When our little family is complete, we make the most of our time together by going to places or doing something together. Now that my husband and I have a son, we do our best to enrich this little boy's experiences even by just going to the market or going on a motorcycle drive nearby.
My husband usually spends time with us for only 3-5 months because he works overseas most of the time. On my own, I'd be okay staying indoors all day, all week. But now that we have a toddler, we wanted, as much as we can, to go outdoors.
This particular day, when my husband was home, we had the idea of going to the nearby flower garden here in Barangay Mantalongon. We noticed that our son was very attentive to the world around him especially when there are trees and flowers. He even loves to look at bugs that crawl on the grass. So, we wanted to take him to nearby places around nature. This was also one way for us to spend more time together.
The flower garden here in Mantalongon is located in Sitio Alang-Alang. It's only a few minutes away from home via motorcycle. That day wasn't very sunny as there were thick clouds in the sky but we still pushed through. I've been here many times in the past. I'm excited to see my son's reaction to the flowers, the weeds, and the insects. I was ready to document every special moment. 💜
We went to the entrance and since we were local residents, we only had to pay PHp30 ($0.53) for each adult instead of PHp40. I understand it was for the maintenance of the garden. I wasn't expecting much this time of the year since it had often rained in our place and some plants may have never grown that well with the wet ground and lesser sunshine. We visited on an afternoon and we also took the time to read the rules and regulations.
Luckily, there were already a lot of sunflowers in the garden and it's my son's first time to actually see and touch one. The best thing was that there were insects-- an exciting thing especially for our little boy.
There were huge sunflowers with their seeds getting mature enough to be planted (or to be eaten?). Some of the sunflowers became overgrown, I guess. They were too big and too heavy for their stems to carry. I noticed several bees and butterflies flying about, as well. A garden with flowers and insects is really a feast for my eyes.😍
My husband and I took turns in taking photos. He also took some videos which he could watch from time to time when he goes back to work. It was fun just being there in the garden with only the three of us walking around. My husband and I talked about many random things as we enjoyed the fresh air and the beautiful view. And one of the most important things was seeing our son experience this. His excitement and amazement were painted on his face. There was even one moment that our son was busy looking and touching at some weeds on the ground and he said, "Hello friends! What? You're staying here forever?". Then he looked at me and said, "Alone ra sila, alone! " (They're just alone. Alone!). He looked and sounded so cute and amusing we couldn't help but just smile. 💜
We walked past the sunflowers and this area greeted us. It felt a bit sad since the withered plants haven't really given much life to this part. But next to the dull and empty beds were various flowers that we enjoyed watching. They look more beautiful up close.
We walked further and I took a photos of my husband and our son. I wanted to make sure they have photos together. Because of my husband's work, he often misses a lot of special moments and special occasions. I try to make it a point that they spend time together, talk to each other and take a lot of pictures. This is one of the challenges of having a husband who works far away most of the time. Despite the advancement of technology, there is always something more special about spending more time together. The (physical) presence is something that I cherish very much especially when it comes to our son. Now that my son is growing up, he is more aware of the fact that he has working parents and that his father is only home for a few months. I didn't want them to have a really big gap in their relationship as they only communicate, mostly, through video calls. Sometimes, I fear that he would not be very close to his father, like most children I know who have parents working abroad. I still hope that our son would be an exception and I try my best to keep them as emotionally close as they can be.
After almost thirty minutes of walking around the garden, we decided drive to a nearby barangay I haven't ever been to. And since there wasn't really much to do there, we decided to go home and had some ice cream.🍨
Our day was as simple and as random as that but I love a moment like this one. I love doing stuff with my little family and I love going outdoors with them. In this moment, when everything seemed really simple, I find some kind of peace. Having my own family isn't always easy but it is always very emotionally rewarding. I love these kinds of experiences as these are irreplaceable. Indeed, family matters most. 💜
Thank you dear Hive friends for reading this blog. I hope you will also have simple yet special moments with your families.😊
Note: All pictures were taken by my husband and I using my phone. I cropped some photos using Paint 3D and made the collage using Canva.