La Famille

That's French for "my family." My Ate and her family flew in from CA last Saturday. It was so great of them to come. I got to play tourist and see the many parts of MN that hubby and I have yet to discover. As fun as it was to pasyal-pasyal, it was even better to chill and catch up with them. I haven't seen them since my last trip back to da city in March and it always amazes me how fast the kids are growing!

My niece and nephew are THE cutest kids, but being Ninang to both, I am a tad biased. The image that will forever be etched in my memory is when I picked them up from the airport. Turns out that I was waiting at the wrong end of the terminal. It wasn't until Ate called my cell that I figured that out. Sometimes my sis and I have the wackiest conversations, but through it all, we completely understand each other...most of the time anyways. Our conversation is as follows:

MnM: "Are you here?"
Ate: "We're here. Are YOU here?"
MnM: "I've been here. Where ARE you?
Ate: "We just got out."
MnM: "Where ARE you?"
Ate: "Where we came out, Gate 7- we're in baggage claim."
MnM: "I'm in baggage claim."
Ate: "We've been here for about 15 minutes."
MnM: "Hold up. Is that you down there?"
Ate: "Where ARE you? Down where?"
MnM" "Okay, I see you guys. I'ma coming."
Ate: "Um, okay. I still don't see you though."

I'm hurrying through the crowds of people to get to them. They're easy to spot. I'm waving like crazy and they finally see me. Bina and Nico have these huge smiles on their face and they break into a run. It's like a scene in a movie. They both yell, "Ninang!" I stop and brace myself for the two little bodies to tackle me into a bear hug. I watch them in slow motion as brother and sister race each other to me. People turn their heads to check out the commotion and before they continue on their way, they smile as they see the scene before them. I notice how tall the kids have gotten, the new haircut, the new backpacks they bought especialy for this trip, and in the background, I see my sis and her hubby. In that few seconds, I took them all in and I felt a happiness in my heart. They came. One grabs my waist while the other hugs my leg. They're here. My family.