This past weekend, we had been planning a beach trip getaway. Hubs has to work every night except Saturday and Sunday with secure internet access so we cannot do a weekday getaway. We planned on being semi-tourists with an air conditioned hotel in mind since everyone was feeling the heat at our house. We have fans but it never really gets cool; we are always sweating. We drink gallons of water and Chamomile tea here. Our freezer doesn't get cold enough for ice anymore somehow. Plus, the weather is just more intense when one is sick and has to walk outside to use the toilet. Since E was all well on Saturday morning, we thought a hotel stay would do her (all of us!) ever more good. So, we stuck with the plan of a beach getaway choosing a location with two of our favorite places to eat!
Zula's is a vegan restaurant with a focus on raw, living foods. I could eat the menu, as our new friend would say. We ate yummy nachos, lentil soup, mashed potatoes, GF pancakes and tempe bacon, fresh salads, tempe tuna wraps, chickpea burgers, GF samosas, and platters full of yummy with 5 portions of incredible. To top it off, I had warm apple pie with fresh, local handmade coconut milk ice cream! Are you kidding me?! We found homemade GF and sugar free vegan cookies in Almond, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip and Date. A sample of each please. Hubs is a huge fan of smoothies and he probably had two with every meal! The girls and I split a strawberry soymilk shake with dinner the first night. I actually have a picture of E and I splitting one from four years ago framed and hanging on the wall at our house!
The drive down in a hot car with traffic was crazy, of course. I still cannot believe the amazing amount of patience God graced me with to not have a panic attack. Sitting in a sweltering hot car after 2 hours of bouncy kids surrounded by motorbikes on both sides and other vehicles (all with no regulations on exhausts!!!) was enough to break a mama. We went in circles after one wrong turn upon arriving, then B had to poop and of course, there were no toilets to be found by the restaurant owners of vacation central. Argh! When we finally found one, I tripped on my skirt carrying B up the concrete stairs and bonked her head on a step. Yep, incredible. She was amazingly okay. We finally found our way and ate the yummiest dinner.
After securing a reasonably affordable hotel (some are crazy expensive in tourist town), we settled into the cool air. The next morning, E was surprised to have her wish of eating tots granted at the breakfast buffet! When she said on the drive down, "I wish I could eat tots." I kinda laughed and said, "No tots here in Bali that I have ever seen." Leave it up to a hotel that caters to Australians to have baked beans, toast and tots on the breakfast line! We spent the morning on the beach, splashing in the water and walking. A friendly pup greeted us, which the girls found delightful. He jumped up on me and bit a hole in my swim skort! Argh. Goodness. We are on vacation, people. No biting dogs. We get enough crazy dogs in our own village. Anyway, being on said vacation, we took a taxi to lunch to avoid the heat and walking with two beach tired out lil chicks. We have taken all of three taxis in our four years coming here before this. One time was an emergency and the others were for similar beach trips. We like to walk but hubs and I agreed our families health was in recovery so planned to take it easy. Taking a taxi is really wonderful. Quick and air conditioned. Wow.
We spent time plashing in the pool that had a shallow sand side then a deeper space. It was excellent. We floated on noodles, ate our desserts and lounged. E practiced swimming and B tossed the basketball into the hoop with her dada. His dreams come true, eh? We did walk to dinner in the cooler air later that afternoon, stopping to buy hats along the way. After ordering, B and I bought some necklaces and bracelets for friends back home from a roadside stand of smoking guys.
Across from Zula's was a shop full of soccer jerseys. B is really into playing soccer with her BFF here and watching our friend play soccer. The soccer field is the center of our small village. We've already talked about her playing soccer with Eleanor next spring. With stars in her eyes, she asked, "Do they ever make soccer shirts in my size?" or something like that. I confirmed and hoped we'd find one on this trip. What a delight as we walked home to see tiny soccer jerseys all lined up at the market! B and I were thrilled to pick through stacks of them. She wanted blue and white so it didn't take long. She took her shirt off right there and rocked out the blue jersey with white lettering. I know nothing about teams or players or numbers or names and thankfully, neither does she! Blue and white were enough to please. She literally was jumping up and down with joy and my smile hurt my cheeks. The seller guy was hysterical with us laughing and laughing and trying to hug and high five with B. He gave us a good deal on the top and shorts which B wore to the hotel and slept in!
Tots and jerseys are not natural. Nothing about them screams healthy! They are processed with ingredients we normally avoid. But, these two items were the longings of my daughters' hearts this weekend. And, this mama has a heart full of happiness that after vomiting for three days or sitting on a toilet every 3 hours, something would bring that light back to their eyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment