Crumpled Home

Bali is absolutely packed to the brim with three things: motorbikes, temples and souvenir shops, often mixed in a kind of a petro-spiritual-capitalist melange. The markets and hawkers serve as a tense, bustling, confrontational entree, sitting in stark contrast to the quiet zen-like peace of the temples…

One of the temples we explored was Tanah Lot. Like most of the temples, it was calm and quiet… except for outside the cave containing the Holy Snake (a revered, venomous guardian of the Temple at Tanah Lot). That place was nuts.

We also visited Ubud, a market district renowned for its artists and crafts… and markets and temples.

Finally, we had a great time on the (heavily chlorinated) water slides and rides at the Waterbom water park.

PA and RL stand at one of the entrances to Tanah Lot!

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Our trip was filled with new experiences with a lot of things that we’d never get the chance to do back in Perth. We stopped by a lodge where they take retired elephants and spoil them by feeding them melons all day (in exchange for carrying tourists on short walks through jungle and rice paddies). They had a couple of young orangutans who we were allowed to play with, as well as an albino python that RJ thought would make a terrific pet. Finally, we had a fantastic meal at a great, but confusing restaurant motorcycle shop skate shop place called, “Deus Ex Machina”.

Hungry elephants LOVE to eat melons. If you're not careful, they'll even stop along the track to stomp on a jackfruit and eat that too!

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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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On the weekend, we all drove up to Gingin to help with the second stage of winemaking. The first stage, picking the grapes and first pressing, was already done a couple of weeks ago; it was time for the second pressing and getting the wine into vats for fermentation. We also spent time working on LR’s latest project, “The Museum of the Universes of Science” — a showcase for all the amazing animals, bones, plants and rocks that we discover up there.

Obviously, winemaking is a very serious business!

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It’s been a while since we posted a bunch of photos, so here’s a quick wrap-up for February!

LR lost another two teeth this month, and the kids did some home experiments with dry ice. RJ discovered a fascination for disguises and interesting clothes. Mum sang her heart out at a South Pacific concert and we had a couple of trips to the beach to have fish and chips for dinner. Mum and Dad even got dressed up for a party, and at the end of the month, it was the kids turn with an evening picnic and disco down at the school.

One of the last pictures of LR with all her upper teeth... One of her front incisors came out the next day!

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We survived our massive annual Halloween ordeal party. Last year’s party was talked about at school for the whole year, so this year’s was heavily anticipated. From apple bobbing, to treasure hunts, a nigh-invulnerable piñata, to a wet and soggy caveman, we had all the major attractions.

This year, however, we decided not to do the haunted garage. Too many kids came out of that one completely freaked out and crying… Next year, however… MWAAAAHAAHAAAAHAAA… Look out kids!!!!

It was a dark and stormy... err... bright and spooky afternoon in the park that day. Jim decided to hang out at the slide; his diet had been a huge success!

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It was a huge August and the kids have only gotten more busy, not less. We’ve had birthday parties, sleep-overs, soccer finals, dress-up days at school, martial arts Jedi training and more. Here are some of the highlights!

Dad took LR and RJ on the train into the city to look for a present for Mum's birthday.

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LR’s birthday rolled around and, despite appearances, we managed to keep it fairly simple (no giant parties, sleepovers, movie nights, etc.) LR loved every minute of it and is already making plans for next year!

After searching nearly ten bike shops in the area we finally found a bike cool enough for LR.

After a month of singing along to the soundtrack in the car, as well as learning about it in music class, Sunday afternoon finally arrived. Grammy and Poppa took us to see the full production of Cats (Australian cast).

We all loved it. Fantastic show!

Oh well I never! Was there ever a cat so clever as Magical Mr. Mistofelees!