The Philippines Days 4 and 5

Today we got up and finished packing and then went to church. We were one of the first people there and definitely the only Americans or even ex-pats. We were amazed at how friendly everyone was. So many people came up and introduced themselves to us and shook all of our hands. Meagan felt like a celebrity. All the YW wanted her e-mail and take their picture with her. Lots of moms had their little kids shake Eric's hand or give him a hug. They kept asking if we were going to be there for the temple trip later that week and for the other activities. We really felt their love for us. It is always amazing to me that we can go anywhere in the world to church and it is the same. I love that!!! After church we quickly changed our clothes and got into the van that David had hired to take us to Subic Bay. It was a 2 1/2 hour car trip but we played gameboy, watched movies and read. Our kids are so used to going places that they don't even care anymore that it takes a few hours. We spent some quiet relaxed time in the hotel watching Disney Channel some more before going to bed for our next adventure, the next day.

Monday morning, we woke up and wanted to go to Ocean Aquarium but before we got there we stopped at Dunkin Donuts. The kids loved being able to get donuts all the time in the Philipines. We all found our favorite kind and place. Hands down our favorite was still Krispy Kreme even though Dunkin Donuts came in a close second but Mister Donut was our least favorite by far. When we got to Ocean Aquarium we were practically the only people there. We walked around and explored and waited for the sea lion show to start. The kids liked watching the sea lions and their cool tricks. After the show you could get your picture taken with the sea lion and only for about $5. What a great deal. Eric was a little scared and didn't want the sea lion to kiss him so he opted to just shake his flipper. We walked around and saw monkeys that have gotten hurt that they have helped to save, we saw how to start a fire when we are lost in the jungle (I really hope I never am lost in the jungle but at least I know how to start a fire now!) and Meagan's favorite "The Dolphin Show". They had where you could swim with the dolphins but that was still a little too pricey for our family so we just let the kids feed them and touch them again for only a few dollars. There was also a bird that they brought out that the kids got to hold. They thought that was cool. We all had a great day and were tired and ready to go and watch "The Disney Channel" some more. Today was also David's birthday so he got to pick the restaurant we went to. We found a Mexican restaurant that was right on the beach. The kids ran to the beach and wanted to play in it until dinner arrived but unfortunately the mosquitoes came out in full force and we had forgotten to spray ourselves with "off" before we left. We had to go inside so we weren't miserable the rest of the trip. We were pleasantly surprised with how good the Mexican food was and many times later on our trip we wanted to go back and eat there again.