Island In The Sun

So, my whole family, minus me and Missy, recently came back from a two-week-long vacation in the PHILIPPINES. They asked me what kind of souvenir I wanted and I told them, "Just bring me back a BARREL MAN"...they got me a UKULELE instead!

I didn't just want to blog about my awesome new uke - I also wanted to share some images from their tropical vacation, because it looks like we missed out on a doozy of a trip. Dang! So, I stole some photos off my sisters' FACEBOOK PAGES. One thing I can definitely say about the DE LA CRUZ clan is that we like to travel...



The family took a small prop plane from the main island to the resort island of BORACAY...they look kinda BALLIN' coming off the plane on the tarmac! (cue appropriate hip hop track) From left to right: my youngest neice, LILLIAN, a.k.a. LILY; my brother-in-law, SHAWN, a.k.a. BIG DADDY; family friend, ARIANNA, a.k.a. FRIENDY; my oldest neice, JULIA, a.k.a. J-LA; my youngest sister, CYNTHIA, a.k.a. CYN-TAX (because she does taxes for a living, see?); my mother, MOM, a.k.a. MOMZ; my nephew, EVAN, a.k.a. JUICE MONSTER; and my father, DAD, a.k.a. DJ SHOP-AT-HOME (my older sister, BELINDA, a.k.a. BOOM BOOM, took the photo)...





Lillian tries to adjust to the tropical humidity while her brother, Evan, looks on. She said, "Yeah, it gets hot in California, BUT IT'S A DRY HEAT"...



My neice Julia brought home a PONY from the Philipines! (she wishes)...



Another hot car ride with Belinda (there she is), Julia, and Lily...



OBAMA gets love all around the world, even in Boracay...their tag line should've read "STEAK YOU CAN BELIEVE IN"



Holy crap...they went to a bar called THE HOBBIT HOUSE...that was run entirely by MIDGETS! (I was going to say "little people", but when you've got a bunch of them working at a bar called The Hobbit House, we've already gone way past the point of being PC)...



A beautiful SHRINE atop some rocks, accessible only during low tide...





Everyday they were in Boracay, they enjoyed POSTCARD-PERFECT SUNSETS...yes, I'm totally jealous that we missed out on this trip. But it certainly does whet our appetite for the next time they plan a vacation there...