We took the kids to Bali! We were very excited, but to be perfectly honest- the kids were miserable and ruined absolutely everything, unless we were at the hotel swimming. So that stunk. Our first big outing was this Monkey Forest that had 600 monkeys! They were EVERYWHERE. I mean monkeys ran past my ankles, I passed right by them, just a few feet away (or less) and it was a little FREAKY!!! The kids were WAY FREAKED OUT by the monkeys, afraid they would be attacked and just cried and cried constantly. Well, Scarlet cried and cried constantly. It made the whole adventure SO taxing. It was just completely ruined. The scenery was AMAZING. Beautiful. Lush. Green. Tropical. It was incredible, but the whole time we were trying to reassure Scarlet that the monkeys wouldn't touch her, that everything was ok, but by the end we were just so mad, telling her to be quiet. I admit, there was a moment where some monkeys were actually fighting and chasing each other and they ran RIGHT PAST US and I was totally freaked out and grabbed the kids because I was so freaked we would get in the middle of it. It was exciting and tense all at the same time. Because the kids were so freaked out, I never got a picture with a monkey! Which is just insane, because it would've been SO EASY. They were everywhere. But we were just constantly walking quickly by them so the kids could calm down. It would've been so much cooler with just Greg and I.

Oh I guess I did get a pic with a monkey.

Oh I love my family! How cute is Marius?!!

There was this one spot with hanging vines and the monkeys would just swing across them and down below was a big creek and they were just washing themselves in it. It was SO COOL! I loved watching it. And then in a flash they would just scurry up to where we were and it would happen so quickly! It was freaky.

The boys got these little toy guns that click REALLY LOUD when you turn the knob.

Balinese Food is freakin' amazing. Particularly this rice dish they have. Noreng or something. It had basil in it- it was so good. I love eating new dishes when we travel. I always make a note in my head- I need to make this!

The Balinese have a SWEET stylish traditional dress. Greg and I absolutely loved it. They always looked sharp.

We would often see groups of boys walking with this animal thing and percussion instruments (which didn't sound good) and we never knew if we were supposed to give them money or just "enjoy" the show.

Ah the pool. Our saving grace. The kids and Greg swam for HOURS everyday. They loved it. And Brighton learned how to swim! Pretty exciting. He caught on SUPER FAST. He can hold his breath a ridiculously long time (like his sister) and he's just awesome at it!

Scarlet conquered her fear and started jumping in and swimming to the top.

I love Marius in the pool. His little body just swims around and I think he's the cutest thing.

Scarlet swam through this thing between pools and it always freaked me out.

This well endowed sculpture greeted us every time we went to our room.

The next day we went to an incredible Bird Park! It was SO MUCH FUN. Well, with the exception of the infamous whining Scarlet- who decided to just cry constantly and tell us how horrible we were to make her do this. I decided to be totally brave and I held a couple birds! I gotta say birds talons are a little bit painful!

I LOVED these birds. They were just in their little group, walking all over the park free. You can't tell in the pic, but their feathers are spotted, and I thought they were unique and beautiful. It was fun to be so close to animals. They also had peacocks just out and about. It was crazy. The exhibit was so wonderful, where the animals were SO CLOSE. You could see everything so well and the environment was just so jungly. You didn't feel like you were in a park at all.

Because birds were just wandering around, the kids would find feathers and get really excited.

Lots of cranes in the backdrop.

Hard to tell but there is a huge bird above Greg.

This blue guy was cool and just hanging out on the walkway.

Another brightly colored bird.

It was so fun!

We waited for our ride under this cool little hut. One one side was the cranes and a waterfall and the other was this cool ostrich looking' bird with a blue head.

I volunteered for a small show in the restaurant.

The next day we saw this HORRIBLY boring show. It was absolutely terrible. I just kept thinking, this can't be it. It must get better soon. No one in their right mind would WANT to watch this. But it was the slowest, most boring, horrible thing I've ever seen. The music was cool. It was all percussion. Really amazing that they could still make music with it- it was just really different. The guys were so serious and dressed all traditional.

