New September 19, 2011 - So, all-in-all the past month's been pretty busy. It started out with my family and I travelling to Buffalo NY for my Grandmas 90th birthday; then I got to go camping with my Dad at Mammoth Creek Utah (near Brian Head) - I of course caught more and bigger fish. I then got to celebrate my Moms 51st birthday; after that we went to San Diego for a karate tournament where I got 2nd. On the same trip I got to visit my other Grandma in Orange County CA before going up to our cabin in Big Bear to do some chain-sawing. After a week of soreness, I started my Sophomore year :(
August 2, 2011 - All right, what have i done? Let's see, I celebrated 4th of July with my sister and her family, had some friends from New Zealand come visit and did some touring around with them. My Aunt and Uncle came from Buffalo and we had dinner with them. I mid-termed for my third degree black belt and got the highest score possible. Just a couple days ago i finished 9th grade, its great to be a sophomore. Yay! I'm no longer at the bottom of the food chain!
June 30, 2011 - Since the last update I spent fathers day at my sister's house, went to Big Bear and repainted the deck, flew to Little Rock, Arkansas with Mr. Erdman (my karate instructor) for a tournament, did some school, had some pizza, did some more school, climbed a 1000ft mountain in 110 degrees and 30 mph wind, thats about it, now I'm just getting ready for the 4th of July:D
May 31, 2011 - I am back into the routine of life in Boulder City...school...my favorite subject is my new computer programming class...chores...karate....I got to beat up on Mom in a sparring match at our karate studio...saw some awesome cars at the car show here in Boulder City, Nevada, including a little Deuce Coupe....
May 15, 2011 - I've done alot since my last update so I'm not going to get into the nitty-gritty details, but in the last couple months I did some more scuba diving, got to see Esprit fly through the air fifty feet above the deck of a freighter, stayed in a hotel with horrible wifi, got stuck in immigration because we were two days past our visa, flew to Dubai, stayed in a really awesome, fancy hotel there, saw the tallest building in the world, took a 4x4 trip through the arabian sand dunes, saw some funky looking animals including an oryx, flew on the worlds best airline (Emirates) to Cairo, saw the pyramids which aren't actually in the middle of the desert, but are practically touching the city of Giza, went to the oasis (actually our hotel), went to the great pyramid, went inside a pyramid, went on a river cruise, emptied out the buffet, saw an unfinished obelisk, went to Luxor, saw the valley of the kings, went inside a few of the tombs, went to a floating temple that had been moved brick by brick, went to a market where we got the worst bag in the world, flew back to Dubai, stayed over night in the hotel that was right in the airport, flew to Istanbul, took an overnight bus to Marmaris, unloaded our boat in the middle of a huge thunderstorm with lightning crashing all around, decided to stay in the marina there because we didn't want to have to take the 140 mile trip to the other one, celebrated my 14th birthday, saw our Belgian friends who we hadn't seen in three years, celebrated Mother's day with a bunch of other boats, packed the boat up, drove to Dalaman, flew to Istanbul, spent the night sleeping on the seats in the airport, flew to London where a five hour layover awaited us, flew to Las Vegas, went through the easiest immigration and customs ever, drove home, saw my niece's soccer game, went to their house for a pool party, sat down at the computer, wrote this.
March 27, 2011 - The Maldives: sandy beaches and stunning coral reefs, one of which I got to do a night dive. I saw an albino octopus, a couple Lion fish, and a 10 ft Moray Eel! And, with just my luck, my flashlight happened to go in the middle of the dive, so I was stuck in the dark, luckily my dive gauges all glowed in the dark so I could still see those. I have also been able to fit skurfing, and a bunch of snorkels in between doing school and working on the boat.
March 2011 - I have done alot of awesome things these past few months, including riding my own motor scooter at the River Kwai, but the things that topped them all was going to Siguraya (a palace built on a huge boulder) in Sri Lanka and seeing the Taj Mahal in India. The Taj Mahal had a quarter mile waiting line to get in. After eating all this Indian food, a real Whopper and fries sounds really good. While on our trip through India, I got the "unique" experience of riding a camel. I'm pretty sure that the one my parents rode was rabid, it was foaming at the mouth and could barely walk!:)
December 2010 - Some of the fun things I have done from Singapore on are - Universal Studios Singapore, Halloween in Danga Bay, and just hanging out with the kids. Some of the routine things I've done include cleaning the boat bottom with Mom & Dad, and helping them spot fishing boats and their nets as we travelled north through the Malacca Straits. Some of the boring things I've done are rally events and provisioning.
October 2010 - Hi from Singapore - Singapore is awesome - it has Starbucks and lots and lots of electronics stores - I got a terabyte external hard drive (an early Christmas gift) so I can back up all my iTunes stuff. Burger King was really good - the first one in six months. They wouldn't let me into the movies because the movie was rate M18! They are insanely strict here - you can't even chew gum.
August 2010 - Salam from Indonesia - I have had some good dives and have had fun hanging out with Jaryd on Tin Soldier, but if one more girl asks to take may picture I am going to scream!
June 2010 - Getting ready to go back to the boat - Yeah!!!.
July 2009 - we are at Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island and took a hike up the mountains to see all the WWII forts and gun emplacements. On our way we saw 3 koala bears; one was a baby on its daddy's back. The best part of the trip so far in Australia was diving at Bait Reef.
