Bali

Part of me still can't believe that we brought our whole family to Bali--about 45 hours on airplanes, 20+ hours in airports, one quick day in Manila, and lots of time on the island. Whew! It was an adventure, sometimes a bumpy one, but also full of good moments and neat experiences and hopefully great memories! 

Here we are in the JFK airport in NYC getting ready for our first big flight, then headed to Manila. We love the personal screens with movies and games and constant food on international flights!

We took a taxi to the Mall of Asia to get a taste of the Philipines. We couldn't resist the fresh mango shakes and mini ice cream cones because it was so hot!

After our day in Manila, waiting for our final flight to Bali. This is how we felt in many airports on this trip--totally exhausted!

Our first hotel in Bali was right by the church. I wish I had a picture of the church because it is one of my favorite memories. It was so wonderful to mingle with members and visitors in such a small branch. Part of the meetings were in English and part in Balinese, with interpretation where needed. We loved it.

After church we checked out and headed to Ubud. Our first hotel there was Ani's Villas and we were spoiled with lots of space and wonderful scenery! We also loved the mosquito netting on all the beds, the fresh fruit from the open air market, and the great walks.

The Ridge Walk with view of the volcano, Mt. Agung, that exploded with ash later on THE DAY that we left! We would likely have been stranded for a few days with the airport closed if our flight were any later!

Ubud--walking, shopping, and dining. The rain got pretty intense for a couple hours most afternoons and the first time we were caught out in it the girls and I ran to a store to get sandals for the boys so they wouldn't get their good shoes all wet! We got some help from local shopkeepers to buy sarongs and scarfs so we could go inside their temples. I thought it was neat to see similarities in their worship and ours. They are so devoted, we often saw women adding to their incense offerings. And they wear special clothes into their temples.

We hired a taxi driver (he was so excited to have the work!) to drive us to the rice terraces and to one of their water temples. We really enjoyed seeing some of the countryside on the way.

Our next hotel was the Champlung Sari Hotel right by the monkey forest. As soon as we arrived we started seeing monkeys; they climbed on the roof and played by the pool and the breakfast area! Visiting the monkey forest was amazing--wild monkeys everywhere! Workers sold bananas to feed them and handfuls of corn to get them to walk all over us.

Shopping on Monkey Forest Road and enjoying the inexpensive restaurants for some fun dining experiences!

We had our driver take us to the Bali Zoo on our way to our last hotel and I'm so glad we did since it made for a really fun morning! My favorite part was the elephants up close and personal, but we also got to see an orangutan and other fun animals. Then we stopped at a "Waring" for our "Thanksgiving meal" of delicious curry for Jon and I and rice and french fries for the kids!

The Holiday Inn Resort in Kuta was a great way to end our trip! We were by the ocean for the first time and loved the pool, bikes, kid's activities, and food there. 

Starting the long trek home! We had a late night in the Bali airport, flew to Manila then slept and waited in the Manila airport for about 10 hours (we were just too exhausted to get out and do anything when we got there, and after 30 minutes they don't let you leave!), flew to Vancouver to wait in the airport for a few more hours, flew to JFK, then drove home! It was LOOOOONG, and we were all wiped out when we got home. It honestly took over a week for my body to adjust to our normal time, and now a couple weeks later I'm finally starting to feel normal again. It was a neat experience seeing life on the other side of the world!