a sun-kissed weekend

MY SUNBURN hurts really bad for the 2-day family outing. Last weekend, we planned on taking my nephew Theo on his first fun-in-the-sun experience. So last Sarturday, I packed my essentials and we drove an hour to a private resort in Bauang, La Union. It felt good to kick off our shoes and step into the white sand. Some caretakers were there to take our stuff and loaded it to a large blue-striped gazebo which was near a boat. Nobody within a mile radius was there, the beach was ours even if we ran naked along the shore line. We had our house help buy fresh tilapia down the market while Yaya Remy started on heating up the grill. The liempo was soaked in reddish brown liquid which might be a mix of ketchup and soy sauce and some secret ingredients Yaya doesn’t want to reveal. My sister made sure the bottled drinks were cold as she reached for the ice chest. I was in-charge of the easiest task that day – to babysit Theo. I love how babies smell! Like baby powder and milk, he keeps tugging my hair endlessly and jumps like a frog in my lap. It was a sweet excuse not to unload anything, or prepare the table for lunch. The wind blew softly and the waves curled and crashed leaving a foamy white surface against the shore. Theo’s eyes marveled in excitement as he jumped and screamed, his eyes drooped constantly because the sound of the waves was an inviting lullaby. We took him to the shore and let him play, but as the minutes pass, the waves were getting a bit violent and the wind blew painfully. It scared him so much he cried on the second attempt as his father dipped him at waist-level. So they packed the blanket at the umbrella and headed to the gazebo while the grown-ups were left to swim while waiting for lunch to be announced. It felt a bit lonely not having a few people around to share the beach with us. I swam with my sister and a few friends til our throats hurt with all the salt taken in from the seawater and our eyes were a painful red from diving ridiculously to the ocean bed. My arms and legs were golden and my cheeks were brick red from all the heat. I forgot to re-apply my sunblock so I looked like a tomato and when a cold towel started to hit my face, I think I heard something sizzle due to the heat of my skin.
When we got to Baguio in the late afternoon, I was so tired I slept as soon as I hit the sack. When I woke up, everybody was packing for the early morning at Asin Hot springs in Riverview. We took a 10 am breakfast at my sister’s house in Camp Allen and headed to a thirty-minute drive to Asin Hot Springs. It was a crowded Sunday so I got bummed out because the all the pools seem congested but they cleared when it rained hard, haha, what a funny way to give me room to swim. The pools were really big and it overlooked mountains of wild forests, it was so amazing to just look at it. I didn’t dare to swim in the hot springs. It was freaking hot and steamy! The Lunch table was filled with liempo, tinola, adobo, inihaw na bangus, and ensalada while Theo was busy sucking on a big ripe mango and picked up a meaty liempo bone with his small hands when we weren’t looking.
After a few laps in the pool, we decided to head home early to hear Mass. We had dinner at Don Henrico’s right after and shared a big fudge brownie ala mode to cap our evenings.
This was starting to turn to a wonderful summer spending it with family. It was definitely my Christmas in April. Hope you had yours in grandiose style, too!