A Sports Mom's Survival Guide

More than half of the 16 years that I'm a mom, I've been a sports mom.

I've taken them to soccer trainings, scrimmages and tournaments.

I've been with them through several aquathlons... I even ran alongside my oldest when she did her first aquathlon when she was 9 years old because she was so scared she couldn't finish the 3k run. 

I've chaperoned them to different provinces when they qualified for the national championships for Palarong Pambansa and Batang Pinoy.

I am currently a swim mom, and enjoying it so much!

August 2008 when they were all going to Futbol Fanatics during the weekends,
years before the Azkals was even formed

{Weekend Footnotes} Start of G-League Season 2016

The past weekend was too hot to handle! The family had to stay under the sweltering sun in the middle of the hot and humid Manila summer!

The first swim compe of the year just happened, and that means a handful more swim meets to follow. But I'm not complaining. I always enjoy watching my kids swim!

Where to Eat in Baguio

When I think of Baguio, it's always about food, plenty of food. I am lucky that my childhood includes lots of memories about Baguio.

I grew up in Davao, where my Dad's family is based; but every summer we would visit our maternal relatives in Pampanga. Because of Pampanga's relative proximity to Baguio, my lola and her friends would often plan a trip to Baguio. Lola Luring would often bring  us along wherever she visits her friend, Mang Esther. My sister, a cousin and I are the traveling companions of our Lola every summer. We would stay in Mang Esther's house for days, and we would stuff our tummies with ube and strawberry jam, lengua de gato, and fresh strawberries.

I think the cold weather in Baguio makes the food somehow tastes better. Don't you think so, too? I eat more every time I'm in Baguio. During my last visit this summer, we ate out at every meal. Allow me to share with you photos of some of the food we ate while we were in Baguio.

I'm warning you in advance that this post is heavy on photos, after all we were in Baguio for three days!:)

{Phenomenal Tip} DIY Handpainted Canvas Bags by Whimsical Sushi

Since the kids were really young, summer has really been all about DIY crafts, baking, cooking, drawing, painting... basically all kinds of creating going on around here. 

I am just really loving this beautiful bag hand-painted by my daughter. 

I love the combination of colors and the design. And basically the very idea of how she thought of re-purposing an unused canvas bag into something so pretty.

Swell Sweets Cookie and Cupcake Decorating Workshop

Even if I bake often, I have not really learned how to decorate my cupcakes and cookies that well. I follow a few of our local bakers because their creations really serve as inspiration and eye-candy to me. One of the cake suppliers I've been following on IG is Swell Sweets. Her creations are always unique and well-executed.  When my daughters and I received an invitation from Swell Sweets to attend a workshop at their commissary, we could not say YES fast enough!

These are the works of my 2 daughters during the Swell Sweets Summer Cookie and Cupcake Decorating Workshop

How To Keep Our Kids Busy During Summer + #PlayWithOREO

Now that it's finally summer, everyone in my house is so happy. No more studying... Hurray! Yes to sleeping in... Yahoo! More time to relax... Yipee! But, having a house full of big kids also mean a LOT of energy going around. I have to look for ways to keep their summer productive, and their minds and bodies occupied.

Ways to Keep Our Kids Busy During Summer:

1. Get in the Water

We can’t talk about summer without mentioning pools, right? Swimming is the best way to cool off the summer heat. Ang init na, di ba? Swimming at the club is what my kids will be doing almost everyday this summer because not only is this a very useful life skill, but it also provides good all-around body workout.

My kids eat a LOT of sweets, and swimming is one way they make sure that they do not carry any excess weight.

2. Get outdoors

Since it's summer, the kids often ask us to bring them outdoors... they love to bike, go on their scooter or just play with each other. As a mom, I would also rather that they have some fun outdoors rather than stay in their room and attend to their gadgets.

3. Get a book

Now is also a good time to motivate our kids to develop their love for reading even more.  One of the first things we did as soon as school was over was to head to the bookstore to buy some new titles that interested each of them. They are encouraged to choose their own books so that they don't feel like reading is a chore.

My daughter, B, loves classics.  Once she starts reading, it's so hard to get her away from her books na.

4. Get In The Kitchen Together

Summer is the time when I use cooking as a fun and simple way to spend time with my kids. Even when they were very young, I already involved them in the kitchen. I am sure our time together in the kitchen is a collection of moments my kids will recall fondly when they are older.

Now that they can manage to be in the kitchen on their own, I have asked the girls to take charge of preparing a meal twice a week this summer, and that also includes making a grocery list for the meal that they are cooking. But what they really look forward to is baking something sweet.

Get the recipe for my OREO Nutella Brownie Cups here 

5. Get Into Art 

Art is a wonderful way to express our feelings and have fun at the same time.When they were much younger, I used to gather all three of them in our dining table and teach them how to draw and paint.  But now that my J is older and her skills are even greater than mine, I got a professional art teacher to help her hone her skills.

She is in the middle of doing her koi painting here using watercolor.  How nice noh?

#PlayWith OREO

As you can see, for my kids, play time is also synonymous with OREO.  OREO is my kids' fave cookie sandwich, and we've had so much fun bonding over OREOs... whether just eating them, getting creative with them or cooking with them.

My girls and I did a bento box using OREOs. You can click on the link just in case you missed that post. And if you look closely, you will see the newest OREO flavor... OREO Strawberry Creme! I am sure all the young girls will get crazy over the pink sandwich frosting like mine did.

