From Perth to Cairns

We woke to a very rainy Perth morning--a great day to leave! Dan the Speed Talking Limo Man picked us up from the Hilton and entertained us with his high caffeine stories (e.g. "So the Prime Minister puts his arm around the Queen's bum, just like he would his mum!") all the way to the airport.

A very nice Qantas agent helped us figure out how to deal with our luggage since we weren't sure if we'd all get on the plane. By the grace of God we all got tickets for the first leg (Perth to Ayer's Rock). Plus our seats were all together! What a blessing!

We had about an hour to pig out at the Qantas Club in Perth before heading out. Once again Qantas proved that American's Admiral's Club knows nothing about food! For the record, I tried vegemite again (this time with one part vegemite and three parts margarine). It was definitely better!

The two and a half hour trip to Ayers Rock was a piece of cake by recent traveling standards. We decided it was either a "read or sleep" flight (meaning no movies or games--they recently discovered Bubble Blaster on my new Treo). The kids mostly read, which worked out perfectly.

As we flew into Ayers Rock we were able to see the natural wonder by the same name. We could also see part of it if we stretched our necks as we tiptoed into the terminal. Our minds were primarily on whether or not Sara and the kids would make it onto the next leg. Sure enough, minutes into the boarding process the agent called Sara up and we once again all got tickets--together! Wow! Praise God!



Another two and a half hours or so and we landed in Cairns, the fourth Aussie state we've had the privilege to visit. We decided to rent a car, realizing later how valuable it would become. We checked into the Golden Sands resort in Yorkey's Knob around 7:00pm.

A quick visit to a local IGA and a quick buck at the marina for a Saturday evening dinner at their club (OK food for more clams than it was worth... but the kids did enjoy the little playland that was set-up...). We were all ready to hit the sack, thankful for a safe trip together to Cairns!

Last full day in Perth

Sara and the kids went to the Western Australian Museum today, an engaging little museum in town that focuses on the history of this state on the western part of the country. A highlight was a preserved megamouth shark (if it's an animal, the kids love it). They stopped off at La Via Cafe for lunch, posing for this picture.

I finished my last day of teaching for the trip so now it's time to kick back and enjoy full days with the family! We took a walk together before dinner, stopping by a "pie shop" to get a genuine Australian meat pie before leaving town. We had our real dinner at the hotel restaurant again (The Globe), where they know us, our preferences (and our tips--Aussie's don't tip). :)

Early to bed, then off to Cairns tomorrow, Lord willing!

Visit to the Perth Mint

Sara and the kids visited The Perth Mint today and totally enjoyed it. They were particularly fascinated with the demonstration of molten gold being poured to make a 200oz bar. The kids learned a lot about the minting process as well as facts about gold (as in "At what temperature does gold turn to liquid?" Answer: 1064.43 °C or just under 2000 °F).

They all enjoyed the fact that the mint was an easy commute as their tourist dogs are tired! We are glad to say that we went to dinner an hour earlier tonight, allowing Christa (and Zachary) to actually be awake throughout the entire dinner! Here you see evidence of Zachary being wide awake, drinking what Aussies call a Spider: an ice cream float made with lemonade (which is their word for a carbonated Sprite-like drink).

Funny memory from my workshop today... Somehow we got onto the subject of food, which led to me asking, "So guys, speaking of food... What's up with vegemite?" The class erupted with laughter at this American's reaction to this You-Have-To-Be-From-Australia-To-Get-It food item.

As the laughter dies down, one of the participants responds with a thick Aussie accent, "Oh yeah? I've got one fa you. What's up with Twinkies, mate?"

Touché!

We're earlier to bed tonight, thankful for another day of fun and learning!

To the Zoo and Aquarium!

Sara and the kids have had a great two days! On Tuesday they ventured to the Perth Zoo, which was a fun adventure just getting there as they took a ferry from the wharf area across the Swan River.

Mixing animals and Kaufman kids has proved to be a great formula for a memorable time, and the Perth Zoo did not disappoint. Though they saw some of the same animals when we went to the Koala Park on Sunday, the zoo is much more restrictive regarding hands-on. It showed how special the Cohunu Koala Park actually is!

