Official Tourist Activity

Day three we still wake up at the crack of dawn and are all ready for a nap by 8:00 a.m.! We decided to get one really touristy (is that a word) activity out of the way and go to the Bali Safari Park. It was actually really fun, they had a baby orangutan and baby tigers there. You could actually hold both and have your pictures taken with them for a fee. It was good to venture out a bit and see more of the island.

Things I had forgotten about Bali:

How crazy HOT it is here

How wonderfully kind and sweet the Bali people are

How many scooters there are and how crazy the traffic can be

What the rains are like... total DOWNPOUR

Mosquitoes :(

Time change...

So as I'm typing this it is 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday here in Bali and 6:35 a.m. on Tuesday in Utah. That is a HUGE time difference especially for a 14 month old to figure out. It did take us a good 3-4 days to really adjust. The first night we (well Coco followed by Ben and I) were up at 3:30 a.m. looking at each other wondering what to do until the sun came up! We decided to walk down to the fish market since it opens at sunrise. What a site! So many interesting fish and people.
For the first 4 days we were staying in Jimbaran Bay, a beautiful community set in a small bay on the very south end of the island. Several of the fancy hotels are located here (Four Seasons etc.) taking advantage of the beautiful white sand beaches, calm water and great fresh seafood. Jimbaran is actually know for the fishing and seafood restaurants on the beach. There are probably 50-100 warung's ( local cafe, usually family owned and operated) set up along the beach with tables right on the sand. They have all kinds of live fish, crab, lobster, shrimp etc inside the cafe. They have you choose the actual fish you want before they cook it up for you & serve you ocean side. Its such a perfect set up to enjoy sunset and dinner and a great place for us to ease into Bali (if that's possible)!

Pool time after dinner... Trying to cool off!

Walking on water

Whirlwind Adventure!

Venturing down to the beach to catch sunset on the day we arrived

Sorry I have taken so long to post anything!! It has been a crazy first week full of all kinds of adventures for our little family. First things first, the flights were better than I was expecting... Our itineary was SLC-San Fran (2 hrs) depart 9:30 p.m. San Fran-Taipei (16 hrs) depart at 12:05 a.m. Taipei-Bali (5.5 hrs) depart at 9:30 a.m. Arrive in Bali 2:30 p.m. Saturday the 7th. We almost had to post-pone our trip when Ben realized the day before we were supposed to be leaving that his passport was going to expire in January 2010! They won't even let you on the flight, let alone into Indonesia unless you have 6 months or more left on your passport. We were both in a panic and Ben ended up taking the first flight out in the morning to San Fran and was at the passport office when it opened to beg for a rush passport renewal so we could catch our midnight flight. Well, anyone that knows Ben knows he can talk his way into almost anything and this was no exception, he had a new passport in hand by 3:00 p.m. that day! Coco and I jumped on the SLC-San Fran flight alone and meet him at the airport. We were feeling very lucky that it all worked out. Coco stayed awake until we got on the flight in San Fran and then feel fast asleep in her car seat. It was definitely a very long 24 hours of travel but for the most part it was fine & Coco did great.

We arrived on time, with all of our luggage and most importantly our sanity! We were tired but very excited to start our adventure!

Jimbaran Bay Villa

These cute boys were surfing/body boarding on pieces of styrofoam. They were following us yelling "Hello Baby" to Coco :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

After all the snow and cold weather in October, Halloween day ended up being a gorgeous and pretty warm fall day. We took our beautiful Snow White down to the Cottonwood Club to meet up with her Witchy cousins for some Halloween fun. Without planning... Grandma Pat, Jodie, Bella, Berkley and I were all Witches! I'm not going to read into that at all! I was the Wicked Witch giving Snow White her poison apple of course! At the Cottonwood Club they put on a fun little carnival complete with games, a few bouncy houses, lunch etc. It was actually really fun, we enjoyed spending a little more time with the Buehners since they were heading back to Costa Rica the next day. We all went over to see Nanna Buehner later in the afternoon & she spoiled Coco with a few fun gifts for the holiday!

Coco carried an apple around with her ALL day!

BALI

Lapped the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, Bali is but one of 17,500 islands in the Indonesian archipelago, yet even among its colorful neighbors-and even after decades of tourism development-it stands alone in its lushness and incomparable beauty. Long, sugary beaches lead inland to hillsides terraced with jewel-green rice paddies; forests dotted with ancient temples abound. These centuries-old shrines-there are thousands scattered across the island-are evidence of Bali’s deep, enduring spirituality. For the island’s three million, mostly Hindu residents, daily routines are punctuated by prayer, blessings, and rituals-and it’s these traditions, even more than the spectacular landscapes, that make Bali such a compelling, authentic, and utterly singular destination.

Counting down the days.... 5 more to be exact!!

Growing up SOOO fast!

Coco's 1 year photo's turned out so cute! Since her birthday she has just sprouted. She is walking and talking in both english and spanish and seems to pick up a word or two a day. She is the happiest little girl and we just can't get enough of her! Sorry about posting so many pictures, I really did edit them down but there are so many cute ones and its my blog so you will just have to deal with it :)

Sundance...