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Japan Day 4: Western Kyoto (Kinkakuji)

The afternoon sun was high in the sky when we left Arashiyama in the Western part of Kyoto.  We took the train for our next stop, Kinkakuji at Northern Kyoto. Kinkakuji or Golden Pavilion is one of Japan’s must-visit tourist destinations. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, you can be sure it is worth the venture.

Kinkakuji is a Zen temple in northern Kyoto whose top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. The temple was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and according to his will it became a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect after his death in 1408. Kinkakuji was the inspiration for the similarly named Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), built by Yoshimitsu's grandson, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, on the other side of the city a few decades later.

Though the pavilion is not that big, it is still impressive because of its brilliant golden walls.  The pavilion and its golden reflection shimmering on the rippled water of the pond water create a beautiful and peaceful atmosphere.

But in reality, this temple was packed on the day of our visit, and is the case for almost any day of the year. I recommend to visit early in the day or just before closing to avoid the huge crowd of tourist.  But personally, I scheduled our visit during sunset because the place is best viewed when the amber tinge of the sky sets off the golden temple. Notice how my photos take on a more golden hue as our stay in Kinkakuji progress.

The rear view of Kinkakuji.

The small structure attached to the pavilion is actually a fishing deck that is called Sosei. They say that a small boat can be moored under it.

Another view of the rear of the pavilion

The place closes at 5pm sharp so it's best to get there around 4pm or earlier.

With people slowly trickling out towards the exit, we headed out the place ourselves, even if I wanted to stay a little bit longer to enjoy the scenery.

We found a secluded spot by the exit... and of course we stopped for some picture taking.  The place was too beautiful to not stop.:)

 This time borrowing the aviators of J kase ang taas pa ng araw

Here's my Big Girl!  Grabbed this from her IG account.  She is so cute!

Do not ride the city bus during the rush hour of 5-6pm as you will get stuck in traffic for years....as my sisters soon found out for themselves.  After we exited Kinkakuji, C decided to ride a taxi to go back to the Kyoto train station to go back to Osaka; he computed it would be more economical for our family of 5 to do so. Had my sisters wanted to take a cab also, we would've split our group into two cabs and let J ride with my sisters, but my sisters decided to ride on a bus instead.

It wasn't a long ride to the station but my Li'l Man was tired and took a short nap in the cab.

We got to the station, and we expected my sisters to follow after around 25-20 minutes, so we checked out the nearby grocery, and bought some food for my hungry bunch.

 Since we were there already, mag shop na din for my kitchen pantry.

When it was time to pay, extra charge daw for plastic bags.  Of course, I didn't want to pay for plastic bags, so ayan... It's good his backpack is adjustable. hahaha!

After 20 more minutes, we got a text message from them saying they were stuck in traffic because the bus took so many stops along the way.  So we went in the bookstore where he freeloaded, and she bought several Japanese drawing books.  Can you just look at his overstuffed backpack full of Japanese chocolates and potato chips?

After another 15 minutes, another text, "kita na lang bukas!"  Tee-hee! it took them that long. We went ahead to Osaka and had dinner at KYK, a tonkatsu place located at Namba Parks.

When my sisters finally got to the Kyoto station, they decided to indulge and went to ride a Shinkansen back to Osaka.  It wasn't really worth it to ride a Shinkansen for such a short journey, because a ticket for the Shinkansen is so expensive. But my sisters did it for the experience or riding a Shinkansen, so that makes it worth it for them.

I've updated this post to provide a link to ALL MY JAPAN POSTS!

1. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/03/phenomenal-tip-my-10-step-guide-on-how.html
2. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/04/japan-2014-osaka-kyoto-nara-kobe-trip.html
3. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/04/japan-2014-websites-and-apps-to-help.html

4. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/04/japan-2014-snippets-of-our-vacation.html
5. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/04/japan-2014-where-to-stay-in-osaka.html
6. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/04/japan-2014-where-to-stay-in-osaka_25.html

7. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/04/japan-2014-how-to-get-around-kansai-how.html
8. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/05/japan-2014-day-1-arrival-at-osaka.html
9. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/05/japan-2014-day-2-universal-studios-japan.html

10. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/05/japan-2014-day-2-ippudo-ramen-osaka.html
11. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/05/japan-2014-day-3-eastern-kyoto.html
12. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/05/japan-2014-day-3-eastern-kyoto_16.html

13. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/05/japan-2014-day-3-eastern-kyoto-kodaiji.html
14. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/07/japan-2014-day-4-western-kyoto.html
15. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/07/japan-2014-day-4-western-kyoto-kinkakuji.html

16. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/11/japan-2014-day-5-downtown-kyoto-nishiki.html
17. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2014/12/japan-2014-day-5-southern-kyoto-fushimi.html
18. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/01/japan-2014-day-5-nara-nara-deer-park.html

19. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/01/japan-2014-day-6-osaka-kuromon-ichiba.html
20. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/01/japan-2014-day-6-osaka-tempozan-harbor.html
21. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/01/japan-2014-day-7-osaka-shinsaibashi.html

22. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/01/japan-2014-day-8-kobe-kitano-district.html
23. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/01/japan-2014-day-8-kobe-kobe-steak-lunch.html
24. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/01/japan-2014-day-8-kobe-meriken-park.html

25. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/01/japan-2014-day-9-osaka-hanami-picnic-at.html

26. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/02/japan-2014-day-9-osaka-doguyasuji.html

27. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/03/japan-2014-day-9-osaka-osaka-castle.html

28. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/04/japan-2014-day-10-osaka-osaka-museum-of.html
29. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/04/japan-2014-drainspotting-in-japan-art.html
30. http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2015/04/japan-2014-ways-to-save-so-you-can.html


Click here to read ALL my JAPAN posts.

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