Happy Birthday dear David

It was definitely a David type of day. Pack in all the fun you can. Of course we have time! Perfect for his birthday.

When David got home from work we rode our bikes down to the 360 Cable Ski park. A perfect surprise, he loved it. And the boys loved watching their daddy - up the ramps, down the ramps, jump or crash - they loved it all.

Then home again for a lasagna dinner (I'm still proud of myself for finding all the ingredients - although a little different :) and chocolate cake. He opened presents, and we all laughed. hard. at the pink umbrella from Tom and his family. That's what you get for making fun of a Dutch man for carrying his daughter's umbrella.

Happy Birthday dear David!

Then he was off to play futsal with our Irish neighbor.

Today made me remember when David was at BYU and he'd carry a case of water bottles in the trunk of his Honda Civic. Because sometimes its hard to remember to bring your water, when you're running from Managerial Economics to flag football to ultimate frisbee - or is water polo on Wednesdays?

Happy Birthday, David! We love you!!!

Zee Avi

The show was awesome just like David said it would be.

Super small venue, and we were in the front row - except for that pesky camera man who kept snapping around, and the Kiwi with the crocodile shoes. But being a foot taller than everyone really comes in handy.

We sang along in all the right places and she even broke out her ukulele.

I love date night.

J M Z

Just Jessie, Me, and Zee...and 300 of our closest friends.

One of our new-found favorites is Zee Avi. She's from Borneo so we swore that "If she ever does a concert in Malaysia, we're there!"

Well, turns out she was on my campus today and she'll (and we'll) be at the stereolab tomorrow night. Looking forward to a great show!

with the boys

The last two weeks have been busy as usual. We've had church activities, a birthday party, a school field trip, play groups, and a school party on the calendar peppered in with our normal activities - walking back and forth to preschool, grocery shopping, a trip to the post office, the library, play dates.

A day with these two boys is always high energy. Pick a task on that list and it will be fun, let me tell you. Especially if it has anything to do with school. Noah LOVES school. Last week they had a glow-in-the-dark party and Noah was up, dressed, brushed, backpack packed, hours before it was time. "Come on, mom. Let's go!"

But this week we have a break in between terms. That means no school all week. So our calendar is a little more empty. Which is nice. But we still intend to

Play

Play

Play

Today was a trip to the Children's Gardens. We squeezed in the taxi with our favorite Dutch friends and had a wonderful morning.

More fun things are planned for the week. Mostly I plan on chasing these boys. And there will probably be some tickling. Aren't they handsome?

BALI: Our hotel

We stayed in Tanjung Benoa in a small bungalow.

The owner was a very nice old Dutch man with a great tan, no shirt made you in your beach gear feel right at home. Pet monkeys, talking birds, french talking neighbors, warm pool, skinny pancakes and eggs for breakfast. Don't forget to spray on bug juice before you go to bed and sorry about the broken Buddha head.

BALI: Turtle Island

Snorkeled on the way to turtle island. Colorful fish, glass bottom boat.

Turtle Island was a small turtle conservatory where they only kept 20% of the turtles they raise and send 80% back into their natural habitat. the boys loved feeding seaweed to the giant turtles. We walked around with a guide and learned about the turtles and each of the other animals they had there, but our warm and fuzzy feeling left when they started the cock fight for the Taiwanese toursits. Back to the boat!

BALI: Indonesian food and dancing

I'm not kidding. This is the view from our table. "Go out to eat," was one of the best pieces of advice we got for Bali. It was AMAZING. And not expensive.

Couldn't get enough: mee goreng, nasi goreng, chicken satay, gado gado, prawns, red snapper, white something something in banana leaf.

We even found some dutch Hageslag to bring to a deprived friend in Singapore. And when the boys would see the golden arches they'd yell, "Ah! McDonalds! We can't get away from it!"

Bumbu Bali - 21 courses of yummy. A couple bites of everything Indonesian. Noah loved the black rice pudding with coconut milk for dessert.

Jimbaran - freshest, tastiest seafood I've ever had. Gorgeous sunset. And Balinese dancing - They danced the Legong and Barong dances something fierce. Noah danced right under the stage, copying the dance moves - that's one I'll remember for a long time.

The Tree - the food was alright, but the entertainment was amazing! Noah and Gage took the stage for an adorable 3 songs each. 'You are my sunshine' 'Twinkle Twinkle' and 'ABCs' to bring tears to your eyes. We left the restaurant to an applause from the guests and kisses from the waitresses.