Rocco's Fab Birthday Weekend, Part 3

After Rocco's Jollibee Party, our troop wasn't ready to call it a night yet. Where else to go for some night time sight seeing overlooking the city but to Mountain View Nature's Park. The place is around 15-20minutes drive from the city, but once you reach the top, it's like being in another magical place that's just so relaxing.

 It was very cold when we arrived. May sumpong na din ang anak ko because he fell asleep during the drive, and was irritable when he woke up. Initially, I didn't bring him outside the car because he didn't have a jacket, but since he refused to go back to sleep, pinasyal ko na din. Sadly, dito ata sya nagka colds. We stayed for about an hour, and decided to call it a night. Mga pagoda na kaming lahat, at literal na bagsak patulog when we arrived home.

The next day, my side of the family were headed back to Tacloban already, except for the Santos fam who extended their vacation for a few more days. We heard mass and had lunch at Cafe Laguna before heading to the airport to drop them off.

 Ganyan kahaba ang table namin sa sobrang dami namin. We enjoyed a really sumptuous lunch! 

 My little boy enjoyed his food as well. 

With our ever supportive parents.

From hereon, we weren't able to take any pictures. Read on to know why...

After dropping my family at the airport, we made an impromptu decision to go to Danasan Eco Adventure Park. I asked our van driver if he knew the place, and how far it was, and he said it was OK to go there and would just take an hour, so we proceeded. Little did we know that the trip there was going to be an adventure itself. 

An hour passed since we left the city, and we weren't at the place yet. It was almost 3PM that time, when we saw the sign in Danao, Cebu that said it's still a 25km ride to Danasan. Ang layo pa pero go pa din kami. Then the road started to get rough because we were driving through a mountain pala. Hind rin namin alam na ganon ka rough ang terrain pero go pa din kami. Then Ed (Ate Dynah's husband who's an expert driver) observed that the gas meter was getting low. Hindi pala nagpa-gas ang driver, and we were in the middle of a mountain already! Buti nalang gas ang kinakarga, and we drove by small sari-sari stores who sold gas by liters. 

At around 4PM, we saw another sign that said 12km pa daw to Danasan. I told Ate Dynah that I was getting  anxious already and I wanted us to stop the trip and head back to the city. I was worried it would get dark and we had 2 kids with us (Zach and Rocco).

Thank God Ate Dynah decided that we return back to the city. It was around 4:30PM that time. A few minutes after we made the U-turn, biglang umusok ang van, and it started to rain hard as well!!! Nasa itaas kami ng bundok! My gosh, naloka ako!! The smoke was starting to fill the van and masusuffocate kami. We immediately transferred to the back of the van and binuksan namin lahat ng windows. Akala ko katapusan na namin lahat. I really mustered all my strength not to cry at baka umiyak din si Rocco. Buti nalang talaga Ed and Sieg were super calm because they knew what was happening. 

Naubusan ng water ang van kaya nagoverheat sya. The driver said nilagyan naman daw nya ng water, pero hindi sya nagdala ng spare. I really think that throughout our ordeal, God was still with us because  if not for the heavy rain, we would not be able to collect water to replenish the van. Salamat sa Diyos din at tumirik kami beside a creek, because there was a gush of flowing water because of the heavy rain.

We were stranded for around an hour, and just in time na nareplenish ang water sa van, ay tumigil na din ang ulan. GOD IS SO GREAT! Hindi nya kami pinabayaan. After nagcool down ang radiator, we proceeded with the drive out of the mountain. Siguro alam din ng kids that something was wrong because surprisingly, there were well behaved the whole time. Si Rocco na super likot, biglang tumahimik, at natulog nalang.

There were a lot of lessons learned after the trip. On the positive side, we were able to go down the mountains safe & sound. Sa sobrang stress namin, napakain kami ng madami sa Zubuchon! :)

The next day, we swore we would just relax. Good thing, my sister and her fam checked in to a Mactan Resort kaya swimming nalang kami.

It was really a fun and memorable birthday weekend for Rocco. Everyone enjoyed and had a great time, and best of all, they were around to witness our little boy turn one year old. Nothing beats that!

Till the next birthday, I'm sure it's gonna be a blast again! :)