2/14/23

By Max

I should start the story with our travel. We started by waking up, hugging captain, then getting in a limo! Once we were at the airport and got on the plane, my parents surprised us with lay-down seats all the way to Hawaii! It was the most (and only) enjoyable flight to Hawaii I had ever been on by far.  We took one more connecting flight, then drove to Kukui Ula! Once there, we checked in, then went to our villa. It had 3 bedrooms and an ohana (family in Hawaiian), which is basically a guest house. I slept in the ohana. The next morning, I woke up, then realized that there is nothing more refreshing than waking up, then walking outside in Hawaii. We got breakfast, then rented bikes, swam, and explored the resort. It was very cool. There was a pool with a pebble/sand bottom, a ton of small waterfalls, and even a small waterslide! Also, there was a farm and a farm stand with fresh produce. We went to the farm on Tuesday. We swam for the whole day on Sunday and watched the Packers lose the season to the Lions in an impressive display of the fact that Aaron Rodgers should retire. The next day, we toured the Waimea Canyon with a pre-recorded tour guide with a fake Hawaiian accent and told gory stories about people dying in every way imaginable. It was cool, and we got to hike to the top of a 1000 foot waterfall, and a pool of water that we could swim in that was very cold. We headed back o the hotel, got shave ice on the way, then chilled for the rest of the night. The next day, we woke up, got breakfast, then played tennis. That afternoon, I golfed with my dad. I shot 90 with 51 on the front, and 39 on the back. There were fruit trees on every hole, and you were allowed to pick the fruit. We got a few starfruits. When we got back, then ate dinner at the beach house, and it was good. We went back, then went to bed. On the eleventh, everyone except me went on an old sail boat, but I was super tired and rested. After that, we swam, then grilled steaks. They tasted amazing. The next day, we drove 2 hours to the north shore. We were going to see the rough beach, and then swim somewhere else. We got to the swimming spot, but the lifeguard told us that there was a strong current about 10 feet offshore, so we didn’t swim. The current pulled out to where the huge waves broke. That night, we got drinks at the hotel where my parents spent their honeymoon, then ate at a restaurant. That Friday, the last full day that we were there, we ate breakfast, then went to the Kona coffee plantation and got coffee ice cream. I tried dark roast coffee. It was terrible! After the plantation, we went to a helicopter tour. It was so cool. We saw whales and dolphins right next to each other, cliffs, mountains, and even landed at the Jurassic Park waterfall! The company that we flew with is the only company that does that. It was fun to be right by the waterfall. After the helicopter, we swam, then ate dinner. We then packed and went to bed. On the 14^th, we swam for a little bit, then went to the airport and went to Honolulu.

2/13/2023

By Max

I am way behind, so I will recap the highlights.

THE ALAMO

The Alamo was cool because we got to see statues and go inside the building. We saw old cannons, and the spot where they thought that Davy Crockett died. It is a very historic spot.

SIX FLAGS

One day, we decided to go to six flags because it was ten minutes away. We got there, and there was almost no one there. We got to do so many rides because it was cold for Texas, and everyone wanted to stay inside. At first, my dad and I did the boomerang. We then did a few more rides, and even did superman twice without getting off. We ended with goliath. It was a lot of fun.

OTHER STUFF

We rode behind a horse and got a tour of the city. We went to the riverwalk after and got dinner. The guide told us that there was a tower that hah a conveyor belt that spun you slowly as you were eating. It seemed cool.

That is a recap of San Antonio from 2 months later.

