Enzo's 7th Birthday

Enzo celebrates his 7th birthday in Minnesota. We just had barbecue and spaghetti for his handa. The guests:

• Lola Ipoy and Lola Dolly
• Lola Neris and Lolo Jim
• Tito Toti, Tito Tony and Auntie Yasmin
• Tito Edmund, Auntie Sharon and Ruby
• Papa, Mama and Kuya Pau

Blowing the candles on his cake.

Of course he got lots of gift and really loved the hotwheels he got from his Titos' and Lolas'.

Wow! Another hotwheels

Thank you for coming to my party......Enzo.

Mall Of America

What a mall! Unfortunately we only stayed there for an hour. We planned to go back there just before we fly back. The only place in the mall that we're able to visit was the theme park area and the lego play area. here ae some of the few pictures we have taken.

Minnesota and South Dakota Trips

It has been a great holiday for our family in Minnesota. We’ve been very busy I haven’t got time to jot down anything in this blog. After the wedding of my cousin we have been travelling a lot, staying home for only a couple of days in our two weeks vacation. Here’s what we have done while in the USA:

First we went to the headwater of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca, it’s were the river starts from it’s thousand of miles to the Gulf of Mexico. You would not believe that the mighty river starts with such a small stream from the lake. We’ll now be able to say that we crossed the Mississippi river and we have photos to show it. It took us more than four hour drive to get there from my Aunt’s house in Brooklyn Centre.

On our way home we took another route via Garrison, Minnesota to see Mille Lacs. We would have stayed long except there are just too many giant insects by the shore.

Dinner time and Grand Casino Mille Lacs is just around the corner. My Aunt says that during winter the whole lake would freeze and people drove over it. We have our dinner at the casino buffet restaurant for free thanks to my Aunt’s coupon from going to the casino to have some fun and relax. Before going home we have just enough time to play in the slot machines in the casino floor.

The following day our itinerary was Duluth, Minnesota. Duluth was absolutely beautiful. It’s a harbour town thanks to Lake Superior. The lake was so big it almost looked like a sea. Before we toured the town we stopped in the tourist information centre. It has a great view of the city and the lake. On the other side of the lake just crossing the bridge is already Wisconsin.

Sixteen miles to the north of Duluth is the City of Two Harbour. The road was by the coast of Lake Superior and the scenery was fantastic. Enzo even have a picture taken beside what looked like Foghorn Leghorn.

Come dinner time again and Grand Casino Hinckley is on our way. Taking advantage of our free dinner coupon, we dined in the grill restaurant this time as the buffet restaurant was already closed.

We tucked in early as our next trip would be a lot longer than our previous ones. Kuya Mun, back from their honeymoon, called and said they’ll be coming with us to South Dakota. We left around 11 in the morning and by the time we reached Rapid City it’s already dark. Driving along the highway was boring especially on the side of South Dakota. It’s a straight up and down highway with nothing to see but farmland on your left and right. Resting every couple of hours is advised while driving and the rest areas in S.D. are beautiful. They all have this structure that looked like a teepee. I was driving Yasmin’s car and wanted to change with her driving as I’m getting sleepy but we missed the stop so we continue driving up to the next rest stop.

Fortunately the next stop was in Chamberlain, S.D.. It was very windy but has a great view of the Missouri River.

Our next stop was in Wall to have our dinner. After dining we went on our way again. We didn’t stay for long as we’ll be passing by here again to go to Badlands. Reaching Rapid City we all went to bed early for the following days driving.

The first place we visit was Mount Rushmore Memorial. Roads going to the site were very scenic. They really preserve the area well. A footpath was constructed on the side of the mountain so you can have a glimpse of the heads up close. Enzo was thinking how to put something under the nose of the presidents.

Next stop Crazy Horse Memorial. This was going to be a huge carving off the mountain. From Kuya Tony’s visit in 1999 the head of Crazy Horse was finish now they are working on the arms. It would probably take more than a century to finish this memorial as it’s not funded by the federal government.

Going up north we arrive at Deadwood City. This place was made famous by Wild Bill Hickok. The main road of was full of casinos. Saloon No.10’s original location was preserved, the place where Wild Bill was shot.

After Deadwood it’s back to the hotel for the rest of the day. The following morning will be our trip back. On our way home we visited Wall, S.D. again and then to Badlands and Mitchell where the Corn Palace is. The drive home was so long that we decided to stay for the night in Luverne, Minnesota. Having the whole day left we set off to Austin, Minnesota but Kuya Mun and Sharon went ahead as they have to wait home for someone to fix their television. Our only itinerary in Austin was the Spam Museum.

I’m not writing anymore as I’m running out of words. Just click on the highlighted words for the photos or just go to fotopic page.

Off to Minnesota

It's the 17th of May and we're off to Minnesota for a wedding and a holiday. The flight took about 9 hours. We first landed in Detroit and then we took another flight to Minnesota. Pau and Enzo didn't have any trouble during the flight. The following day I went to the rehearsal for the wedding of my cousin. Everything went well. It's was a beautiful garden wedding. It was very simple yet it was perfect for such an occasion. My cousin Edmund married Sharon. Here they are.... ...they looked very happy indeed. The next day we had lunch in their new home. It was a beautiful house. We were there for the opening of the gifts. Enzo made a comment when they opened a card with money inside, he said how come there's only $20. Sunday we attended mass and took the rest of the day catching up with our sleep. We have planned to go to Lake Itasca Monday

Portsmouth and Guests

We recently have house guests last week, Our relative Romeo and Alice Orio came here on their way to a European vacation. They stayed here for a 3 days and another 3 days in Portsmouth with Ate Alice's friends. As usual I took them to Central London for a tour in the city. We weren't able to go to lots of places because of the London Marathon and they get tired quickly. They left for Madrid Sunday morning.

Romeo and Alice Orio in front of Buckingham Palace

Last Saturday we also went to Portsmouth. We visited our school friend from Baler, Ymay Calugtong, who's going home this Tuesday. It's about 70 miles from where we are and an hour and a half drive. It's a great place and they have better shops than here cause they were factory outlets so it's like sale everyday. Shopping was more of our plan so other place of interest will be for the next visit. However Enzo wanted to go to Horatio Nelson's ship, HMS Victory, because Girlie told him the night before that we are going to see it but it was closed so we just took a picture on the dock. We have to go there or else he won't stop moaning about that.

HMS Victory behind us. View of HMS Victory form Spinnaker Tower

The day was spent going around the shops and not visiting other interesting places like The Charles Dickens Museum. But just before we went home the long queue on the famous Portsmouth landmark the "Spinnaker Tower" was gone so we were able to go up the tower. It has a great view of the harbour and the city. Here are some of the photos I have taken.

The rest of the pics are in fotopic. Next we're off to Minnesota for a wedding.