Back to Robotics Summer 2015

With the hectic schedule we had all April, I was only able to get Miro into his favourite summer camp for a 5-day package in May. I was worried that this was too short. But, as always, First Robotics did not disappoint. Those 5 days were gold!

Always a stickler for instant gratification, First Robotics gave my boy the fulfilment of building a robot, programming it, and accomplishing a task in less than two hours each day. A new thing thrown into the program was the concept of teamwork. My boy had to work with a partner in designing and programming a robot --which, to be honest, was an entirely unnerving thing for him at first. He likes pouring his personal mojo on his creations. But, he did get the hang of the new work style and managed to pick up a few new friends along the way.

Here are some of his team's summer robots:

Miro with SteamWheel

Bridgewalker

BumperBot

The Grabber

Killer Windmill

And a couple of them in pure, badass action:

Of course, I just had to add First Robotics official summer workbook where my bots down all these science stuff! :P

The good news is that First Robotics isn't just a summer gig. It runs for the whole year. And their summer specials are up 'til August.
So if you want your kids to experience something different and something that's so up there with the times, take them to First Robotics. I'm sure it doesn't surprise you the slightest that we're coming back.
GO, GEEKS!

Empowered by the Powermac Animation Camp

My little ball of pure energy wanted to try something new this summer. Boldly coming out of his ultra physical swim camp and football camp comfort zones, Kenji has asked me to get him into Powermac's Animation Summer Workshop. Did a feel a bit daunted? Of course, I did. Animation would mean he'd be on his seat for 2 hours a day. And Kenji does not do on-his-seat-for-2-hours-a-day too well.

Well, leave it up to Powermac to prove me wrong!

Powermac's 3-day Workshops covered Programming, Digital Design, Music, and even Junior IT Training. Tools the new generation can definitely use and enjoy. The Animation Workshop gave kids complete hands-on creation with 3 of their top animation programs: Toon Boom, Pencil, and Flash. Each session meant your kid comes home with a freshly made animation which he made all by himself. Insta-Fulfilment For-The-Win!

The set-up was pretty serious, office-like, which made me worry at first.

But with their own top-of-the-line laptops…

User-friendly yet fantabulous programs…

And über helpful teachers…

The whole three days were just as fun as they were enriching.

Check out a couple of first-time animator's stuff from my boy. :)

Graduation Day came with a snazzy certificate.

And this even snazzier wooden flash drive filled with the collection of your kids' works.

Make sure to keep up to speed with Powermac's remaining summer workshops and other future kiddie activities. I mean, we will.

A Brand New Summer at the Village

For this crew, summer isn't summer without a visit to the Village Sports Club.
With 4 huge pools for a variety of ages and swimming levels, we can't possibly run out of things to do here, right?

But you know what, that isn't enough for the Village Sports Club.  This place just keeps on evolving.  Just yesterday, we were exposed to 2 new treats that the place now offers its members.

The freshly-renovated outdoor expanse had us zooming 'round a race track for some go-go Go Karting.

The push-pedal go karts can be adjusted for all sizes.

The start of the track is beautifully tree-lined...

...then turns into a post-apocalyptic ambiance towards the finish.  Nice touch!

The newly-constructed VSC Phase 2 had us bowling like experts.  Ok, we assumed we played like experts.  Haha!

Coziest bowling lounge ever!

The lanes' side rails come up for kiddie noobs...

...then brought down for experts.  My husband was the only real bowler in our gang. :P

There are more new things to experience at VSC Phase 2.  Like the swanky videoke lounges, resident restos, the arcade, business rooms and party areas --right on top of VSC Phase 1's good ol' basketball court, tennis court, futsal field, and spa staples.

We capped the day back at the pools... soaking up the sun with some glorious food.

The play pool.

The wading pool.

The pool resto and view deck.

As it is, the Village Sports Club is a complete summer package!  But I can bet you it will still come up with more awesomeness pretty soon.
I CALL PAINTBALL SHOOTING ARENA! :P

Be a member today!

