Indonesia - Part 7: A Taste of The Bush

As mentioned in the last post, Australia is expensive!  We decided to have breakfast and most lunches in our hotel room (cereal, fruit, sandwiches, etc.), and Phil decided that he needed to experience the local favorite of Vegemite.

He hated it.  I'm unable to load the video, but he nearly spit it out saying that it tasted like vitamins.  At least he was brave enough to try it.

We were there during wet season, so there were pockets of rain every day. 

We were NOT in tourist Australia.  That would not have been exciting to a nature-lover, so we made our way in and through "The Bush" region of northern Australia.

Window to the Wetlands

The next series of pictures depict Phil's highlight of the trip...seeing animals in the wild.  Even though I don't have the same passion for animals, I LOVED seeing him get so excited about anything that moved.  Here's a glimpse of "The Bush."

Wallaby on the side of the road.

Hawk

Farmed-Water Buffalo

Darter

Kingfisher

Pond Lilly

Masked Lapwing

Neat Little Red Bird

Another Kingfisher

Galah

Giant Fruit Bats

Another Hawk

Wallaby Poop

 Sulfter-Crested Cockatoo

Monitor Lizard

Agile Wallaby

Indonesia - Part 6: Darwin, Australia

Our first full day in Australia was relaxing and full of exploration.

 Phil and I went for a little walk to acclimate ourselves to the city, 

and Phil was fascinated by the aborigines.  

 I found them to be loud, smelly, and rather crude.

Phil was also fascinated by the trucks with snorkels.  Very practical, right?!

Phil happily spent the after the afternoon at Crocosaurus Cove while Ann and I happily spent the afternoon by our hotel's pool.

 Phil was able to observe jumping crocs, snakes, lizards, and all sorts of Phil-type stuff.

I think I got the gist from the 200 pictures that he took, 

and I enjoyed my reptile-free afternoon.

We enjoyed a sunset walk along the harbor.

Phil spotted a box jellyfish (the lethal kind from the movie Seven Pounds) which immediately proved why we couldn't go swimming in Darwin.

This right here is my beautiful sister looking beautiful.

She just did a nice post on our sister time during the trip.

Sunset in Australia...a dream come true for us!

Always a goof...and I love him more and more every day!

This shows the wharf area where we had a fun dinner.  We quickly learned that Australia is FAR MORE EXPENSIVE than Indonesia.  It is actually far more expensive than the states.  A simple burger was $20, a movie ticket was $18, a water bottle was $4.50, etc.

More on Australia in the next post!

16 Weeks

On Tuesday, the 7th, I was 16 weeks into this pregnancy.  Seeing that this isn't my first time down this road, I find myself more and more anxious for the finish line.  The whole pregnancy journey is amazing and beautiful, but I think I would be just fine fast-forwarding to October.

 Clare is CONVINCED that she is going to have a baby sister.  She talks to my belly as if she's really talking to her sister (which she notified me could be called Sally or Rosie), and she says that adding another girl will "break the tie."  When I told her that another boy would also break the tie, she quickly retorted with, "But the girls need to win."  Oh...my competitive first-born.

From the very beginning of this pregnancy, I had the gut feeling that it was a boy.  I've since had two dreams that it was a girl.  We found out the gender with Clare and Isaac, but we are going for the surprise this time around.  Here's to 24 more weeks of guessing.

While I'm in the midst of these different stages, I love looking back on my old pregnancy posts.  This may not be interesting to anyone else,
but it is for nostalgia and record-keeping fun.

Cravings:

- Pineapple and cottage cheese 

(This is BY FAR my biggest craving.  I eat it EVERY DAY.  After years of believing that I was allergic to pineapple, I must have developed a pregnancy immunity.  I am undoubtedly making up for lost time.)

- Bagel with cream cheese 

(This literally got me through the first couple of months.)

- Taco Salad...namely, Doritos

(There was a stretch where I ate taco salad for about 6-8 days in a row.)
- Mini-Chewy Sweet Tarts
(I had never eaten these until a month ago when my friend had a bowl of them at her baby shower.  I haven't been the same since.  I kid you not, an embarrassing number of these bags have flown through our house...and I typically keep them hidden from all other fingers.)

- Cereal
(Every time I walk down the cereal aisle, I find myself drawn to another type of cereal: Frosted Mini-Wheats, Honey Graham Oh's, Life, Honeycomb, Cocoa Puffs, etc. - These have become my morning, afternoon, and evening snack...
along with cottage cheese and pineapple.) 
- Red Meat 
(This has been consistent through every pregnancy, and it is hand's down Phil's favorite pregnancy craving of mine.)
- Cold Juice and Milk
(This is likely due to the fact that I'm not drinking soda all day long.) 


Aversions:
- Soda and Tea...both of which I used to drink EVERY DAY. 
- Gum...another daily habit in my non-preggo state.
- Apples...typically one of my favorite fruits, and I can't even get a bite down. 
- Toothpaste...I can't avoid this one, but it makes me gag every day.
 

Indonesia - Part 5: Ubud

Ubud (a beautiful place in central-Bali) was my favorite part of our trip.

We stayed at a magical little place that felt like it was out of a magazine.

The was the view at breakfast.

The pool was in the center of the "resort", and all of the villas surrounded it.

We were in the middle of the rice fields, 

and it was a panorama of breathtaking views.

We enjoyed a little hike into town and stopped to take a picture with "The Fremont Indicator."  That's all it takes to make it into the newspaper in our hometown.  :)

There were cute cafes along the walk, so we stopped for some fancy juice.  Mixed juices are VERY popular in Indonesia, and they are always fresh.  I think I had banana, orange, mango on this particular stop, but the varieties were unending.

One of the beautiful view along the walk.

Sister Time
We walked the entire path together because Phil was camera happy with all of the surrounding nature.  I will spare you the pictures of all the unidentifiable creatures, trees, and wildlife that he took. I will also spare you all of the butt shots that he took of us walking in front of him.

Lunch at Casa Luna...my FAVORITE restaurant of the whole trip.  I liked it so much that I requested to go back the very next day, and I ordered the exact same thing.

Our first evening had a bit of rain, but that didn't stop Phil from lounging in the pool.

 The next morning was bright and sunny again.

Phil and I got Balinese pedicures.  They are different from normal pedicures in a few distinct ways: 1. They only cost $6, and that was "pricey" because we were at a resort.  2. They were PAINFUL.  They scrubbed on our DRY feet until they were nearly raw, and then they rubbed fresh lime over them.  I actually had to ask her to stop because I was wincing in pain.

Proof of the PAIN!

These monsters were far more prevalent than I would have liked, 

and they even got Phil's attention.

After a WONDERFUL time in Bali, 

it was time to say goodbye and head over to Australia.