January Pictures

January absolutely flew past for us.  It was not an eventful month but it was nice to get back to all our normal activities and the weeks disappeared.  Here are our highlights:

Ben finished up an awesome project in Design Tech in December and we finally got his wind chimes mounted after the break.  Now, we haven't had enough wind to hear them yet, but maybe one stormy afternoon...

Alex brought home the second class hamster for a weekend and this guy was a real cutie! 

We were right back into baseball and loving having one team this year.  I'm shocked sometimes at how tall Alex has gotten because I get the kids mixed up in their uniforms on the field.  It's easy when they're batting, though, since Ben is a lefty.

Rambutan season was in full bloom and it was nice picking up a snack here and there on my morning walk.

I also discovered that a house in Bukit Golf has some interesting new pets - spotted deer in the front yard!

Other morning walk sightings - this sign that always makes me laugh...

...and this adorable dog with his paws hanging over the wall every day, until I get close and he runs away terrified.

We all went to Toko Maju in Pasar Mayestic because Matt and the boys needed to see this maze of a store filled with more tiny things than I could have ever imagined.  No picture will do it justice because it's several floors of tight spaces and floor to ceiling stuff.

Afterward, our day led us to the coast of Jakarta and we stopped for lunch at Segarra, where we found an ondel ondel photo op.  Usually someone is wearing this and walking on the side of the road with loud music collecting money and it's too fast for a picture.

We had no idea what to expect and it was pretty interesting.  Lots of tanks of fresh seafood on arrival and we picked what we wanted for lunch.

First time I've seen a coconut crab but we declined to eat one since we couldn't be sure they're not endangered.

Our lunch! Still alive and kicking.

When our food started arriving, so did some hopeful friends!

It turned out pretty delcious!

My turn came around to host a tour for the Indonesian Heritage Society, and Pam and I took the group to Wisma Cheshire.  It's a home for disabled people where they're taught a craft to make a living.  Most women sew and most men learn woodworking.  They stay for about 2 years and then return to their villages with the skills to earn money and start a small business.  It was a very well-run place and I've been happy to return and volunteer some time to help cut fabric, which is much easier done standing and none of the wheelchair-bound residents have that option.

There are a few residents who will stay for life, like this sweet lady who makes Christmas ornaments by hand.  Really lovely people.

I thought this was a beautiful and unusual moth in the road one day.

7th grade math classes had a very interesting project this year - they had to come up with a project to sell at booster hut and present it shark tank style to a committee.  The best ideas from each class were produced and sold and the kids had to do all the finance and marketing with their budgets and try to make a profit.  Such a fantastic real life education!  There were sweatshirts, bags, stickers, pillows, and towels.

Ben's class made keyboard protectors with the dragon logo and sold out in the first week.  Unfortunately, as of today they are out of stock and unlikely to get more in the sales period, so they're probably going to lose money.  Ben was on the finance team and learned that he really loves spreadsheets.  He is his father's son.

We had a great evening with the Hoslers at Casa Mexico, owned by a real Mexican!  It took us a year and a half to find the place, but we finally have a real place to get our fix of Mexican food.

We also had a nice brunch with the Thompsons and restaurant was so apologetic to have to put us in a private room, but the kids absolutely loved it.  They brought ipads and a Nintendo for entertainment while the adults lingered over the food for a few hours.

New Zealand Thoughts

Matt and I have always wanted to go back to New Zealand but never thought we would have another opportunity.  Our first trip was incredible but it was tough with these two in the campervan...they were just so little and not able to do the hikes or stay up late. We fit everything we could into 6 days but that meant an average of 5 hours driving a day and not much chance to explore in depth or relax.

We still had an amazing time and realized just what an incredible and unique country it is.

Fast forward 9 years and things were 100 times more fun because the boys are old enough to be awed with us at all the beautiful places and take part in all the fun activities.  We didn't have the jaw-dropping amazement of discovering everything like our first whirlwind trip but this time we got to visit many new places and slow down and spend more time in the ones we had to breeze through previously.

This trip took some doing!  A lot of hard work by Matt to pay the bills, days on the computer for me researching and booking (starting 7 months ago), and plenty of packing and planning to be gone for nearly 3 weeks.

By the numbers:
9,900 miles flown
2,200 miles driven (mostly by Matt - love you!!)
10 different places we stayed
many competitive games of hearts
countless laughs
memories for a lifetime

We were incredibly thankful that everything worked out so well and our biggest problems were a 2 hour delay on arrival, a skinned knee and elbow, and some itchy feet, because none of those are really big problems.  I don't think we would have changed a thing.  The kids were the perfect age for this sort of trip because they're old enough to participate in all the physical activities but still young enough to enjoy hanging out with their parents.  We really had so much fun together and I couldn't be more grateful for the guys I'm blessed to have as my family.  Our memories will last forever.

The last pictures I'll share are Alex's collection of t-poses.  He started at the beginning of the trip and took them in lots of places, so please enjoy his tour of T-pose New Zealand...

