Good Weekend

It was a beautiful weekend here.  We caught a particular gorgeous morning with the full moon setting in the west as the sun was rising in the east after one of our anticipation-induced early morning wake ups.  


The weather has started to cool off just a bit and the rain is much less consistent.  It seems to be kite season and the air is filled with kites that kids are flying.  Kite flying appears to be a predominantly male activity with few girls flying kites.  Many are homemade out of bamboo and plastic bags, but some are store bought, mainly in bird shapes.  On Sunday we joined some local boys flying kites in the rice paddies by our house.  We shared some laughs, sang songs together, played tricks pushing each other into the rice paddies and general goofiness.  


It was also Owen's birthday party this weekend and we went to Waterbom, a waterpark which is like a tropical raging waters on steroids.  The rides were far more extreme as they don't worry about liability.  In fact, we heard about several fatalities and our friend shared a story about catching a bit too much air and falling out of the slide, not off of his tube, but out of the actual waterslide.  Luckily, he only sprained his ankle and had multiple bruises.  We had lots of fun though and by the end of the day, Owen had worked up the courage to ride "Smashdown" which is a pretty precipitous drop followed by a small hump and then almost straight down in a narrow trough of the slide.  The force of the water after the drop was enough to rip Rock's swim shorts all the way up to the band.  It was definitely exhilarating.   After going on it twice, Owen said, "Mom, that one isn't actually my favorite."  "Mine either" I replied.  After the party, Xochi came over for a sleepover and joined for Easter.


Sunday was Easter and we had a party at our house.  The Balinese Easter Bunny came in the morning and hid small, colorful woven boxes and bags and decorative tins around the house and garden.  Very excited about Easter, the kids woke up an hour or more before they usually do and were raring to go despite my attempts to keep them asleep.  I was a bit nervous that the Easter Bunny hadn't had time to hide the "eggs" but it turns out he was up early too.  Friends came over later for a potluck brunch, swimming and several more hunts.  It was a fun gathering for all and it was nice hosting at our house for the first time.  

My parents arrive in a week and between the excitement of that, the gorgeous weather, and the fun-filled weekend I am definitely feeling a renewed appreciation for being here.  We have only two and a half more months filled with travel and multiple visitors so I think it will fly by.  A week or two ago, I felt like June 27th, our departure date, couldn't come soon enough but now the thought of the end brings both sadness and excitement. As I was looking at our latest batch of photos, I was thinking about how beautiful it is right out our front door and how much I will miss this.  


The rice is tall now and blows in the wind.  Several paddies nearby had ceremonies for the rice being "pregnant" and special offerings are made every day to secure a good harvest.  The full moon and an auspicious day as determined by the priest  brought many ceremonies and many weddings.  There are ceremonies all over the place and special decorations at the front of peoples homes mark the place where someone in the family just got married.  On our drive back from Waterbom, we saw the longest procession of offerings we have seen yet with around 100 women carrying tall offerings on their heads followed by a male gamelan group.  These are things that we won't experience at home. They are usually surprises to us and we never know what the future will hold.  The range of what is possible feels much larger than at home and it keeps us on our toes.