12/19/2022

By Max

On Wednesday, December 7, we did school, then went to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. It had an escalator with windows that were on a diagonal angle along the escalator. There were a lot of cool things there. I controlled robots and shot scarves through wind tubes. After the museum, we went back to the fountain place above the highway and played at the park there. We then went to dinner at the Mexican place Mi Cocina again next to Klyde Warren Park (fountain park). I got fajitas. After dinner, we went to an ice cream truck. After ice cream and shakes, we went to the fountain and actually went in! I was trying not to get wet until I got sprayed dead on. I came home soaked! I showered and went to bed.  The next day we woke up, did school, then went to the George W. Bush Library. There were so many cool facts there about him. Also, the country’s seal will never again look towards the arrows (war) and look towards the olive branches (peace). After we did the museum, we went to Enchant, basically a Christmas fair. First, we met “Santa”. Then, I got a smoked brisket sandwich from a food truck. We did a maze, then got hot chocolate. We then went to ice skating, but then it rained, and the ice melted. I got a churro, my sisters got cotton candy, then we listened to Mrs. Claus read a book. After that, we headed out for a good night’s rest. The next day, we just found a way to use time until the night. That night, we ate dinner, then went to the Bucks game! It was so fun to watch. We went home at halftime because some people were melting down (not me). The Bucks ended up winning 106-105 over the Mavs. We tried to give our tickets to our valet guy because he wanted to watch the game. He took a picture of one of our virtual tickets. I’m not sure if he got in or not, but I hope that he did. We went back, then went to sleep. The next day, we woke up, packed, then went to Austin!

1/21/2023 (I’m behind)

By Max

On the first day, December 10, we drove for a couple hours from Dallas to Austin. On the way we stopped at Baylor university. We ate lunch there and saw bears. We drove for a couple more hours to the Omni Barton Creek hotel. It was cool.  We ate dinner, then went to sleep. The next day, we did school, then swam all day. It was fun. On December 12, we did school, swam for a little bit, then went to the Austin Bouldering Project, or rock climbing. It was fun. My dad did a hard one that went upside-down, and only one other guy could do it, but you could tell that he climbed regularly. After climbing, we went to the Austin bat refuge, the largest urban population of bats in the world (I think). After that, we went to dinner. Once we ate dinner, we got custom ice cream sandwiches that had 2 cookies of our choice, and ice cream of our choice. The next day, we did school, then went to the Inner Space Cavern. It was cool. We saw rocks that would touch in 50 years. The rocks grow an inch every 100 years. After the cavern, we stayed at the hotel for the rest of the day. On December 14, we went to the Texas capital building. It was so cool to see. We also stopped at the governor’s house. Did you know that the Texas capitol building is 1 million square feet, and 2/3 of it is under ground? That is because of a fire and they didn’t want to make another building to rival the beauty of the capitol building. Also, the building is 10 feet taller than the white house, and they say that it was no accident. After that, we got a really tasty dinner, then went back to the hotel. On the 15^th, we went horseback riding, and my horse and my dad’s horse kept eating grass. We got barbeque and then rode back to the ranch. We went back to the hotel, ate dinner, then went to sleep. The next day, we did school, and my dad and I golfed. It was so cold that we stopped on hole 10. It was like 45 degrees. That night, we went to a steakhouse, and I got a giant ribeye. We roasted marshmallows and saw someone propose. The next day, we went bouldering again, then had lunch and went to the hotel. We enjoyed the last night at the hotel. My dad woke us up early to go on a hike. We walked along a dry riverbed. My dad and I climbed 10–15-foot dry waterfalls. We saw a giant fish swimming in a little pool of water. After the hike, we drove to San Antonio.

By Max

12/12/22

On the first day, we got to the house, played the arcade, then I fell asleep early. The next day, we got ready, then went to the second biggest church in America. There were so many chairs that there were two levels. I went to kids’ church, and it was fun. After church, we got lunch, but there was a 45-minute wait. In that wait, we walked around and even met Santa! By then, our table was ready, so we went in and ate. We asked our server where the best work boots are, and she said either Cavender’s or Justin’s boot company. We went to Cavender’s because it was closer. When I was in the kids’ area, size 6 ½ did not fit, so I went to the men’s section because the kids’ section was too small. I got a cool pair of work boots that has American flags on them. everybody got boots and they were super cool. My dad’s boots were the same as mine, except they were not work boots and had no grip. They slid on carpet. After boot shopping, we drove to the Reunion Tower. When we got there, we got water then went to the elevator. It was kind of scary because I don’t like heights. When we got to the top, we walked around and went outside. After the tower, we went to a fountain show that coordinates with Christmas songs and happens every night at 6:45 PM. We then ate at a Mexican restaurant, and I got shrimp fajitas. They were delicious. Then, we went to our car and went home.