December 2008 - I am home in Boulder City - very excited about Christmas! I spent Thanksgiving week at Big Bear and it snowed on Thanksgiving - but not enough to ski. It snowed about 9 inches here in Boulder City - it was incredible! We couldn't get up our driveway and going down was like a slide!
October 2008 - the best part of the trip was diving the wreck in Bengga and catching up with kid boats again - I had a lot of fun with Jade again as well as meeting some new kids too!
May 2008 - we are ready to go to Fiji - I can't wait to scuba, snorkel, and scurf again! I turned 11 and celebrated with my new mates from Belgium. I have been doing a lot of skateboarding here at the marina in Opua while we get ready to leave...
June 2007 - I had fun traveling around New Zealand in the motor home. We toured a candy factory, climbed a glacier and rode a train! Oh, and the results came in from karate - I triple crowned for Nevada State Champion in my division! Now I get to test for black belt and try for world champ. It's a lot of hard work but I love it!
January 2007 - New Zealand is cold!
October 2006 - Scuba diving is awesome! I dove in an underwater cave!
September 2006 - I made a sand castle 20 feet down - with my scuba gear on of course. I had lots of fun with my friends on Lawur - sleepovers, games, swimming, scurfing....
August 2006 - I went scuba diving to over 40 feet and saw lots of sharks and colorful fish! I love scuba diving!
April 2006 - Were in the Galapagos now, and we've gone a whole lot of places. First we went to San Cristobal. We saw seals & blue footed boobies. Then we went to Florenea. There were tons turtles and sea lions! Next we went to Isla Isabella. Here we see Mustard Rays and Miniature Penguins. We just came back from horseback riding.
July 2005 I rode a mountain bike in the Andes Mountains for 20 km....I tried cuy (guinea pig)...Mom & Dad say when in Rome do as the Romans do....no sailing this trip due to a broken engine....I did get one day of body surfing in.... we took a train ride up into the mountains and rode on top of the box cars...Andrew had to lift me up
Boulder City - California - Utah (August - Sept 2011)
Dad teaching me to fish in 1997.........................me fishing by Mammoth Creek, Utah 2011
My catch!
Target practice
This was way cool to watch! He's so cute....
Me & Dad in southern Utah
Me & Dad relaxing
Trimming trees in Big Bear
Me & Grandma McWilliam
Boulder City, NV & Big Bear, CA (June 2011)
Boulder City, NV & Ventura, CA (July 2011)
Waiting for the "water" portion of the 4th of July parade
My sister Amy & I having fun in her pool Reach for the clouds....
Our New Zealand friend Olga & I swinging - always a hoot with Olga
Standing on Hoover Dam with Colorado River Bypass Bridge behind
YUMMMM!!! Olga made us Pavlova - the New Zealand national dessert
At the Ventura Boat Show
On the beach in Ventura, CA
Judging at the Ventura Regional ATA Karate Tournament
You never know what you'll see on the road in California
Flippin for Father's Day
Tasha & Uncle Jamie in the pool
A lizard at Big Bear, CA
From Turkey to Boulder City, Nevada (May 2011)
Tasha, "Uncle Jamie", & Trinity
Me in the Deuce Coupe hot rod at the car show in Boulder City -
This is the car I want as my first car
From the Maldives to Turkey via Dubai & Egypt (March - May 2011)
Pulling the dinghy during a drift dive in the Maldives
In the Arabian desert and sand dunes near Dubai
The Giza pyramids are way cool!
Inside the thieves' entrance of one of the Giza pyramids
Camels have to be the strangest animal....
Lying in the mummy pose in the tomb inside one of the Egyptian queen's pyramid
Learning how to make alabaster vases
Karnak temples, Luxor Egypt
Holding up the roof at Karnak temples
Roman bathtub - Alexandria
Exploring the Roman Ampitheater in Alexandria
Me with the owner (who's wearing my hat) of the best Doner Kebab (a delicious wrap) restaurant in Marmaris, Turkey
At the helm on the bridge of BBC Everest
New watch and sunglasses for my 14th birthday!!
From Thailand to the Maldives (December 2010 - March 2011)
Exploring the Phi Phi islands in Thailand
Christmas morning on Esprit
Grant (Imagine), Jamie, Jaryd (Tin Soldier), and Noah & Caroline (Imagine) enjoying Christmas dinner on Esprit
Yes, it is an 80 year old iguana - alive & kicking!
Me & Mom at the River Kwai
Riding the motor scooter in River Kwai
Playing with the elephants was really fun!
Petting the tiger at the Tiger Temple
Enjoying a Coke - one side written in English, the other in Indian
Happy New Year 2011! Celebrating in Bangkok was way cool!
Jamie, Finn (Anui), and Jaryd on the beach in Thailand
Holding a baby sea turtle at the sea turtle research center in Sri Lanka
Dad wearing my hat for the rickshaw ride in Delhi, India
Our hotel in Goa, India was an old Dutch mansion
Relaxing in the room - all the furniture was Dutch antique
On our way to the backwaters of Cochin
Skurfing in the Maldives - me pulling Dad on the knee board
Dad pulling me
Snorkeling
Just one of the cool things you find when you scuba dive
Scuba diving in the Maldives