Epic 3 t-pose panoramic.  Skill level: expert

Sydney New Years Eve

When we lived in Perth we used to watch the Sydney New Years Eve countdown and fireworks (because it was conveniently 9pm in Perth) and Alex was absolutely obsessed with the video and watched it over and over.  We had to fly through Sydney to get back to Jakarta so Matt and I had tossed around the idea of how much fun it would be to spend a few days there.  Since it cost nothing extra to make the stop, it seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime!

We had kept this surprise from the kids for months.  Just a few days earlier, they learned that there would be a surprise at the end of our trip but all they figured out was that we were stopping in Sydney, which they were pretty pumped about.  It wasn't until we were in the taxi driving toward our last Airbnb when the driver starting asking about our plans for new years (as we happened to be driving across the harbour bridge!) that the kids put it all together.

Total excitement!

And even better when we saw the view from our living room!  I had looked into lots of ways to view the fireworks, like a dinner cruise or getting a spot in a public park, but they all looked logistically difficult and would put us home hours after the fireworks.  Seeing as we would already have 2 hours of jetlag and a late night, when I came across this Airbnb we knew it was worth the splurge to enjoy the entire evening from our window.

They were not overselling this view - it was incredible.

We didn't want to waste any time in Sydney, so I grabbed a few groceries and then we caught the train to get the last entrance into the aquarium for the day.  More penguins for Alex!

We had to stop and appreciate the spot where toddler Alex disappeared 8 years earlier on our first trip to Sydney and put me in my very first parent-who-has-lost-a-child panic.  He had lost interest in the fish and was more fascinated by all the ramps.  Thank goodness we found him a few minutes later and those days are long past!

Overall, it was an interesting visit but it wasn't as good as it was years ago.  Several things we enjoyed were no longer there but it's always fun watching the animals.

We caught the ferry to Circular Quay for dinner, and it's the best way to travel - not many places where you get these kinds of views on public transportation!

Dinner by the Opera house!  The place was packed but with our booking we got straight in and enjoyed some delicious seafood.

Even on December 30th, the crowds were huge and the atmosphere was excited.  People were everywhere enjoying the views of the harbor.

More pretty sights as the bridge lit up on our ferry ride back across the harbor. By this time, the crowds were massive and we knew we would not be going back across on the 31st!

The evening view from our place.

At 7am on New Year's Eve, people were already staking out spots all along the water.

Some people in this park by the bridge had spent the night!

Seeing as how our living room was nice and reserved for us, we went the other direction to spend the morning at the zoo.

Pretty awesome views from here as well!

Our second scenic gondola ride on this trip.

Awww, sleepy koalas!

And baby elephant!

And more little blue penguins!

The giraffe came over to have a look at us but decided we were not that interesting.  The rest of the zoo was really well done and we saw a lot of unique animals.

Mid-afternoon, the crowds were really growing along the harbor.  We were so thankful we didn't have to sit out here all day!

We were extra thankful to be indoors when some weather started building.

Around 6pm, there was supposed to be an airshow but most of it was rained out.  Those poor people camping out all day were mostly soaked because the morning forecast promised clear skies!

It was a good time for a little dinner, though.

Thankfully, the weather all passed and the evening was beautiful!  When the New Years Eve telecast started in front of the Opera House, we could watch it through the binoculars or on TV.  Pretty fun! We also enjoyed watching them pull out huge barges of fireworks and positioning them all along the harbor.

The parties next door really ramped up as well!  With all the windows open and people celebrating in every direction, it felt like we were part of a huge party.  Even though some of us were in our pajamas...hee hee.

The guys were getting the camera ready for the first show.

The 9pm family fireworks were small but impressive.

They definitely whet our appetites for the real deal.

The clearing smoke was pretty cool over the Opera House.

For the next several hours, lighted boats paraded around and one parked in front of us so we got to enjoy their live band for the last hour.

Jetlag made the light night tough and we almost lost one guy on the couch but he rallied.

Finally, it was time!!  I got chills when the countdown started and a million people cheered in the new year together!  The big fireworks started exactly at midnight.

They were incredible.  Really no words to describe the experience of being right underneath all this magic!  We had the radio on to the synchronized music but we couldn't hear it at all over the show.  We didn't need music for this!

Happy New Year, everyone!!  It's 2018!  Wait....what??  Apparently someone forgot that 12:01 January 1st would fall in 2019.  Oops!

The next morning was so clear and I could smell the eucalyptus after a good rain...one of my favorite Aussie memories.

What a night, Sydney!

Sydney was even thoughtful enough to have a guy with a ukulele entertaining everyone at the packed Qantas check in on January 1st.  Have to love a good airport where you can be dropped off and get through check-in, security, and immigration in 30 minutes.  It was a long but uneventful day getting home through Singapore.

Thanks for the memories!!  Finally, we could head home full of incredible experiences and memories, happily exhausted, and ready to sleep in our own beds.  It was one amazing adventure.