Maui - School project from 12 year old, Part One

A quick introduction.
I gave my kids a scuba diving trip to Maui for Christmas. I had to work with one of their teachers for a homework assignment. We descided to have her write a daily log of the trip and publish it approximately every week. Here is her first week.

Hawai’i Journal

December 24th
Today was Christmas Eve. At my home stockings were hung and presents were under the tree. I was so excited for tomorrow morning. We had dinner at my mom’s house. We had a BIG turkey dinner. My mom’s friend named Al came over to help us cook. I have always wanted to cook a BIG dinner so this was really exciting for me. After the BIG dinner feast was over we opened up a few presents. About an hour later we were headed to my dad’s house for a BIG surprise. When we all got through the front door my dad let us see what the BIG surprise was. Right in front of a BIG pile of presents was two suitcases and one yellow four-wheeler. My little sister got the four-wheeler while my older sister and I got the two suitcases. On top of the two suitcases were gift tags that said “let’s go diving” and boarding passes to Hawaii. When I finally caught up to the present I yelled “WE’RE GOING TO HAWAII!!” My dad chuckled and said “yes. We’re leaving tonight.” After that it was all a blur. I rushed to open the other presents my parents and grandparents gave me so I could pack. I guess I was too excited because I got packed in about 45 minutes. When we finally got to the airport we checked in and talked to one of our friends. When we saw our aunt and uncle get off an earlier plane to see my grandparents for Christmas, we let them use our car and then it was time to go. We said aloha, went through security, and out of sight.

December 25th
Today all I have been doing is flying around in giant toy airplanes. First we went from Fairbanks to Seattle and had a two hour layover. So we decided to eat at the food court and head for our gate. But on the way to the food court my dad “accidently” lead us to the baggage claim so we had to go through security again. After that cycle of tiredness we went to the food court and had breakfast. I had a Wendy’s biscuit, egg, cheese, and bacon sandwich. I also got a twisted Oreo frosty. When we finally got to the gate I took a nap until it was time to board. We thought that the plane ride from Seattle to Maui was 4 hours but it was 6 ½ hours. On the way there I at least went to sleep 5 different times and had a bunch of facility breaks. When we thought we were about to land the attendant said that we had another hour. When we finally walked outside into the humid but refreshing air of Maui I knew I was asleep. When we got on the shuttle bus to take us to the car rental place we got on the wrong bus so it took another 15 minutes to go back to the airport and get in the right bus. A very exciting first thing to do in Maui… NOT. It wasn’t all that bad though. All I could think about was how about 10 hours ago I was surrounded by snow and pine trees. Now I am surrounded by sand and palm trees. We unpacked our stuff when we got to the condo. When that was all done we went to the beach for about the next hour. I can tell you that the sea salt water is so worth the bitter taste because when you sail above the ground level and a GIGANTIC wave picks you up then smashes you down there is no other feeling like it. Although the smashing part doesn’t sound fun well, it is. When that was over for the first time of many we went home to take showers, eat, and then go to bed. When we were about to go to bed we all decided to take a swim and boy did that make my dad tired. The hot tub was so refreshingly warm and the pool that spark of cold was awesome. Now as I write this journal entry, my dad snores like a bear and my sister is out on the porch reading and I am on my edge for the day, I think I will stop here.

December 26th
Well, today it was the first full day of my trip. It was fun and all but I already got sun burned. We went to a Minnie mall and got my older sister a bikini. After that we went to the beach with some boogie boards we found in our condo. When we got to the beach my older sister and I went out on the boogie boards and surfed the waves. It was a lot of fun until my sister went SMACK. One of the waves had caught her and SMACKED her down to the ground. She got a BIG red mark on her shoulder. She didn’t notice after a while though. A few minutes after that we saw that one of the boogie boards would break if we used it any longer so my sister and I took turns on the one. After that the other one started to look damaged too, so we kept that one out on the beach too. We decided to leave a little bit after that and head to the condo to wash up then head to Walmart to buy a bikini for me and to get our own boogie boards. Later that day, we went back to the beach and tried out our new boogie boards. My older sister and I wore our new bikinis (of course) and had a blast out on the waves. Sadly I got pushed under the waves several times and now my stomach has marks all over it. The marked really hurt so we left for the day. We got washed up again at my hotel/condo and went to bed.

