Monkey Island (Huo Dao) - Sanya, Hainan, China

OK, The name says it all - we took a cable car over the ocean and went to an island full of monkeys!

There were rules which mainly consisted of not feeding the monkeys any snacks brought along - which we did or consuming anything for yourself - which we did.

We did however pay for all of the kids to feed the monkeys some sort of air crisp thingys - pretty cool, the monkeys came in droves to grab some from their hands. It freaked Avery out a little. One monkey tried to steal a can of club soda from our friends backpack - I posted the video clip on youtube - you can see it here: MONKEY THIEF.

Two monkeys tried to attack Colten - I'm not sure if it was becasue he was their size but both grabbed onto the sleeve of his shirt before being shooed away - - it scared him in the moment but never slowed him down to try to interact with them.

There were lots of little babies which were just adorable!

And yes we let some sit on our heads - - to this day, Andrew can't stop talking about the soft monkey paws on his face and I can't stop thinking about monkey balls being on our heads...

The beach in Sanya, Hainan Island China

This is the beach view from our room. The weather was super nice - especially since it was freezing when we left Nanjing and now we are running around in tanks and shorts.

 

Avery enjoyed being buried in the sand!

Happy New Year 2012 - from Sanya

Last year Andrew and I were fortunate enough to be in Pittsburgh, to see what turned out to be the very first NHL Winter Classic game played at night. We spent the New Year weekend there - alone... YES! with no kids, it was a first for us in 9 years and it was great. While on a dinner cruise to bring in 2011 we had a conversation about where we had been the year before, and how our lives had changed so much in the course of ten years and wondered where we would be for the next New Year's Eve celebration. Well, you could have never convinced me at that moment I would be on a tropical island in China, of which I never even knew exsisted just months prior.  It's amazing what life brings, and how fast things can change - - for the good and the bad. If there is anything I have learned over the years its that what matters is the moment. You can prepare for the future but not to the extent of sacrificing happiness now - if you do, you will always be planning and never living.

This NYE we celebrated with friends, good wine and a nice BBQ on a 25th floor suite balcony and life is good...

Here's to good company, prosperity, happiness & health.

Happy New Year 2012

I wonder what next year will bring...

Day 8: Discovery STS-131 ready for launch!

While at the Space Center we watched the Hubble 3D IMAX movie- AWESOME!!! checked out a few more exhibits and then got in line for the bus to the Causeway (closest public viewing area from Launch Pad 39A)... at this point it's about 4am.

When we finally got onto the bus it only took about 30 seconds before Avery was asleep. Now it's 5am. We reached the Causeway close to 5:15am set out our picnic blankets, bundled up (it was a bit chilly) and began waiting.

NASA had speakers setup so that we could follow all of the communications from Mission Control and the Orbiter. There was a brief moment when a computer system failed and we may have a "NO GO".. but it was quickly rectified and once again we were "A GO".

At 6:04am we were able to see the International Space Station fly over us in the sky. It showed as a bright white light, due to the sun reflecting off of it's solar panels. The ISS was visible for a full 3 minutes - it was awesome!

Finally it was time!!! coming upon the 10 minute marker, we started waking up the children. Anticipation was high... it seemed like no time and forever all at once. 60 seconds: we put our binoculars into focus... 30 seconds: cameras ready... 10 seconds: Ahhhh!!! 

9. . . 8. . . 7. . . 6. . . 5. . . 4. . . 3. . . 2. . . 1

The 6:21am ingnition lit up the sky and ocean, it was beautiful and surreal. To know you are watching 7 human beings literally being blasted out of this world is such a huge idea to wrap your mind around. It was like nothing else. Unfortunately, I am not able to show any pictures like the ones I have in my head, I wish I could, because it was just stunning and is something I hope my children will never forget... I know I won't.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html

Day 7: Wait, Wait, Wait

Today we packed all of our stuff, loaded up the truck and checked out of our resort... with no particular place to go for another 14 hours. We had some lunch, made a quick shopping trip,  observed a falcon in an eagle's nest, rode along a coastal neighborhood checking out the houses and real estate, found a park and played a bit, had some dinner and prepared to head to the space center.

Arrival time was set for 12am. For the first time in Crook family history we were on time, in fact, we were raring to go!

Day 6: Kennedy Space Center

Today we visited the Kennedy Space Center so we could inform the children of all the happenings of space exploration and to prepare them for the launch on Monday morning. We took a bus tour where we were able to observe the shuttle on the launch pad. By this point we were about 36 hours out from the launch.

I took as close of a picture possible from about 1.5 miles away. >

^This is the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building), today it is the fourth-largest structure in the world by volume.

 Just to give you an idea the American flag painted on the side measures: 209 feet (63.7 m) high, and 110 feet (33.5 m) wide. Each of the stars on the American flag painted on the building is 6 feet (1.83 m) across, the blue field is the size of a regulation basketball court, and the stripes are as wide as a standard road lane.
 

At the end of our tour Drake saw a unique rainbow in the sky.

 

Day 5: Cocoa Beach

It was a nice relaxing day in Cocoa Beach... we used this time to recover from our Disney all nighter.

Andrew and Avery dug into the sand looking for shells... yes, DUG into the sand.

& Drake played in the surf...

Colten & I hung out under the umbrella and took pictures.

Day 4: The Magic Kingdom

The day belonged to Princess Avery and began in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique located in Cinderella's Castle.

She had her hair and nails done, and everyone (I mean everyone!) oohed & ahhed at her dress and sllippers. One cast member stopped me and said " working here everyday for 10 years, I see alot of dresses but this is the best one I have ever seen".

After her appointment Avery caught up with the Fairy Godmother (who, afterwards, spoke right to her from the float during the parade). 







During the parade, we enjoyed some popscicles. Cinderella waved to Avery and Ariel blew her a kiss!

After the parade, we met with Cinderella and she told Avery how she had heard so much about her from Fairy Godmother. It was great!    

The night belonged to Drake.
After dinner, outside of the kingdom, we went back in for round 2. Because the day had been so HOT and crowded, it was hard to stand in line to get on many rides. Thanks to FASTPASS, and most normal people taking their kids home for a good night sleep, (not us!) we were able to maximize the ride experience. Drake rode pretty much everything in the park, worth talking about - his favorite was of course Space Mountain. Avery's favorite ride was Splash Mountain and Colten's was a tie between Monster's Inc scare floor (he laughed and bounced alot) and It's a small world (he was very still and looking at everything).

We spent a total of 16 hours at the park and it was worth it! It was a great time and I am so glad that we were able to share this as a family and enjoy each other at Disney World. It was a magical day for sure!

Day 3: Cocoa Beach

Today was a relaxing day! We chartered a boat and went on a nature tour to a remote island where we saw a sting ray, baby sea turtle, jellyfish, a school of other fish, lots of different birds, dolphins, gators, manatees, and collected some really cool shells.

We topped off our night with some sunset kite flying on the beach.... it was awesome!!!

Avery had a Parrot and Drake had a Discovery Space Shuttle

Day 2: Cocoa Beach

What another BEAUTIFUL day at the beach,

We built a sand castle...

played in the waves...

collected seashells and even  buried the kids in the sand...  

Colten loved it so much... he kept eating it!

Day 1: Cocoa Beach

After the morning rain... the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. We checked out the beach and since The Easter Bunny came early for Drake, Avery &  Colten bringing disney shirts, giftcards, candy, beach toys & alot of How to train your Dragon stuff, along with a movie giftcard, we took the hint and went to see it on our first day in Cocoa Beach - Great movie!