Big smiles, even though they weren't too happy to pack suitcases again and get on a plane. (although one carry on and a 2-hour flight are nothing to complain about!)
Matt talked me into the 5:45am flight and I'm so glad we chose it. The jet lag made it easy to wake up at 4am, traffic was a breeze, and we were already airborne when the sun came up.
Even jumping ahead an hour, we were already checked into our hotel room at 10:30am with a full day of fun ahead! We couldn't wait to go explore.
The grounds at the Novotel were unique and lovely.
The first thing we did was leave the resort to climb some of these amazing hills. Lombok is much less populated than Bali and it was so much fun to have empty space to roam and explore.
Alex's favorite t-pose
Beautiful views over empty beaches!
But the views from our hotel cabanas were the best. Many hours were spent here reading, napping, and relaxing.
Cheers!
While Matt went surfing, the kids and I checked out Tanjung Aan beach with its beautiful white sand.
The best ice cream man ever - he would ride his motorbike right up to you while playing his (english) ice cream song.
The puppies at Tanjung Aan were particularly friendly, especially if you happened to have french fries.
Back at our resort, we took full advantage of all the pools.
The tidal change at Kuta beach was enormous! The bay would completely empty and only tide pools remained.
What a way to wrap up our first day!
The sand is mowed in a very traditional way every morning!
Ben's biggest complaint - no pork at this hotel. The beef bacon just wasn't cutting it for him.
Such a pretty place!
We chose a different hill to climb on day 2 and were rewarded with amazing views.
The boys took advantage of high tide and played at the beach for hours.
This was my spot for the day.
We played ping pong, chess, and bocce ball as well.
The cute kids from the nearby village kept coming by to sell bracelets. It got not so cute when they parked themselves by Ben's chair, but the hotel finally moved them along.
We wandered out during another low tide to check out all the critters in the water. Lots of sea urchins, shrimp, crab, anemones, and little fish.
Ben found the biggest hermit crab ever!
We saw a lot of these segmented worms as well.
Alex wanted his picture with the local statues at low tide. We had to wait our turn with all the other people taking photos in dozens of different poses.
Alex spent the rest of the afternoon working on his own Instagram poses :)
Another hike on more hills and a beautiful vista full of Alexes.
The kids saw the jetski go out one morning pulling a kid in a tube and they were immediately sold. A short time later, they were out there having a blast.
The food was surprisingly good at the Novotel, although this made me laugh. I ordered the green salad as a side on my lunch and I got a literal green salad - every green thing they had in the kitchen, apparently. Cucumber, olives, avocado, capers, pickles, and lettuce.
Our last morning hike was probably my favorite. I really loved exploring such beautiful places all by ourselves!
Happy boys
Matt had a lot of fun surfing but the breaks were too far to swim from the shore. The kids and I weren't interested in riding the boat out so we didn't join him or watch any of his trips, but he was really fortunate that a photographer was out one day and got a great shot for him.
What a wonderful weekend! It was just what we needed to relax and renew as a foursome after the summer apart and the next day our friends started trickling back into town, so the countdown to school could begin.
