Crumpled Home

Read on to find out about our exciting adventures with dangerous oversized animals at the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple at Lake Beratan. We get drenched by a massive tropical thunderstorm, and are amused/delighted/revolted by some hot beverages. Finally we end up having a meal at a great little place on the coast.

Mom leads the kids off to the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple!

Found it!

But it's guarded by lions... hungry lions... Careful M!

Look out, LR!

We'll ride the magic giant fish off to safety!

The sign said, "Beware of Giant Eagles", but did they listen? Oh nooooooo.... "No giant eagles around here," they said. Here's your freaken giant eagle, buddy.

"Spin us, Uncle Paul! As fast as you can!!!" ... The kids learned a valuable lesson that day.

Mom and P take M and RJ on a WILD ride on the swing.

On the way back down the mountain, we ran into our first tropical thunderstorm.

Rice paddies and farms on the side of the mountain.

On the way back to the villa, we stopped by this nice little coffee shack and tried their various coffees and teas, as well as the infamous, "Poo Coffee."

Poppa is awfully suspicious. In the background, you can see a big poster describing the process of feeding coffee berries to the lewaks, collecting their valuable coffee-bean-caffinated turds, and the washing that takes place before roasting and grinding the beans. They did mention washing the beans, didn't they? Lots and lots of washing?

No RJ! Don't eat that bit!!! Ha ha... Actually, the hot chocolate made from their own cocao beans was really fantastic.

Mom refused to try the crappy coffee, but did give the lemon tea a go... and it was actually great stuff. The kids loved it too.

After a long day, we went to the Potato Head Club to relax and have a great dinner. The place was extravagant, decadent and completely over the top... and we loved it. Aunty Bron, Uncle Troy and Poppa enjoy a drink while trying to get Shazam working on their phones.

Aunty Carrie, Grammy and Uncle Paul sit down for a cup of tea... Hang on a second, that's not tea in that pot!

Mom watched whle the kids had a brilliant time swimming and jumping around in the pool.

We even enjoyed a tiny, 2 minute sunset. There was so much cloud that the sky didn't really light up.

The kids kept swimming and playing into the night while our dinner was prepared.

Sophie checks out the menu... Yep, just about everything on there looks delicious.

Uncle Paul waits for Auntie Carrie at the bar... The place felt like a scene from a movie.

After dinner, LR and the other kids danced on the grass to the loud, thumping music, while Dad cheered them on.

PA. prepares to launch her sky-shooting glowie -- a tiny light on a pair of wings.

In April of 2011, we embarked on a terrific adventure to the island of Bali, in Indonesia. It is actually closer to Perth than the other capital cities within Australia, so it’s a popular holiday destination for Western Australians… which is one of the reasons we’ve been hesitant to go.

After a tiny 3 hour flight, we met Poppa, Grammy, the cousins (P. and M., Auntie Bron and Uncle Troy), our aunt and uncle from the US (Carrie and Paul), and finally, our second cousin Sophie and spent a week there staying at an incredible, luxurious villa (Puri Angsa, in Canggu, Bali) together.

It really was like staying in paradise, with each family having their own cottage or series of rooms, most of them directly overlooking the pool. The villa even had their own pet monkeys, which conveniently avoided any potential ‘Enchanted Monkey Forest‘ disasters that we had worried about.

We arrived at our gate with plenty of time to spare and some amazing colours in the sky.

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March came to a close and it was a big month for the kids. LR competed in a diving competition, where she was the youngest, as well as the only kid representing her school. RJ also stepped into his first trampolining competition and took third place! Congratulations kids! We also had a few dinners at the beach and the river in the evening, and spent lots more time outside enjoying the cooler weather.

… and Mom looked ridiculous.

LR steps up as her name and school are read out.

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For the past several days, we’ve had a run of warm humid weather (35C / 95F), and the forecast looks like there’s no change for the 7 days ahead. Here’s hoping that a few pics of the kids in the pool might help cool us down.

To add to her busy after-school schedule, LR has taken up diving and is loving it. The combination of gymnastics and swimming seems to be a perfect match!

RJ is as much of a fish as his sister and has been working hard at swimming lessons on the weekends. His biggest problem is actually spending time near the surface — he’s much happier diving for toys and other objects off the bottom.

LR listens to her coach and prepares to dive.

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During the school break, Mum and the kids head off down south for a holiday. Dad caught up with them on the last few days of the trip. There was lots of swimming and surfing at the beach, as well as a trip to Ngilgi Cave.

Something always goes wrong with the house when Mum visits, and this time was no exception. The water from the taps was coming out brown, with a strange smell to it. The house is fed exclusively by rainwater from a large tank beside the house. We called in an expert to go inside and clean it out. The good news is that it wasn’t because some creature had gotten inside and died… The bad news is that it was caused by collapsing, rusted roof supports that were suspended in the water. A little extra bit of iron in the diet never hurt anyone, right?

LR and RJ take a ride on the giant echidna outside Ngilgi cave.

RJ: I like my big kid swimming lessons.

Dad: Really? What do you like the best?

RJ: I like the diving board.

Dad: Why’s that?

RJ: It’s just like walking the plank.