Life Could Be A Dream: Selamat Ulang Tahun

That's Happy Birthday in Bahasa(Balinese). In 2010 I was dying for a vacation, my dreams were small, cheap and easy. Mexico, drinks, sun, no kids. Then there was this little move, 2 job changes, and well, the vacation fell to the wayside. By the time 2011 rolled around I was pretty much in rigor mortis for a vacation. I would have gone anywhere sans twins, to the Sydney Hilton, the Paducah Courtyard anywhere. As luck would have it, the Kansas Society of CPA's had the Paducah Courtyard all booked up so we ended up at The Chedi Club, Tanah Gajah, Ubud, Bali. My birthday just happened to be during our stay...and we were cunning enough to trick my parents into watching the boys. The last time we tricked them into watching them, the boys were sweet precious rolly poly, non-mobile, non-verbal 8 month olds. I assured them they were just about the same...said a quick prayer for forgiveness and booked my flight!

The hotel lobby where you are seated for check in and served a welcome drink and delicious little nibblies.

Our private pool inside the walls of our villa

I finished three books, none of which contained illustrations, in those chairs

The main pool, never put a toe in

Daybed by the pool

Outdoor tub

A portion of the interior of our villa, it was so immaculate in every detail that it looked like we were the first guests to stay there. All 7 days it looked this clean, as our butler REALLY cleaned 2X/day, he also did our laundry and put it away everyday, brought food, drinks, ice, paper and anything else I could dream up. I was not sure if I should tip him or propose.

We were set to hike the volcano in the background and got up at 2:45 am to do so. Fate intervened and it rained and rained hard, so we hopped back into bed and slept like it was our job! I don't want to brag but we slept until past 8, which would have been 10 Sydney time

Pretty obsessed with having a private pool

Ubud Temple

I have always wanted to try this gourmet dish but have never had the opportunity, dreams do come true in Bali.

Where we ate most of our meals, poolside

They offer complimentary tea every afternoon, they also offer complimentary drinks but somehow I always forgot to take a picture. They make a drink called the Tanah Gajah Purple with purple basil, if basil is a vegetable, I got my 5 servs a day, easy!

Mama cleaning her baby in the Monkey Forest, monkeys EVERYWHERE!

"Seen one jade budha seen 'em all," is phrase we came up with in Shanghai. It also applies to local dance shows, tourist markets and the entire family of Marriott brands. I would have left this show it was so bad, but I did not want to further the ugly Americans cause and there were kids in it, and I could not make the kids sad, although the kids reminded me of really young kids playing in the outfield of little league. Bored. Picking at grass. Making faces at each other. Almost setting fire to one another with their torches, typical kid stuff.

Rice terraces surround the property

Our butler took us on a rice terrace tour, these are the locals a day post major temple festival, slaughtering animals for sacrifice, burning trash and other fun things