Goodbyes and Hellos

The end of the school year is so bittersweet here.  The excitement of going home is tempered by the fact that all these lovely people are scattering for the summer and some of them won't be back. Our final Tuesday tennis was full of laughs and some tears and some pretty awesome mugs from Sherri.

The last day of school! Even though it was just a half day, we still pulled the kids out early to make our flight.

It's tough to pack up the house for two months! We carry very little to the states but there is a lot to think about when you know you won't be back for 8 weeks.

In the midst of my last-minute packing, I got a message for an impromptu coffee and there was no way I was going to miss one more hug from Kat and Sherri! It made my heart so happy to spend one more hour together.  Sadly, Andrea was already at the airport and missed out.

I had to swing by the school to pick up the kids and I loved that Alex got escorted to the office by his best buddies Alex and Landon so they could say goodbye.

We said our goodbyes to our lovely staff as well - Fitri, Tina, Hendrik, and Sandri.  We missed Asep by a few hours...one day I'll get a picture with everyone.

Alex "helped" with all the suitcases...that were completely empty! We were preparing to bring back lots of delicious and useful treats from Texas.

One last nasi goreng at the airport...

...and a last photo op with the ondel ondel.

Our first trip on Eva looked a little scary on paper because we just had one hour to connect in Taipei, but it was worth it to get the economy plus seats on the 15 hour flight to Houston.

Mid-flight selfies! Turns out we left Jakarta over an hour late so we were getting nervous about our connection.  On approach I was going to ask a flight attendant for advice, when they came to us and reseated the entire family next to the boarding door with our bags.  They were so prepared - along with one other man flying to Houston, we were escorted off the plane, straight onto a cart, fast passed through security, and directly onto the next flight which was patiently awaiting our arrival.  We spent a total of 15 minutes on the ground there and every single one of our bags made the connection! Eva Air was incredible...it was our shortest trip ever.

We arrived about 2am, got a little sleep, and then made the most important Chick-fila run of the summer.

After a whirlwind day in Houston with appointments and meetings, getting cell phones connected, visiting Grammy and Grumpy, and a little more sleep, we were back at the airport the next day to fly to Alabama.  Important breakfast #2 was checked off the list as well!

Grade 5 Moving On Ceremony

Alex spent his last day of 5th grade celebrating a successful year and the end of an era.  Let's hope he's ready for middle school and that the school taught him better spelling than this:

We went to school together for the Moving On Ceremony and this guy was looking sharp!

He was so thrilled because he was going to be one of the 5 emcees for the event and he was in his element. He initially auditioned to give the speech on behalf of the students but lost out to another boy...this was actually a much better fit for the kid who loves a microphone because he got much more stage time.

The emcees had practiced the 90-minute program many times and did a terrific job.

The kids were called up one at a time to receive their 5th grade diplomas.

Alex between his buddies Andreas and Alex A.

The entire class

The entire class together, ready to move on to bigger and better things!

Afterward, we enjoyed some of the photo ops together and Alex soaked in all the attention of people complimenting his performance.  He is a natural on stage for sure.

We love the bajaj!

Alex and his wonderful teacher, Mr. Murnane.  They had a really terrific year together.

So long, elementary school!  This family is all done and looking forward to two boys in middle school next year.

Our Teenager

Somehow I blinked and 13 years have gone by since Matt and I became parents.  How is it possible? But wow, we love this kid and are so happy to see him enter his teenage years. (so far)

Ben is still pretty passionate about bacon and this was all he wanted   A whole plate of hickory smoked bacon, quite the delicacy in this mostly halal country.  Ben was even luckier because there was some political unrest in the city and school was cancelled, so he got a bonus Jakarta snow day!

Our precious maid Tina brought Ben a cake from breadtalk.  I was prepared this time for the Indonesian surprise - it's not white chocolate shavings on top, it's cheese.  It's actually pretty tasty when you're prepared for it.

Because of the holiday, our friends Giorgos, Andreas, and Gabriella came over to swim and play and they helped us celebrate.

We got together again the next day at Houbi, a trampoline park, because school was cancelled for two more days and sadly Giorgos broke his leg pretty badly.  He was in the hospital and didn't get to come to the birthday sleepover. Ben had Daffa (Indonesian), Luke (Aussie), and Noa (French) come over to celebrate with him and enjoy one last night together before everyone heads their separate ways for the summer. A really funny and nice bunch of kids.

It's not the Great American Cookie Cake, but a homemade cookie cake can get us by until we're back in Texas!

Happy 13th birthday, Ben!

Bali, Baby!

I have been incredibly blessed this year to find the most amazing group of women.  We have played tennis, shared books, enjoyed pokeeno, gone to balls, and most importantly, laughed and cried together almost daily throughout the year.  We have shared the highs and divided the lows.  And as it goes for all good things, our time together is coming to an end.  Both Sherri and Kat are moving over the summer but somehow in all of the end of the year madness and moving schedules, we managed to find a weekend to run off to Bali together for one last hoorah.

In typical Jakarta fashion, traffic was bad and our trip to the airport took an hour and a half, but we shared selfies between the cars to keep our spirits up until we met at the airport.

In a total switch from Jakarta, our flight left early and we were on our way!

Yes!!  Whether it's the first time (for Kat) or you've lost count (like Andrea), Bali makes the heart happy.  We even took along Stacie and Hope, because they would have been included in this amazing group had they not already left this year.

We arrived at our villa late on Thursday night and with a bit of drama (no drivers waiting to pick us up, no one answering the phone) but they were expecting us and we woke up to the lovely sights on Friday morning.

Puri Dana had 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms...just what every girls trip needs!

I could get used to my coffee here every morning.

Look at those beautiful blue skies!

The villa was gorgeous and the owner had really spend some time to add lots of local art.

Even the sinks were interesting!

Ahh, breakfast poolside.  What better way to start the day?

And then it was time to enjoy the lovely private pool.

It's great having Jill along because we know we'll go home with magazine quality photos!

We absolutely did our weekend right.  Plenty of time relaxing at the pool...

...lots of spa time! (and bonus because they came to us and we got our massages on the porch) 

...a few throat kicks...

...lots of snapchat filters!

...and plenty of go-jek tacos! The lovely thing about being in Indonesia is that you can pay to have nearly anything delivered. 

We also did some shopping and exploring in Seminyak, all within walking distance.

Even the front door to our villa was beautiful.  We always had staff inside so never even had to carry keys. 

We enjoyed a delicious dinner beachside at La Lucciola, complete with a postcard perfect sunset.

More shopping on Saturday!

Sherri had to stock up on her last trip to Bali.

More massages, too! At US $8 per hour, why not?

We checked out the sunset from Ku De Ta as well, but the people watching turned out to be much more entertaining.

On Sunday afternoon, we finally had to pack up and say goodbye to our fantastic home for the weekend. It really was the perfect place to stay and make memories.

One last look at the beautiful skies in Bali!

 

We got some great views flying home.  Mt. Agung on the right erupted just a few days later.

I think this was Mt. Ijen on Java...very cool!

We were all a little tired on the way home.

And we were greeted with the typical grey skies of Jakarta during the dry season...boooo....

What a wonderful weekend.  We all commented on how easily everyone got along and how effortlessly we were able to agree on plans and make decisions.  It's truly a rare group of ladies that can spend days together and not once get snappy.  I took my book but barely picked it up because we just never stopped talking!  I'm so thankful for the memories we've made together and the good fortune that lined up all of our paths for a year. Sampai jumpa, teman teman. (see you again, friends)