there’s really not much to say as it was just a quick side trip to grab lunch before heading back on the road to continue our trip to the twelve apostles but i gotta say, geelong is actually a very nice place!

and these photos are making me sentimental. it’s very rare for my family to all be together in one continent so i really want to preserve the photos here as much as i can.

my dad’s so cheeky. in a lot of the pictures, i notice he’s always teasing raven and it makes me smile to look at him looking at her with such joy. he dotes on her.

almost every day, he calls me on viber to ask if i can jump on skype so he can see raven, and vice versa, so she “wouldn’t forget his face.”

at one point, he asked me about raven’s temperament and what she’s like as soon as she wakes up because he was trying to figure out what kind of baby raven is based on “secrets of the baby whisperer,” this secondhand book he bought for 39 pesos which became his preoccupation for a while. joked about considering venturing into another career path: baby consultant.

he was really serious about imparting the knowledge he learned from the book. took screenshot photos of pages he deemed worthy of a read and sent it to our family group chat on viber. he was even willing to mail me the book itself and spend probably a thousand pesos to do so. not very practical, in my opinion, so i politely declined. and besides, it’s so much more fun when he shares lessons from the book with me. it makes me laugh when he tries to sound like he’s suddenly an expert on babies.

angel baby.

according to him, that’s the kind of baby raven is, based on her general disposition and as outlined in the book. i couldn’t agree more. jeff and i are so blessed to have such an easygoing baby.

but the one thing he said that struck me the most?

TREAT RAVEN WITH RESPECT; AS A FELLOW HUMAN BEING.

i try my best to remember that all the time. sure, she may be “just a baby” but i totally get my dad’s message, for some reason. i guess it helps that power tripping isn’t exactly my style either.

live and let live.

although as a parent, i do believe it has to be balanced with discipline, as well. easier said than done, i suppose. good luck to me.

lunch was at this restaurant in the middle of the pier called wah wah gee. their food was really good but the waiting took ages! i mean, how long does it take to order another serving of rice? unless, of course, they cooked another cup from scratch.

don’t get me wrong. the food was great but we wasted a lot of time there just waiting for our orders to arrive.

good thing the view outside complemented the beautiful weather so we did what any tourist would, given the circumstance: