Few things in my life are worth a meme.
This is:
I took the walking group to Three Arch for a day at the beach.
Then Ezra Zimmerman stepped on a stingray.
And you would have thought the world was over.
“Weeping and Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth” is the only description I can give to Ezra’s reaction for two straight hours.
But at the beginning — they were having a blast.
You know what they say…”No good deed…”!
After getting to help Pippi in Art Masters…
Navy got a VIP award for always helping out when someone is absent.
And Scout got Student of the Week in Social Science!
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That is the kind of good day I like!
Why the cross faces?
I woke up the girls for school this morning, and Pippi through her yawn said, “OH MY GOSH!!! I had to deal with Navy’s snoring ALL NIGHT!”
I have to admit…Navy could hands-down beat anyone in a snoring contest.
She kind of dominates that way.
Scout nailed a talk in Sacrament about “we reap what we sow”. He started out with the time Dash had to clean the kitchen, and it took him 8 hours to get it finished — so we discussed how he did an 80% job. Even though it looked great — the eight hours took his grade to a B-. So when we went to the movies later that day, I took him out of the movies early because his 80% effort got 80% of the movie.
Scout did an amazing job…he is such a natural.
After church, we hung out.
We colored.
And played Yahtzee — where Scout and Navy both nailed Yahtzees on their first turns!
Meanwhile, this boy must not have learned the “reap what you sow” lesson very well, because he was sassing me all day long. Ten days while I was in Bali, made him think I was not the one in charge — or something??? That being said, after a firm talk, I saw my boy trying to sow a lot better…because his reaping of punishments all day kind of stunk.
This kid is so classic!
I love him so much…but he is a total stooge!
A stooge that is really big, into repeating the same word/phrase over and over…for months! He gets on total kicks.
We just got off of the everything being “guacamole” kick. He said it 2,000 times a day! And now we are on to “Bob The Builder” kick.
So when I say…”who led the Nephites into battle”…he used to answer, “Guacamole”, but now he answers “Bob the Builder”.
See how it works?
So if I ask who wants to set the table, who did he play with at school, what is his favorite show, who is Nonnie on the phone with, or anything else…you get it.
Here is a bit of the loot we brought home from Bali.
The greatest bike helmets!
Can you imagine that Dash didn’t take his off for about 18 hours!
A handmade bracelet for “Icka”, and an anklet for “Doo Dah”. They were hand carved out of melted down Australian coins. The guy brought us a coin to show the girls what it started out as, and a video showing their exact stuff being made. Micah had both of those ideas — how smart!
And of course some amazing sandals!
Not pictured — lots more shoes and a few purses!
When I was pregnant with Scout, Micah and I had tickets to Bali. We ended up refunding them, because going outside of the country during my first pregnancy, where a lot of people get sick from the water, seemed sketchy. Fast forward 12 years, and when the tickets were on the hugest sale ever…I secretly bought them for Micah and I to revisit this place we have wanted to go for so long. Because of the amazing sale, the Brockbanks bought tickets too…and it just so happens, that they were on our exact outbound flight. BooYeah!!!
Bali was really fun.
Getting there was the never-ending adventure, with a stop in China in the middle. We found China…to be China. Very poor and dirty, with lots of people. The most disgusting open air market where all sorts of animals hung bleeding, turned even more disgusting when it started to rain and I was in flip flops. The highlight was finding an oyster that had over 30 pearls in it for Navy! And there was one booth that had a really yummy lemon treat in it. Trust me…it took 15 “that is delicious” comments from others before I tried it. But it really was good. We topped off our China stay with a big Chinese feast — that everyone indulged in, except me.
I stuck to my prepackaged stuff after the airplane food I saw on the Chinese airline! YUCK.
When we got to Bali, we stayed with the Brockbanks for a night in Kuta.
The next morning we all rented scooters, and checked out the city. One of the coolest things, was when we had to gas up, there would be old, recycled alcohol glass bottles filled with “petrol”. We would pay the money, and they would come fill us up!
I love scootering — but a few people had “incidences”. Trey gassed it on the twist throddle when he meant to be stopping, so he sketched out and became an all-time passenger. And Chloe had a crazy experience, where she tried to stop, but skidded out, and ended up riding down five stone stairs and taking out a booth of goods to sell. Needless to say, the scooter portion of the trip was over for the Brockbanks.
Micah and I went and did our own thing for a few days. We started in Nusa Dua, and stayed at the Grand Hyatt that was beautiful! We read by the beach, swam in their pool, had delicious food, and lived a few days of the pampered life. We loved it!
We then went to Ubud, where Micah took me to a five star restaurant that was so stinking good! It was a seven course meal, and everything was amazing! They brought out a tray filled with all things exotic and possibly unfamiliar to us, so we could see exactly what we were going to be eating. It was a total highlight of the trip!
We then rented scooters and saw the amazing rice fields and scenery of Bali. It is so green and lush, it is almost in technicolor.
We scootered to the Mason Elephant Lodge — a place where they have rescued dozens of Sumatra Elephants from being killed. They were treated very nicely, and it was a sanctuary for these elephants. They gave a few rides a day, but most of the day, they were on their own.
Micah booked us the raddest room, where we fed our favorite elephant “snaggletooth” (because of only one tusk) from our fruit basket. Snaggletooth would always thank us by lifting his trunk, and wiggling his ears.
I went to the spa for a massage, and check out my view! It was amazing — the whole place was AMAZING!
We got picked up for dinner right outside our front door — HOW COOL!
We got to go on a mini safari through the Taro Jungle. It was really short, but enjoyable since we FaceTimed the kids while we were on it.
Micah went swimming with an elephant!!! It was awesome.
We met this few week-old baby elephant. It was amazing. We even got to wash a pregnant elephant, and we could literally make out the elephant she was carrying. She was only two weeks away from delivering.
The Mason Elephant Lodge was a total highlight of the trip.
After the elephants, we headed back to Ubud and met up with the Brockbanks to go to the Monkey Forest.
Another highlight!!!
This might have been the best moment of the trip. This monkey stole our phone and was taking selfies!
The monkey forest was amazing. They would steal water bottles out of our hands. One almost attacked Cade. And they were everywhere! It was a bit creepy….but more funny than anything.
The boys became very good at finding “Gucci” goods to bargain down to nothing! It was more about the game for them, than the purchase. But the girls and I found great things while shopping! I got the best sun visor ever!
Micah and I crossed off another bucket list item in Ubud, when we got to eat Japanese food while sitting on the ground!
Micah and I took off to Seminyak to go meet our new best friend who knows how to make all things leather and snakeskin. Lucky me, that Micah found this rad hotel…where we stayed in a room that the pool went right up to. We read on our patio, and then we dipped into the pool a foot later!
Our leather guy — Idris agreed to take us into the city, where we could pick out our own leather and snakeskin. I got some shoes and a purse out of one of those beauties. Talk about a cultural experience. Maybe one of the best I have ever had! It is just too bad that Bali isn’t closer to us, so we could get there every time styles change!
While we were in Seminyak, Megan ended up close by, so we met them at the beach, and then went shopping and had pizza with them. Honestly, having Megan’s family there ended up being awesome! The beach was so pretty, and the vendors were hilarious.
The boys were all competitive bargainers, but Micah might have been the most shameless.
After pizza, it was the pool tables for the boys, and massage parlor for the girls!
When we left Bali, we decided it was an amazing place that is really hard to get to. Micah came home with three pairs of snakeskin shoes, and I had two pairs of shoes, and twelve new purses to pass out to my sisters!
Honestly, Micah and I have fun doing anything. But just the two of us in Bali — with an occasional meet up with the Brockbanks — was two thumbs up for us.
Micah and I are heading to Bali for ten days, and my mom insisted that she would be the one to take care of the kids. And I quote, “You think I want somebody in my house, when I can do what they will try to do even better?” Okay….80 year old woman…OKAY!
She insisted on a chart.
I created a money chart — the ultimate motivator for my kids.
I hope it all turns out great.
I am just going to close my eyes and board that plane.
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Update: My mom said it was the easiest gig she has ever had. She proceeded to inform me that she was able to do everything I do…PLUS create magical sack lunches each day, and delicious homemade meals six nights a week.(One caveat — my amazing mother-in-law did morning carpool duty, which was awesome and a great help!)
All of my friends were in awe of my mom’s abilities. I wasn’t. This is her jam! Obviously I would get schooled by my very own mom.
I was so happy to be home, and take back over, until Dash said, “MOM!!! Nonnie is SOOO much better than you are!”
OK Mom…you’ve got the job.
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