Tarsier watching and monument seeking

Justin and I like to vacation with little planned activity. We love to find a spot (preferably a beach location), plop ourselves down and lounge on the beach all day only stopping to retrieve a new book from our room or eat. We aren't adventure seekers and we don't need to schedule every minute of our vacations. We never have a plan and just kind of go with the flow. That was THEN.

Since Justin and I became a family of four, our vacations no longer consist of beach lounging; it's more like beach playing and splashing in between the regular daily life schedule of a 16 month old and 3 year old. We still don't have much of a plan other than to try to relax and have fun while keeping everyone safe, fed and rested. We usually never get to the relax part (unless you consider both of us sitting on the side of the bed, sighing in relief that the girls are finally asleep for the night, each holding an ice cream cone that we get to enjoy BY OURSELVES, not talking, just smiling at each other for fear of waking the mini-beasts that are in dreamland upstairs.) Taking a quiet shower after the girls are asleep is blissfully relaxing now!

We DO have fun with our little munchkins on vacation. Immense amounts of fun! They never stop moving but they do know how to have a good time! Seeing the excitement and curiosity in their eyes when they see or do something new is always fun as a parent. They are a whirlwind of fun and we are beginning to accept that as they get older we are going to have to adjust our vacationing style. We figure they'll be down with the all-day beach lounging when they are 16 and 18 but right now they need activities and fun to keep them busy. Otherwise, we all go nuts.

This weekend we did lots scheduled activities and had many more planned "adventures" with the girls. It was the start of our fun filled activity packed family vacation era. I'll admit, it WAS fun. After coming to terms with the idea that I shouldn't pack a beach book for our trips, I'm ok with doing stuff now!

After Alona Beach Saturday morning and nap for the youngest girl and lunch for all of us we headed to the Tarsier Sanctuary in Bohol. Here we saw the tiny Tarsier primates up close! They live to be 20 years old, are endangered, nocturnal, and can jump 30 feet! They can fit in your hands they are so tiny and it elicited excited squeals from both our daughters! Apparently, the best time to see lots of these little creatures is early in the morning while it's still cool. We only saw four little Tarsiers on our walk in the sanctuary. We had a guide to point them out to us or else we wouldn't have found any of them. Besides the sweltering heat, fire ants that attacked Addie and Justin, and the very quick walk in the sanctuary; seeing these adorable little primates in person was totally worth the planned adventure.The girls got little toy Tarsiers to take home with them. Next we headed to the Blood Compact monument where a huge statue marks the famous event in Philippine history where in 1565 Legazpi (Spaniard) and Sikatuna (one of the two chiefs of the tribes in Bohol) performed the blood compact (not that different from blood brothers ceremony). This relationship was the start of the Spanish settlement in the Philippines.