Salon and Fireworks

When we had visitors here in Jakarta, how could we not go get mani-pedis?  It is a Jakarta "must do".  So we took the girls out on New Year's Eve morning.

My girls are getting pretty used to the special treatment.  Hopefully they realize they can't keep up this habit forever.

This is Rhon's sad empty chair.  She decided not to come.  Every party has a pooper...

The obligatory picture of the finished product.

G fell asleep before midnight.  It was sad.  I tried to wake him, but it wasn't happening.

I have to explain the shirt he is wearing.  One day when we were away from our home, G decided to put his finger down his throat and make himself puke.  Luckily we had a friend nearby to loan him some clothes.  He hates wearing other kids' clothes.  He cries.  He rebels.  One time he chose not to swim over wearing a friend's swimsuit.  It's really weird actually, but I forced him to because he stank.  Then later my friend and I were shopping and I ran across this t-shirt.  It was a dollar and I thought it was funny.  I thought he would be happier wearing it than someone else's shirt.  He was, and to my horror, it has become one of his favorite shirts.  So please know that I do not love this shirt.  It was funny, but now it is lame.  I'm going to need to make it "disappear".

About 5 minutes before midnight we all went outside.  The fireworks were already going strong.  I bought the kids some horns and they waited patiently until midnight to make some noise.  And that they did!  They were awesome horns!  But we also had our traditional pots and pans.  It was nice to be able to hang out outside for more than just a few minutes because of weather. 

The fireworks were insane!  They started about 15 minutes early and lasted about 15 more minutes.  You can't see much in this video, but it's cool to hear what it sounded like.  Try to ignore my weird voice...

Get That Corn Outta My Face!

On day 3 we packed up early and headed to Taman Safari.  But since it was the first clear day since we got there, we stopped at the look-out area to check out the volcano.

Gunung Gede

Tea fields.

I thought this picture was funny because the guy selling necklaces stuck his hand in.  It was difficult to get pictures without strangers in them.

Some people working in the tea fields and a little bit of the town below.

Volcanos are hot!

Carrot-eating camels.

We had a lot of down time this time through the park.

One of the highlights for the kids of the time in the zoo was climbing on the concrete animals.  I'm still confused about it.  It doesn't look like fun at all.  

We visited parts of the park we didn't see the first time.  That included this little play area with dinosaur slides, which was right by this corn stand.

We decided to give it a try.

It was so yummy!

We also went to the sea lion show.  I like this picture.

This boy next to Mads had a hard time not starting.  At least he was trying to be inconspicuous.  He would lean way back, take a look, stop, then start the whole process over again.

The sea lions kiss people.  It was funny for the first 2 or 3 seconds, after that it got a little awkward.  He did this for a good 5 minutes.

It is a common theme among Indonesian functions to have a person with a microphone, overly loud music, and animated cheering from the audience.  This was no different.  I literally laughed out loud when they started playing "Ice Ice Baby".

After the show, you can get your picture with the sea lions.

The kiss didn't bother me, it was the snot he kept blowing out of his nose!

Sea lions are cool.

BA got her picture with a snake.  She was brave.  I was impressed.

G wanted a snake picture too.  

He loved it.  I think he got a bit of special treatment because the trainer let him hold him for a long time.  G kept grabbing the snake's head and squeezing it.  I was a little afraid he was going to hurt it.  So after he sat there a while and picked it up, and squeezed, he was done.  But not before he gave the snake a big kiss!  What a weirdo.

Playing Field

The morning of day 2 included vacation type sleep (at least for me!) and more exploring the grounds.

Another huge bug.  This time it was a millipede.

Rhon became a barkeep for breakfast and snack.  She would stand behind this bar and take orders.  I think it was one of the kids' favorite things to do.  Good thing because it was a little rainy.

Then we took a scenic drive.  A long one.  We were just trying to get lunch and maybe visit the botanical garden.  Parts of the drive were very beautiful.

We finally made it to KFC.  We had fried chicken and rice.  Nope, no biscuits or mashed potatoes.

And ice cream.

On the way out of KFC, I bought some bubbles a man was selling.  The solution was in a plastic cup, and it came with a homemade stick.

They were awesome!  The liquid looked really strange, and we wondered what it was made with, but it couldn't have been anything too dangerous, right?  Well, either way, everyone survived.  And whatever it was, it worked great.

It was so fun to have so much space to run around.  We played frisbee, and we had a super fun, slightly muddy, game of capture the flag.

The sun came out a little now and then.

Then I made all the kids pose for pictures.  They were less than thrilled, but they were cooperative.

Funny faces.

Looking in different directions faces.

Chairs to Sit

We took our first trip to Marisol.  It is an embassy owned house in the mountains.  Why have we waited so long?!!  It was so awesome.  Luckily the traffic on the way up was great, so we were still in good spirits when we arrived.  This was the first day...

The boys were thrilled to be there.

This is the front area of the house.  There is a ping pong table right behind me.  It was so fun!

Kitchen.  Still some very thrilled boys.

The grounds were the best part.  Beautiful.  Lots of room to run around and breathe clean air.

The views are awesome.  It was so nice just to sit on those chairs and let the kids run, and climb, and explore.

He poses for every picture.

We were so excited to have a grill!  We took full advantage the first night.  Steak, tuna, veggies, and chicken.  It was awesome.

It was cool enough to feel cozy by a fire.  Nate built an awesome fire, and we had some tasty roasted marshmallows.

Mads with his new headlamp.

When we first arrived, I saw a reddish beetle that was about an inch and a half long, and that was the biggest beetle I had ever seen.  Until we saw this one.  It flew near the fire and crashed onto the ground.  We flung him into the grass, and I think he needed some time to recuperate.  He barely moved while we checked him out and took pictures.  Then all of a sudden, he flew!  Mads was wearing his headlamp and the beetle was tracking the light.  Mads was running, and he was following the light all the while.  Mads was screaming!  It was pretty funny.  I don't blame him.  I would have screamed even louder, I'm afraid.  That thing's the size of a bird!  It stopped chasing Mads and landed in a bush nearby and stayed with us by the fire the rest of the night.

I didn't get a picture, but the girls used their new pocketknives to make their own marshmallow stick.  This might be the closest we come to camping in Jakarta.  I'll take it.