Fort Wilderness & Disney World Adventure

August 6-7, 2011

Thanks to a wonderful friend of ours in the Oviedo Ward, Liz Cullen, we were able to stay at the Fort Wilderness Resort at Disney World for a reduced price. We also got into the theme parks for free!

This is a picture of the bus that we rode between the theme parks and the resort.

This building was where we checked in/out. Other services were provided there, but we didn't need them.

Here's our cabin! We had just 1 bedroom in the cabin, but there was a double bed, bunk beds, plus a pull-down bed in the living room, so there was enough room for all 6 of us.

The bunk beds:

Living/dining area:

Pull-down bed in living room:

We spent a short time at Magic Kingdom. The children wanted to ride the tea cups.

Anuhea & Nalani in their teacup:

Hokulani & Leiohu in their teacup:

Hokulani & Anuhea on the Disney Transport bus:

We spent most of our time at Animal Kingdom since it's one that can't be found in California (whenever we can get to Disneyland).

Jason holding Leiohu at the entrance to Animal Kingdom:

Carmel, Anuhea holding Leiohu, Hokulani & Nalani at the entrance to Animal Kingdom:

Having lunch at the Animal Kingdom...

Jason, Nalani & Carmel:

Hokulani eating her lunch:

Carmel & Leiohu eating lunch:

One of the best places at Animal Kingdom is the river ride, especially since it's so hot & humid in Florida.

Jason & I had to take turns riding the raft, because Leiohu couldn't ride, but the girls could ride with both of us. Anuhea & Hokulani chose to ride both times.

This is the ride with Jason, Hokulani & Anuhea:

I can't remember what this was called. Sorry.

Tiger

Bats

Komodo Dragon

The 4D show "It's Tough to be a Bug!" was fun. We saw it before when the children were younger so they didn't remember it.

Anuhea in the 3D glasses:


The Tree of Life:


We spent a brief time at Epcot to get our passes into the theme parks, then we returned in the evening for the fireworks display.

After a whirlwind overnight trip, Leiohu just couldn't take it any longer. She fell asleep on the way back to the Howards' home.

Maui No Ka Oi!

August 2, 2007

My family has been spending time on the island of Maui in Hawaii. It is absolutely beautiful here, and I've missed being here. We enjoyed time with extended family members at our family reunion. What a wonderful time to reminisce, catch up from the past 2 years or so since the last time attending a reunion, and to talk and laugh with family members. We especially enjoyed all the wonderful local/Hawaiian food. Mmm!
Most of our time here has been unproductive, but I wanted it that way. In Taiwan we had work, school, and other responsibilities. We will have all of that again when our Hawaii vacation is over. It's not time to do things and be productive. It's time to relax, and as the children have done: enjoy the sun & tan. They're so dark now!
Soon we'll start a new chapter in our lives, and that will be in my next blog.
Maui No Ka Oi (Maui is the best)!

Thailand 2007

We went to Thailand in February 2007 and had a wonderful time. It wasn't exactly what I had hoped for our vacation, but it was wonderful nonetheless. We stayed in Pattaya (Jomtien Beach) for most of our vacation, and it was so relaxing. We actually did a lot of things, but it was a good break away from school and teaching.



Our most memorable activity was riding elephants. We rode in pairs, and got some photos (kind of shaky with the elephant's shoulder blades constantly moving up and down). We also had some opportunities to feed the elephants bananas.







On another day we went to Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden & Resort. They had a great cultural show and more elephants. We didn't ride this time, but they did a cute show. We also saw beautiful gardens of flowers, plants, and cactus. I bought a purse and love it!







We also enjoyed swimming in the pool. It was good and hot in Thailand so we were happy to get into the cool water. We didn't dare swim in the ocean because the water looked so dirty, and we saw trash floating in the water. We did, however, enjoy walking on the beach. It was also fun riding the taxi, which had a covered bed, but it was open for climbing on and off the back and for air.





Bangkok was our 1st stop in and our last stop out of Thailand. Taxis were everywhere so we used them to go sightseeing, but were able to walk to a street market. Shopping was great in Thailand! They had many great souvenirs and you can negotiate almost anywhere you go. We bought a variety of things for ourselves and others.






If you haven't been to Thailand, then you should go! If you've already been there, then you probably agree that it's a great place for a vacation.