After I finished up my Tuesday session I rejoined the family for dinner at a pizza place in the Northbridge area called Il Padrino. The place was a bit of a dive with cheesy photos of the charismatic owner posing with everyone under the sun (even a Photoshop'd Pope). I would characterize the service as "New York deli", mostly in a funny way. Waitresses quote of the night: "2 more minutes". Despite the ambiance, the pizza was quite good. We highly recommend the place!

Christa and Zachary ended up sleeping through dinner. In fact, the new joke is "Hey, where did Christa sleep through dinner at tonight?" Come 7:00pm or so, she and Zachary start hitting the proverbial wall. You've heard of sleepwalking? Z actually tried some sleep-eating on Tuesday night! These guys have adjusted so well, for the most part... But sometimes you just gotta give up and fall asleep!

On the way home I picked up a phone card to particpate in some church related conference calls.

On Wednesday the family headed for the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA). The kids were once again plain crazy about seeing all the animals. Top memories reported to me were touching starfish, touching sting rays, and seeing exhibits with sharks, sea dragons, and real coral. They were able to talk with an aspiring marine biologist who is studying in Perth.

Tonight we ate at the hotel restaurant, assuming we'd have a Christa sleeper before dessert was served. Make that the main meal as she was cashed out again. Barrett's dish to the right was called the "Little Burger". Yikes! Can't imagine what the "Big Burger" must have looked like!
Two more days of training for me. Two more days of exploring Perth with Sara and the kids. It's been a great place to spend for our first trip to Australia!

"Yum! Please may I have more jellyfish?"

Now that's not a question you hear very often! Those words requesting more jellyfish during dinner came from no less than our Christa! More on that in a bit.

After Sara and the kids returned from their adventure (and I made it back to the hotel after today's training), we had some tired puppies on hand... Z was adamant he did not have the physical energy to walk out the room, much less a 6 block or so walk. C was loopy enough that she was saying, "Dad, I'm having short term memory." That's Christa's way of saying she was having trouble remembering things, such as sentences she can begin but not finish. B was handling the jetlag thing reasonably well--the only one to not have taken some sort of snooze during the day.

The workshop I led today went well. I was likewise pretty fried after being "on" all day. We decided to head out as quickly as possible for dinner before our tired ones were unable to sleepwalk home.

From the extensive menu at Shun Fung we, at Zachary's encouragement, decided to go wild. What's one of the oddest things we could order that wouldn't even remotely be close to something we would order in Chicago?

The answer? For appetizers (they call them "starters" or, surprisingly "entrees") it was Shark Fin and Crab soup as well as Jellyfish and Chilled Pork.

Everyone tried each of the dishes. Z needs a new nickname of Shark Fin because this kid tore into the soup and kept diving in for more. C was more into the jellyfish dish, showing much excitement as she scooped her portion in and began asking for more. B did a good job of trying it all, showing greater preference for the Sweet & Sour pork than the spicy and crunchy jellyfish or the kind of slimy shark fin soup.

Everyone was asleep within minutes of putting them down, a sign of a great day of fun and learning... Or perhaps it's a side effect of mixing shark with jellyfish!

Koalas and Kangaroos and Emus (and Daddy driving on the other side of the road), Oh My!

Since today is the only full free day I have before work fires up this week, we wanted to find a place to go that was very Australian. A wildlife park named Cohunu Koala Park had a nice write-up in the guidebook so we put it on the agenda.

The problem is the easiest way to get to Cohuna is to drive and there are plenty of reasons why we hadn't planned on driving a car here, such as:

• They drive on the wrong side of the road, which means....
• The steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car, not to mention....
• Their signage (speed limit, etc.) is quite different than we're used to.

Why should that stop us? We rented a car they consider large here (a Hyundai Elentra), which barely fit us all in. With a prayer and a map, we headed East for the hills in search of some koalas.

For Sara's reaction to me driving on the other side of the road, please refer to her comments during the Road to Hana!

We arrived without incident at the park and could tell right away that this wasn't DisneyWorld. The signs showed plenty of age, the lot was not striped, and the general feel didn't have much polish.

But 5 minutes into the park it was clear this was going to be a special experience. Think zoo where you're inside the fences with the animals. We walked next to emus (which make the most interesting deep, drum-like sound) and peacocks and black swans, and countless other animals that roamed the park.

