pancake and pool Saturdays

I had a few days to get our home sorted out before I started work full-time. It was quite ambitious for me to give myself only 5 working days (2 of those spent checking in at the embassy) to get everything settled at home with a nanny and driver and schools etc. I had to hit the ground running and my saving grace was having hired a pembantu (the Indonesian name for a nanny/maid/cook) before I arrived via email. Her name is Aunty, and I'm sure you'll here loads more about her. We've already fallen in love with her.

Anyhow, Thursday and Friday of last week were relatively free. They were also the last two weekdays I had with my girls at home before our life got significantly busier with school and work. We decided to explore our apartment complex a bit while Ashlynn was napping.

Note the amazing apple Ash is eating

We live in a fairly new highrise apartment complex. There are multiple apartment towers, underground garages, opulent lobbies, and two large pools as well as a small playground, and a very well equipped gym. While the apartment is rather small for our family of five, it's a very comfortable place to live and it won't be hard to make it feel like home. Addie, Bella and I wound ourselves around to the other apartment tower, through the brick-oven pizza place (we tried it-only in a pinch ever again), farm to table grocer (perfect place to grab eggs, onions, apples-the basics if we run out), up the stairs and past the smaller fitness center to an outdoor pool that sits up on the second floor terrace. 

We weren't prepared to swim so we just lounged a bit in the chairs and enjoyed the view. It was another moment where I couldn't help smiling. The pool is very pretty and has tile planters built into the water with mature trees. The tree cover over the pool provides shade and dappled light. It's a tiny little oasis. The girls and I immediately decreed we would swim here every Saturday morning after our favorite family breakfast of Justin's from-scratch pancakes and real maple syrup.

Two days later, on our very first Saturday morning in Jakarta, after only 6 days in our new home, Justin made his famous pancakes (with ingredients I bought at the local stores-real maple syrup from the commissary), he brewed a pot of our new favorite Indonesian coffee (quite an easy transition from Ethiopian coffee to Indonesian coffee). Once we'd had our fill, we put on our suits and took a dip in the oasis pool. Not a bad tradition to start!