Charlie has deemed our holiday to Bali as "the best holiday I've ever had!" When pressed, Kate concedes that it was one of the best, but that France is still the best she's ever had! But all in all, I think the whole family agrees that we all had a blast.
The beach was a hit. The first day, we spent most of it on our little beach by the hotel. We saw a starfish, coral, and....dinosaurs...?!?
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| A dinosaur...?!?! |
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| A flying Brachiosaurus?!? |
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| Ah ha! |
Ice cream was eaten....
What was so different this time is that we all went out to dinner together every night. The kids are old enough to stay up a bit later on holiday, and they handle themselves well in restaurants. And they are
good eaters. So this trip, we had family dinners every night, the kids were in bed by about 9pm, and we turned out the lights by about 9:30, after a bit of reading. Totally relaxing.
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| First evening in Bali |
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| Kate with her cocktail |
Another difference was that Charlie can swim now! What a great time he had, 'diving' into the pool again and again, doing canonballs, and chasing after a ball that we would throw in. Um. That kind of sounds like a dog....
Kate made a load of holiday friends, and of course, got her hair braided. Well it
is the done thing in Bali!
We did also get in some golf...After more than four years since my last game, I shot a respectable 114 - not great, I know, but not so embarassing.....and the front nine was not too shabby - a 52 (and a par!). The next day, of course, I had to have a shoulder massage...and Kate got her first "kid's massage"....by the time it was over, she was sound asleep. The apple does
not fall far from the tree.
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| James, heading to the bunker....note the view behind.... |
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| The view from a green |
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| One of the massive snails on the course (prehistoric?) |
And amidst all the water fun, golfing, eating and massaging, we did manage a big day out to see some of Bali's big sights....
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| Batik making |
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| What's going on here? |
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| Wait for it.... |
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| Then we decided to adopt a baby... |
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| Look! They're already arguing! |
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| Batur volcano |
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| Rice terrace in Tegallalang |
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| Monkey forest in Ubud |
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| Our budding photographer |
So all in all, a success. We learned new things, we relaxed, we bonded as a family.
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| I was waiting for some tangling.... |
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| An offering to the gods |
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| Capitalism on the beach |
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| And this says it all. |
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