Ubud, Bali

The view from our room.

This past weekend we took a trip to Bali, Indonesia. We decided to stay inland in the town of Ubud which is known for their arts and crafts.

We stayed in a small hotel that had only 25 rooms and was off one of the main streets, but surrounded by rice paddies. It was so nice and peaceful. We had all kinds of animals and flowering plants around our building. We saw a billion different kinds of ants, monkeys, lizards, birds, butterflies, and bugs.

The town was great with lots of handmade goods for sale and delicious food! We ate at some fabulous restaurants!

      1. Nauty Nuri's - It's a small stand on the north-side of town and they're very popular. They had     awesome BBQ pork ribs! We almost got stuck here because our scooter didn't want to start. A local guy came and helped us out after laughing at us. He had a tough time getting it started though so it made us feel a little better.

   
      2. Fair Warung Bale - They served a mix of Indonesian and Thai foods. We met a few other Americans while we were there. It was fun to get their reaction to Southeast Asia. We've been here so long I don't even notice half the things they were talking about because they're so normal to see now. Damien and I had a good laugh afterwards.

    
      3. Taco Casa - This place had awesome burritos. They're the real deal. I was surprised since they don't have very much Mexican food here in KL and if you find some, it's usually not that great. This was very good though and very Mexican. A lot better than many Mexican restaurants you find in the US.

      4. Melting Wok Warung - The 2nd best restaurant on the island, according to Trip Advisor. It was pretty good, but was a bit spicy.  

We made it a relaxing vacation and didn't plan a whole lot. There is a ton of stuff to do on the island though so we'd love to go back!

Damien and I had a four-hands couples massage. Yes, we each had two people massaging us at the same time! It was awesome and the first time we'd ever experienced it. Damien said it was a bit of a sensory overload at times for him with so much going on at the same time.

We rented a scooter and rode around the town and out into the countryside. We put Audrina in the Bjorn and squished her in between us. When in Southeast Asia, do as the Asians do. She fell asleep every time we got on. We even got caught out and about in a downpour.

 

Audrina helping Damien fill up the scooter with gas from a water bottle. That's how they sell it there.

Scene from our ride out in the countryside.

We saw a few temples there. They're the only island in Indonesia that is mostly Hindu. The rest of the islands are predominantly Muslim.

One of the temples was located in Monkey Forest. It was shaded by a lot of trees and there was a stream running by making it cooler and very moist. There was lots of moss all over everything! And of course there were a lot of monkeys too.

The last morning there we were woke up by some yelling and thumping. We got up and looked out our windows and saw a local man chasing the monkeys out of the rice fields. The monkeys wander over from the monkey forest to eat the rice. This guy had a really long poll that he was beating on the ground and chasing them with. The monkeys were trying to get out of the fields as fast a possible without getting swatted.

Bali has been my second favorite place we've visited so far. The people were friendly, the food was good, and there was a lot to see and do there. Hopefully we'll get to go back!

Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Damien and I saw a picture on the internet of these Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies so I decided to make them the other evening.

Wow, sugar overload! I wanted to like them because I love chocolate chip cookies and Oreos, but together they are too much. Also, the recipe calls for a 2 Tbsp. cookie dough ball on top of the Oreo and a 2 Tbsp. cookie dough ball on bottom. The cookie was so large that it didn't get cooked all the way through and was still very doughy. I think I'll stick to eating my Oreos and chocolate chip cookies separately! 

One Year

We haven't been to the doctor for her one year check-up yet but here are her stats that I took myself:

Weight: 23 lbs. (75%)
Height: 30.5 in. (75-90%)

We have a nanny that comes a few times during the week to clean and help with Audrina. Her name is Stella and Audrina loves her! She was so sweet and got Audrina this cute little dress for her birthday.

Look at all that hair!

13 Months

Damien running around the house with Audrina. She thought it was great!

Audrina has been taking a few steps here and there for awhile, but only downstairs at the play area (it has soft floors) and with Stella, our nanny. Last week she just decided she was going to start walking in our apartment. She started walking from one thing to the next and it's been very exciting! I'd say she's officially walking.

She's also still into books. She loves to sit and "read" them to us by saying, "Eeeeee, eeee..." and she still likes to chew on them too.

Her latest obsessions are shoes, bracelets, and necklaces. She can say the word shoes and likes to put her hands in them and crawl around. She especially likes to put her feet in Damien's shoes and tries walking around with them. She never gets too far.

She loves to eat blueberries and beans. And we've recently started letting her try desserts. She's definitely our child. She loves dessert and chocolate! She even likes to share a piece of dark chocolate with me ever once in a while!

She's getting a lot more hair so we've started putting little pigtails and ponytails in it. Stella, our helper, loves to style Audrina's hair when she comes.

Audrina loves to be outside. When she wants to go out she'll walk to the door, wave, and say "Ba ba". We've been going on to the park to play and run and to the pool here at our complex. She loves to go on the swings at the park and she's content to have me push her for 10-15 minutes. She's also turned into our little fish. We've had her in the water since she was born, but she seems to love it more and more every day. She is always trying to jump in the deep part of the pool and loves to kick her legs when I let her "swim". She loves being in the water with us and has lots of friends she plays with at the pool.

She's getting so big and learning so many new things. We love her even though she's always keeping us on our toes!