GNZGA Goes to Cebu (Day 1)

This year, Jayson and I decided to take the kids to Cebu for our very first family vacation.

The 6-month long wait felt like forever, but we’re finally here enjoying the pools and water slides, the fancy-schmancy hotel beds and carpeted floors, the wide lawns and playgrounds. The kids are having a blast, and I’m “relaxing” after months of work and stress.

We’re staying at the Jpark Island Resort and Waterpark. Jayson and I visited this hotel seven years ago, so it felt a bit surreal to be back with the kids. I couldn’t remember any of it when we arrived until Jayson pointed out the pool bar where we bought a mango shake while enjoying a swim all those years ago.

The trip to Cebu also reaffirmed popular advice to bring kids on out-of-town trips when they reach a certain age. Holly is 7, Cyrus is 5, and Noah is 3, so managing the kiddos wasn’t as stressful as I expected. In fact, they made the plane ride just as fun and interesting.

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Our hotel wasn’t ready when we arrived, so we let the kids play at the hotel’s playground, took a tour around the hotel on a golf cart, and had complimentary welcome drinks at the lobby lounge.

The hotel itself is beautiful and world-class in appearance and service, except this time it’s very family-friendly. According to the driver who took us around, the hotel underwent a rebrand where they appealed more to families with young children. The huge lake at the center of the propert, for instance, has now turned into the Amazon River pool where mushrooms, frogs, fairies, Nemo, Marlin, and Dory now line the entire river path.

As soon as we had lunch, we took the kids to the pools. They were so excited they just couldn’t stay still.

The weather was extremely hot, so I made sure to cover them in 100 SPF sunblock. Once they were covered, we headed to the Amazon River pool first.

Once we finished the course, we picked up our stuff and transferred to the other section of the pool area—the water slides. The place is full of kids, so we hurriedly saved a seat and jumped in.

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I was tired as F after all the swimming. We rounded everyone up when the sky turned cloudy, and headed back to the room to shower and change. We had dinner around six in the evening at one of the hotel’s restaurants called “Olive,” which served a la carte Filipino food.

Finally, the kids conked out the moment we finished brushing their teeth and putting them to bed.

It feels great to be able to spent this much quality time with the children. Back home, Jayson and I are always busy working that we’d have days when we miss out on being with the kids. I hope this trip creates wonderful memories for them to remember.

It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow, so I’m heading to bed early too.