The three biggest highlights were holding koalas, feeding kangaroos, and feeding birds in the walk-in aviary. It was interesting to watch the kids go from being very tentative around the animals to being little Jack Hanna's. The staff was informative and unrushed. They encouraged us to go off the paths and walkways to interact with the animals. It was quite incredible to be so close to these animals--an experience I'm sure the kids will remember for many years.

We stopped for groceries on the way back to hotel so the kids could do some sketching and take a brief nap. We're thinking about driving along the ocean tonight before returning the rental car. We'll see!

To Perth!

Getting up was not an issue this morning.... Z stumbled into our room about 3:45am muttering something about his stomach growling so loud it was waking Christa up.... I got him asleep in a couple minutes with a backrub. The three of us snoozed a little longer but both Sara and I found ourselves ready to get up by 4:30am or so. Sara put her trips into the computer (which allows other flight attendants to pick them up through an eBay like online system).

We got to the airport on time, with time to grab an Aussie grilled breakfast at a restaurant in the terminal. When we asked for it "to go", they looked at us a bit funny. "Do you mean you want it take-away?" Uh, yep! That's what we meant!

We took it away up to the Qantas Club (thankfully American has reciprocity with Qantas' Club). And this was no average club! Wow! They had real food being served for breakfast. We slammed our restaurant breakfast then headed for the club's buffet line. Yogurt with some yummy & sweet jelly-like stuff. Excellent! Raisin bread that got a thumbs up from mommy. A coffee machine that cranked out phenomenal lattes.

Andy quote: "Hmm... what's this stuff... Vegemite.... I seem to recall a former Australian colleague talking about this stuff. Let's try it!"

Everyone took a bite of some vegemite spread thinly over toast. All I can say is that will likely be our last bite ever. Is this a joke? Do people really like this stuff? If you can conjure up what heavily salted mud would taste like, you've pretty much pinned vegemite. Our official food critics gave it a rousing three thumbs down!

Perhaps we were so comfortably stuffing our faces with the non-vegemite options in the club since we found out early that we again had seats on the plane. Incredible! The flight was supposed to be full but a bunch were now open. Thank you, Lord!

For those keeping score at home, we actually ate a third breakfast on the plane! This was apparently not a day to go hungry! The five and a half hours to Perth seemed like a puddle-jump compared to yesterday. A limo ride to the Parmelia Hilton and (whew!), we're finally here!

An hour and a half nap turned into nearly three as I'm still trying to figure out how my new Treo's alarm clock feature works. Three children were not happy about being woken up.

Eventually their minds re-entered their worn out bodies and we hit the streets. We figured out how to navigate the train to Fremantle (Yep! Home of the Dockers!). We dined at a fish and chips place called Kaili's, highly recommended by some locals. We're quite sure that everything we ate had been swimming earlier in the day--very fresh! Just looking at the fish in the case was impressive as Z-Man illustrates!

We stopped for some gotta-call-your-mama-it's-so-good gelato on the way back to the train station. The strawberry gelato tasted like a big, sweet strawberry. The coconut taste like cocount. The snozzberry tasted like... Oops, I digress.

On the train ride home we talked with two transit guards. They must have been lonely because I'm pretty sure they'd still be talking to us if we had invited them in! Interesting quotes:

• "Perth is the most remote city in the world."
• "It's pretty difficult to go to jail in Western Australia." I gave him a U.S. scenario where if you get caught driving under the influence, you get your license snatched and you do some time. "Really? Here we wait until about the fifth time you do it, then you might serve some time! You may not even go to jail if you run over someone, unless of course you back up a couple times to keep running over him."
• "Western Australia is about 10 years behind the rest of the Western world. We're just now starting to get bling-bling." The other guard looked at him funny and said, "What's that?"

Everyone was pretty toasty by the time we got home but it was still difficult getting everyone settled enough to turn the lights out. We have two adjoining rooms and kind of giggled as we listened to the kids banter. Christa did a play-by-play of the sounds Zachary was making as a result of some nasal draining. Barrett just wanted to read. Z was pretty sure he has broken his knee while trying some jumping manuever.

