Day 270: Morning Trek for Margaret — Two More Balinese Massages
We started the day in our little breakfast and dinner spot at Villa Idanna.
Margaret took a two hour trek this morning. Guided by Nengah, our house manager and new buddy, she walked through the rice paddies and then and hiked up a steep hillside behind the villa to a temple.
She texted me from the top and we gave each other a wave — one little dot in the distance to another.
I managed school for both kids. Willa is in such a routine with Margaret that she doesn’t need much oversight. James was a little tired and needed some cajoling to make it through today — the first time that has happened in a two or three weeks. He’s been on a good run.
We kept it very relaxed for the rest of the day.
When Margaret got back we walked about 100 yards (meters?) down the street to Warung Ume Anyarm, a family home / restaurant / mini mart.
The restaurant is on the second floor with nice views of the rice terraces. In order to get to the restaurant from the kitchen they pass through the mini mart with trays of food.
We went to lunch a little late and the kids were hungry which always fuels the potential for a meltdown. We haven’t had many recently so maybe we were due for a doozy.
We brought markers and paper to the restaurant for the kids. Willa drew a picture of a herself with a speech bubble saying she hates rice paddies (or something like that). Margaret and I reacted quickly to say we didn’t like it and it hurt our feelings — maybe a little harsh but we need to nip the constant bitching about tours / anything that isn’t super fun for her.
Willa lost it. She clearly felt shame, but tried to spin it that we didn’t like her drawing. The food was taking a long time to arrive and she was especially hungry at this point so the “hanger” took her even further down the spiral. At one point she left the table and was sitting in a single chair across the room.
She finally recovered and 10 minutes later it was like nothing had happened. And 20 min after that she was all smiles because we got them popsicles in the minimart and were headed back up the street.
Those were the first of *two* desserts on a stick they had today. A few hours later little Coman, Wayan’s son came back over to play. He then asked if the kids wanted snacks (yes, of course, always). He left and then and showed up with ice cream bars… but not just any ice cream bars: peanut and chocolate covered coffee ice cream bars. Seems like an appropriate 5pm little kid snack!
The kids spent the rest of the afternoon playing soccer, catch with our little soft multi-colored ball, Yahtzee, coloring and swimming.
Margaret and I have booked Tangi for massages once again this afternoon. Maybe the best massages we’ve ever had for $15 bucks each. Yes please, I’ll have another.
We had another tasty dinner served by Nengah and the team at Idanna and then headed off to bed.
