Fun Times

February absolutely flew by but it was a great month.  Both kids are still practicing their respective instruments and I think some days Alex has more fun on the keyboard than he ever did on the piano.  Especially when he's pretending he's playing the expert demo song!

We've had some beautiful days and, from what everyone around here says, the worst of the rain has passed.

Honestly, I thought the rainy season has been pretty great!  The temperatures are nice, it almost never rains the entire day, and when the sun is out it's gorgeous.  I love any place where we can swim in February.

It's even better when the afternoon clouds roll in for the baseball game to give everyone some shade.  On this particular day, Alex's team was short-handed and Ben was called out of the stands to fill in so the team didn't have to forfeit.  Nevermind that he was wearing flip flops and took them off so he could run faster.

It was really fun watching both boys on the field.  Ben was at first base while Alex was batting and they were talking to one another and holding up the game!  They were so short-handed that by the time Ben made it back home, he was already up to bat so he just picked up the bat and took his turn.

I thought it was highly appropriate that Ben happened to wear a 12th man jersey that day.  He certainly was the spirit of the 12th man by taking the call in the stands to step out onto the field and play!

The other interesting part of the game was Alex's pitching debut.  He wanted to give it a try and has been practicing.  His first outing was full of walks and a few strikes, but the very last play he caught a fly ball and made the throw for a double play at third, so he finished well!

The clouds have made for some beautiful sunsets recently.  Alex and I went up on the roof to enjoy a particularly lovely one.

Yogyakarta Weekend Part 2

After our sunrise Borobudur experience, we checked out of the first hotel and headed toward the second hotel in Yogyakarta city, but we made a detour to the Elo River for some river rafting.  Had to get another picture with a total stranger first.  His son was too scared of us to get in the picture!

This was the boys' first time rafting and they absolutely loved it.  It was a great mix of rapids (not too big) and gentle current, so it was completely enjoyable.  We even spotted a lot of monitor lizards along the way.

Because of all the rainfall the day before, we saw waterfalls all over the place.

We took a quick break to get fresh coconuts, then finished up our fun ride.  We had two guides as well so we didn't even have to paddle much.

On the way to the next hotel - "I'm not tired!"

We were pretty beat from our busy day, so we relaxed at the pool and enjoyed the dinner buffet at the Hyatt.  Everything was so pretty decorated for Chinese New Year.

Saturday morning was stunning.  Clear blue skies and a view of Mt. Merapi from the hotel hallway!

 We drove up to the base of Merapi and ventured out on a jeep tour.

Ben was a bit put off that we were in a Toyota, not a Jeep, but since it was old, beat up, and a stick shift, he was plenty enthralled.  Not to mention that we didn't have a roof.

Incredible views!

Our first stop was a small museum from the 2010 eruption, which lasted for a few months and did a lot of damage.  We couldn't read much of the signs, but from what I gathered, this house survived with major lava and ash damage.

 

 

Their TV did not fare well!

 

The gamelan survived, though.

 

 We visited some beautiful sights and were so fortunate to have amazing views.

The highlight for the kids - offroading through a stream and getting wet.  I think they would have done this part all day!

After our Jeep tour, we visited Yogyakarta for a little shopping.  I loved these bike rickshaws (becak) that were all over town.

I was excited to visit a Wayung puppet shop where they make traditional Javanese shadow puppets.

They are all hand crafted from water buffalo hide and horn.

Each one is hand painted with specific meaning and elements of design.

The finished products were beautiful and I was happy to take two home!

After all of our adventures, it was time to relax by the pool for the afternoon.  The waterslide was made to look like a temple. Alex is waving from the top.

 

The kids played on it for hours!

 

 I finally dragged them out when the sun started to set.  What a great way to spend the afternoon.

The next morning, one of the sweet servers remembered Ben at the breakfast buffet and knew he was the kid that wanted pork bacon.  Many hotels here only serve beef bacon because the kitchens are halal and pork has to be cooked elsewhere.  Ben has learned the system and knows to ask now because many places will do it on request.  That's a happy boy!

After a little more swimming, some golf for Matt, and a few more hours to relax, we made the quick trip home and finish out a great weekend.

Yogyakarta Weekend Part 1

The kids had a 4-day weekend because of Chinese New Year, so we took the opportunity to get out of town for a few days.  We booked a 1-hour flight down Java to Yogyakarta (also spelled Jogyakarta sometimes, and either way is pronounced Jo-Jakarta) but unfortunately the weather Thursday morning was terrible.  Traffic to the airport was okay but heavy rain caused hours of delays for the flights.  Lucky for us, we knew three other families from school at our gate so we had company while we waited.  One family was even staying at the same hotel so the kids played together at the pool.  When we landed in Yogya, turns out they had same nasty weather, so we didn't miss anything fun.  We went straight to our hotel and enjoyed some welcome drinks.

 

Pretty place, yucky day!

The entire reason we chose to spend our first night at Manohara was its proximity to the Borobudur temple, a gorgeous 8th century Buddhist temple that is a UNESCO world heritage sight.

Our view at afternoon tea was tantalizing, but as the temple closed in 30 minutes and the rain wasn't stopping, we decided to hold off on visiting until the following morning.

Guests at the Manohara get access to the temple at 4:30am.  I don't think everyone shared my excitement, especially because it was still raining, but the earliest sunrise peeking through cracks in the clouds was pretty encouraging.  I was really hoping I didn't drag this crew out of bed for nothing!

 
We began to get our first glimpses of the volcanoes around the temple - this is Mt. Sumbing, the tallest of the three was could see.

The rain slowly let up and the clouds made for a gorgeous sunrise.

 

We got amazing views of Mt. Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano.  It's been erupting regularly since the 1500's!  The last major eruption was in 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of the other early birds were also rewarded with fantastic views.

 

 
The temple has 8 levels - 5 square ones full of amazing carvings and stone reliefs and 3 circular ones at the top with 72 of these stupas, each one containing a statue of Buddha.  Once we'd enjoyed the sunrise, we began to explore.

The back of the temple seems to look out into nothing but forest.

The stones became so beautiful in the early morning light.

Mt. Sumbing came into better view as the clouds moved out.

 

This uncovered Buddha gets a nice view of Mt. Merbabu and Mt. Merapi every day.

 

 It's apparently good luck if you can touch a Buddha inside the stupa.  I don't really buy into that but why not give it a try?  Ben had to investigate first with his flashlight.

The clouds were amazing as they moved through!

My very favorite part of the whole morning - an rainbow on the back side of the temple!  It was perfect.

 Once we could finally tear ourselves away from the views, we explored the other levels.

The carvings were so interesting and each panel was different.

Toward the end of our visit, I pulled out the selfie stick because, hey, we're in Asia!  We now have a dozen photos like this :)

Ben just used it to get closeups of buddha booties.

Family shot!

What an incredible place!

 

On our way back down the stairs, it was easy to imagine what it would have looked like in the jungle a millennia ago.

 

We had some breakfast and naps, then the kids and I went back to the temple so Ben could get some pictures on his camera.  It was quite a different place at 9am.  Crowds, tours, and cute little schoolgirls practicing their English for homework.

It was impossible to get a picture without people in it.

Right after I got one picture of the kids, we spent the rest of the time posing with other people so they could get pictures with foreigners.  Apparently we make awesome instagram photos!  The kids got a little overwhelmed with strangers crowding them and wanting their pictures, so we called it a day.

Even though we still had lots of fun activities planned for the rest of the weekend, I felt like my trip was complete after such a memorable morning.  What an awesome experience!