Then we went to Palau!!

I know it has been a LONG time, but what can I say...

What I can say is that we went to Bali one week and then turned around and went to Palau a few weeks later. Jill's friend, Ginny McGill, came all the way from Alaska to visit. The three of us, Liam and the Bantz Family hopped a plane to Palau for a 5 day dive/snorkel trip. All I can say is the pictures do not do justice. We had a wonderful time.

Liam had fun everyday with a babysitter while we went out on the dive boat.

As always do not feel like you need to watch this,but it is a few highlights of the trip.

Our plane leaving Guam was only 2 hours late so we made it to Palau at 12 midnight. Liam did better than Sean.

Those days of wanting to work at a ski resort to ski everyday or not have a summer job to spend all the time in the mountains was briefly replaced by a desire to be a dive master and take people diving. Diving 3 dives a day - 3 days in a row, while is no record, sure was amazing.

Stay tuned because there is a chance that Jill will edit this!!!!

Seraya Shores in Bali

Seraya Shores was amazing. Made (our driver from Munduk) drove us all - Rebecca, Andy, Jill, Liam and me! Made's little boy,Gade, (Ga-day) went with us. He laughed at Liam a lot because Liam SCREAMED a lot. Liam had issues with his car seat. We practiced our parenting skills and took him out from time to time to feed, change or just have some quiet. Once we arrived we were escorted to a room that was a bit over the top...but it was the only room open...bummer. Some perspective - Liam on the floor and the bed. It was sweet.

Bathrooms here were open air also. There was a little bowl perfect for Liam. As soon as he and I got back from an early morning swim in the infinity pool 10 yards from the room he would take his bath before breakfast.

Rebecca and Andy would come over from their cute little cottage and sit on our huge porch. The staff brought us breakfast each morning and even made some porriage for Liam.

YUMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYY!!!

We went to White Sand Beach for a morning to get a little sun and have some snorkel time. It was quite beautiful. The water, breeze, fish....ummmm-good times. Back on the porch we would have afternoon tea, then figure out what time we would have dinner.

Dinner would be served anywhere we wanted - the table on our porch, the yoga hut, the pool, the restaurant, or the overlook.

Another rough morning in the yoga hut for a wonderful breakfast.

Liam thought it was pretty funny to impersonate Elmo, but you have to admit he looks a little mischievous.

This is the view from the yoga hut. Funny thing is we never actually did any yoga in the yoga hut.

We did go to the local market with Sussa, the chef for Seraya Shores. He buys fresh food for all the meals each day. The local marketwas mu ch more fun and interesting than the touristy market.

REALLLLLY good desert! Banana pancakes with ice cream.

Again....proper use of a car seat in Bali.

Liam's new rattle - He though it was pretty cool!

Andy and Rebecca left a day before we did so we down sized into their room. It was also amazing.

Our last day we did a trek around rice fields, corn fields, and peanut fields. The countryside was beautiful. Gusti was the driver we had in Seraya. He also gave us our tour on the last day.

This is Gusti...our driver/tour guide.

This was a spring that had spiritual meaning to the Hindu people. There was a temple on one end and families would spend the day there swimming and spending time together.

This was the crew at Seraya. They loved Liam and he loved them. After they would serve us a meal they would take Liam away back to the kitchen, down to the ocean, out to the pool or just walk around the grounds with him and keep him entertained. Every time he saw them coming he would get quite excited. It was great to see how they cared for him.

A quick shot on our way to the airport of some great scaffolding.

Puri Lumbung in Bali

This is our adventure of Bali starting in the village of Munduk. We stayed at a place called Puri Lumbung Cottages. This is located in the heart of Bali a little more north and out of the standard tourist area. Traveling with a 8 month old made this a whole different type of adventure.

The nice thing about Liam was he made this customs line go by real fast because they moved us to the front of the line. Thanks Liam!

The rice fields were beautiful. Our first drivers name was Made (Maude-ee). He picked us up from the airport and took us to Munduk. For those of you that have traveled in foreign countries, driving in Bali is an adventure in itself.

Don't tell anyone...we actually felt safe enough to even give Liam a little snack during the drive.

It was the season to be picking and drying cloves. They smell really good!

Our cottage was beautiful. We had the upstairs and Rebecca and Andy Rice had the down stairs. Open bathrooms, high ceilings, open air rooms were amazing. They even had a little crib for Liam to sleep in that had a mosquito net over it.

This is Andy and I on our way back from breakfast. The rice fields were everywhere and people worked in them at all times.

This is Liam during his breakfast....and after his breakfast.

View of Sean and Liam from near the room.

This is Made's family. His dad, in the middle, drove us around one day for a while. He did not speak any english but we figured it out.

Jill and Rebecca walking down the road in Munduk feeling good about their shopping experience and shirt purchase.This is the seamstress that made a shirt for both Rebecca and Jill. They are really beautiful. It is amazing to see the talent.

We went to a restaurant one day for lunch that was part of a coffee plantation. We were taken on a tour of the process to make coffee. This is a grinder. He stands and drops this stick over and over and over. Then he sifts the coffee. The coffee there is placed right in the cup similar to instant but is MUCH better.

We hiked to Red Coral Waterfall the morning before we left to Seraya Shores on the east coast of Bali.

Rebecca, Jill and Liam at the falls.

Jill and I walked through the rice fields one evening.

Many Hindu idols and temples everywhere in Bali.

Trying to take a nice picture is hard when your eyes are always doing weird things...

Usually after about 10 pictures of Sean's eyes messing it up Jill gives up.

Liam on a hike ... sometimes he gives up too.

Action shot...exept for Liam-He's sleeping.

A bug.

Liam pointed out all the banana trees.

This is Made's wife and 7 month old girl. The day we left she gave us a gift. It is a boy's Hindu cerimonial outfit. It was quite touching. Made also drove us to Seraya Shores when we left Munduk.

Check out Sereya Shores in Bali for the remainder of our trip.