Ubud - Elephant Park

The last big thing we did while in Bali and my last post on our trip was the day we spent at Taro Elephant Park. I had booked transportation and our day prior to us leaving and it worked out really well. We had a car pick us up at the hotel and take us to the park. When we got there we walked to the elephant riding area and we split up to go on our elephants. Peyton and John went together and Graham and I rode an elephant named Lady Gaga. 

I was nervous about keeping Graham still for the ride but he was so still and so quiet. I think he was overwhelmed and just in shock about the whole experience. He was loving it. Peyton was asking the handler all kinds of questions and then telling us behind what she was learning. They both had so much fun. The ride was actually really long which surprised me. 

When we got off Graham was so upset and wanted to go again. He loved it so much and still talks about it after being home about riding the elephant and "please" to go again. After the ride we went and fed the younger elephants and gave them hugs. It was so much fun to have them grab the bamboo sticks out of your hands. Both kids loved it.

We then went for a walk to see the new baby elephant born that morning at 5 AM. I loved watching Peyton and Graham walk ahead and hold hands and talk about what they were experiencing so far that day. 

This baby was born about 4-5 hours earlier. So cute!

We then had lunch and watched some elephants play in the water together. It was fun to watch them interact, jump on each other and swim around. The kids found it hilarious.

The final part of our day was the elephant show. The elephants did all sorts of tricks and performances and the kids loved it. The best part was when the elephants sprayed the crowd with water from their trunks. Peyton was laughing so hard!

It was a really fun day at the elephant park and one that both of the kids talked about over and over and was the highlight of their trip. Such a fun thing to do and even more so when experiencing through the eyes of the kids!

Sanur....Barong Dance

One of the activities I really wanted to do while in Bali was go to an authentic Barong dance performance but when I was looking into all of them, they all started at 7:00-8:00 PM which was not going to work with the kids. I kept looking and found one in Sanur that was at 9:30 AM...perfect! We worked with the taxi/tour at the hotel and it worked out really well.

What I was surprised about the most was how interested the kids were and how they didn't get scared. There were some intense parts but they were so fascinated and loved it. They were both clapping and so excited about the whole thing. And the ENTIRE trip they talked about the "dragon" (below) which was actually a lion and Graham always asked to pet the dragon. Non stop!

Following the dance performance we headed back for more swimming and relaxing and then decided to try a coffee shop nearby that I had heard about for lunch called Luhtu's. They had seating right on the beach and was really cute. I had read that their cappuccinos were really yummy and they were! 

Peyton was in a pretty grumpy mood and just tired from all the swimming. Although her mood greatly improved when her pancakes with ice cream arrived :)

Following lunch, it was Graham's nap time and John's turn to get to nap while I hung out with Peyton. She watched a movie for a little bit and then she came and hung out with me at the beach. We just sat in the chairs, collected sea shells and chatted and finally ordered chips. This was one of my favorite times on our trip. I loved hanging out with her, being silly, talking literally about superheroes and whether they are real or good guys and our favorites and also whether there was a princess living on the island across from us. We had so much fun and it was such a blessed time to have such quality time with my girl. She is so much fun and so amazing!

Following nap time we thought it would be fun to walk to a local supermarket and get some supplies since we would be heading to a small village the next day and wouldn't have any options for snacks etc. We looked up the directions online and figured we could walk along the beach and then turn off and be there. It was a nice walk and not too far but our little ones didn't want to walk. I ended up carrying Graham and John carried Peyton who fell asleep until we got to the store and she slept in the shopping cart.

It was a fun store with souvenirs on the top floor and groceries on the bottom. We were amazed at how much more options they had in comparison to Saudi and how much cheaper things were even the imported USA products. We loaded up on some snacks and then took a taxi home and it was bedtime for everyone. A long but fun day. 

Sanur...swimming and Tanah Lot Temple

Our first stop in Bali was Sanur for three nights.

When we got to the hotel the night before at 2:00 AM we had no idea what to expect. The grounds looked beautiful at night but the next day it was even better! We had set our alarms so we could make sure to get breakfast and it was such a wonderful surprise to be walking through the hotel and seeing the beach for the first time. Well worth the flight chaos!

Our hotel was set up like a traditional Balinese garden/house. It had tons of fountains, sculptures and seating areas and was beautiful. The lobby (the picture below on the right) was all open and most of the buildings were similar. We really got the Bali feel walking around and the kids always found a new sculpture to investigate.

We had a sleepy boy at breakfast...

And one was wide awake and really excited about going swimming later...

Our first day was devoted to lots of swimming and relaxing before we were picked up that afternoon for a tour of a nearby temple. Our hotel had two pools, an adult only one and this one where we spent most of our time. 

My little fish were overjoyed to be back in the swimming pool and they both were swimming around and under the water constantly. They are such water babies!

After swimming at the pool for awhile we decided to check out the beach. One of the reasons I picked Sanur was the reef offshore that helps break up Bali's known strong currents. It was perfect! You could see where the waves were breaking out there and it was so calm and peaceful at the coast which was great with the kids.

It was so hot on the sand though and just hot outside as well. We were shocked at how hot and humid it was in Bali! The kids wanted to go look at some of the fishing boats and of course didn't believe me it would be hot....well, it was and she had plenty to say about it.

