Because I enjoy torturing myself, this is the second installment of my unofficial “they’re so cute they make me incredibly homesick, and no amount of cake can fix it right now” series.

Meet Mattia, or Mattie for short. She’s Brian’s younger sister, but don’t tell her that. She’s convinced she’s older, wiser, stronger, and tougher. And that she has super powers [...]

This photo was taken during our first night at Palm Beach Resort in Batangas, Philippines. I need to give a shout-out to my cousin Gerard, who dug his feet into the sand, squared up, and let me use his shoulder as a makeshift tripod.
His tripod duties came with some unusual hazards, like, say, inadvertently squeezing a toothpaste sachet a wee [...]

I have problem. A very, very serious problem. See this little guy here?

His name is Brian. He’s six years old. His dad and I are first cousins, and his mom is like a long-lost sister to me.
So here’s my problem: Brian is just too far away from me. More than 8,500 miles, to be exact. There’s just no way to [...]