A green mango shake a day, keeps the mosquitos away

At least that's what I kept telling myself as I ordered a green mango shake every time we ate out while vacationing in PI. Sometimes, I had two. Yup, I'm pretty sure bootcamp will kick that crap right outta me once I start again. But for the time being, I'll let those memories of that not-to-tart, slightly sweet, and always smooth-shake linger a little longer. I have yet to find that anywhere here in the U.S. And they sell it everywhere in the PI. It was one of the things I was most looking forward to on our trip, because I had it the first time on my last visit. And never forgot it. Seems that the rest of my family didn't have any problem with it either, frequently enjoying it.

The lack of food pictures is unfortunate. Reason being is that Mr. Fliz and I always had one or both of our rugrats permanently attached to us. No such thing as a "hands-free" situation. The entire trip was overwhelming for both of them. I anticipated this. They're not used to having so many unknown faces come up to them and want to play and talk with them. The language barrier proved not to be difficult for Micro, despite that more than one of his cousins couldn't speak good English. "Play time" is a universal language, along with laughter, and there was plenty of that. Micro loosened up and began to get more comfortable. Micron was another story. She never had a problem being with Lola, however, even in PI, she preferred me or Dada. If there was one setback during our entire trip, it was the kids' attachment to us. It was a function of their ages, new people in new surroundings. Adjustment took time. By the time Micron was getting more comfortable, it was time for us to leave. How appropriate right?

I will say, it was a great feat for Mr. Fliz and I to take both kids on super long flights and survived. It feels like we should get a badge or something. I mean we had a total of 15 hours of flight time--that's not including our two-hour stopover. Would we do it again? Absolutely, because there's too many places to see in the world, and never enough time. So, what's a little difficulty in family travel? Nothing, because it will make for great stories over time. Maybe a direct flight would be better.

To have more in-depth info on our day-by-day adventures, click here. (will be posted within a week from today)