Family Reunion!!!
The Jackson family hadn't had all been together for 5 years, so we were SOOO thankful for the opportunity to be together in the Philippines the end of January. We had these shirts made for our time together; the numbers on the back correspond with when we joined (or were born into) the Jackson family. Notice that even little #15 (coming in April) had a little shirt.
After meeting up in Manila, we headed to the beach - the same one where we used to vacation when we were just kids. Loading all the kids and gear on to the little boat was an adventure, and the very wavy trip was even more so. (On the trip back, the waves were so big that a few washed up and over the boat. It was at this point that the boatman on the helm dug all the change out of his pocket and threw it into the waves. Not sure exactly what that means, but pretty sure it is not a good sign.)
Once at the beach, we buckled down for some serious relaxing and hanging out.
One afternoon, we headed down the beach towards an awesome Italian restaurant. The water was only about knee-high on the way TO supper. On the way back, after it was dark, the tide had come in, and it was chest-high...for the adults. The kids were swimming it, and little Zoe got soaked in the back-carrier on her dad's back. We decided that we are a pretty crazy family though because not only did we do it, we laughed our way through the whole thing and had a blast with it.
In the evenings, the adults enjoyed hanging out on the beach after the kids went to bed. We brought games to play, but we were too busy talking to even get them out.
One of the mornings, we rented a boat to take us to the local snorkeling spot. We saw these two guys driving their boats along the coast.
The snorkeling was AMAZING!!!
We took turns snorkeling and hanging around on the boat.
Zoe became my little buddy that week. The last time we saw them, she was only a couple months old, so I was prepared for her to keep her distance since she didn't remember me, but we picked right up where we left off. I am sure it had absolutely nothing to do with the treats I kept feeding her.
The six cousins had a BLAST together - just wish we lived closer so we could visit more often! But thankful that we all live in SE Asia anyway - could be a lot worse!
Crazy Cousins
After a couple days, we left the beach and headed to one of our friends' vacation home - a ranch in the mountains. It was beautiful, and we were so thankful for their generosity in letting us stay there!
They even let us ride their horses!
A big one...
...and a not-so-big one.
We also got to go swimming in their pool, fishing and make s'mores over a bonfire.
Precious memories!
Pool-side drinks
And of course LOTS of snuggle time with Papa
Once we got back to Manila, we had several meetings to attend, but we squeezed in some time at the zoo. Here are the kids posing with Jenny the Orangutang
Later in the day, once the big groups had left, we got some more personal time with Jenny. My dad played patty-cake with her, and Mikayla snuggled with her. Jenny kept rocking Mikayla back and forth like a baby.
Ben has been asking for months to get his head shaved "like Papa" so on one of our last days together, we let him go for it. Funny thing, he was surprised by how it looked when it was done and was pretty self-conscious at first (tears involved), but now he seems to like it. I personally am not a huge fan, but we'll wait and see if he wants to keep it this way or not. Choose your battles, right?
So incredibly thankful to our Father above for such a wonderful week together as a family. A blessed gift, and we cherished every moment.
And hopefully it won't be 5 years again before the next time!
Because then Mikayla would be...gulp...17. O my.
