April 3, 2010.  It’s our 10th year of coming to Club Paradise as a family. Also, our first to come during the Easter Triduum. Despite guilt feelings of not being in church, we decided to come here to celebrate our oneness as a family before the girls go off to distant lands.

As usual, family bonding is a time for ribbing and re-living memories. The first year we came, Niccolo was afraid of the water so we built sand castles with plastic shovels and pails while Mike and the older children learned how to dive. Niccolo baked cookies with the chef as a special treat. On the last morning, I finally coaxed him into the water, and he was amazed at the fish swimming close to the shore. Then he cried when we had to get out of the water. He’s loved to swim ever since.

Bea would always bring a book and read by the water. So, would Mike. I would bring my paints and try to capture some of the beauty around me on paper. Cara, our resident camera buff, resorted to photography instead. Bea and Mike are both avid photographers, as well.

We always hike up the mountain trail to get to Eagles’ Point where you have a 360 degree view of the surroundings. Cara got so dizzy one time we hiked after breakfast that she “baptized” the tree house with her morning meal halfway up the mountain.

Yesterday at 3pm, Mike, Bea and I went up the mountain to do the Way of the Cross. Under the smoldering sun, we hiked up and prayed 14 stations until we reached the summit.

Understandably, we were so tired and drenched with perspiration when we reached the top, we could hardly talk to each other.  We had forgotten to bring water, and we were thoroughly parched. After a few minutes, we heard the sound of people coming up and saw some maintenance men huffing and puffing while carrying a big chest full of ice-cold water.  What a treat it was! Truly the Lord is good, we all exclaimed! But then, we discovered that there were no cups to use, so we resorted to using our bare hands.

On the way down, we came upon a huge creature (bayawak? Komodo dragon? Lizard? It was at least 70 lbs.) right smack in the middle of the trail. We were about to shoot some photos, when another party coming up the trail surprised the creature and caused it to charge up towards us. We quickly scrambled to safety for dear life, hoping it would not snap at us with its scary looking teeth and strong jaws.

As we went back to our cottage last night, we came upon a deer feeding. Mike cautioned me not to take a snapshot, but to let it eat in peace. And that’s really what Club Paradise offers: peace.

When we would first come here, there were no cell sites. The older children suffered severe withdrawal pains when their mobile phones went dead and they were incommunicado with the outside world and their friends. It was a good time to bond as a family. Now, with better connections, we can use our laptops and mobile devices to stay in touch.

I learned to snorkel (and to enjoy it) with Mike holding my hand. Yes, I am afraid of the expanse of deep, dark, cold waters, but with Mike I discovered the beauty that lay just beneath. The vivid colors of sea life teeming underneath the waves spurred my imagination. I wish I could find the colors to capture their beauty when I paint.

Once, when Mike and I were snorkeling, we saw two huge fish swim by (they were almost as big as I was). We followed their lazy meandering for about an hour. It was such a sublime experience.

Now that Mike is not allowed to get his eye wet while waiting for the cornea transplant, I had to go swimming with the children without him. He’s off working on his laptop in the club house. It was so funny when Niccolo scolded me and told me to stay with them instead of going off on my own, when he held my hand to make sure I was safe, when the girls all insisted that I put on a life jacket before I went snorkeling (you’re not a strong swimmer, mom, better to be safe). The tables have been turned. I was the one to be looked after now.

Right now, Bea and Cara are sunning themselves, while Niccolo is out snorkeling. And here I am, beside my beloved Mike, as we both work on our computers.