Before the day was over, Z gave the quote of the day: "Dad, this is going to be the best experience of my life." It was clear to him and the rest of us that we weren't in Kansas anymore, so to speak. We're looking forward to tomorrow!

14 hours of flying? No problem!

Seriously. 14 hours sounds like a long time but the blessing of sitting together, a great entertainment system, excellent Qantas service, and, um, a great entertainment system made it... fly by!

Speaking of entertainment systems, this 747-400 was decked with movies on demand and games. No worries about mom having to lose hair over what was being shown on a big screen to the entire cabin! Nope! We could watch what we wanted when we wanted. Sleep? No way! It's time for another episode of Hoodwinked!

Favorite movie for Barrett and me: Nacho Libre. Maybe it was the lack of sleep at this point but that movie made us laugh out loud (each time we watched it!). Please vote for whether Barrett or I look most like Jack Black. You can click on the pic to get a better resolution shot of our fantastico wrestling physiques!

Truthfully, the flight did feel like a long time but the question of whether or not the kids could deal with it was not really an issue. Considering Zachary doesn't like to sit still for 14 minutes let alone 14 hours, this was yet another massive answer to prayer.

After passing over the International Date Line, we fast forwarded into Friday and eventually arrived in Sydney around 8:45pm. The kids learned that "Customs" is a word which means "wait in long lines".

Once getting the Australia stamp on our passports, we gathered luggage and headed to the Tourist bureau to get a room. We didn't have a reservation because we had thought we'd be coming in on a later flight, then heading directly to Perth. It was now too late for such a flight and, in reality, our airplane seat weary rears were ready to conform to a bed of any size.

Getting a room was more difficult than we thought because of the Australian Football finals going on. We assumed that meant soccer but we assumed incorrectly. It's a rather whacky game from an American perspective. It seems one part football (as we know it), and three parts rugby. The country is obssessed with the sport and filled up nearly every hotel in town to watch such gripping matches as the Fremantle Dockers vs. Sydney Swans. Once we arrived at the Novotel Brighton Beach (around 10:30pm), we turned on the game and found it difficult to turn off! It truly is a fun game!

Lights went out around 11:15pm or so and they'll need to go on around 5:45am. This was an exciting day of great memories and answered prayers that we'll not soon forget.

Off to Australia--together!

4:00am and it's time to start the day! We bounced (or maybe it was more of a crawl from the kids) into the car and hit the road by 5:15am. The flights to LA were wide open so we were able to sit together and enjoy the four hour flight to California.

When we checked in with Qantas in LA, Barbara the very nice agent told us every flight was oversold and unlikely that any of the standby's (Sara and the kids) would get on today. Not encouraging. However, we weren't discouraged, to a person, because we had prayed about this for many weeks (and had many friends joining us in the praying). Barrett quote: "Remember Seattle!", a call back to another impossible non-rev time that turned into an answered prayer.

We had some high quality Admiral's Club time before heading to the drama that every non-revver knows at the gate of an overbooked flight.

When we got down there, Barbara had a bit of sparkle in her eye. She thought she might be able to get some of us on (we were willing to split). Within 15 minutes or so of departure we hear, "Kaufman Party of 4, please check in".

Yes!

Our seats were scattered all over the plane but at least we were going to be on the same plane! But then another gift from God: a conversation here, a conversation there, and guess what.... I'm sitting three across with the boys and Sara is sitting next to Christa about 15 rows back! We were overwhelmed with thankfulness. Christa's quote of the day: "I just want to laugh out loud to God!", as she put into words how thankful we were to get on.

More on the flight later. For now, thank you for joining us in praying!

First big answer to prayer for the Australia trip

Sara got her October bids in tonight.... This is a big deal because, in theory, she could hold a schedule that would require us to cut our trip short. That would certainly be a downer down under! The plan was, while vacationing, to try and drop any early October trips she gets assigned.

So here's the big news.... the answer to one of the big things mentioned above.... Her October bid award has the first 6 days of month off! Ta dah! That's a great answer to prayer for which we are extremely thankful! Queue background noise of Sara letting out a giant sigh of relief!

T minus 1 day to Australia.....

Tomorrow we start the next leg of the adventure: Destination Australia. We are outrageously excited, looking forward to visiting the land of kangaroos and the Great Barrier Reef!

