After a fun week in Bali, Aidan and Sedona were excited to spend some time in our new home and explore Jakarta. We didn’t waste any time and took a walk to Pasar Mayestic to choose fabric so our tailor could make them some new clothes before they headed back to the states.

We were lucky enough to celebrate New Years Eve with them, so we made an exception to our usual 10 pm bedtime and planned a big night out! We enjoyed another wonderful  buffet at the Spectrum restaurant and then headed to the top floor of the Fairmont hotel for a circus themed New Year’s celebration. They had a cirque du soleil type performance on the dance floor and a great band. It was such a fun party that I don’t even think the kids minded being stuck with their parents on New Year’s Eve!

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Of course, after very late night out we had to take a day to rest before starting out on our next adventure. Pina Coladas by the pool fit the bill!

We decided to leave the city again for Sedona’s birthday and head to the mountains in Bogor. Unfortunately, Bogor is not immune to the traffic of an Indonesian city. It was a 90 minute ride there in the morning, but a 5+ hour ride home that evening!! Next time we have visitors we will take the train for sure! Luckily, it was a pretty awesome day. We started at Taman Safari which is a zoo that can primarily be enjoyed from the comfort of your own car. Before entering the zoo we purchased carrots and bananas from a roadside vendor and then the fun began! In some areas we were warned that the car windows had to stay closed. You can see why!

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We also made a visit to Gunung Mas Tea Plantation where we learned a little about how tea is made and Sedona got a chance to fly high above the tea plants. During another stop at one of only two gong “factories” left in Indonesia Aidan helped to bang out a burning hot gong and our driver, Ruri, showed us how the finished product is played!

After our stop and go 5 hour drive we decided to stay in Jakarta for a while. We went shopping in Mangga Dua, walked through our neighborhood, went to Old Town and spent some time in our apartment gym trying to work off all those buffets! Is making funny faces while working out a family trait?

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Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Sedona first, as her winter break wasn’t quite as long as Aidan’s. We will continue our Indonesian adventures with her when she returns in June!

Michael had to go back to Bali for the grand opening of the biggest Starbucks in Indonesia. It is so large that it has its own coffee farm! Aidan and I decided to head back to Bali and take the opportunity to attend the party and enjoy another long weekend in Bali.

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Aidan has been wanting to get dive certified and from our previous trip Michael and I knew that Neptune Diving was a great company to teach him. I had a nice couple days relaxing on the beach while he went through pool, class and open water instruction. It was great to join him on his last day for a dive together!

Sadly, all of our fun had to come to an end soon after our trip to Bali. Aidan was happy to start his new adventure. We saw him off at the airport as he headed straight to Valencia, Spain to finish his last semester of school. Lucky for us, he will be able to finish up his thesis in Jakarta. We are soooo excited to have all three of our kids and their significant others here this summer!