Our Halloween At The Beach

We don’t usually celebrate Halloween. Even before we were married, Mr. GJG & I were the KJ (kill joy) couple who really don’t dress up for the occasion. Perhaps because we don’t attend the hardcore Halloween parties that would require we go all out on costume else go home na lang. Although we do have our annual cemetery visit, this year was different. We spent Halloween at the beach with some of our good friends.

Coconut trees, sea breeze and the sun. Three days of this, sans manong life guard (okay fine, helpful naman si manong so kasama na din sya) was just the vacation we needed. Months since after lil’ Ms. GJG entered big school, I could say we are well adjusted to the schedule, me to the demand of being a yaya/driver to her in between errands, chores and blogging. So I was really thankful that this vacation pushed through, all thanks to our friends who initiated it. After all, we all deserve a break from the usual hustle and bustle of the metro.

Pit stop first before heading to the beach. Thank you Shell for treating us to a tank full of gas. I have some tips along with the funny story about our Shell Fuel Challenge  on a separate post.

Is it just me or do you also feel secured traveling when your gas tank is full?

The trip going to the beach was a breeze. The kids took their nap while the parents sip on coffee and listen to our playlist.

The lovely Anvaya beach club was slightly converted into a castle of witches. Love that they preferred kyooooot and totally not scary halloween decors.

It was a beautiful day to visit the Witch Kingdom. So we toured around the area even though we were a day early for Trick or Treat.

They just had to know how witches fly.

Surprisingly, we didn’t have much of a hard time taking the photos of our kids. They were in fact, more behaved when they’re together. At least during picture taking. 😉

The view from our room. What a sight to wake up to.

We caught the sun almost setting just as we were about to head out to swim.  The next day, we decided to be adventurous and tried zip lining.

Achievement unlocked: zip line virgin no more! It was a bit scary seeing the vast view of tree tops and the long zip line that hangs above them. But as soon as I eased out into the open, I felt great & happy.

Halfway through and I even tried lying down to see the view upside down. Naks, medyo daredevil lang.

I love it so much I wanna do it again!

Of course Mr. GJG was calm, cool and collected the entire time.

The GJGs with our friends Carlo & Rach, Haze & Peter. This was taken moments before I, yes I was the first to go, took the plunge and zip lined my way back where our welcoming committee (aka kids) were waiting for us.

Our adventurous morning was soon followed by some down time lounging by the pool area. I’ve got Beauty On The Beach (vodka based drink) and Tina Fey with me, while the kids and Mr. GJG go for a dip. Aaaah. This is definitely the life!

Lounging by the pool was much better with some company. Haze & Rach joined me for a round of cocktails for lunch. Happy hour for us mommas!

My view is too kyoooot! After half an hour or so, my kids got bored in the pool because there wasn’t much to do (save for the kiddie pool that has tons of balls). So we changed location and head out to the beach. My kids couldn’t decide whether to play in the sand or swim in the sea.

My kids are such water, sand and sun babies. Love that they love the beach as much as I do.

Lil’ Ms. GJG aka Lil’ Mermaid.

Playing is better together. The boys were too consumed building their sand castle. I find it so adorable that lil’ Mr. GJG loves spending time with his  kuyas. It’s not often that they get to play but when they do, they make the best of it.

I on the other hand was busy trying to get a tan. Poison Ivy beaching. Heehee.

My lil’ wanderer, Look at how curious this lil’ one is with his surroundings. My independent little man enjoying some alone time. He thinks no one was looking at him, so he kept on walking and walking, feeling the sand on his toes.

I would never get tired watching the sun set over the horizon.

Sunset hits with the loves of my life.

Another thing I look forward to when vacationing is the breakfast buffet. Round 1 of 98765432. 😉

More randomness for the kids and kids at heart. It’s refreshing to see my kids all smiles under the clear sky and sea. Even pretending and imaging (as what lil’ Ms. GJG is doing here) feels so much real and better in a beautiful place.

Although we weren’t able to join the parade as the kids had way too much fun swimming, they were still game to walk around the area wearing their respective costumes which by the way, they picked themselves.

Afternoon Trick or Treatin’ around Anvaya with the gang. Meet Spiderman, Lighting Mc Queen, Wonder Woman, Robin, Finn & Jake.

My Wonder Woman and Robin. They fight the bad guys with their cuteness!

Here they are bravely facing the witch.

And here they are enjoying some swing time. Heehee.

While the kids play, I went to the gym to do a quick selfie, este workout. Heehee.

What we realized after our Halloween weekend at the beach is that most things are better done together, especially family vacations. The happiness the quick getaway gave my kids was priceless. The bond they shared with their friends was a moment that’s bound to become a memory- a happy childhood memory, that hopefully they’ll remember until they’re old. Too bad I wasn’t able to capture the moment when all the kids gathered around in a circle, scattering all their treats, shared a few laughs and Oreos together.

Overall, our Halloween vacation was one for the books. We all had fun that we’re planning to do this more often. It was also our own Trip and Treats as we weren’t able to join Oreo’s Trip and Treats event that happened last week at Hotel Kimberly in Tagayatay. Still, this didn’t stop us from bringing our own bagful of Oreo cookies to share to our friends.

Thank you so much Oreo for making this post possible. For more Halloween ideas, check out the blog posts of my fellow SoMoms who put their heart in creating a lovely Halloween-themed dessert buffet, as well as what went down during the fun-filled event. Go ahead and read the posts of Mish, Tina, Michelle, Tin and Rina.

The GJGs can’t get enough Oreos as evidently seen on my previous blog posts about the brand. Thank you again Oreo for the treats! I’ll be posting a separate DIY Halloween costume soon.

Oreo

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