Many travels later…
We haven’t written in such a long time. We have been quite the travelers the past few weeks and we’re exhausted. But we had a great time in each of the places we visited, enjoyed a great time with Creed’s sister, Adrienne, her husband, David and their two oldest children, Megan and Matthew who came to visit us for a week or so, really enjoyed seeing Phantom of the Opera with the boys in Singapore (thanks for watching screaming Mallory for us David and Adrienne), and enjoyed Thailand, Bali and Singapore. All in a three week period!
We went to Thailand for our spring break the last week of March. Creed had to go to Bangkok for business meetings a few days before we were to leave on our vacation. He flew there on Wednesday and the kids and I flew to meet him on Friday.
I was reminded that a 6:20am flight with four kids when you have to leave the house at 4:00 AM isn’t really that fun. Everything went well though and overall the kids were all well behaved. They are very used to flying and traveling so it doesn’t faze them much, thank goodness.
When we arrived in Bangkok I didn’t have any Baht to get a taxi or car to take us to the hotel. The plan was to use the ATM but I couldn’t get my card to work. I wandered around the big airport dragging four very tired kids around with all our luggage. I couldn’t find an ATM so ended up finding a limo service that took a credit card. The boys were disappointed to find out it wasn’t a real limo but it got us to the Marriott just the same.
While in Bangkok we enjoyed the weekend market, a great aquarium, the Grand Palace, several temples, the reclining Buddha, the Royal Barges and a great longtail boat ride down the canals.
Monday morning we caught a flight to Phuket. We stayed at the Club Med there on Kata Beach. It had been recommended to us by our friends, the Larsens and the Wadleys who both had been there. We had a great time with the kids all going to their own groups and spending their days doing the circus club, archery, swimming multiple times and games. They really enjoyed it. Mallory loved going to the Petite Club. She got very attached to one counselor and started to call her ‘Mother’.
Creed and I enjoyed sitting by the pool for days reading uninterrupted and eating lunch and dinner with just the two of us. We don’t get to do that very often. We also went on a snorkeling trip one morning and had a great time seeing all the fish.
One day Creed and the boys went to on an “excursion” organized by Club Med to Phi Phi islands, stopping at several different points around these nearby islands for swimming and snorkeling.
We left Phuket on Saturday, March 31 and flew back here to Jakarta.
I left that following Thursday to go to Singapore for another dentist appointment. Creed came the next morning (yes, on the 6:20am flight again! What is wrong with us?) with the kids. I met them at the Hilton and we waited for a short time until David and Adrienne arrived with their kids. We were so happy to see them on this side of the world. We spent the day with them shopping in Little India and then in the evening we went to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo.
Saturday we shopped at a huge bookstore (our dream) and picked up some new books for all of us, then went to see Phantom of the Opera. We were all impressed very much by the performance. The boys loved it. Thanks, David and Adrienne, for watching Mallory so we could go. I know she wasn’t very cooperative and I’m sorry.
Saturday night we flew back here to Jakarta with the Dangerfields and spent the next few days with them. On Wednesday night we flew to Bali for three days. We had a great time there. The boys enjoyed the ocean so much, as they always do. Mallory even got into it this time.
We returned from Bali Saturday night and David and Adrienne and family left Monday afternoon. We had a great time with them and really appreciate them making the HUGE effort to come to see us.
In between all of this, our nanny/maid, named Kus who just started to work for us in December, told us that she found out she needed to go to her village to take care of her mother who is sick. We were so sad to see her go. She brought a lot of happiness to our home and Mallory really loved her. I have been stressed out trying to find someone good to replace her. It’s not an easy task and it’s hard to live without her. I just hired someone named Arti today so we will see how it goes (she starts work for us on May 1st). She seems like a very kind person and came highly recommended.
We can’t believe that we only have one year left in Indonesia. Time is really going by quickly. School is starting to wind down and the boys are counting the days until we can go to the states for our summer break. We are excited to see family again.
We stopped by the side of the road when we saw two ladies carrying baskets on their heads. I believe smiles aren't required when you are carrying something on your head. 
Grant is posing at the exact spot where he had fallen into the water the night before (a decorative pool with plants, etc, not a swimming pool).
The airline, Air Asia, allowed each of the kids turns to sit in the pilot's seat -- only while we were parked at the gate, though, unfortunately.
The Uluwatu temple is in the background on top of the cliff. Notice Adrienne and Nash in the lower right hand corner of the picutre, both not wearing their glasses. The Uluwatu monkeys didn't disappoint us on this trip -- they snatched Adrienne's glasses and chewed on them and bent them before someone was able to help retrieve them for her.
After the Kecak dance, we took photos with several of the performers. 
Posing with the Barong after the Barong & Keris dance.
Shopping with the 