We ordered some drinks to help cool off and Graham received the most sophisticated apple juice of his life. He was very stylish. I had to double check that it was just apple juice with the water and tasting because I didn't know why else they would bring it with a lime and in such a fancy glass. It was just apple juice!

We decided to not push things and just do room service for lunch and nap times. We had a nice patio out front of our room where we were able to eat our meals and also John and I were able to sit at night and spend time together while the kids were asleep. Graham went down for his nap and John and Peyton went exploring and played at the playground and games around our hotel. 

This picture of Peyton cracks me up....

We had to wake Graham up later to go meet our driver who was taking us to Tanah Lot Temple for a tour and to watch the sunset. So, we loaded everyone up and off we went. 

It was a lot longer drive than I expected but a fun one seeing more of the bigger cities and passing through all these different areas that I read about while planning our trip. Peyton of course fell asleep in the car which meant she was a little on the cranky side when we got there. We wandered around and didn't cross the water to go to the temple but look at the various other temples along the shore and just took in the beauty of the rock formations and ocean. I was kind of overwhelmed with how many people were there and wasn't really sure what we were supposed to do.

The kids enjoyed climbing up the rocks and being explorers.....and Graham also enjoyed being the local celebrity and had tons of people trying to get their picture with him. Many, many people around the world now have a picture of my son....

My original plan was to sit on a grassy area and watch the sunset and then go to a restaurant on the way home but the kids were starving so we ended up eating at the restaurant there. It was a little overpriced and not all that great of food but the views were beautiful. 

We headed back to the hotel that night with two very sleepy kids but a wonderful first day in Bali. The views, scenery had exceeded our imaginations and the people were so friendly and welcoming. One of my favorite memories of the day was when we got out of our car at the temple and were waiting in the market area for the driver to drop off the car and return, there was a shop keeper who patted next to her and Graham just sat there with her and she was talking to him and he was just sitting there taking it all in. I wish I had enough time to pull out my camera. It was so sweet. 

Are we there yet?

So we left for our trip to Bali with so much excitement and ready to go! We got through the Dammam airport with some annoyances but smoothly and we were off, made it to Abu Dhabi.....and we made a make shift tent out of my abaya to help shield the kids from the light and the intense cold at the airport. Who knew an abaya could be so useful :)

The kids stayed asleep and we made it onto our plane to Kuala Lumpur. The kids were sleeping when they should, being happy and we were doing great. We flew Etihad Airlines for the first time and overall it was a good experience. Peyton liked the eye masks and socks that came in the travel bag. She cracks me up!

We were really impressed in how much easier it is getting flying with them both as long as they are both not asleep. There were sometimes when we had two sleeping kids and I was so thankful to be flying with John and not solo!

Then we landed in Kuala Lumpur.....and things didn't go so smoothly.....

Apparently the guys in Saudi should have tagged our bags all the way through and they didn't but the people in Kuala Lumpur did not know that. We had a 90 minute layover and had to be processed through passports, claim our bags and run to the ticket counter only to find out we didn't make it. Bummer! Oh well....I am sure there is another Malaysian Air flight to Bali tonight....NO! The next one was for 10:00 AM the next day. We pleaded to find another option and they directed us to the office. We waited and waited and waited and found out that they could get us to Bali that night but at midnight....six hours later than we were supposed to :( They booked us on a flight to Jakarta and then a flight from there to Bali. We managed to get hold of the car company we hired and told them our new flight times and off we went to Jakarta.

We bought the kids fun lollipops for being so patient waiting around....happy kiddos but sticky fingers/faces...

When we landed we had to go through immigration and get our visas which was a long process. Graham had meanwhile fell asleep on the plane and was in the baby carrier which was so incredibly heavy. We finally finished with getting our visa for Indonesia which the only positive is that I have read that the visa line in Jakarta is much smoother and quicker than Bali so at least we didn't have that step to do when we arrived in Bali. We then had to walk to the opposite end of the terminal in the non air-conditioned airport and...I am still carrying Graham who at that point leaked through his diaper and essentially peed all over me...nice! I am now wearing a 30lb child, a sweater and have pee all over me and am running through a hot airport. We make it to the transfer desk and they mention something about having to claim our bags, go through customs and recheck them and I start to cry. I really started to cry. It was Kuala Lumpur all over again. John explained that they were checked through, they said no and so he ran to the baggage area to see what to do. He found a baggage handler, brought him back to the transfer desk who explained our bags were checked through and we got our tickets and ran to our next flight. 

We made it on our fourth flight (third airline of the trip) and were finally on our way to Bali. The flight had no one on it and so Peyton made a tent on her side....

 

And Graham was out cold on my lap.......

The kids were doing great and we landed and were ready to get in our car and go to the hotel. I was so nervous that our bags wouldn't make it due to the confusion but thankfully they were there. We almost make it out of the airport when I realized we left something on the plane. John runs back and thankfully the cleaning crew brought it to baggage claim for us and we were finally on our way out. I just kept trying to not cry again.

Our driver was wonderful! We hired a driver from the company Bali Baby Hire that has drivers, baby supplies and everything else you might need to make your vacation in Bali more baby/child friendly. We had the same driver the whole trip and the kids loved him. We had rented car seats from them as well which was great so we didn't have those extra bags to deal with. Highly recommend their company, it was so nice to have a good driver who was used to kids/families to drive us around!

We finally made it to our hotel and checked in and we all easily fell asleep....