Batu Secret Zoo

Two Saturdays ago MJ and I were standing in the kitchen in the morning trying to come up with a fun, out-of-the-house plan for the day. We decided on the zoo, Batu Secret Zoo, to be exact. Not sure why 'Secret' made it into the name but it was a blast. We called the Kleins and they ended up coming also. Yay for a fun, spontaneous husband and friends! One of my personal favorite features of the zoo was that they had soap in ALL of the bathrooms (a very unusual occurance here in Indo). And since my 7-month-pregnant-self frequented the bathrooms, oh, every 15 minutes, I was incredibly grateful :) Other than the soap, the zoo itself was actually very impressive!

Those, my friend, are bats. Eek! I didn't get as close as Pete did, brave soul.

The twins. Yes, we get asked if they are twins, especially if they are in the double stroller.

Not looking my best here, but wanted to include one of me and Vik :)

The twins looking a little tired.

Livvy got to feed an elephant!

Parrots!

Vikki talked me into it, too. Don't know if I'd do it again. Little too close for comfort in my opinion.

 The battery on our camera died not long after we got there so I didn't get to take as many pictures as I'd hoped. But, I thought I'd include the ones I did manage to take. The most surprising thing to me about the day was that we were out in the heat until 3pm, way past Maya's normal nap time and the kid STILL did not fall asleep on the hour-long car ride home. Talk about e.n.e.r.g.y! Instead, she sang songs and talked our ears off the entire way home. I think the excitement of it all was just too much for her; she'd jibber-jabber a long time and then every few seconds we'd hear, "lion", "elephant", "monkey". Who can sleep when you've just spent the day feeding elephants, watching lions, and petting snakes?! Come on, people!

Late Night Talker

I've been putting Maya down at her normal bedtime but she has gotten into the habit of staying up late; talking and singing to herself (by herself) in her crib. She sometimes does this for over an hour! Lately she's been dozing off sooner than that, after just two or three renditions of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and a few stories about Livvy and Noah. She is also very into singing the ABC's (although we've only gotten as far as G), Kasih Yesus (which means the Love of Jesus - taught to her by Tante Widya) and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

I've been wanting to make a list of the funny things she says and I don't know if I'll remember all of them right now. Some of my favorites include:

• "Oh my goodness!" (said with a lot of feeling :)
• "Oh man!" (from Dora)
• "Go-go" (also spoken...well, ok, usually shouted with great enthusiasm, meaning that she's ready to go somewhere, people! Gotta stay moving.)
• Babu- this is what she calls her diaper.

When she was around 14 months or so she began referring to her diaper as a "babu" and I've kept it up. She is now perfectly capable of saying the word "diaper" but I deliberately kept "babu" going because I want her to have at least some baby talk! Don't get me wrong, she isn't speaking in complete sentences or anything but the girl has some pretty accurate pronunciation when I ask her to repeat words. I was sad last week when, completely on her own, she stopped saying "wawa" and began referring to it as "water" :( She's growing up so fast!

Playing at the playground at Wesley. Something we do rather often.

You can kinda see the tan lines in between the rolls on her arms. I don't ever want her arm rolls to go away!!! (Well, I guess I wouldn't look so cute with arm rolls...so maybe it'll be ok.)

Cutie pie!

She enjoys sporting the sunglasses in our never-ending summer here in Indonesia :) And yes, that is paint chipping off the wall in the background. Sure enough.

Going for a ride with Daddy (just around the block, don't worry)!

 Going for rides on the bike is one of Maya's all time favorite things to do. She screams "bike!!!!" at the top of her lungs when we mention it, indicating that NOW is the time for another ride with Daddy.

Out to eat. Love the pigtails :)

Going out to eat with this kid is exhausting. We came prepared this time with Dora ready to roll on the iPad, so here she is sitting contently watching her "show".

Good grief, if getting her to sit still for a meal is difficult what will the trip back to America be like?!! Pray for us!!!

Naomi Turns 3

Maya's good friend, Naomi, had her third birthday party today. Lots of fun was had by all :)

Playing together while the other guests arrive

The party wagon

That's right, the girls got to go on a real pony ride!

Maya tries to restrain herself from grabbing Naomi's presents. She did OK here but later gave into the temptation and had to have her little fingers pryed off of the new toys. Kicking and screaming was involved, but only briefly.

Happy birthday, Naomi! You know how to throw a great party! Thanks for being a great friend!

Just a Few of the Many Reasons We Love Daddy

Because he can make Elmo and Bob the Tomato out of Playdough!!!

Giving Elmo some eyes. This is serious business, folks!

The guilty look. Daddy let Maya eat how many Oreos? Yet another reason she loves him.

 This next section should be entitled, "Just One of the Many Reasons We Love Nana"

Because she sent Grover!

Thank you for the package, Nana! This is one happy kid!

New Friends

Maya has a new friend named Mary. Mary and her family moved here about 3 months ago and she and Maya have really hit it off :)

And a couple of other random shots...

Ready to head to the pool. Too cute!

At the mall with Misi, Eli and baby Elo

Family Vacation to the Beach!

Fortunately there is now a direct flight from our city straight to Bali...so we took advantage of the cheap flight and took a family vacation to Bali! We bought 3 round trip tickets for less than $100! Here are some pictures of the fun...

Dinner by the beach

Another squinty-eyed-smile

Lots of yummy food in Bali!

Building sand castles with Daddy

At our favorite Italian restaurant. We went there 3 out of the 5 days we were there :)

Love the look on her face!

Smelling the flowers

She's obsessed with brushing her teeth. I think she just likes the taste of the toothpaste :)

We visited a reptile park also

The crocodiles were not her favorite



But MJ seems amused



We were so thankful to be able to get some time away together as a family. The month before that MJ had been crazy busy so it was great to be able to be together...especially in Bali! What a gift!