Homeschool year 2015 has officially started for our family. Pablo’s still finishing up with his 3rd-grade lessons and won’t be able to move up until September, but I already gave him a couple of weeks break. (You probably think I’m slave-driving my son, only giving him a couple of weeks off school over summer, but believe me, they’ve had a lot of breaks all throughout the school year, hence, not being able to finish their school work on time). Lukas, on the other hand, completed all his workbooks earlier than anticipated, so we decided to go ahead with his first-grade lessons.
Every school year, we plan family trips to count as the kids’ educational field trips slash Family bonding trips. Some of them happen, others, not so, but that’s okay. We plan anyway and we pray. For this year, I’m looking at day trips and I went through the popular deal site, Ensogo, to check what they have in store for travelers for the next few months. I found three great day trips I’m adding to our list of goals this year:
1. Mount Pinatubo Day Tour with Transfers
I was in high school when Mount Pinatubo erupted. It was a terrible time for the country, so many families lost their homes and their livelihood. What made it worse was that it happened a time a typhoon also hit the country.
I saw how it looks now in (cough..cough) a kath-niel movie where they shot a scene. The Pinatubo site has now become a tourist site and what a sight to behold it seems to be. I want to see it and I want my children to see it, too. I want to tell them how lives rose from the ashes through livelihood built around the circumstances (do you remember the figurines and other things they made out of it for selling?) and talk about the resiliency of our country when it comes to disasters such as that one.
2. 3D/2N Vigan-Laoag-Pagudpud Hotel accommodation with Day Tours & Transfers
Jay and I have been to Vigan and I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been in Luzon. Unfortunately, when it comes to traveling, I’m a late bloomer so I didn’t get to really see Vigan. We were in a band sponsored by San Miguel at that time and we traveled to many beautiful places in Luzon, but all I did was sleep in the hotel rooms. In fact, I think all I did in Vigan during the day was watch reruns of Beverly Hills 90210. Seriously.
Anyway, I want to go back and really enjoy the well-preserved homes from the Spanish colonial times and share the experience with my husband and kids. Historically, Vigan was a trade port for Chinese merchants, then eventually awarded to a loyal Spanish expeditionist/soldier named Juan de Salcedo by his king for his services.
The bonus here would be to see Pagudpud, which I hear about from my other well-traveled friends and the tour of Laoag. I look forward to seeing Vigan without having to worry about performing in the evening!
3. Dinosaur Island Clark Day Tour
My eldest son is a geek, and a cute one at that. He’s been into Dinos since he was three, but his knowledge and interest of them has long expanded, having found fellow geeks to bump heads with.
Anyway, he’s also crazy about Jurassic Park movies, which started it all for him, and I think it would be a great treat for him and his brothers (who have a normal level of interest for Dinos) if we’d take them to the Dinosaur Island in Pampanga (until God grants our prayers and we can take them to see the Dinosaurs at Universal Studios).
Besides, they’re not keen about being around realistic ones just yet, so in preparation for that…
In the meantime….
We’re still praying to be able to go to these places with our children. We prefer family trips over group trips, I guess because we like to really savor our time as a family while the kids are not yet going on trips on their own. I think I’ll be ready to let them go on mission trips to different countries as early as 16 years old, or if they’ll have the opportunity to do so earlier than that, why not, right?
I think day trips are great. We had a taste of our first day trip last summer, which I believe our friend purchased on Ensogo, and it turned out to be one of my favorite family bonding trips. Just remember that if you’re purchasing from a deal site, read the fine print and don’t hesitate to ask questions by calling the numbers provided so you will know what to expect. We didn’t have to do so the last time because our friend sponsored our trip, but that’s what we do when we purchase vouchers.
(Read: Camaya Sands, The Beach and the Beautiful)
As for me and Jay, we’ve learned how to be grateful of both the little things and the big things and not sweat the small stuff, you know what I mean? This way, we’ve gotten to appreciate and have fun in our “little trips” with our kiddos. God is good!
Check out Ensogo for more exciting deals:
Website: http://www.ensogo.com.ph
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnsogoPhilippines
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ensogoph
Instagram: https://twitter.com/ensogoph ———————————————————————————-
“In everything, give thanks” 1 Thessalonians 5:18a.