Clara and Lucia: Adoption anniversary and beach weekend

June 6th was our one year adoption anniversary. Since I actually traveled on that day, we had a celebration the evening before. In the photo below we took our one-year photo in the garden outside our apartment. We then went out for dinner, which was nice since the girls were in good spirits and we had a pretty nice meal.

This is a fairly recent picture of the scene before bedtime. I think this was just after teeth brushing and before milk/story time.

This past week I took a couple of days off and we spent a long weekend in an area called Puerto Galera. Getting there requires a two-hour car ride from Manila to the south and then a 90-minute boat ride from Batangas. On our way we had a private boat that dropped us off right where we were staying. On the way back we took a much cheaper and more difficult ride on a public boat. The worst part was we were delayed about 30 minutes and had to sit in the hot boat with people climbing over us while the girls cried. It may sound glamorous, but it wasn't as fun as it sounds.

The place where we stayed was in a pretty location, but I don't think that we will probably go back. It was outstandingly mediocre and the clientele (not us of course) were an odd lot. It all worked out pretty well, but for a rare escape from Manila we were hoping for something special.

The girls were not very interested in the water, but they loved playing in the sand. The hotel provided baskets of beach toys and they loved them.

There were two hammocks under the palm trees by the water where Stacey and I sat while the girls played in the sandy area between us. They would take breaks from their work to sit with us.

The rainy season has officially started here, so we were really lucky that the weather was good for us. On our first full day the rain started just as the girls went down for their nap and ended just as they were getting up. That was about it.