Blackbeard . . . Arrrgh!

One of three anchors belonging to the Blackbeard’s ship Queen Anne’s Revenge was pulled out of the ocean the other day. And we found this pirate roaming about the house:

Wedding season

Last week, Novita, one of the teachers at the learning center got married. So the girls and I made it a father-daughter date, since Ethan was sick and Kim stayed home with him (and of course Aidan had no interest in going, though he missed out on the good food).

I’m very proud of my girls getting into the culture and enjoying great Indonesian food. Of course, they were born here, so this is more natural for them than it is for me. But Indo food can be quite appetizing.

Dessert was our favorite, es kelapa muda – iced young coconut juice. We always joke that most Americans would hate this stuff because it looks so unappetizing with all the stuff floating in it. But it is soooo good and refreshing on a hot day.

A new kind of Ice Skating . . .

. . . wax skating. Yes, you read that right. Skating on a rink that’s layered with a sheet of wax. Instead of the ice cold zambonie machine coming out and smoothing down the surface, they bring a gigantic iron out that melts the wax and smoothes it off. We had never heard of it before, but here it is in Indonesia – guess it’s too hot here in the tropics for an outdoor ice rink.  

Trick my Office

For my birthday, Kim was inspired to trick my office, which was desperately in need of a makeover. It’s great! And after watching “Trick my Truck” – can you believe we actually get that over here - I learned how to show complete surprise when it was unveiled. Thanks Kim! This place is awesome!

Off to the waterfall

The Coban Rondo waterfall is one of our favorite places to go for a few hours of hiking and enjoying Indonesia. Well, it’s actually been years since we’ve been back there, even though it only takes us about an hour to drive up there. But over the spring break, we took the day off and hauled ourselves up the mountain (driving first, then hiking).

 The view of our city down below is beautiful.

 There are even wild monkeys along the way that love to come out for food . . . or steal it from you.

 Get in close to the fall and you definitely get soaked from the mist.

And one of our favorite Indonesian treats, especially to help warm you up after getting all wet, is grilled corn on the cob.