charge!

Here are two of the newish taxi paint jobs in town.

 But don't let the names fool you;

do plan on paying in cash, 

and maybe even with exact change.

an adventure continued

 Disembarking from the passenger ferry,

Mark bartered with three motorcycle drivers to negotiate a fare 

to hire them for the morning.

Once agreed on a price, we jumped on and zipped off down the road.

After a quick stop for enough gas to last the day ($2.50 per bike)

we headed to the highest point on Samal Island,

Mount Puting Bato (Mount White Rock).

These photos cannot do the 30-minute trip justice.

After all, good photos are only obtainable when you aren't bouncing along rutted dirt roads 

at a 45 degree angle.

After what seemed like hours of fervent prayer and holding on for dear life,

I found myself whole-heartedly agreeing with Mr. Baggins:

“Why O why did I ever leave my hobbit-hole?" 

said poor Mr. Baggins, bumping up and down on Bombur's back.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

 At long last we reached the Tayapok Trail, a 25-minute hike to the top of the mountain.

(Notice our drivers outpaced us by driving up the trail)

A brave heart and a courteous tongue.   

They shall carry thee far through the jungle. 

– Rudyard Kipling

But success was denied us;

the top of the mountain was off-limits that day.

Mark tried to rouse a keeper for the padlocked entrance gate; 

(that's him on the bottom left, peeking into the gatekeeper's lodge)

we would have been more than happy to pay the 15 cent entrance fee!

All to no avail.  

I guess they hadn't got the memo that we were on our way.

So Michael pulled out his R/C plane instead.

 What a great place for a flight!  

Our drivers were fascinated by the mini air show.

In the name of God, stop a moment, 

cease your work, 

look around you. 
 - Leo Tolstoy

- Stay tuned for one more post to complete our birthday adventure!

traffic safety

 4 year-old Michael buckled up

 Back in 2004, this kind of safety standard 

was the norm for our family.

Now we think nothing of seeing scenes like this every day:

 And strict safety precautions are not limited to children in the Philippines...

Yes, they are riding in the back of a pickup on plastic lawn chairs. 

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

-Helen Keller

taking my half in the middle

I never cease to be amazed by taxi drivers who insist on driving

the center line

whether it's between two lanes of cars traveling the same direction

or between those lanes and the oncoming traffic.

I know it's hard to tell from a photo,

but these guys are not just changing lanes.

They've created their own lane!

serious fun

This morning the local Filipino homeschool group

joined us for an aeronautics workshop

taught by Mark

(my intelligent and creative husband)

The kids had a great time experimenting with airflow

and Bernoulli's Principle,

watching movies of airplanes being built in fast motion,

and experiments with aerodynamics.

Then the older students branched off to make a variety 

of paper gliders to fly

(even the parents made a few!)

While the preschool students made their own fun,

learning the names of the parts of an airplane,

making roto-copters,

and watching them spin from way up as high as we could go!

The preschool grand finale was to make edible airplanes,

with a banana fuselage, graham cracker wings, a cookie tail, and

candy windows.

How sweet it is...

Okay, this one didn't quite look like an airplane,

but it was still some serious fun.

Thank you to the Homeschool Network 

and all of the wonderful families who attended today. 

 We were blessed by you!