Bee is for BLESSED ...: My little world traveller

Zoe is one amazing little girl ... I know I say that pretty often, but after the super exhausting journey we took flying to Bali, there's certainly no denying her awesomeness!

Who else could travel for almost 30 hours and still be ok? Even adults aren't ok with traveling for that long, yet my little traveller just kept rolling with the punches every step of the way.

Our journey began at 3:55 pm at LAX. We flew Singapore airlines (best airline ever!) and we actually got lucky with a whole row to ourselves! Or maybe it wasn't so much luck as it was the Big Guy looking out for us :). So instead of me having to hold a wormy toddler for 18 hours, she got her very own plush singapore airlines seat! Plus, she didn't have to cram herself into a baby bassinet that the airline was going to provide her. Woohoo! Quick side note on Singapore airlines: This airline always wins best customer service die to their overly friendly crew + delicious food + extensive movie and tv selection + extra roomy planes. It's usually more expensive than other airlines bit well worth it! Okay, back to my story. So Zoe LOVED being on an "air-payne" ... Lately, she's been vey diligent about pointing out airplanes in the sky and the fact that she was actually in an airplane was a very big deal to her (I don't think she quite understood airplanes when we flew to Boston New York or Maui. The first thing she said when we boarded the plane and she saw all the seats and windows was "wow!". She had such a blast playing with the seat belts and the remote for the entertainment system. The stewardesses were so enamored by her and within 10 minutes after take-off, they all knew her name. They brought her some coloring books, snacks, drinks - whatever she wanted :). She spent the first four hours just drawing, snacking (she was quite fond of the cold soba noodles), and watching the mickey mouse clubhouse ... Once it was around 9 pm LA time, she went to sleep and stayed sleeping for the next 6.5 hours! I tried to sleep as well bit I kept worrying she'd fall out of her seat (she moves quite a bit when she's asleep) so I ended up getting probably 15 minutes of "sleep".

12 hours later, we landed on Narita, Japan for an hour layover. Zoe enjoyed walking around the airport and passedX the time snacking on seaweed :). Once we boarded the plane for the next leg of our journey - which would be another 8 hours to Singapore -- Zoe again made friends with the new airline crew and didn't seem to mind one bit that she was back on an airplane. Unlike her Lala who kept complaining that another 8 hours on a plane after the 12 hours we just endured sucked ... A lot :) . Zoe just kept doing her thing by coloring and asking Uncle "fan sees" to draw various things for her. We brought our iPad loaded with games for her but we didn't think se needed it since she kept finding stuff to do (we didn't want her to become too dependent on the iPad). She ended up napping for another 2.5 hours and I again wasn't able to get some sleep. Oh well - at least I finally go to watch the movies "Brave", "The Amazing Spiderman, "Snow White and the Huntsman", and "What to Expect When Your Expecting" :).

We arrived in Singapore at 3 am for our 6 hour layover before heading to Bali. Good thing Changi Airport is known for being one of the best airports with their various amenities like the high end shopping mall, gym, free leg massage machines, free Internet, amazing food court, prayer rooms, crowne plaza hotel and even a movie theater among other things. But perhaps the amenity we weary travelers who werent willing to shell out money for a hotel room at the airport hotel was the "snooze lounge". The snooze lounge was an area at the airport that offered lounge chairs and chaise-style seating that served as "beds" for anyone needing to take a nap. The plan was for all of us (especially me) to get a few hours sleep to kill the layover time. Unfortunately, since it was still daytime in LA, Zoe had no plans to sleep and preferred instead to run around and play and also eat some "noo-doots" (ramen) with Lala. While Mike was keeping her entertained, I forced myself to get some kind of sleep but only managed to get about 30 minutes, which was better than nothing!

Six hours later and it was time to board our third and final plane ride to Bali. Again, Zoe didn't seem to mind that we were once again on an airplane (at this point Lala was counting down every.single.minute of the 2 hour flight).

Thirty hours later, we were finally in Bali! I couldn't believe how great Zoe did with that whole adventure ... Even I felt like losing my mind at some points! Even our bags made it to Bali in one piece (thank you Lord!). Since Aunty Lisa also arrived in Bali about 30 minutes before us, se arraigned for a driver to take us all to our hotel. Se also has a scoop of ice cream waiting for Zoe! I swear, this little girl has everyone wrapped around her chubby little finger! Although ice cream is something we try to avoid giving Zoe too much of, after being al awesome during our 30 hour adventure I was all for her eating some ice cream!

We are staying at the Conrad Hotel on the Benoa part of the island and were again blessed in the form of an upgraded suite! Our room is so spacious and even comes with free daily laundry and dry cleaning services! Zoe was so excited exploring her new "home" -- especially the lanai with all the fish and trees.

Even though it was quite a trek to get here, it was definitely worth it! We are so blessed to be able to be on such a beautiful place as a family and we're looking forward to a wonderful vacation!