Bali-Day 2

Day 2 was our last day in Ubud before we moved to Nusa Dua, one of the coasts, so we tried to pack it in. We started out at the sacred monkey forest. Now we had been warned by several different people how aggressive the monkeys are, that they will attack you, that they'll take anything that you have, etc. So, Danielle and I were a little nervous, but we still wanted to go. No one seemed to be coming out of the park maimed or otherwise injured soooo, off we went, and other than having two waters bottles stolen and dumped out, there were no issues.

You walk inside the park and there are monkeys everywhere!

They are definitely not leery of people and if you have something they want, yes, they will come up and take it.

This little monkey wanted whatever Avie had in her hand, I don't even remember what it was, but it kept coming after it!

And this one was thirsty because it got two of our water bottles.

The forest itself is beautiful.

Then Dan decided to buy a banana and hold it over his head to see what would happen.

He had a taker...that didn't get down. That monkey was quite content to sit on Dans shoulder and eat his banana.

And then of course the kids wanted in; one of the workers helped Rayce and Avie feed the monkeys.

Rayce was so funny, the look on his face the whole time was unsure.

I think he was afraid to move.

We ended our time at the forest and went to lunch with some friends that were in Bali as well and headed back to our hotel to get ready to check out, but made a quick stop at the rice paddies.

I think they're so awesome to see!

After we left our hotel to head to our new one we made a quick stop on the way to a place called Gunung Kawi. I really wanted to go here and I'm so glad our driver was okay with a slight detour because it was so worth it!

Gunung Kawi is a temple structure dating back to the 11th century.

Huge statues were carved right into the cliff face.

That was it for day 2, at this point I'm loving the jungle and want to stay.

Bali-Day 1

Our first day in Bali we were exhausted! Our flight got in just after one in the morning, then it was another hour drive to our hotel just outside Ubud. I felt so bad for our driver. We couldn't see our hotel very well when we got in so when we woke up in the morning, wow! What a great surprise! I was so happy about where we stayed for the first bit.

This was the view right outside our villa, the famous rice paddies of Tegalalang.

Our Villa

The hotel pool.

We were definitly tired but only had two days in Ubud and there was a lot to see so we had the hotel driver take us to one of the many temples in the area, I can't even remember the name.

At this point the kids were begging to go back and just swim at the pool, I get it, temples are not so much their thing, so we obliged and went back for a while.

Hunting for frogs.

They got one!

Next we went into Ubud to walk around and see the Legong dance that was held at one of the temples.
Ubud is awesome, lots to see, lots of shops and great restaurants and lots and lots of pushy vendors!

It is busy.

We knew we were getting close to the famous monkey forest when we saw this!

Not something you see every day!

The Legong Dance was great, Dan and I loved it and the kids...were done, but still did great.

Day one was busy and we crashed hard when we got back to the hotel!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the inspiring women in my life! I love being a mom to these three! My heart is full today as I think about all that God has given me, but especially my family!

Yabusame

This weekend was a festival in Towada City that I've been wanting to see since we got to Japan. It's called Yabusame and it's a horse mounted archery, where the participant shoots three arrows at three different targets as the horse runs down a straight corridor. It was really neat. The fact that it takes place under the cherry trees in full blossom didn't hurt either!

Aside from the action of the festival it was a beautiful, still slightly chilly day, but it's starting to warm up.

The kids shot cork guns...

Rayce ate some meat on a stick...

We just had a great day.