This trip has many more variables that, as we sit on this side of it, cause us to pray with anticipation:

• Will we all get on the same planes as Sara and the kids fly standby from LA to Sydney to Perth (and, mid-trip, from Perth to Ayers Rock to Cairns, and on the return from Cairns to Sydney to LAX to home)? That's a lot of non-revving, with many opportunities for mommy and kids to be stranded while daddy flies on his paid ticket since this is a work trip. All things considered, it's still a more than reasonable sacrifice for the privilege of being able to use Sara's flight benefits.
• How will the kids (particularly Christa) handle the nearly 24 hours of flying time?
• How about dealing with the 13 hour time zone difference?
• Will the lodging selections work well for the family? Everything looks dandy online and on brochures, but you never know until you see it.... We're particularly wondering about the place in Perth....
• Will Sara get a decent bid award (schedule) for October, and be able to drop any trips so the vacation isn't cut short?

When we're on the other side of this adventure we'll know the answer to all those questions and most likely realize that those things we were most concerned about weren't that big of a deal (or turned out to be a big part of the memory).

I can't wait to see what God has before us, starting in under 24 hours....

Home!

Ah, Thursday morning.... There are almost always mixed emotions waking up on the morning of the day to return home from a great vacation (Sara: "If only we could stay longer....", Z: "I miss Marcus!"). Sara and I took turns getting some early morning exercise in with one last run along Kaanapali Beach. The entire family took one last dip in the pool before downing a breakfast consisting of "let's eat what's left in the refridgerator!" We cleaned up the condo and headed for the airport.

Our flight plan for the day is a short (as in less than 30 minutes door-to-door) flight to Oahu via Hawaiian Airlines, then non-revving on an American flight from Honolulu to Chicago. As we saw the crowded beaches and high rises as we flew into Honolulu, I have to admit there wasn't anything within me that felt, "Man, I wish we would have gone here instead of Maui."

The biggest adventure of the 3 hour layover at the Honolulu airport was trying to find American's Admirals' Club. Once there, we pretty much owned the place so it was a great place for us to hang out and slam down some lunch.

Thankfully the flight to Chicago was open enough to get us all on, including room in first class for Sara and the boys. Christa and I had a bulkhead in coach so we were not cramped (we just didn't get a hot towel nor the good food). But we had the laptop and pack of DVD's so we were golden! We all got an hour or two of sleep before arriving at 5:40am or so this morning.

What a great trip! Famous quotes include:

• Zachary: "I need a soccer ball!"
• Barrett: "Do we have any more pineapple?"
• Christa: "I think the air smells like roasted hot dogs..." (She was being silly)
• Sara: "Slow down! Slow down!"
• Andy: "How about I swing from the vine first?"

Some first's from the trip include:

• First time snorkeling in the ocean (Z and C)
• First time flying over the Pacific (B, Z, and C)
• First time being within inches of sea turtles, dolphins, and manta ray
• First time walking through a rainforest
• First time swimming in a waterfall pool
• First time driving "The Road to Hana"
• First time watching a sunrise from a volcano
• First time being stopped on a road because of 3 horses that wouldn't budge!

It's an amazing world that God created and we get to explore and enjoy. We look forward to the adventure continuing later this month!

Last full day in Maui

Well, today was our last full day in Maui. Z woke me up around 7:00am, wanting to go on an early morning snorkel adventure at Black Rock. We had heard the fish and turtles are found in abundance in the calm morning waters. We slammed down some breakfast cereal, then headed out.

The first thing we noticed were the waves pouring onto Kaanapali Beach--significantly higher and stronger, the kind that bring goosebumps to surfers and strike fear in the heart of moms! We were so excited to get in the water that we found ourselves running the 100 yards or so to Black Rock.

We got our gear on and got into the water. What we didn't know until then was that the heavy surf stirs up the sand--we could hardly see, and what we could see was decidedly void of fish. It must be that the raucous waves caused the sea life to hit their snooze buttons a couple extra times this morning because the only interesting movement we saw was each other in the water!

Z took the news well. B and the rest of the family joined us on the beach where we watched people bodysurfing these formidable waves, realizing there is a very fine line between bravery and foolishness. We couldn't help but think of our neighbor's brother who was paralyzed by a bodysurfing incident in Hawaii (I believe on the last day of their vacation).

