2/1/2009

Yesterday was a quite a sports day for the kids.

I will start with Andrew.  Andrew's hockey team played a girls hockey team.  You have to realize that at this age (9 and 10), girls are bigger, faster, and stronger than boys at the same age.  Also, Andrew's team played this same team in the Thanksgiving tournament a couple of months ago.  This girls team dominated Andrew's team in that tournament.  It was something like 8 to 1.

This time, it was a totally different game.  Instead of the entire game being played in Andrew's team's zone, it started out being much more balanced.  However, as the game wore on, Andrew's team completely took the game over and won 4 to 0.

The best part is that Andrew recorded his first assist.  It's not a goal, but considering that Andrew just strapped skates on for the first time back in November and considering that just about everyone in the league has been skating since they were like 3, this is a huge accomplishment.  Way to go Andrew!!!

Then, we went to Danny's basketball game.  His team won their first game convincingly last week, 38 to 19.  However, their coach built this second game up to be quite a match since they were facing a team that beat the same team that Danny's team beat by a similar margin.  And, the coach happened to know their star player and felt that he would be hard to stop.  The coach put a lot of time into a game strategy to neutralize their star player.

The teams seemed pretty evenly matched in the first half with Danny's team taking a slight 6 point lead.  The coach's strategy seemed to be working since their star player was not really a factor in the first half.  By the end of the third quarter, the other team took a 10 point lead.

Danny's team battled back in the fourth quarter and tied it up with a couple of key free throws and 2 point shots.  In overtime, Danny's team scored first and was able to hold the two point lead through the 2 minute overtime.

Since Danny is one of the biggest kids on the team, the coach has focused him on defense.  Danny really hustled throughout the game and came up with a few critical take-aways that resulted in points for Danny's team.  As a result, the coach told the team after the game that if he were to pick an MVP for the game that it would be Danny.  Way to go Danny!!!

2/8/2009

We had a pretty full day today.  We got up early and drove out to Big Lake to see the start of the IronDog race.  The IronDog is a 2000+ mile snowmobile ("snowmachine" in Alaskan) race from Big Lake (Just north of Anchorage) to Nome which is halfway and then from Nome to Fairbanks.  Click here to learn more about the race.  It is a pretty grueling race.

Anyway, the start of the race is actually out on the lake.  You drive your car out into the middle of the lake and park it on the ice in order to see the start.  There must have been a few hundred cars out there along with race trailers, camper trailers, camp fires and a bunch of other race related stuff all out there on the ice!  I know that it was safe, but it felt really uneasy to be out there on the ice.

Sarah Palin said a few words to kick off the race and I was actually able to get about 10 feet away from her to get some great pictures.  Click here to see the race pictures.  By the way, Todd Palin is running in the race this year.

After the race, we went to Andrew's hockey practice.  From there we went to West Chester Lagoon for an opportunity to skate with the University of Alaska at Anchorage Seawolf hockey team.

Everyone will be sleeping well tonight!!!

2/17/2009

We arrived in Honolulu after a 5 hour flight direct from Anchorage.  The flight was a little shorter than normal due to strong tail winds.  As soon as you step off the plane, you find yourself right in the middle of the Hawaiian paradise atmosphere.  The concourse is open to the outside air.  So, as soon as you exit the jetway, you are basically outside walking in what looks like a normal airport concourse, only without the walls and windows.

We had a convertible while we were in Honolulu, which is perfect for the weather, but not so good for the amount of luggage that a family of four carries.  One large bag and all of the carry-ons went in the trunk.  One large bag was on the kids lap and one was on the center console.  Comfy!

Originally, Rhonda and Andrew were planning to “swim with the dolphins” at the sea life park.  However, due to Rhonda not feeling well, I had to step in for Rhonda and Andrew and I did the swim.  It was a beautiful ride to the sea life park around the south side of Oahu and partway up the eastern shore.

The swim was a lot of fun.  You get into the tank with the dolphin and the trainer.  The trainer lets you pet the dolphin.  The dolphin kisses you and you are supposed to kiss the dolphin back.  However, Andrew was sort of grossed-out by it and would not let the dolphin actually touch his cheek and certainly would not actually kiss the dolphin.  Anyway .. lots of fun!

After the dolphin encounter, we followed some advice from friends who said that the Polynesian Cultural Center was close to the Sea Life Park and that we should go there after the swim.  After an hour of driving, we found the Polynesian Cultural Center and decided that the price $85.00 per person would be too much to pay since it was so late in the day (actually probably too much to pay at any time of day).

Back to the hotel and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Up bright and early and off to Pearl Harbor around 6:45.  We arrived at 7:30 and waited in line for about 20 minutes before getting into the USS Arizona Memorial lobby area.  Tickets to the actual memorial are free.  So we got our tickets and prepared to board the shuttle boat that takes you to the actual memorial.

