#1438 Saturday 24 December

Today Joe and Ellie went exploring .... over to Kuta .... successfully resisted a taxi driver who tried to charge them double the meter!

We spent the morning in the pool ... lunch at Gardenia .... they seem to have changed staff and the food was terrible.  Now we have to find a new favourite place.

We went over to Denpasar this afternoon ... the traffic was amazing!  It was a bit too much for Kaylia and when we got home she was very upset.

#1437 Friday 23 December

yay .... Mummy is here.

This morning we've been over to Kuta to show Joe and Ellie.  Now we're back at Sanur .... at Pizza hut for Kaylia.

That was the usual leather and liquid rubber .... no prizes for guessing my opinion of that place.

Then we went to Hardys .... more DVDs!  Kaylia gets so excited in the DVD shop.

Then pool time and now we're at the Bali Bakery.

#1436 Thursday 22 December

2am .. wet bed ... despite my best efforts and strategy! Sheesh!

7:30am Kaylia just dozed from 2 to 7 ... every now and then she would yell or ask for her iPhone ... at 7 I gave up and sent her to the bath where she is now happily screeching away.  When we went to Lottemart, I found a nice looking body-wash which I thought might substitute for bubble bath.  Kaylia seems quite happy with that but there's a new supermarket halfway down  Jn Cemara  .... Joe & Ellie have been there and say that it stocks real bubble bath!

10:30 Uluwatu 

Interesting ... I have just asked Made a question in Bahasa "Dimana kamar kucil?" .... Kaylia immediately said "No" .... she understood what I had asked.

This monkey .... and others .... were stealing people's flip flops.

Kaylia had a bubble wand .... it kept her very entertained.

12 noon.  We're at the big statue now. Joe and Ellie are off doing the tourist thing while I stay in the car with Kaylia.  Since my leg pain is bothering me, I figure that I have a good deal.

6:30pm After a delicious tea at Paraganyan, we're home .... waiting till it's time to go to the airport to collect Naomi.

Joe and Ellie are off for a bike ride.

#1435 Wednesday 21 December

It was another long night but reasonably pleasant .... she didn't settle till after midnight but she was just enjoying being with me.  I will try a different tactic tonight.  As much as I enjoy this, it is not a good settling strategy.

As a result of the late settling, she is sleeping in till late in the morning.  Another change this trip is that she is not swimming as much ..... and she is spending long periods in the bath rather than cycling through the range of favourite activities.  Her anxiety levels are very low. .... she is just happy.  She has watched one DVD .... then no interest since!

She is a very different child this time.... no anxiety at all and very little routine behaviours.

10:30 and she is still sleeping.

11:30 ... into the bath.  I then used that 'free time' to instal a new range hood over the gas stove in the kitchen.  ..... and Joe worked on the two bikes to get them into a usable state.  Some new parts are needed and then the bikes will be OK.

 

5pm .... we've been to Sindhu Beach for "breakfast" for K .... and an early tea for us.  It was very pleasant.

#1434 Tuesday 20 December

The night was interesting .... NOT.  We stayed up late and she went to sleep without any trouble .... but then she wet the bed at around 3am .... it was messy!  It's now 10am and she has been awake for about an hour ... but she's happy to stay in bed with her iPhone.  Ah ..... how would we cope without internet, iPhone, YouTube etc?

Midday ..... she got out of bed at 11:30 and she's now in the bath.  She doesn't want to go anywhere.  I have sent Joe and Ellie off to explore and have some time to themselves.  When Kaylia 'surfaces' we will go to Hardys and to Lottemart.

5pm She came out of the bath soon after that and we went off with Made.  Macdonalds, Lottemart for bubblebath and Bintang  ... then up to Denpasar to find a replacement rangehood for the stove ..... then to Hardys .... then home.  She's in the bath now.

#1433 Monday 19 December

Last night was a tough time for Kaylia. The pain was clearly bad and it was more than analgesics could handle.  I finally got her to sleep but slowly counting ...... she then slowed her breathing to match the counting and eventually drifted off.  It wasn't fun.

Day 1 ...... I was up at 6am ... sorting and setting up.  I set up my "office area" .... Arista had kindly already brought in my table and chair ..... I set up my laptop with my new mobile screen .... a present from Naomi .... it is USB powered and connected ... I like it.  By the time Kaylia woke, I was sorted and operational.  Her first thing after waking was "Hardys"!   I explained the sequence for the morning ... breakfast in the villa ....then down to Hardys.  She understood and went off to have a bath. We kept to the plan and waited at Gardenia ... with juices .... for Made to arrive. At Hardys, it was change money then DVDs!!  Kaylia was ecstatic.  She didn't really want DVDs ... she just wanted to look at them.  She eventually chose some ... and we chose a few each to make up the 13 DVD bundle.

Then it was upstairs (loo stop, change pad) .... she refused the escalator so I took her up the stairs.  (The escalator was a real issue at the airport too.) .... check out the toys ... chose a ball!  90cents! (.... later in the car she was enthralled with it!  Tremendous value.) ... then it was down.  We tried the promise of a reward.  An icecream for going down the escalator .... it worked and she asked us to help her get on.  Finally with her holding my arm and Joe's arm .... and Ellie giving a little push from behind, she was able to get on.  The only icecream I could find in the immediate surrounds was a Haagen-Dazs  .... 117k Rp thankou!! That's about $12!!



After that exciting time, we piled into the car and went for a drive.  We went through the back streets of Renon (west of Sanur) so JandE could see that part of Bali .... then to Hypermart.  It was J-Cos for donuts as usual..... then home to the villa.  Swimming and now she's in the bath. .... which she stayed in for 3 hours!

We've had tea at Parahanya .... and then down to the Bali Bakery. On the way she found a horn that doubles as a dingle dangle.

#1432 Sunday 18 December

Sleeping in at 8:15am .... Kaylia in the middle with her iPhone on YouTube. We will stick to her routine as much as possible before we head to the airport at around 2 or 3 for the 5:30 flight to Bali.  We're still telling Kaylia she will be in Bali tomorrow .... trying any tactic to minimise the overexcited triggers to anxiety attacks.

Jo and Ellie are getting excited ..... going to Bali was one of their big goals on their trip ..... and it's about to happen for them.

Last night we had an internet failure ..... our end was saying that we had a connection ..... the ISP end was saying that we had a good supply .... but no internet!  The iiNet people sorted it fairly quickly.  When the internet fails we quickly realise how our life is integrated with it.

At the villa ...... midnight.  The flight up was nigh on perfect. Kaylia is in pain from her period and so she can't sleep.