There was a cool building outside though.

Then we went to go see a waterfall. We had a coconut first.

It took awhile to hike down and of course, Scarlet thought it was the most unbearable thing. She ruined the whole experience.

It WAS beautiful. But it was crowded and loud and there was a constant spray from the waterfall. Greg really liked it though. He wanted to stay.

Ice cream!

EVERYWHERE there were offerings and I thought they were so unique and beautiful. I was impressed with the dedication of the people, to worship so faithfully and to give FOOD so often. It was just a little, but I imagine they don't have much to eat themselves, so I was really impressed with them. I used to think it was really weird, 'till I spike with a HINDU friend and she was telling me it's all symbolic. And so I didn't think it was so weird anymore- we do a lot of symbolism too.

They also had these bamboo decorations EVERYWHERE for a celebration. They were beautiful and I loved them.

That is gasoline in the bottles. Greg gets a big kick out of seeing them around town.

I was pretty stunned by this tree. It was huge and incredible and very beautiful. It was at the start of a long walk.

The elephant temple. Pretty crazy. This is the only cool part about it. Inside is a really small man made cave. It's really dark with a couple spotlights on offerings and it has a very creepy vibe. But a really cool picture! We had to cover our legs so they had everyone wear sarongs.

On a whim we went walking down this path and it was SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! And it was accompanied by Scarlet's crying and complaining.

AMAZING!!!!

I loved this part with these huge boulder rocks. Something about it reminded me of Lord of the Rings.

While we were there we saw a couple incredible spiders. Like HUGE TARANTELLA style whit bright yellow hanging out in their webs. It was creepy and insane to think it was right there in that jungle. They may as well be on our shoes we were so accessible to them. This is a spot where we saw one, just off the bridge.

It was sooooo beautiful.

All over the city were wooden sculptures- I mean EVERYWHERE!!!! We found a couple that we loved and bought. It was hard not to buy everything in sight, there was so much good stuff.

This is a hike we went on. At first the taxi driver took us to the wrong spot and we were trudging through the wet wilderness right at a river. Mosquitos were INSANE, I was just freaking out that we were all going to get bit and get something (a disease), and it quickly became apparent that we were in the wrong place. So we hiked back up and somehow figured out where we were supposed to go. It was SOOOO beautiful. But again . . . accompanied by the incredible never ending whines of Scarlet.

We walked into a little line of shacks and bought a coconut to take a little rest.

I asked to use the bathroom and she pointed to the back. Here it is.

Here's the inside.

Not a first, but I thought it a great photo opportunity for the family back home.

And there were chickens outside.

We asked this lady if we could take her picture to show her traditional dress. Very pretty. She was setting out offerings.

We found this sweet ice cream shop that had super natural healthy ingredients and unique flavors. I loved it.

Then we had dinner at this really cool place. It reminded me so much of Eugene. Someone was playing really classic rock music no guitar and singing and it was so artsy. Just these random unique BIG colorful pieces made out of metal. Random things like bikes, and animals, and there were hanging lights. I loved it. I kept thinking I was in Eugene. Greg and I even slow danced for one of the songs. The environment was magical, the food- disappointing.

Our last day we went to the market and shopped a bit.

Scarlet got some awesome pants. She was super excited about how comfortable they are and that they would cover her from he mosquitos- she is a magnet for those stinkin mosquitos.

Brighton bought a cheap little ukulele.

Marius bought a unique little flute.

Back to the airport to fly home to the Philippines.

Smoothies and pastries while we wait. All in all, in was an ok trip. Greg and I decided we are NEVER taking the kids anywhere for many years to come. It was a horrible choice to bring them along. The only thing we didn't get to do was have an elephant experience, which I REALLY WANTED to. Oh well!