Watch, Read, Listen

18 April 2016 – Annika, at the request of her English teacher, entered a short story writing competition here in China.  I don't have all the details of the actual competition (was it open to all Chinese students? Or only international students?) however Annika received an award for her participation in the competition (I'm not…

22 April 2016 – Routine expander appointment for Ava turned into something a little bigger….BRACES!  The orthodontist thinks that he can help Ava's cross-bite and get her teeth lined up within a three month time frame.  (One month in…and yes we're seeing changes but nothing dramatic.)  Good bye expanders….and hello braces!   Somebody looks like…

1 April 2016 – The various ornamental fruit trees in front of our house have just exploded into beautiful, pink blossoms! Certainly it doesn't take a fool to enjoy these beauties! This blossom display only lasts for a short time – so enjoy it while you can!

12 April 2016 – IST Elementary Choir participating in this year's ISCOT Choral Festival held at TIS (Tianjin International School…which is different than International School of Tianjin).   The IST children sang a beautiful rendition of a famous Hebrew song "Bashana Haba'ah". Can you spot Ava???

  7 April 2016- After visiting the temple…… We're visiting an interesting stand that sells different locally grown spices (think cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla bean, pepper)…and the world famous Luwak coffee.  What is Luwak coffee?  It's coffee that has been "processed" by a luwak (civet).  Meaning, the animal eats the beans and poops them out.  Mmmm….sounds…

We're back in the van and we're making our way towards  Pura Ulun Danu Beratan It's a series of small temples located right on the edge of a Lake Beratan on the northern side of Bali.  You can read more about the temples >here<. Attempting to get a decent family photo at the entrance of…

Watching the pod – or was it pods? – of dolphins leaping and jumping was certainly a fun way to start the morning.   After our lovely breakfast we hopped back into our van.   Next stop?   Gitgit Waterfall Lush & Green…. moist, clean air.   After we were first dropped off at the…

7 April 2016 – We're up early.  Super freaking early! However we're driving over to Lovina Beach this morning to watch the dolphins.  The manager of Sumberkima Hill told us that it'd take about 1.5 hours to drive to Lovina Beach from our current location.  We had to be there between 6 and 6:30 am…

Beginning of April 2016- It's spring break time at IST- which happens to coincide nicely with a Chinese holiday (Tomb Sweeping festival).   We're so lucky. So very, very lucky!  We're spending our spring break in Bali.   Actually,  you've already seen a few photos from our trip as Ava's scuba diving certification and our…

I'm going to roll back the clock to Ava's tenth birthday this past February.  As part of her birthday gift we enrolled her in the PADI online course – just as her Dad, Mom, and big sister had done before her. Ten is the minimum age allowed in scuba diving. Ava was more than ready…