Waterboms, Champagne & Villa Hai

Wednesday morning the 20th of June.. and Richard and I were up early and sneaking out of the top floor of our villa to have a peaceful morning swim. When the kids finally realised we were in the pool without them the serenity was long gone as they bombied around us... oh well, it had worked for a while.
It was then brekky and Richard went off to have a massage with Putu down the road while I went with Melissa and the kids to Bintang Square supermarket to stock up on some staples like bottled water, soy milk, snacks for the kids and vegemite.
I almost passed out when I saw the price of vegemite at the check-out... $13.50 for a little jar...unbelievable. I brought it anyway, some things in life you simply have to have.
I then met Richard after his massage, and was surprised when he was impressed with Putu and his analysis of him. It was then my turn with Putu, he is getting great business out of all of us.
By the time I got back to the Villas everyone had gone off in different directions so I took time out to chill and greet more friends and family as they arrived.
By afternoon, everyone was back around the pool bar, having a swim and having lots of fun, ready to greet more arrivals as they walked through the door, including Andrew and Olivia, Tom and Lola.
Leon and Melissa has taken the kids to release baby turtles into the ocean...

The crowd releasing baby turtles into the ocean

So cute!

...we all ran out the front of the villa when we heard them arriving....

All the kids in the back of a bus

Having fun with friends

We then strolled up the road to a Pizza place which came highly recommended - only to be told on arrival that their pizza oven was broken. So it was pasta instead. While we were there Nina's best friends Tia and Michelle my good friend from Harvey arrived, so I walked back to the Villas to collect them.

It was funny to see the two girls reaction when they saw each other, after such a huge build up and Nina asking me for days "when is Tia getting here" they were stand offish, almost shy...that only took a few minutes and they were back to being old buddies again.

Nina with her buddy Tia

Me with my buddy Michelle

Melissa & Jack

Thursday morning the 21st of June,  and we all had an early brekky before the men took all the kids to Waterbom Park for the day....bliss....what should I do??? It was at that point my good buddy Janine walked through the door, having travelled through the night to get to Bali.
She was exhausted but was up for a trip to the markets along with Michelle and Olivia.

So off we went to haggle for some bum bags for the kids and DVD's. After an hour we had had enough so we got in a cab to head back to the Villas. It was then that Olivia made mention of the Champagne Bar and before long the cabbie had been diverted to the Champagne Bar... it was only 11am but hey, this is Bali!!

Michaelle, Janine, Me & Liv at the Champagne Bar

Liv organises a cake for me...someone tell her I am not 40 yet!!!!

It was a great gathering, chatting and laughing and two bottles later, along with a Spanish Tapas plate we were on our way back to the Villas as the girls had massages booked with Putu (I told you he was doing good business)
I had a swim and a chat with Janine and Ronnie, who has joined us around the pool and then retired for a Nanna nap...Life is tough!
Richard arrived home with the kids around 3ish...all with lots of stories to tell including how two of our kids got lost and were fed ice creams while their parents were called over the loud speaker...Great "parents of the year - again"!
The girls all looked beautiful having had their hair plaited....

Lola, Nina & Tia have their hair plaited

We all met in the bar area around 4ish to catch cabs to Ron & Lee's Villa Hai. We had planned the night before to head there for a drink and pizza from the local Italian Restaurant.
Anyway, when we got there Lee looked frazzled... she had been shopping all day for food and had all of her staff on... cooking - but the power had been off for 6 hours and there was no water.

Everyone arriving in cabs at Villa Hai

As much as I love her and Ron dearly - it was not the plan to stress them out in any way but what was done was done.
The power did eventually come back on and the staff cooked up a storm under the watchful eye of Ms Lee and the kids were the waiting staff, filling up drinks and catering to everyone. The night ended up being a huge success. Thank you Ron & Lee, I am so blessed to have you both.

3 generations - Jack, Ron & Richard, have a chat

Richard, Uncle Baz & Brownie

Linda, Brownie & Andrew

Janine & Michelle

Aaron, Claire & Uncle Baz, he always finds the pretty girls

Some more pretty girls, Liv, Meliss & Linda

It was a mammoth day but one I will treasure - I enjoyed everyone minute of it.
Today, Friday the 22nd of June, I am excited about seeing more family and friends and enjoying the last day of my 30's.