We hung out at our pool for a long time, then spent extended time at the Hyatt's pool about a 20 minute walk south of The Whaler. In the mid-afternoon we came back to clean up, and the boys wrote their "favorite" reports.

As sunset is around 6:30pm we headed for the beach around 6:00pm to get some final pics. Since the day had been overcast with some rain, the sunset wasn't it's normal perfect. The kids cooperated reasonably well and there was no shortage of people to help take family pictures.

We had snacked enough that we decided to go for one last Hula Pie at Leilani's. Wow! Dessert before dinner! This place must be paradise!

We then split up for "girls night" and "guys night". Sara and Christa went off shopping while the guys and I went to watch some Roddick finish off Hewitt in the U.S. Open, then went walking around the Whaler's Village area. The boys, in particular, enjoyed the Whaling Museum that taught how men used to make a living on whaling ships. We then had a long "guy chat" on the beach.

Though this was supposed to be a week in Italy, we are all thankful that God orchestrated our time to be spent here in Maui. It has been a week we'll remember for years to come!

My favorite memory (Zachary)

When we went on our dolphin adventure, we saw three different kinds of dolphins. The first one is the spotted dolphin. It jumps from 1 inch to 10 1/2 feet high and the average length is 5 feet.

The next one we saw was the bottle nose dolphin. We did not see them jump so we do not know how high they can go (maybe only about 2 feet).

Last but not least we saw the spinner dolphin. The reason why they are called the spinner is because they spin in the water. Their average length is about 7 feet.

It was very fun on the boat trip!!!

My favorite memory (Barrett)

My favorite part of this vacation was going on the Lana’i Dolphin Adventure. It started out with snorkeling at two different locations near the island of Lana’i. The fish were cool! Then we got on the boat that we were snorkeling from and headed out to find some dolphins!

There are three kinds of dolphins in Maui. The first kind we saw was the spotted dolphins. If you’re talking about size, the spotted dolphins are in the middle. These dolphins can jump six feet out of the water (Zack think it’s ten feet). They played right along and under the boat.

The second species we saw were the bottle nose dolphins. They are probably the most common species of dolphins. They are also the biggest kind of dolphins (in Maui), six to eight feet long!! It was cool when they came close to the boat.

We actually saw all three kinds of dolphins. The last were the spinners. They are the smallest species of dolphins (in Maui). One of them when they jumped out of the water did a roll in the air!! It was cool! And boy, they are fast!!

"The Road to Hana" Day

One of the most consistently recommended Maui ventures is the Road to Hana, reportedly one of the top 10 most beautiful drives in North America. It's a winding road through some of the most jaw-dropping vistas we've ever seen, and it was our mission today.

We hit the road around 8:15am and didn't get back to Kaanapali until nearly 9:00pm. Highlights on the trip out to Hana include extended stops at Waikani Falls (also know as the Three Bears) and the black sand beach at Waianapanapa. Neither you nor I have any clue if that's spelled correctly, but I can assure you it was a cool stop!

Once we arrived in Hana we made the key decision to continue on the the route around the island (as opposed to returning on the same route we came out on). This is no small decision as much of the road is single lane and unpaved (or poorly paved). What a trip it was! Since we wanted to have sunlight for as much of the trip as possible, we blew by the "Seven Sacred Pools" spot that we would have loved to see. The road was completely passable since most traffic was going the same direction, but the road quality lived down to all the expectations set in the guidebooks.

The challenging route of hairpin turns, no guard rails, narrow roads, and more bumps & turns that we could count was just part of the story. The rest of the story includes the incredible views that are available on the other side of the island. It's much more barren than the road to Hana, with more obvious volcanic influence once we entered the Haleakala National Park. Beyond the scenery, other highlights included being stopped by cows who were hesitant to move out of our lane, horses who refused to get out of the way, and some stunning views at the Maui sunset from a different angle.

The remote nature of the trip meant no bathrooms or gas stations. We had all the gas we needed but man did we need a restroom! We did have a nature call in the backcountry, which brought Christa, in particular, a lot pride as she was able to handle a roadside, er, situation. But near the end of the trip a couple of our passengers REALLY needed to go and weren't as up for another roadside attempt. Once we hit Kahului, we made a fast left into the Golden Arches, much to everyone's delight! No matter where one travels, Ronald is reliable for good fries and clean bathrooms!

