My Bad

Gosh, what's with this Multiply! I'm trying to cross-post a few recent updates from my Blogger site and some old threads and whatever went back to circulation. And those that are supposed to be here as recent were not even cross-posted. 'Happened a long time ago and now this again.

Sorry guys for flooding your 'Inbox' just in case. I'm not sure if I'll try again but then again one more time. I hope that my older posts from some years back won't come up. That's what the archive is for anyway.�

Somerset Academy's Science Fair - 2009

We went to Somerset Academy's Science Fair on April 22. We were more fascinated this year than the prior years. The parents ...err, the kids did a wonderful job. There are many science projects that are quite amazing. From the 3rd grade and up, the science projects are open for awarding.  Last year, David won third place for the 3rd grade level. This year, he was not that fortunate and was quite disheartened by it. Now he really has to learn how to accept things like these. We were not really able to prepare ahead of time for a topic that can 'wow' the judges but I believe his project was a really nice one. Better luck next time.

Some photos from the experiment.

From Missy's 'Density Stacker' project:

From David's 'Which Coin Drops Fastest'  project:

David is TEN

We had a surprise birthday party for David on April 5, Sunday. At first, he asked if he will have a party and we told him, we haven't decided yet but we can see how eager he was to celebrate his birthday with a party and also disappointed if he will not have one. Of course, kids his age are not contented with receiving one or two gifts from the family only but I promised him we'll get him a big Lego Star Wars  with more than a thousand pieces instead. His motivation was to get more than he will receive from us. Missy even bought him a Lego Sponge Bob kit from her own money. She was also excited in finding and giving a gift to his 'kuya'.

 We were just mum about the whole thing but we did ask some family friends to save the date although some already had other plans especially that it was spring break. We just actually told him, we have invited Ophine's cousin's family who were visiting from the Philippines although we have already met them a week before that and that they'll not be in South Florida anymore on April 5. At least, he will not be surprised with the preparations of having some guests coming over.

We were quite successful in keeping it a secret. His Ninang Pauline volunteered to bring the ice cream cake so that was settled. I'm not sure if he noticed that the food was a lot more than what two families with small kids can really partake of.

Ophine didn't do any kids' games anymore but she had an egg hunt for the kids since it was an Easter weekend. I'm sure they enjoyed that.

The following day, we had a  'just-us' family celebration at our favorite restaurant, 'The Ark' in Davie. Their Mondays are always 'Kids eat free' days so that was our 2nd motivation so to speak. Besides, with the way David and Missy eats, it's not 'sulit' for us to have dinner there if we're not taking advantage of the 'promo.'

Anyway, I remember when I was ten and right now I'm thinking of introducing him to the story of 'the birds and the bees' very soon. My only concern is him blurting it out to Missy. This summer, I'd like to start teaching him how to shoot starting with an air rifle. I'm not a gun advocate but since we're living in a country where the 2nd amendment rights of its citizens are protected, I believe it will be safer if he gets the proper education. He had been asking me in the past about my favorite movie which is 'Schindler's List' so I did give him some history lessons. He's eager to see the film but I don't think he's emotionally ready right now. Maybe in two more years.

David Gets his 'Student of the Month' Award

Just like last year, David got chosen again as 'Student of the Month' and the trait is for 'Honesty'. This was on March 18. The school year is 3 quarters out and we're happy that he got this award before the school year ends. The students are the ones who vote for the awardee and I coudn't agree more, David is such a sincere and truthful boy! The kids know and are quite aware that being thruthful regardless of whatever mistake or wrondoing they have done, they have to let us know. Of course, it was not easy at first and there were some struggles in the past but I believe they have learned their lessons and have learned them well. This is very important to us and we're fortunate that we have instilled this trait in them in a very positive way. Hopefully and prayerfully, they will not forget as they grow older and wiser, even when there are more temptations and influences that can affect them.

Meeting Pastor Rene

Every year, we almost always never fail to meet with our pastor from the Philippines and that's what we just did on Mar. 7.  Pastor Rene Atienza visits regularly this part of South Florida for the Evangelism Explosion International Conference at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale. This mega-church founded by the late Dr. D. James Kennedy is the HQ of E.E. Inter'l. Chito and Cindy Abadines who have become our friends too through Pastor Rene always play hosts in their home in Margate and that's what they just did on Mar. 7. We have always received an invite every time he's here since David was still a baby.  Although we missed a few through the years, we always try to be there especially when we don't have prior commitments and it has always been a pleasure meeting our dear pastor. 

Memorial's Annual Picnic at the Park

Last March 1 at C.B. Smith Park for Memorial Healthcare's Annual Picnic. As usual, when David and Missy have days like this one, they always sound out 'best day ever' after the event. 'Can't blame them.

On Top of Planet Everglades

Since I came across this Photoshop tutorial on how to make your own 'planet' from a panorama, I wanted to make one with my family on it and that was probably two years ago. There were a number of opportunities when I could have done it but I always forget until I have to wait for another one. This time, the Everglades would be an appropriate place so on the way out, we stopped, set-up my tripod on the other side of the road and made a number of family photos. To complete, I just added two more images for the 'sides' to make a panorama from.






Then with just a few steps in Photoshop...

A Day Trip to Everglades National Park

The best time to visit this park is always winter. This is the time when you can see more of the migratory birds compared to other seasons and more importantly, there are less mosquitoes if any to bug you. In summer, it's almost impossible to escape from the bugs even with a ton of repellent on you.

The forecast was for a cooler weekend (low 50's to high 60s) and since we're all free, we planned to visit the park on Saturday, Feb.21. The last time we went was like 2 or 3 years ago and I don't want to miss it again this year. The kids were excited to have a sort of picnic at the Everglades and at the same time check out the alligators.

We left home at 8am and by 9am we have reached the park entrance. We checked out the visitor center first, then we went straight to Anhinga Trail where one can see closely the alligators, the anhingas, herons, gallinules, vultures, etc. This is after all the best place to see wildlife up-close. An alligator was directly on the 'walk', you can't get any closer than that.

It was already 12 Noon when we left the trail, drove for about 20 miles to reach the 9-mile pond were we planned to have our lunch. Fortunately, we found a nice spot and a vacant table right away. We just brought MREs for lunch, remnants of emergency food we keep for the hurricane season. They're not bad at all and since they're self-heating, was very convenient.

Stayed there for a few hours more while the kids and Ophine enjoyed 'blowing bubbles' and 'pretend fishing' since I didn't rig the rods. We were planning to fish in the marina area. Too bad, the spot didn't have any toilets and soon we were on our way. Visited the other spots, albeit hurriedly now until we reach the marina at the end of the park. We didn't do any fishing anymore after checking out two guys who said the fish were not biting. After the marina, we went around some more and by 5:30pm, called it a day and soon we were on our way home. It was a wonderful time spent with the family and I'm glad we got the Everglades N.P. already bagged for the year.