Secretly yours, Cala Perdida

OMIGOSH!  I am so ridiculously awesome at planning family outings, I can just hug myself.  Lol!

Introducing a new player sitting comfortably at the top of my Family Adventures file folder --the ultra-amazing Cala Perdida in Calatagan, Batangas!  *fanfare*

Our front yard

Our backyard

Uh, never heard of it?  Of course, you haven't!  THAT is where my brilliant family outing planning prowess comes into play.  I had wanted a no-technology, nature trip for the tail end of summer and so I googled 'Swanky secluded private beach house in Calatagan'.  And voila!  Cala Perdida appeared.

Our house

Ok, ok, Googling isn't really impressive.  But Cala Perdida is.  It's a finely-chiseled diamond nestled in the bosom of the pristine beach and the wild forest, with the nearest neighbor located far, far away.  It's your own nature enclave.  The authentic 'your home away from home, get away from it all' reality.

Our very own private beach

Our garden

We spent the weekend here and the experience was just beyond beautiful.  It's teeming with multi-colored birds diving into the pool every few minutes.  Interesting-looking bugs fluttering about in the foliage.  Fish flying alongside of us in the ocean.  And don't get me started on the surrealistic beauty of the rest of the marine life.  The colors in this place are just severely amped, you wouldn't believe it.

Our very own mountain

Cala at night is equally mesmerizing with the sounds of nature --whistling winds, soothing waves, interspersed with wild calls from the woods.  Having no TV and no internet gave our weekend a completely adventurous spin.  And discovery!  Like when we found 2 to 3-foot long salamanders living down the beach, and a bird's nest right in our porch.  My boys have learned so much about animals, rock formations, and the ecosystem in just a span of 2 days!

To be honest, I had wanted to be selfish and make Cala Perdida our little secret.  But, to my dismay, a secret this astounding just can't be contained.
Spend your next summer here.  It's all yours.  Just as someday, it will be all ours again.

Banak House. Almost.

There's a lot of reasons why I had chosen Banak House to be our summer's last hoorah.

It's a secluded structure in the sandy/rocky stretch of Calatagan.

When you book here, you have the place, garden, and beach all to yourself.

It is fabulously architectured and interior designed.  It was built by artists from old galleon wood.

It is quaint, cozy.

It has absolutely nil technology.

I think it's the last part that totally got me sold.  Lord knows we need a break from the wii, the wi-fi, the mac, the Telpad, the PSPs, the cellphones.  Even for just a little bit, we need to sever ties with technology, embrace nature, and bond.  Like, seriously bond.

When I pitched this idea to the family, you can actually smell the fear that thickly filled the air.  I can understand that.  I mean, a day without Facebook might just cause major chest pains, but this was something I was pretty sure we had to do.

My boys, although reluctant, finally agreed to a No-Technology Weekend.  After all, Banak House looks like a place that would never bore us.  It doesn't have the usual jetski amenities and such, but it had ambiance, relaxation, discovery.  The time-stood-still factor it offered was just invigorating.

So I called up Banak House, got a warm reception, set a date, and got confirmation.  We were giddy with utter glee!
But as you would have it, when I called up the next day for the property's bank details, I was suddenly told that someone else was going to use Banak House on the exact date I had the place reserved for us.  Sure, we haven't paid yet, but we had email confirmation just the day before.  You can imagine how that got me riled up.  There were no apologies either.  Just a crisp, "Someone else is going to use it this weekend.  It's next availability is the weekend after that."  It was quite a turn off.

Lots of reasons to stay, but I needed only one to look the other way.
Not that I'm totally deleting Banak House from my list of Awesome Places To Go To Before I Kick The Bucket.  We will definitely come here one day.  When I've cooled down --which shouldn't take too long.  I'm all for second chances.

In the meantime, I'll resume the hunt for a beach before school starts.
Oh, and welcome back, technology!

The Family TracFone

This post is brought to you by TracFone. All opinions are 100% mine.


