Ben is 15!

Ben just wanted to grill some steaks and hang out with the McCulloughs for his birthday.  Sadly, they were out of town on his real birthday so we just started things a week early! We grilled and enjoyed some homemade cookie cake. (sorry the icing turned out pink instead of red, Ben!!)

He just requested that we didn't sing happy birthday and make him blow out candles.  Sorry, buddy, that was a no-go.  Can't skip the singing!

His real birthday fell on a Saturday this year, and he just wanted to hang out at home and play some video games with Matt and Alex.  Done and done!

They had quite the setup and did some serious gaming.

I had to cut them off when the cupcakes were delivered for some more singing!

We did make him go out for a nice dinner at Vong Kitchen. Our plan was for him to enjoy his first tomahawk steak, but this is Jakarta, so naturally it was habis...out of stock. Thank goodness, Le Burger is next door and he got the burger that he loves.

It is hard to believe that this boy is 15 years old!!

We love his kind heart, his inquisitive mind, and his unique passions!  He is one amazing kid.  Happy birthday, Ben!

 

Idul Fitri Holidays

We have never been in Jakarta during Idul Fitri at the end of Ramadan, because it has been during the summer previously.  It moves up by a week or so each year, so this year there was a 6-day break from school and a domestic travel ban, so our plan to go to Hindu Bali fell through and we were looking for ways to pass the time in Jakarta.  Turns out a lot of things were open this year and it was a fun long weekend. 

Alex spend some time with Landon and Alex.

Ben spent a lot of time with the birds!

We started letting the birds with trimmed wings wander around the backyard.  Only the green male lovebird can fly, but he won't leave his girlfriend so he never goes too far. 

Mostly, they hang out on top of the big cage.  The parakeets and cockatiels don't even want to go out.

Or, in the case of the green lovebirds, the couch is the favorite place.  The girl will spend most of the day tucked inside chewing up whatever leaves or paper she dragged inside.  

It sounds like Jakarta is usually a ghost town, but with strict rules about traveling, most everyone seemed to still be around.  It was fun watching the neighbors do fireworks.

We checked out a few fun places with friends.  First stop was kart racing in a parking garage.  Turned out to be pretty fun and we only lost one gas tank and one wheel.

The carts were a little cramped and bumpy but pretty fun.

Alex was pretty excited to win his heat! Two of the carts were clearly faster than the others but he ended up with one of the best lap times for the day.

The next day, we visited Snow World...who knew this even existed?!

It was actually really cold! After two hours, I was wishing I'd brought my own gloves and a real coat. The snow was just ice, of course, but it was a treat to get thoroughly cold in the tropics.

The kids did some sledding...

...and tried some skiing...

...and Alex loved the Zorb ball.  Ben happily gave Alex his ticket so Alex could go again with Tate.

It was a really nice break from everything, but it made it even harder to get back into the last 3 weeks of school!  We knew we were in the home stretch to summer, though.

Good Eats

We decided to have a pizza competition with two other families and each order our favorites.  They would be ranked on delivery time (ironically, the closest one was the slowest!), presentation, and taste. We were all pretty excited and hit "order" on our go-jek orders at the same time. When they all arrived, it looked like maybe when gone overboard!

(I got a practice photo with the trophy, just in case...)

Turns out, we did pretty well on the pizza!  

Black Sheep was the winner in all categories, except for speed. But really, we were all winners because it was all delicious.

The following weekend, we did more eating, but without the kids this time. We did our favorite tasting dinner at Komunal 88, which never disappoints.

Their food is always delicious.

Sadly, Brian had to work on a submarine recovery in Bali and couldn't join us, but he did make the news, so we excused his absence.

He did make our first group golf outing, though.  Our families played back to back, which was a lot of fun! Golfing during fasting month was awesome for us because the courses were so empty. Not so great for the caddies...but they're amazing at being out in the heat without drinking all day.

Jenny's Birthday

One of the highlights of having a very quiet year socially is that I really got to know a few wonderful ladies that I may not have known as well if life was busy.  My Swedish friend Jenny is one of those friends.  She's been a big part of making this year work for me! So when it was her birthday, I was ready to help celebrate.  Her husband planned a pretty incredible surprise party, but that meant most of her friends had to come up with "excuses" to be busy that night.  I'm a terrible liar and I hated to tell her I couldn't see her on her birthday, so we had a delicious lunch together the day before so I could throw her off track.

On the big night, several couples were waiting at Henshin for Jenny and Erik and she could not have been more surprised!

