Happy 3rd Birthday Brayden

Today was Braydens 3rd birthday and boy did he have a great day. He had phone calls in the morning of grandparents singing "happy birthday!" We had a birthday party at school, which was the best way to do it!! No cleaning, no decorating, come home to a clean house!! Brayden was lucky enough to have a Lightening McQueen cake with balloons especially dedicated to him! It seemed to be a great time and everyone who was there left happy.

After school as a family we decided to try out bowling. We've tried to go with Brayden a couple of times but both times the lanes were fully booked and he was really upset about it. This time we got lucky and Brayden was thrilled. Theres something about throwing a ball down a long aisle and knocking things down at the end of it that just got him excited. He actually didn't even mind throwing gutter balls most of the time, just being allowed to throw something that heavy was enough for him. It was a great time... for Brayden. Pretty slow moving for the rest waiting for Braydens balls to inch slowly down the aisle!!

Ecogarden Fieldtrip

Braydens class had a fieldtrip to the Ecogardens here in Bacolod this past week! The first attempt got rained out so he's been really excited about going for a while now. Sydney and dad stayed home to sleep so I got to go with Brayden. There were a bunch of different birds, monkeys, snakes, turtles, spotted deer, pigs and crocodiles. Brayden loved to touch the snake and was a little nervous about the turtles but there was no way he was touching the crocodiles.

They first showed the class the big crocs and started poking it with a big stick. Well this really mad it angry and it was snarling and trying to bite the stick and it sure would move fast!! After this friendly demonstration they brought out a smaller crocodile and asked the kids if anyone wanted to "pet" it. Well they were all terrified thinking it would attack their little hands, I can't remember any of Braydens classmates touching the little guy, even though it was missing the top half of its mouth!

One of the biggest changes we've noticed with Brayden since we've enrolled him in school is he's become a lot more outgoing. He was so shy and clingy, whimpering if someone just looked at him. He seems to make friends more easily now, especially with his classmates. His teachers have noticed he seems to have made a "best friend" shown here, Vance:

The fieldtrip ended with the kids having the oppertunity to paint a figurine, Brayden did an excellent job painting his little hippo orange! It was really nice to see Brayden interact with his classmates and to see the friends that he's making. He seems to really enjoy the time playing with his friends!

The School For Creative Beginners

Last week we enrolled Sydney at the same school Brayden attends, she starts in January when we get back from our Christmas holidays! I'm so excited since they'll be going to school at the same time, it gives me 2 hours a day to do whatever I want....
I was checking out the new school webpage when I noticed that Brayden and his daddy made it onto the pictures section of their page!! You'll have to browse through the pictures to see what Brayden has been up to so far this year but it's such a great school! My favorite of the 3 pictures Brayden is in has Ryan and Brayden painting his "My Kid Walks All Over Me" shirt.

Masskara!

Bacolod city is famous in the Philippines for it's annual Masskara festival. It's a month long event that attracts tourists and Filipino's from everywhere! I've seen more white people here this past week then I have for the entire time we've lived here (11 months now)!!
I've been told that the word Masskara has been taken from two different words; 1. Mass-meaning large crowds of people (duh!)and 2. cara (spanish word used for 'face')-which is the total theme of the festival. Beautiful, big, bright masks on all the faces!! It's actually themed by a smiling mask because of the "Negrenese" people's happy, smiling spirits even through the ups and down of the sugar industry on the Island. The festival started in 1980 to help celebrate Bacolod's Charter Day which is on October 19th.
On the activity schedule is a little carnival that is scheduled the entire festival (Oct 1-22), parades, street dancing, a Masquerade Ball, drum beating competition, and costume shows. Sounds like a good time!!

Happy Birthday Ryan

On Friday we celebrated Ryan's 28th birthday! It was a casual day spent relaxing and trying to stay dry. With all the tropical storms and typhoons combing through South East Asia, our little area has been getting hit hard with wind and rains. A lot of the friends we've made are trying to stay warm and dry while mini rivers run down the dirt paths leading to their homes and trickling water coming in through the cracks. Thankfully we've been able to stay safe and dry in our subdivision. On Ryans birthday he came home from work on the motorbike wearing a garbage bag with holes cut out of it for his head and arms, haha. He's becoming a true Filipino!
Ryan has been putting in quite a bit of hours at the office since we got back from our trip so he requested pizza, cake and a movie with the family which sounded great. For his birthday gift Ryan was able to pick out a remote control helicopter which Brayden seems to think belongs to him. They have been having a great time flying and crashing it around the house, Ryan has taken it into work and is anxiously waiting for the weather to become nice so he can test it outside...