The third day started out with school in the morning. Then, my mom and sisters went to a park. In the afternoon, me, my dad, Brooke, and Hailey went biking around White Rock Lake, a 9-mile bike ride around it but two extra miles from the bike shop to the lake and back. Around halfway, we pulled off the trail and went to a Chick-fil-A. It was cool because someone came to take our order, and a Chick-fil-A robot programmed to the tables brought us our food. We just got a little snack and then we were on our way. The robot even said my pleasure when we said thank you, so it acted like a Chick-fil-A employee. We finished the bike ride and brought three of the bikes back to our house for my parents and I to bike the next morning. We got back, changed, then went to dinner. After dinner, we went home and fell asleep.

Next morning, I woke up then went on a bike ride with my dad and mom around the lake. When we got back to the bike shop, we realized that it opened at 11, and it was 8:30. We biked back to the house, and it was a 13-mile bike ride in all. We did school, then went to the arboretum (a zoo for plants). I had a bad headache, but it went away a little bit when we got there. It got fun when I shot a mounted water gun at a target. We also climbed around in a fake tree. We saw a mini-Christmas town there and got rosemary sourdough and caramel sourdough bread. After the arboretum, we went to Highland Park Village, but on the way stopped at Cavender’s because one of my mom’s boots was the wrong size. When we got to the Highland Park village everything was closed, but we wouldn’t have gotten anything anyways because all the stores were super expensive, and it was just a random Tuesday. There was even a Beretta gun store! We ate dinner at a place called yo Lobster, and I got lobster mac’n cheese. It had a lot of lobster for the price. After yo lobster, we went back to the house and went to sleep. That was the end of the fourth day in Dallas.

By Max

12/7/2022

We got home from Florida on November 17. Friday the 18^th we pretty much just did school and unpacked. The next day was opening weekend for hunting. My dad, my uncle, and I all went hunting. So did my grandpa, but he hunted elsewhere. Before hunting, I woke up at 4:30 and got layered up. Then, we went to George Webb’s. It is open 24 hours a day. I got a ham and cheese omelet. I got hot chocolate and my dad got coffee, then went to the farm. There was little to no action in the morning, which is pretty rare from the condo stand. The condo stand is a stand that we built from plywood and had an interesting time getting it up. It’s still standing after 3 years, so I consider it a success. After the morning session, we went home and ate lunch. Brooke had friends over for a birthday sleepover, even though her birthday was in a week. My dad and I went back out in the afternoon but didn’t see much. My grandpa got a nice 8-pointer, so we went to help him. We cleaned it, then put it on the Argo. The Argo is basically a tank that can float and run almost anything over. The next morning, we went to church instead of hunting, but went hunting that afternoon. I got a five-pointer. The story is, after almost shooting a smaller four-pointer, two more bigger bucks came out and I shot the biggest one. I shot it in the perfect spot, right behind the front shoulder at 104 yards. After field dressing it, I had to drag it 50 yards so that my dad could get it into his truck. My uncle also got a nine-pointer that afternoon. We took them back to our house. We cut them up on that Tuesday. Nothing really happened on Wednesday, except that my cousins came at 11 pm. I wanted to say hi, but I wasn’t supposed to, so I went to sleep. The next morning, I said hi to my cousins, then we played basketball until they went to Thanksgiving church. We saw them at the Thanksgiving feast that my grandma prepared. She made 2 turkeys because we eat a lot. I ate a turkey leg. It was amazing. We went home after watching football. We golfed and played basketball that night. The next morning, we went pheasant hunting. We each got a few, and I got the last one. It was flying fast. I somehow shot a bird gun 100+ yards to hit it. It was a huge and very colorful. We ate lunch there, and Alisa went to the bar and ordered root beer. We went back and played golf and basketball. We got dinner, then came back and played basketball until 10. I slept in my cousins’ room and captain went crazy. The next day, we split ways and my family, and I went to get a Christmas tree. We met back up with them for dinner and gingerbread houses. Mine and O’s (youngest cousin, 13 years old) had funny-looking bird faces. C’s (middle cousin, 14 years old) was well made, and W’s (oldest cousin, 16 years old) was a normal house. That night, my cousins and I went into the hot tub. O got an idea to go in the lake. Somehow, they roped me into going in. I ran down there with them. Stepped a few yards out to get into about 2-foot-deep water, then dunked myself. It was cold. I ran back up to the hot tub, and by the time I got there, I was numb. My cousins went under and held their breath for 10 seconds. After they got back into the hot tub, we dried off, then went to bed. On Sunday, we went to church, then got lunch, then went home and got chanced for platform tennis. The champs were my dad and uncle, second place was O and me, then third was W and C. It was decided by a 10-minute-long deuce. After platform tennis, we went home, then played madden and golf. We also went into the hot tub that night, but not the lake. On Monday, they left, and it was Brooke’s birthday. We celebrated, and it was a fun day. Nothing major happened on the following days until Friday. my grandparents took us to Mod Pizza, then Sweet Dreams and the arcade there. We got home, then went to sleep. The next morning, we got ready, then went to the airport and went to Texas.