Ah, only one more full day in Maui. We plan to spend it in a more relaxed way that does not require good shock absorbers and brakes!

Even bigger wow! Dolphins!

(Quick note: a couple people mentioned they tried to post comments but couldn't... we fixed that, so feel free to share one if you'd like. Thanks!)

We got up early to catch a morning snorkeling expedition over to the island of Lanai. We took a quick detour to the store to get some kid-friendly motion sickness medication (just in case... we figured it would be a good placebo if nothing else).

The boat set sail for a 3 hour tour (kidding: it was scheduled to be 4-5 hours). Our first stop was by a place called Sweetheart Rock. The boys jumped in wholeheartedly (and Christa, half-heartedly). Christa's big concern was how deep it was. She gave a brave attempt but ultimately the relatively heavy chop did her in. Sara and I took turns snorkeling with the boys.

Truthfully, the snorkeling was OK... not really that much better than Black Rock. The water's color was VERY impressive--a blue that was stunningly unlike anything we have seen here. Captain Mike explained that it had to do with how clear the water is... something about the 12 Fathom line, volcanic islands, etc. We'll have to look that one up....

A 15 minute cruise to another side of the island (to an area referred to as Shark's Fin, because of a rock formation of that shape), was different. Not only was it a beautiful setting but the water was much calmer. Something clicked for Christa... She was ready to go! At one point she even said, "Daddy... can I snorkle without you holding onto me?" I said, "Sure!" She then replied, "But, daddy.... stay close!" She soloed quite well and would have rather not gone in when the rest of us were ready to warm up!

Beyond Christa's bravery, the big highlight was seeing three different species of dolphins on the cruise home. Unbelieveable! Captain Mike was even surprised that we saw all that we did. We ran into the "Spotters" first... We were able to get our hands within a foot of the beautiful creatures! After 20 minutes or so of close cruising with the spotters we pointed back home, only to run into some bottlenose dolphins. This was quite rare according to the crew as bottlenose's are typically in very small groups. These two guys put on quite a show, including some playful manuevers that wowed us all. After another 15-20 minutes we set course again for home, only to run into some "Spinners". These guys were smaller but quite playful (and incredible leapers). The kids' squeals of "whooaa!" and "did you see that!" made it all worthwhile.

The 4-5 hour cruise turned into nearly a 6 hour excursion thanks to a captain and crew that were more into the experience than a timetable.

While we waited for some 1 hour photos to develop (we got an underwater camera), we were able to get some dear friends (Happy Birthday Jeff!) and family (Happy Birthday Jenn!) on the phone to extend some birthday wishes. Tonight we're eating out at a nearby beach restaurant, anxiously looking forward to an early start on the Road to Hana tomorrow morning.

Chillin' in the Rain Forest

Maui is an island of many extremes. One side of Haleakala looks like a barren Mars landscape. The beach outside our condo is a picture-perfect white sand. On Tuesday we're supposed to see some black sand beaches. Today we visited a rain forest in West Maui, referred to as the Iao Valley.

Think steep, jagged mountains, covered with lush greenery. Trees with vines, just begging for Tarzan (take note of this comment). Exotic flowers we'd expect at a florist, not in the wild. Trees with bananas (or plantains?), bridges over running streams, water flowing over smooth rocks, roaring in a peaceful chorus that lured us to spend more time than we planned.

During a self-guided tour at a state park we came across a part of the stream that had a local family splashing around in it. We had our swim stuff in the car so on a whim we headed back up and did a quick change in the car. Back to the stream for a couple hours of fun in the refreshing (Hawaiian for cold!) water.

On the drive out of the park we came across a forest of trees with vines hanging down. We couldn't help ourselves--we must get a picture! Before long the temptation to swing from the vines was too much to contain. Z did it first. The vine held him--no problem. Next was Christa, who swung like a little monkey. Barrett was about to try but wondered if he would be too heavy. Being the wise, protective father, I told him I would try it out first. A tight grab on the vine, a big step back, a leap into the air, and SNAP! Tarzan hit the ground hard, right on his butt! Ouch! Between bruised elbows, back, and pride, we piled back into our Grand Cherokee and headed back home.

