Monkey Business

Our friends, the Hale family, traveled to Bali a few years ago. I remember them telling about their experience at Monkey Forest in Ubud. Michael had purchased some bananas and uttered the infamous words, "I wonder if we'll see any monkeys." When the family entered the forest, the monkeys descended on them like a scene from Lord of the Rings when the orcs are attacking Frodo and the fellowship. Seeing his fate, Michael abandoned the bananas, and let the monkeys swarm!

It was with this image in mind, that I entered the Monkey forest. It did not disappoint. These monkeys were so tame and some pretty aggressive! They seemed just as interested in us as we were with them.

This monkey played with Tman for quite a while. Patty-cake on his head. Even checking Tman for any bugs.

I wasn't quite as eager to have any hands-on or back-on experiences with the monkeys. This was close enough for me.

Of course, my favorite monkeys of this trip are these monkeys of my very own!

On our last night in Bali, our beach dinner got rained out. And so we traveled back to our hotel, extremely hungry. It was 9:30 at night when we finally got to eat. Once my kids got food in their bellies, the exhaustion turned to a silly drunkenness.


How grateful I am to share these times with these wonderful little people. The giggles, the tears, the joy, the exhaustion, the goofiness, the memories.

The times together. Both small and large. Both bitterly sad and gloriously happy. Are what matters most.