There is nothing like mornings at the beach.  The fisherman are out casting their lines while dolphin pods pass (hopefully not meeting the lines) and there are no other sounds but the crashing of the waves and the periodic pierce of a bird cry.

Once the kids wake up, the beach turns into a place to play rather than reflect and relax.  The surf and undertow was stronger than anything we had around Manila, but once the kids got their bearings and understood how far was far enough, it was all good. 

Jonathon spent most of each time at the beach trying to build a pool.  He must have lugged 100 buckets of water over the days.

My parents rented the house for all of us, and spent just as much time getting wet and sandy as the kids. Every morning until about 11, and then every afternoon after 3, was beach time.  The middle of the day was filled with lunches, movies and naps.  One day we played Cranium.  I highly recommend it.  Kids can play too, as long as they have an adult on their team.

The girls went out further with dad, sometimes swimming through the waves, often jumping to float over them.  With the stronger waves, the boogie boards came in second to a more basic form of body surfing... roll with the wave and try not to get smashed too hard into the beach.

Remember: Two piece suits do not work for that form of exercise.  Sand finds its way into way too many places.  You can bruise from hitting sand.  Oh, and there are lots of no-see-ums in the ocean.  Some of them bite/sting.

I tried to get the camera off black and white but couldn't see the screen in the bright sun.  I took a few photos anyway of the girls.