After dinner in the condo we're heading to a local restaurant known for amazing desserts. Something tells me we're going to sleep well again tonight (and that I'm going to wake up a bit sore)!

Barrett Turns 12 in Maui!

We started Barrett's 12th birthday at 2:30 in the morning! We stumbled out of bed to hit the road by 3:00am. Destination: Sunrise at Haleakala.

It's about a 2 hour trip from Kaanapali. We figured the kids would sleep most of the way but it turns out there was quite a light show on the way! There were devastating fires in the area between here and the airport yesterday. The fires were still burning, which were absolutely stunning to see in the darkness of night. We were literally less than 100 feet from some burning trees, with raging fires less than a mile from the road. It was truly amazing to witness.

The winding road to the summit rocked the kids to sleep, but my nervous wife kept me awake every 30-60 seconds with a "Slow down!" The majesty of the mountain was hidden in the darkness of early morning but it was clear just from the headlights that the vegetation changed radically as we climbed two miles above sea level to the top of this dormant set of volcanos.

At the top, we met many other early morning travelers, all bundled up like we were. Just about every spare bit of clothing covered us all, and yet we were all shivering from the cold and the wind. The stars were stunning, with the sky filled with a starfield like we've never seen before. We only had to count to 30 or so before we saw a falling star streak across the sky. As it turns out, the star show really was the show for the kids.

The sunrise was extraordinarily cool, but probably more so for those of us over the age of, say, 12. It's not that the sites weren't cool--it's just that the temperature was so cool, as in wind chills in the 30's.

Once the sun came up, we explored some other trails high up on Haleakala. Whether due to warmer temps or less insane time of day, all 3 kids were totally into trekking to some breathtaking views.

Quote of the morning, from Christa: "I wish the clouds were like trampolines so we could jump on them."

After avoiding bike riders on the journey down, we stopped for breakfast at a highly recommended Kula Lodge. The food was fine, once it showed up. We faked sleeping when the waitress brought the food over an hour after we had walked in. Thankfully she had a good sense of humor.

The afternoon found us at the beach and snorkeling around Black Rock. The big prize today: manta ray! Funny how people seemed less interested in trying to touch these guys than the turtles (by law they weren't supposed to be touching the turtles either).

We went to a nearby luau for dinner, to celebrate Barrett's birthday and take in a little Polynesia. The overwhelming consensus was that the fire guy (think a scantily glad guy twirling a baton that's lit up on both sides) stole the show. He was incredible! The other highlight was daddy and Christa on stage learning how to hula together. Christa was very focused on the luau lady demonstrating the moves! Beyond all that, perhaps the funniest part was listening to the kids discuss whether or not the dancers on stage were wearing underwear or not. In this discussion, we did not reach consensus!

From 2:30am to crashing around 9:00pm, this was a full day of celebrating Barrett's 12th birthday!

Wow! Sea Turtles!

A morning visit to Snorkel Bob's and the family was off to the beach! Comment from Zachary: Please no more shopping!

Our first attempt at getting Christa to snorkel in the ocean didn't go very well. The most difficult part of the activity is gettig past the crashing waves. Add fins, a snorkel, and a mask that is giving her a facelift, and you can imagine the results.

The plan: Let's try it out in the pool first. Sure enough, 30 minutes in the pool with the gear on and she was ready to head back to the salt water.

The "Black Rock" snorkeling area is a very close walk from our place at The Whaler. The snorkeling there was great! Barrett, Zachary, and mommy snorkled together while daddy went hand-in-hand with Christa. We had a blast! Beyond all the cool fish, the highlight was seeing sea turtles. We're not talking little guys--we're talking turtles the size of Christa and Zachary! If you could only see the size of Christa's eyes when she saw the turtle for the first time! We're talking eyes that shouted "WHOOOOOA!"

We hung out at the beach until sunset, watching the torch lighting and cliff diving ceremony on Black Rock. We waddled home, chilled out, then grilled (Kirkland) salmon on the BBQ's provided by the complex. We ate like Hawaiian kings. It took the kids literally minutes before they fell asleep. What a great day!