In search of a little Spring!

Like many parts of the country, our "Spring" has been lacking this year. It has been rainy and downright cold, with only a few hints of warmth and sun. I got a little fed up with all of the cold, rainy days last week and decided that we would go in search of a little Spring. We headed over to Garfield Conservatory. It is a very large indoor garden run by the Chicago Park District, which means FREE!

We wandered through the rainforest,

explored tunnels in the children's garden,

and sat mesmerized by the fish pond.

Emie LOVES all things purple and was very excited to find these beautiful purple flowers!

And though I was not able to get a good picture of my dear children in front of the waterfall, I did keep everyone from diving in for a swim, and I call that a successful outing!

Tarlac Eco Park

We spent a day visiting a nearby eco park which is also home to a monastery. It was quite a ride up with the winding roads, but the views were beautiful and well worth the drive.

There is a beautiful statue that is at the highest point of the mountain and easily seen from the surrounding area.

Even Lolo made the trip! It was wonderful to have three generations there.

After visiting the monastery, we stopped at the river, stripped the kids down and went for a swim! While on our trip, I was grateful that my kids got to experience a lot of things that just don't happen in the U.S. anymore.

They had huts in the river, so you could stop for lunch. There were even some women coming by selling corn and boiled peanuts.

Clark Air Force Base

On our way back from Manila, we stopped off at Clark Air Force Base. The U.S. Air Force left the base quickly after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. Now it is an area for duty free shopping and a museum of sorts. They have an area with several of the old military helicopters and planes for kids to explore. Nathan has been rather into air craft lately, so this was a must see for us.

Needless to say, he enjoyed himself thoroughly!

Mall of Asia

Unfortunately, on our arrival to the house in Tarlac, we realized we were missing a suitcase. So a week later, we loaded up for a six hour round trip drive to pick up our missing bag. We were happy to recover it, but our video camera and a few gifts for the family were missing.

We still made the best of the day, though, and took a chance to check out the SM Mall of Asia. It is a huge mall, pretty much a city in and of itself.