Prior to getting on the boat, they show you a 20 minute film about the history of the attack and specifically the Arizona.  The film is very emotional and a large portion of the audience were wiping tears from their eyes.  The emotion that I felt was not just for the roughly, 2,500 or so people who lost their lives on that day but also for the gratitude that I felt for the men who fought so bravely on that day and throughout the war … and the men and women who continue to put their lives on the line today for our country.

The boat dropped us off at the memorial.  It is a very solemn place.  There is very little talking among the people that are there.  Just reflection and prayer.  You can look down into the water and see the hull of the Arizona only a foot or so below the surface and you can see the oil on the surface of the water that continues to leak out from the ship to this day.

After the boat dropped us off back at the building where we started, we decided to go into the gift shop to see if there was anything worth bringing back with us.  We saw a book about the history of Pearl Harbor that looked good for the kids and decided to buy it.  Turns out that the author was there to sign it and he dedicated to it to my father who served in WWII.  There were also three Pearl Harbor survivors there who also signed the book for each of the kids.  It was a really great experience.

We also chose to tour the USS Missouri.  The Missouri is the boat where the surrender document was signed by the Japanese to end the war.  It is an awesome ship.  We ended the day by touring the USS Bowfin … a submarine that was in service during WWII.

We spent the morning doing homework and then after lunch we drove to Hanalei Bay where we found a pretty good beach, but the waves were not quite as big as those at Lydgate Park.  The nice thing about this beach was that you could drive the car right out onto the beach and park 30 feet from where you set up for the day.

More homework in the morning.  In the afternoon, we checked out Anini Beach because we heard that the snorkeling was really good there.  However, the calm water that was protected from the reef was only about a foot deep which would not have been too good for snorkeling.  Out past the reef was pretty rough with waves about 10 to 15 feet high.  So, we decided to go back to Lydgate Park for more snorkeling and body surfing.

We took a river boat cruise up the Wailua River to see the infamous Fern Grotto.  This is sort of a shallow cave that used to have thousands of ferns growing down from the top of the cave and the walls until a recent hurricane destroyed them all.  They are starting to grow back, but there is a long way to go.  The Wailua River is also where part of the movie Blue Hawaii (Elvis) was filmed.  Danny was really looking forward to this since he is a big Elvis fan.

After the Fern Grotto, we grabbed a quick lunch and drove up to the Waimea Canyon which is referred to as the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”.  It is very beautiful and it has a very different look from the Grand Canyon.  The Grand Canyon has a lot of color, but the color comes from the different rocks.  The Waimea Canyon is also very colorful, but it is colorful because of all of the vegetation along the canyon walls.  You can also get some great views of the ocean as you look down the canyon towards the East.

All four of us took a long walk through the community where we were staying.  We were hoping to see some whales, but none were coming up out of the water.  On the way back to the condo, we saw two different Albatross nests that each had a baby chick in them.  The nests are on the ground surprisingly close to the walking path making it very easy to get some good pictures.

We did some more homework.  After lunch, Rhonda was not feeling well at all and deiced to stay back at the condo to rest.  The boys and I went back to Ke’e Beach for some snorkeling.  Ke’e Beach is at the northwest end of the main road that goes around the island.  Ke’e Beach seems to be protected from the wind that seems to constantly blow.  The fact that it was protected from the wind made it considerably warmer than the other beaches we went to.  There are not really any significant waves there, but you can snorkel.

Since there were no waves, we decided to leave after a little while so that we could do some body surfing at Hanalei Bay.

More homework in the morning.  Then, we took Rhonda back to Ke’e Beach and spent a good part of the day there.  On the way back, we stopped off to see a couple of caves that are right next to the road.  They are easy to access and allow you to get some good pictures.  We spent the evening getting ready to leave the next day.

Our flight did not leave Kauai until 11:25 pm, however, we had to check out at 10:00 am.  We planned a whole day of sightseeing around the island.  We basically planned to go along the main road around the island from the northwest shore where our condo was to the northeast shore and the other end of the main road.

Here is what we saw:
Kilauea Lighthouse; Opaeka’a Falls; Wailua Falls; Spouting Horn; Poi Pu Beach

Also along the way, we saw 3 monk seals.  Monk Seals are extremely endangered, and when they get themselves up on the beach to rest, the local fish and wildlife officials immediately erect a metal stake and rope barrier to protect them.  You can get a $50,000 fine if you are caught inside the barrier.

We still had a ton of time to kill, so we went back to the main town on Kauai called Lihue and found a movie theater.  We watched the movie, “Mall Cop”.  Then, we left for the airport and awaited our long flight back to the frigid north.