Florida

Orlando

By Max

11/23/2022

Florida was a lot of fun. We did tons of stuff. Firstly, we were planning on going earlier than we did, but we wanted more time at home to see friends, and the hurricane was there. There’s no point of going to Florida when it would be raining all day. Instead of the first three days of our trip, we had friends over, and I made an enormous leaf pile. When I jumped in it, it almost felt like foam. It was super slippery. After we had friends over and jumped into the pile, we got ready to go on Friday. We left at around 8 am, my dad and I got allergy shots, then drove to O’Hare international airport. Once at the airport, we went to the United Club and got breakfast. We boarded the plane, then I found out that we were sitting first class. My parents explained that it is because if we didn’t sit first class, we would have to sit with 2 people sitting alone separate from the others. When we got to Florida, we went to the rental car place and (finally) didn’t have any trouble. We went to the house and looked around. I picked out a room with a king size bed. Hailey and Brooke were fighting over the Star Wars room, even though it had 4 beds. The other cool room was a frozen-themed room. Alisa slept in a castle. Also, the pantry was hidden. There was even a hidden room with a slide! The slide wasn’t designed too well and there was a straight drop at a part. The second day of Florida we pretty much swam and played in the house. I did school on that Saturday because we were going to the Kennedy Space Center on Monday. We played scrabble on a giant scrabble board. On the third day, we pretty much did the same thing as the day before, except that in the morning my dad and I played pickleball and mini golf. Also, that night, my grandparents got to the house. I also set the pop-a-shot record. I had to climb on it though. To be fair, the old record wasn’t humanly possible, even if they made every shot. The fourth day we went to the Kennedy Space Center. It was a long drive, but once we got there it was worth it. We saw all sorts of cool stuff, and even got to meet a real astronaut! His name is Winston Scott, and we all got pictures and he signed them. After the space center, we got back and enjoyed the rest of the day. On Tuesday, my parents went to a conference and my grandparents watched us. It was another day of swimming. On the last day, we had friends over. Their names are Chip, David, and Eva. Their parents also went to the conference. We did all sorts of stuff throughout the day, and at 3 me, my dad, Chip, and David went foot golfing. I got 54 on 9 holes. after foot golf, they left. We got ready and went to Margaritaville at Universal studios. I saw Chip and David there because that was where everyone ate dinner from the conference. The reason that we were there is because the conference peeps rented out Harry Potter World for 2 hours in the night. When we walked in, they gave us Harry Potter themed scarves. I first went on the VR ride, and it felt so real. I went on rides with Chip. We did the VR ride again, then went to a small one twice. We then got butterbeer and it was amazing. Then, we went on this motorbike ride for the rest of the time. It went like 50 mph because of the boosters. The only scary part was this sudden ten-foot drop straight down. I know that it might mot seen scary, but it was from a stand-still, and the floor basically dropped from under you. After Harry Potter World, we went back and fell asleep. On the last day we packed up and left. That was the end of an amazing trip to Florida.