December 27th
Today we did our first dive of the trip. Before my sister and I knew about the trip my dad was online talking to a family that lived in California. They were talking about getting together and having a group dive. So, today we went to a beach called the Old Airport Beach. When we got there we got all of our SCUBA gear on and were ready to go into the water. My dad would keep on saying this is a refreshing dive and boy was he right. Getting past the tide was really difficult. It would pull you in then push you out and it took me five minutes to get out to the others. Other than that I think we all got the hang of it again. The only interesting animal I saw was a yellow and black eel. It was peeking its head out of a piece of coral and it looked really mean. It looked like “HEY YOU! YES YOU! GET AWAY FROM MY CORAL!” mean. After the dive was over we got some advice on where to dive and headed home to wash off. When we washed all of our SCUBA gear clean we headed to the beach. All we really did we boogie board and the last wave of the day I chickened out and let go of my board while my sister decided to take it. It’s like; she’s going, going, GONE! The wave had taken her under and smashed her to the ground. She came out all bloody. She had a bad bloody nose. We both were screaming for my dad who was fixing an umbrella. We finally got his attention and he started running towards my older sister. A kind man came by and offered us a water bottle for her nose to cool the swelling. The weirdest thing is she said that it didn’t hurt at all. You may have guessed it but it was time to go after that. The rest of the day we were cleaning up blood and taking showers. The end for now.

December 28th
Today we did our second dive at a place called Ahihi Cove. The place was usually use for snorkelers but we still went with our SCUBA stuff. The cove was very shallow and it had a lot of coral. The fish there were very tropical and we saw two sea turtles. They were big and they didn’t look the same as any turtle you would see in a classroom or something. When we were done with our dive there were a lot more people there. Most of them were snorkelers and were interested at seeing divers. It made me feel popular. When we were done we went home to wash up. Later on that day my older sister and I went to the pool in our condo community place. We both got a little tan but not much. We stayed inside and watched a show about different breeds of cats then my dad and I went over to a place where they can tell you about humpback whales. The place was closed so we went back here and I started writing this. Finally I have caught up with the present again. We didn’t do much for the rest of the day. Well more later.

December 29th
Today we didn’t go dive but we went to the beach. My older sister and I went on our boogie boards and bet who ever got to 40 waves surfed on boogie boards, would get bragging rights. On the last wave we both had 39 surfs and we tied it. It was overall very fun and tiring. Later on that day my dad and I went to the hot tub and met this couple that has dived at this place we were thinking of going to. They recommended a spot that had caverns and it sounded cool but we decided to do that another time. Well that is it for the day.

December 30th
Today we met up with another family to go diving in a place call 5 graves. It is called that because outside the entry it has a small graveyard. I convinced myself that it was just a garden with grave stones. The dive was a lot of fun but the visibility wasn’t very good but at the beginning I saw a sea turtle. During the dive I pointed out 3 eels. The eels looked very scary. They had sharp looking teeth. Right now we are going to the beach when I am done writing this. Okay, the rest of the day we did nothing so later.

December 31st
Today we went to a beach called Makena Landing. We went with this guy we went with before. This beach has caves farther out at sea. We saw sharks in the caves my dad said that they were white tip sharks. They are about 5 to 6 feet long and will not eat humans because they are used to us. In one of the caves there was an air pocket at the top. We went to the top to talk to each other. It was really cool. We saw some more sea turtles and one got caught in our flag and we had to get it out. We went home and washed up and I think we are about to go back to the beach. Well more later.

January 1st
Today my dad went diving with a guy he met over the internet while my sister and I stayed at the condo. We didn’t do much but we did go to the pool once. I got bored so I went back to the condo and watched TV. When my dad got back we watched a little TV and then headed to the beach. It wasn’t as pack as it is on the usual days because it was later in the day and it was a little windy out. Since it was windy it was perfect weather for boogie boarding. The wind made the waves so high that my dad said it made me look like I was a grain of sand. Sadly it was true. A lot of the waves were like 20 to 30 feet tall and my older sister and I would run and dive into them so we didn’t get crushed. We stayed at the beach for about an hour then headed to the condo. We washed up then ate and watched TV. We watched a cooking show called “Iron Chef America”. After that I decided to work on my other homework and now I am writing this. I bet for the rest of the night we will watch a little TV then go to sleep. So, good night.