A birthday, Kite & Champas, Bali

The new week began on Monday the 23rd of July, with the kids excited to be back at soccer and gymnastics camp.

Nina & Jack, ready for gym & soccer camp 

Richard dropped the kids off while I went to Power plate and then to BIMC which is Bali International Medical Centre to have a niggling problem addressed. I was so impressed with the service... it makes Australia's medical system seem third world.
Within 20 minutes I had seen a doctor and had the medication in hand and was on my way back to Canggu.
Richard and I then went out for lunch before it was time to pick up the kids and head towards The Seminyak Hotel to catch up with Gen & Mono and celebrate their little girl Gracie's 3rd birthday.
Nina was very excited about the prospect, buying Gracie a matching dress...

Twins in their matching dresses

I think Gracie had a great 3rd Bali birthday... and Nina has made a little friend for life.

Gracie blows out her candles

Gracie & Nina

Ron & Lee also joined us for the party and by 7ish after cutting the cake and watching the spectacular sunset we bid farewell to the Montgomerie's to have dinner at a local Italian restaurant before heading home.

The amazing sunset

The kids were exhausted after their first day back at soccer and gymnastics.

Tuesday the 24th of July, I dropped the kids off at the Canggu Club and headed to my Personal Training Session. My PT's name is Ron and boy does he make me work hard. The best part of the session is when he says it's over.
Richard and I then took off on the scooter to look for a good helmet for me - I tried on hundreds of helmets but didn't have any luck. I'll just have to keep borrowing the kids for the time being.

When we arrived home we started chatting about a pet for Ron & Lee.
Richard was keen to buy his folks an Iguana as a pet (no, I am not joking) I decided to start looking for an alternative, more people friendly pet and began exploring other weird and wonderful options (like a fenec fox etc) in the Bali classifieds.
While we were in full search for an appropriate pet mode - what would you know, the next door neighbours orphan dog walked through the front door of our Villa.
The kids played with it for a while and after a few hours they went to take it back to neighbour who  had taken the dog under his wing until he found an appropriate owner. When asked if we wanted to keep it  - the rest is history.
Ron & Lee are now the proud owners of a Bali dog named Kite... he is about 3 months old and very cute & clever.

Kite makes himself comfortable 

Kite & Ron - bonding

I think Lee breathed a huge sigh of relief -  and I can't blame her, the dog seemed like a great alternative to an Iguana.

Tuesday night the 24th of July, the kids stayed home with Sumi, the housekeeper, who made them a special dinner while Richard and I caught up for a drink with Ron & Lee and Ian & Carol (the people who Ron and Lee brought the Villa from) at the opening night of Mosaic, a new beach front restaurant.
Richard and I have been big fans of Mosaic for many years and used to often travel up to Ubud for their amazing de gestation menu... the new Mosaic is situated just minutes from Ron & Lee's Villa.
From Mosaic, we met up with Gen & Mono and their friends from Perth, Russell & Andrea, for an amazing dinner at Metis, a French Restaurant.

We ate in a private dining room and the food was amazing. It was a  beautiful night with great company. Thanks to Gen, Mono, Russel & Andrea for the invite.

Gen, Andrea, Russell, Mono, Richard & I at Metis

A call from Gen & Mono's babysitter to say their little man Louis, who is 7 months old, was not happy... had us all going back to the Seminyak Hotel for one more drink, which we didn't need.
Louis was fine and after a night-cap we all headed home to our Villas.

When we arrived back at Villa Hai, Lee was up chatting with Shelly, who had just arrived from Sydney. Shelly's parents The Green's are good friends of Ron & Lee's from way back and Shelly was up in Bali for a wedding... it ended up being another late night.

Today, Wednesday the 25th of July,  after dropping the kids off at their respective camps Shelly and I hit the streets of Seminyak to do some shopping.

Mak & I at the Champagne Bar

I then met up with my fellow Sambuca buddy, Marie-Anne to drink the Champagne Bar dry... we laughed and drank and joked all afternoon, continuing to catch up on the last 7 months... It was priceless!

Shelley joined us for the last part of the afternoon before we all decided we'd had enough. Mak headed off back to the Dynasty while Shelly & I headed back to the Villa. We arrived to find the kids waiting for me to take them to the pet shop to buy Kite a bed, dog collar, lead etc.

Kite is one lucky and spoilt dog and with his diamante dog collar,  he now looks like a Canggu dog.