By Max

11/7/2022

On the first day, we checked into the hotel, went to lunch, then went to the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier from WWII. It fought against Japan from the army base on Midway Island. There was a part of an airplane that said Maverick in one seat and Goose in the other. Also, we did an audio tour and got to see around the control rooms and sleeping areas. We even went into the beds! After the audio tour, we went to this area where they had moving chairs and VR headsets to make it seem like we were really flying. It was a lot of fun. Then, we went to these things, that instead of chairs kinda moving, it went upside-down and all around while we were trying to shoot down enemy fighters. Brooke always made me be in control and she would be the gunner. It was so much fun. I learned that the fastest way to turn is to turn on the side, then pull up. Otherwise, you just did a barrel roll. We went to the flight deck and saw a lot of cool planes. We got to go in some, and even sit in the cockpit of a couple. There were at least 20 planes and helicopters there. After the aircraft carrier, we went back to the hotel, then went to dinner at Eno’s, a pizza place. The pepperoni pizza had no cheese, but the cheese pizza (thankfully) did. After dinner, we ate s’mores by a fire on a beach. We learned the Navy Seals train down the beach a couple of miles. After s’mores, we went to the room, and that was the end of day 1 in San Diego.

On the second day, I slept in because I finally have my own room. Before I woke up, Alisa and my mom went out and got muffins for us, and a cinnamon roll for us to split for dessert. I got a chocolate muffin. After breakfast, everyone went to the beach. I didn’t come because I was tired and was lazy that day. I was chillin all day until about 4, then I came to the pool and hot tub. After swimming, we got ready for dinner. At dinner, our waiter told us about the daily special, giant tomahawk ribeye’s. The size small was 45oz, medium 55oz, and large was 70oz. we got a small for me, my mom, and my dad to share. It was more than enough for us. Before the food came, we were playing in the field next to the dinner area. After dinner, we headed back to the room, and that was the end of a much-needed chill day.

The third day was fun. We woke up, ate breakfast, then went to the zoo. The first thing that we did at the zoo was to go on a bus ride to tour the zoo. We saw a lot of animals, but it was more of a summary of what to look at later. After the bus ride, we went to the reptile exhibit. There were so many snakes! My dad didn’t like it because he doesn’t like snakes. Then, we went on the sky rider. We saw a lot. The reason that we went on the sky rider was to get to the 4D theater.  The glasses didn’t really work for me, but it was still cool. I jumped a little when the “grass” AKA a plastic cord hit me for effects. We then got lunch at a lunch shop. After lunch, we went to the tiger walk. We saw a few tigers, then found our way back to the car. We could’ve seen more, but two of my sisters were begging to go to a playground that didn’t exist. It was kinda confusing and crumbling the good mood. When we got back, we swam for a while, then got dinner. I played in the field again while waiting for dinner. The first play that I got on offense, I threw a touchdown across the field. We were using a pee-wee size foam football, but it was around 50 yards. I also would’ve got 2 pick sixes and a fumble recovery touchdown, but since at that point we were doing 2v2, I just took a knee. I also almost got a third pick, but I slipped. We ate dinner, then went to bed.

The last day was just go to the airport and travel home.