It was a really fun group and Jenny was SO happy! (And on a rooftop with plenty of air circulation so I'm happy to say we shared a lot of laughs but not covid)

We had already planned a little stay-cation the following weekend with Katrice and decided to keep the celebration going! Our suite was ready for the party.

And some romance? ha!

We had an amazing afternoon tea by the pool and ordered everything else into our rooms.

The cute little guy delivering our dinner said we reminded him on Charlie's Angels, so we obliged with a picture.  Our custom pajamas were perfect for the weekend. It was a fun little getaway and a lot easier than getting on a plane!

Back to Bali

After such an incredible week, everyone was pretty sad to pack up and acknowledge it was over! We had such a wonderful time with this sweet family and it really did double the fun. 

They were flying back to Jakarta that night and we had decided to stay another week in Bali.

While we waited for a small boat to take us to the bigger boat, we met this fisherman who had enjoyed a lucky morning with a beautiful bluefin tuna.

Back on the ferry and it was a little quieter this time. I was just so thankful that everything had worked out so well for the week and we made so many happy memories.  

One of Tate's birthday gifts was a trip to the escape room and we were more than happy to join him! We attempted Area 51 this time and managed to finish without a single clue!

At that point, we had to say REAL goodbyes and we headed to our new home for the week.  It was a beautiful villa near the beach in Canggu.

So far, so good!

We had a very thoughtful fruit arrangement, but a little bird beat us to the banana!

This villa had the most beautiful details and gardens of any place we've stayed.

It was all very traditional Balinese carved furniture and the outdoor living was so relaxing.  There was a live music bar across the street, so most nights we got a free concert.  The acoustic nights were really enjoyable.  The one night with a full band that played until midnight was not my favorite!

I spent many an hour enjoying books in the cabana while the kids were doing school! There was a hotel on the other side of the bamboo privacy wall but it was very quiet and we only occasionally heard people coming or going.

I really loved the bathrooms here! Most places are open to the outdoors but this one was so pretty, it felt like our own private garden.

I love a Bali sunset!

The biggest appeal of this villa was that it was exactly a 90-second walk to the waves.  There are several surf breaks to choose from and Matt took the boys with him several times.

Surfing isn't my thing but I do love a good walk on the beach.  Beach cows always make me smile.

We had to play around with the internet on Sunday and order two boosters off Tokopedia (hooray for being in Indonesia and knowing the ropes!) to make sure everyone could do their work during the week.  We got the kids set up in their rooms and Matt enjoyed the big desk in the living room. I enjoyed the poolside lunch breaks with the kids.  

After school, we'd head to the beach and the kids would play or swim.  The afternoons weren't as good as we'd hoped for surfing but that's just how it goes.

We found out the villa had been vacant for months.  No one had used the internet and we had a total outage on our second school day.  The manager got us set up to use the wifi at the hotel next door for the morning.  It was unexpected and definitely added to everyone's stress, but we were able to enjoy the pretty views from the 5th floor and spread out in the private dining room so that everyone could log into classes and meetings.  By lunch, everything was repaired and we were back online.

I love all the beautiful temples on Bali.

More beach time!

We hired our friend Ketut to come cook dinner for us several nights.  Lobster night was particularly delicious!

Since Good Friday was a holiday, we were able to get out and celebrate the end of the week on Thursday.  We checked out the Lawn for the first time and really enjoyed the chill atmosphere.

We kept walking past Ji Japanese and decided to give it a try. The view from the rooftop deck was incredible! The food was even better.

I was walking to the beach one morning and found this handsome barefoot surfer on his way home!

Lunch at Ku De Ta

Tropical Easter decorations!

Good Friday had the most incredible sunset!

Dinner at Lacalita brought me a sweet little friend that just wanted to sleep on my feet.  Didn't even want a hand out, just some company.

We naturally had to do one more Easter egg hunt!

Alex out-hunted Ben by about two to one, but everyone finished happy.

Our last dinner was prepared by the villa staff to thank us for being patient with the internet outages. When we got home from the beach, we were so surprised with our fancy setup!

Delicious Balinese dishes!

Easter morning dawned bright and cheerful! No sunrise services on the Hindu island, but we had our own little celebration.

Chocolate bunnies from Marks and Spencer that made the whole trip from Jakarta and somehow remained intact.

We soaked in our last few hours of sunshine and pool time!

Had a little fun with the panoramic photos....

Finally, it was time to pack up and head out.  We were all so grateful for the extra week to enjoy the beach and a change of scenery.  After two weeks away, we were all ready to get home and had missed our space enough to be happy to go back to staying home all the time.

But first, one last trip to Don Juan's! So happy that it's close to the airport for us.