Leonard Family Around the World Adventure

Up at 5:30 – instant coffee – the water heater pots sure can heat up water quickly. Everyone else is asleep – a great view of the lake from our room . I start charging the cameras, phones, and try to get wi-fi access. No luck – yikes – I want to check e-mail, get weather report and submit hours and work. I decide to catch up on blogging – finish day 1 and day 2 – on to this day. The girls get up – there is an ironman triathlon being run – we see the swimmers circling the buoys from out balcony. A tremendous view – Aria falls down the stairs – I am so nervous someone is going to get injured – I hope not. I have to download the pictures yet and I have some work to do – Pam is scoping out the activities – I am trying to see the natural wonders and such sites without paying the tourist fees for the adventure aspects – jet boating etc. We have spent a goodly sum already and this is only day 3 – I am a bit surprised by the prices for food and accommodations. I am going to schedule the day an

I woke up about 7am started yesterdays blog and woke the girls. It was overcast and looked like it rained during the night. Pam went to collect information on the caves. We decided on the Rap, Raft and Rock adventure. A 5 hour adventure included a 30m abseil (rappel), dark water rafting, glow worms and a 30 meter 80 degree on rope climb. We made reservations for 1pm and headed into Otorohanga about 9:30. Ate breakfast at the Thirsty Weta – great food and on to the Kiwi House. Everyone was skeptical put the Kiwi house was great. 2 Kiwis on exhibit and a great walk with local birds, plants and trees labeled. It was very pleasant and a great learning experience. Then back to the caving adventure. Our guide Das (Darren) was quite the character – from the UK he said he was a pizza maker by trade and decided a few days ago to start leading adventure treks. I was not sure if he was kidding. The questionnaire was very basic – weights of people and any medical conditions – acknowledgment that t

It is actually the morning of day 2 about 8:30am when I am writing this. Yesterday was such a busy day I ended up writing notes for my blog so I would not forget anything and am now typing them up. We made it through security at SFO fairly easily – although returning the laptop to my daypack took a long time. The girls did fine although I guess I forgot to mention to Allysha she could not wear her back and drag her luggage through the metal detector. After adding her luggage to the x-ray machine we were through! Our gate was close down an escalator to the waiting area – we sat for a minute – gathered ourselves then off to the restrooms, bookstore and expensive Mexican restaurant. When we returned to the waiting area it was packed. Pam inquired about pre-boarding due to children – I felt uncomfortable but we did so – sent to the non-business class but told me not to question my "manhood" by the gate agent when I verified the "non-business" class ramp. The bags fit ea

It has been a terribly hectic weekend – District championship soccer games 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday all the way in Redwood City. 1 loss 1 win and 2 ties. Allysha scored 1 goal in 2 different games – she played very well. Sunday the winter classic swim meet at La Madrona – it went well luckily no rain but is has been very chilly. Saturday night the La Madrona x-mas party at the Moose Lodge. Blip played – they sounded very good -the party was fun. We got to say goodbye to our friends – but 7am came early Sunday. We were exhausted by the end of the weekend and today we had final arrangements and packing. Drove into Santa Clara to pick up the Rosetta Stone software for Aria to use for Spanish on the trip. Got all medications and liquids and are just now finishing up packing. I was in a panic – I realized we did not verify our flight tomorrow – we just did – everything is ok except our carry-on bags might weigh too much… we will see. After realizing we did not validate the flights I al