By Max

11/3/2022

Yesterday was more laid back than Disney day. We woke up, did school, then went to lunch at Ruby’s Diner on the end of the Balboa pier. The waves were so big that you could feel them on the pier. It wasn’t exactly reassuring. We ate lunch then got amazing milkshakes and I got salted caramel flavor. BTW barbecue and caramel are my all-time favorite sauces. We got to the car and started to go to the hotel but saw a fun park and went to it. There was a lighthouse that had a slide off of it. It was fun. We went to the hotel and got in swimsuits. Me, my dad, Brooke, Hailey, and Alisa went to the pool while my mom set up keyboarding class . We swam for a couple hours, then came back to the room to get ready for dinner. I showered then got dressed for dinner at a nice restaurant. We got to Mastros, and it was nice. We got pink lemonades. My mom’s drink came with dry ice, and it looked super cool. It was steaming because it was so cold. I felt the cup and it was cold. I ordered a 22oz bone in ribeye, which is my favorite type of steak. I’m eating the leftovers as I write this. It is the best steak that I have ever had. When I went to the bathroom, there was a bathroom assistant. I was so confused when he said “hi buddy”. He turned on the sink for me and squirted soap on my hands and gave me a towel to dry them. It was odd but cool. I asked my dad if he had any money for tips, but he only had big bills. I had to go to the bar to get change. I gave the guy the tip and went back to the table. We waited for dessert, and when it came it was the best. It was a warm small cake with a giant, round piece of vanilla ice cream on it. It was so good. We went to the room, and that was the end of day 3 in Newport Beach.

By Max

11/2/2022

Yesterday, we woke up, did school quick while eating breakfast, then went to Disneyland. Well, we went to lunch at Sharky’s first, and I got this amazing shrimp. We drove the rest of the way to Disneyland, parked, then walked to the shuttle-train thing that took us to the actual park. We walked to the gate of the park and asked if there was a difference between that park and the adventure park. She said that that park was like Disneyworld, and the adventure park was different. We went back to the ticket booth and got tickets to the adventure park. First, we decided to split up, me and my dad went on the Incredicoaster, themed after the Incredibles, and it was a lot of fun. It was one of the fastest roller coasters that I have ever been on. The girls went on the carousel. We met up with them and went on the Ferris wheel. It was kind of scary because we went on the ones that rolled back and forth. The scary part was at the top when we went backwards, and I felt like we were falling. We got off after 2 loops and went to the jumping jellyfish. It just goes up and down around 50 feet a couple of times. We then went to the swings, and Alisa did the Emotional Whirlwind, the kid version. I felt like I was going to hit something with my feet. After that, we used lightning passes for an airplane simulator thing. We flew over a lot of places, including Disneyland, Fiji, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa, and many more.  You could smell the elephants in Africa! It was so cool. After the airplane thing, we did the Incredicoaster again because Brooke and Hailey decided that they wanted to do it. We did it again, and right before the drop before the loop-de-loop, I yelled to Brooke that it was coming up. We finished the ride, met up with my mom and Alisa, got cotton candies to share, and left Disneyland. On the way to the restaurant, Brooke and I ate a third of our cotton candy. We drove to eat at Beachcomber but had to park across the road about ½ mile away because an oceanfront parking lot was too expensive. We took a shuttle there. The shuttle driver was a super good whistler. He could do a vibrato whistle. It was impressive. When we were ordering, I asked my mom if we could get truffle fries, and she said no. the waiter, Brendan, heard me and gave me them for free. It was super nice. I ordered butterfish, and it was delicious. The kids’ meals came with s’mores, and even though I got an adult meal, our super nice waiter, Brendan gave me one. It was cool. We finished the s’mores, and I got to try sugarcane that was in my dad’s drink. Don’t worry, we cleaned it off and our waiter said that it was fine. We left, I ran to catch the shuttle before he left, and we hopped in. my dad tipped the driver and asked him to keep whistling. The other people in the bus thought that it was the song until we told them that it was the driver. We went back to the hotel and that was the end of a really fun day.