestion? Mall of Asia! That's when I realized he's fully adjusted to Manila. When in doubt, go to a mall. Something will pop up of interest for sure.
I checked the movie schedule, and Madagascar 3 was playing at 2:45 and still had tickets available. At 2, I woke up Patch, packed a peanut butter sandwich (you can bring your own food into the movie theaters here - what a concept!), and off we went. Wm asked to stop for a strawberry smoothie, so I got a peach-mango smoothie and Patch some fresh apple juice, too. Patch really enjoyed the movie, but Wm got kind of mad at the mean animal control character, taking it a bit too seriously.
I thought we'd go home after, but again Wm showed his cultural adjustment and suggested we just walk around a bit to see what was going on. Since it is the Mall of Asia, after all, something is always going on. At the main outdoor court, the big bouncy castle was set up, so the next hour the boys spent jumping around until Patch jumped from on top of a tunnel-like structure, scaring himself more than hurting, and Wm was drenched in sweat and thirsty. And Wm still didn't want to go home!
I had heard about a new Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf that opened in a building next to MoA, which had a great view of the bay, so it being sunset I decided to walk that direction. We took the escalators up to the fourth floor (btw - escalators count as "fun" when you are 5 and 2), only to find the coffee shop was closed on Sundays. However, the outdoor plaza was super windy and had well maintained grass, so the boys enjoyed running around against the wind, much to the delight of the guards and grounds keepers who all stopped their work to watch them. Another 30 minutes of (free!) fun.
By this time, it was 5:30 and time to head home before a melt down. We stopped in at my new favorite Starbucks (which is at the bottom of the escalator) for some Silk "chocolate shake" for them and an ice coffee for me before heading back to the car, a bath, and bed.
I'll admit, I was skeptical about Wm's suggestion to spend the afternoon at MoA, but it's a good thing I listened to him, because we all had a fun afternoon, forgetting the morning crankiness. I guess I shouldn't dismiss spending so much time at malls out of hand.
Saturday was fine - our helpers come in for half a day anyway, and with back-to-back birthday parties, by 6PM the boys were exhausted so an easy bedtime. Sunday, however, was a challenge: Wm woke up at 4:30 AM (?!?), and while he and Patch attempted to fall back asleep in my bed, they failed miserably. As a result, all of us were cranky the whole morning. By 10:30 I couldn't take Patch's antics anymore, so off he went for an early nap. He managed to resist for 15 or 20 minutes before conking out.
By 11:30, I realized I needed a nap, too, or the afternoon was going to be worse than the morning. I must have sounded as upset / tired as I felt, because Wm understood that he wasn't supposed to bother me for 30 minutes (until both clock hands were pointing up). I finally got a quick cat nap, waking feeling much better.
Wm and I debated what to do for the afternoon - I realized it would be best if we got out of the house and preferably off the compound, since the morning attempts to go to the playground and pool failed miserably. Wm's suggestion? Mall of Asia! That's when I realized he's fully adjusted to Manila. When in doubt, go to a mall. Something will pop up of interest for sure.
I checked the movie schedule, and Madagascar 3 was playing at 2:45 and still had tickets available. At 2, I woke up Patch, packed a peanut butter sandwich (you can bring your own food into the movie theaters here - what a concept!), and off we went. Wm asked to stop for a strawberry smoothie, so I got a peach-mango smoothie and Patch some fresh apple juice, too. Patch really enjoyed the movie, but Wm got kind of mad at the mean animal control character, taking it a bit too seriously.
I thought we'd go home after, but again Wm showed his cultural adjustment and suggested we just walk around a bit to see what was going on. Since it is the Mall of Asia, after all, something is always going on. At the main outdoor court, the big bouncy castle was set up, so the next hour the boys spent jumping around until Patch jumped from on top of a tunnel-like structure, scaring himself more than hurting, and Wm was drenched in sweat and thirsty. And Wm still didn't want to go home!
I had heard about a new Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf that opened in a building next to MoA, which had a great view of the bay, so it being sunset I decided to walk that direction. We took the escalators up to the fourth floor (btw - escalators count as "fun" when you are 5 and 2), only to find the coffee shop was closed on Sundays. However, the outdoor plaza was super windy and had well maintained grass, so the boys enjoyed running around against the wind, much to the delight of the guards and grounds keepers who all stopped their work to watch them. Another 30 minutes of (free!) fun.
By this time, it was 5:30 and time to head home before a melt down. We stopped in at my new favorite Starbucks (which is at the bottom of the escalator) for some Silk "chocolate shake" for them and an ice coffee for me before heading back to the car, a bath, and bed.
I'll admit, I was skeptical about Wm's suggestion to spend the afternoon at MoA, but it's a good thing I listened to him, because we all had a fun afternoon, forgetting the morning crankiness. I guess I shouldn't dismiss spending so much time at malls out of hand.
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