As a mother, I feel I have a good grasp on the family situation.  It’s not about being a control freak.  But being assured of each family member’s safety.  I’m good at that.  In fact, it’s only once I year when I feel kinda helpless:  SUMMER.
Summer is when my boys go on summer camps, when they go off to visit friends and far away relatives.  It’s when my husband gets photography job offers outside of the city.  It’s when I usually come home to an empty house and go slightly insane.

Thank goodness there’s such a thing as TracFone.
In America, TracFone is the least expensive way to get everyone a phone so the whole family can stay in touch, specially during the summer.  Imagine, no contracts, no credit checks, no activation charges or cancellation fees. No surprises!

That’s because TracFone’s monthly plans are pretty clear-cut.  You pay only as you go online or with cards available at thousands of retail stores across the country.  You can get 1-year service cards that give you so much more. You can receive double minutes for the life of your TracFone, and 800 minutes, for only $119.00.  Another option is “Double minutes for the life of your phone”.  It’s a feature that can be purchased separately for only $19.99.  Some TracFone phones even have this feature built in.  You can also choose monthly plans with 200 minutes for under $30.00, and as low as $9.99 for 50 minutes.  All these while enjoying nationwide coverage!
Now that’s having complete control of your phone bill and everyone’s safety anywhere, everywhere.


Tracfone makes it easy... by LittleBard95

Oh and did I mention this works perfectly well even for International Long Distance calls?  TracFone is the only wireless service where you can call internationally for the same price as any other call.  You can call over 60 international destinations directly from your TracFone at no extra cost!

Whats more, with the International Neighbors program, you can provide family and friends in Mexico or Canada a local phone number to reach your TracFone in the U.S. with exceptional reception.

Now if all THAT got you excited, THIS is what will turn your family giddy –TracFone’s impressive phone choices!  Expect only big-named phones like Motorola, Kyocera, LG, Nokia and Samsung.  Your kids can choose from simple "Candy Bar" phones for simple calling and texting capabilities for under $10.00.  Your husband can go for the Bluetooth®-enabled "Smart" phones.packed with features like camera/video recorder, web access, apps, mp3 player, and full QWERTY keyboard, for $29.99.  And grandma and grandpa will definitely swoon for TracFone’s SVC (Senior Value Cellphones).

As a mother, I think this will make me feel more at ease, even when my whole brood is all over the place.  All I have to do is Get into Everywhereness.

Hear that, summer?  Bring it on.

Sporty Summer-Ender

Summer isn't over until I say it's over!

And just like that --after days of relentless rain-- the sun suddenly shone.  Just for us and for our last summer stint at the Village Sports Club.

Right smack in the heart of Paranaque City, this fancy membership getaway is by far the richest and fittest place to be when you don't feel like a vacay out of town.  Loads of physical things to do here.  And quite unlike other sports club, it really DOES cater to the whole family.

Let's see...
Out of 4 pools, there's the wading pool and the fun pool for the kids.

And then there's the much more challenging 6-foot deep pool and lap pool for the adults.

There's the mini football field for the kids, complete with seasoned instructors.

And the tennis court with real Wimbledon-quality clay floors for the adults.

There's the huge (and I mean HUGE!) basketball court with the FIBA-approved maple hardwood flooring perfectly designed for actual championship training and summer camps alike.

Oooh... but I see your thirst for the physical remains to be insatiable, eh?   For that, there's the gym --rich in the latest technologies of fitness.

While your kids hit the spacecraft hangar-like restaurant.

Rich in these devilish delights.

And home to the famous Village 4 Seasons iced tea.  Which tastes heavenly, by the way.

When your inner Energized Bunny has finally had enough, thank goodness for the ultra-relaxing spa.

And the fun-filled playroom.

That subs as a little educational corner, too.

So did we have fun?  Pretty much!  Well, not until another dip at the fun pool, that is --where both kid and adult had their fill, together.

Now THIS is how you end summer.  Village Sports Club, (said in a very dated Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) we'll be baaack!