The long cold winters of Seoul (in conjunction with the recent antics of our whacky neighbor) often require drastic measures to relieve the tedium of the dreariness.  For some folks it could lead to extreme grumpiness or sitting in front of one of those fancy light bulbs.   For others, it involves heading to the Philippines with a gaggle of other families who long for the warm sunshine and cool island breezes just as much as you.

When one travels with five+ other families, it is best to be flexible, casual, and expect chaos.  If you anticipate the worst, whatever happens will be an improvement.  However, if you luck out like we did, the combination of the right group of adults (and beer) and kids that are mostly not insane, can provide the BEST Stockdale vacation in the history of Stockdaledom!

When coordinating this many people, personalities, and opinions it can often be difficult to decide which activities should to pursue.   You can either endlessly debate what path each day will take or you can just decide to do pretty much everything anyone mentions.

For example,  you could simply start with enjoying the view from your room.

Or, playing with the towel elephant.

And then move to digging a hole on the beach.

And letting the middle little Stockdale hold a starfish.

And then QUICKLY move on to having a beverage.

Then some time playing in the pool.

Then some quality time watching these guys.

Then you could take in a show at dinner.

Wake up and play some miniature golf.

And then QUICKLY move to relaxing.

Then more beach time.

Followed by learning how to fall off a stand-up paddleboard.

And snorkeling with some fish.

Then a competitive game of big chess.

More quality beach time.

Then QUICKLY returning to enjoying a beverage.

Who wouldn’t want to follow that up with jet skis!

The next logical choice is having a pig roast on the beach with fireworks.

 

Then wake up and take a two-hour ferry packed with chickens and happy Filipinos on a day trip to a different island.  ( Please note the lack of Mrs. Stockdale in any of these pictures. )

Where you can eat on a floating restaurant shaped like a turtle.

And see exploited children who should be in school, not asking tourists to have their pictures taken with them while dressed as ‘natives’ and holding lizards.

And allowing your little Stockdales and their friends to zip-line three hundred feet over a river in a country that may or may not have these kinds of things inspected.

Then visit the chocolate hills ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_Hills ) and properly deposit your firearms.

Then arrange for the little Stockdales and their friends take scuba lessons.

Then just enjoy some quality entertainment that basically sums up the entire trip.