Leonard Family Around the World Adventure

January 1, 2008 Happy New Year everyone! I slept in this morning until about 8am. I read for a little bit and eventually Allysha came knocking on the door in tears. She says she has something in her eye and it has been hurting her. Aria had tried to help her by washing her eye out – we did the same. We give her a painkiller and start her on her malaria antibiotic – this was the scheduled day for that anyway and she said her eye had been bothering her since Phuket and we are concerned about an infection. We probably should have given her some food first as she gets very nauseous and throws up – but she says she feels better. Aria soon joins us in our room. I blog the last couple days – and decide not to work. As it is approaching 11am here we decide to order a snack/lunch from room service. French onion soup, fresh fruit, clam chowder, fried rice and chicken satay - a nice snack. We watch the ball drop in Times square – welcome to the New Year America. I envision Santa Cruz wal

I get up and pack – some of my things are still a little damp. I apply my lesson learn and my carry-on daypack has all of my medications, our tickets, all adapters and chargers, all electronics and our India guide (our next destination). We actually are downstairs with luggage loaded and a quick bowl of cereal for the girls and I had some fruit and on the road by about 7:05am. Everyone seems tired and the last 6 days really flew by. Allysha declares that she does not want to leave on the drive to the airport. We get to the airport and Pam has to search for some change to pay the driver. We check-in and find a pub to grab some coffee and Allysha gets a full American breakfast with 2 boiled eggs – it is funny watching her trying to remove the shell and eat them. Pam gets a club sandwich and Aria gets some French fires and a mango drink. I am not feeling great in my stomach and order a cream of mushroom soup. I get delivered a very very spicy curry Tom Yuang soup – I figure this

December 30 th , 2007 The end of the year is closing in and today marks the start of my youngest daughters Allysha's tenth year. I do not feel old enough to have a youngest child that is 10. We awake and I sing Happy Birthday to her and recount what I was thinking ten years ago when she was born. I remember being afraid of not having enough love or time for a second child – amazing how mistaken I was. As soon as I laid eyes on her my ability to love magically doubled. I look at her ow – she is really developing into an amazing young lady. I started reading Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 yesterday and finish it this morning. It is amazing – although written 50 years ago it is prescient and represents out some aspects of our current society – addiction to T.V. – a war against a nameless and nebulous enemy. I am disturbed and cannot quite put my finger on it. I feel the desire that comes into my life every couple of years to write a book and I renew my commitment to continue

I awake about 8:30 am. I am still feeling very fatigued and just not right. I awake the family – we grab breakfast then I go back to the room to do some work and conduct an interview while the girls hit the internet computers downstairs and Pam heads to the roof top sunning pool. For the rest of the day I do not feel right – we head down to the beach – it is very crowded. We get some beach chairs (never approached for rent). Allysha rents a floating lounge for the day. We spend the afternoon reading, swimming and sunning. We purchase some ice cream cones from a beach vendor and Pam and Allysha purchase some sun dresses. Allysha asks about Jet skiing, parasailing and tubing behind a jet boat. I watch the parasailing to see how safe it is. The ocean is rougher than it has been – I think it is high tide and there is a little bit of a rip, but I still prefer it over Patong. Aria and Allysha swim out to the platform together. I head back to the room before the others – just not feel

Friday, December 28 th . I was up at 4:30am – my dreams were mostly about work so I got up and started working. Also I was able to get some blogging done. Last night I discovered that when a VPN connection was available the internet here seemed to work much better – but the connection this morning has been very spotty. I thought about taking the notebook downstairs but ended up working in the dark. Aria occasionally cries out in her sleep. Not sure what is on the agenda today – I need to do some of our finances, check on bills etc. and have a work deliverable I need to complete this week. Hopefully the car is where we left sit. I cannot believe Allysha is going to be 10 in a couple days – I am trying to think of something very nice for her birthday. She has been a real trooper on this trip – hardly a complaint escapes her lips – very open to new ideas and experiences – very independent. I think she is a little homesick. I am so impressed by her. Aria too is hanging in there – I ca