Traveling With Your Family

2009-02-22T16:44:00.000-08:00

with age comes responsibility, with responsibility comes decisions, with decisions comes mistakes, so my conclusion here is that age is the common enemy. lets all stay young, in spirit if anything.

anyone knows why I just wrote that? who know.. anywho its been a while since I posted something so I just thought I would... hahaha :)

One Last Nolan Family Adventure

2009-01-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

As a 'look how far we've come as a family' act, we decided to go to Belize one last time. It was almost like an inside joke in our family. We have traveled to Belize together so many times. It was the first stop on our around the world trip. We have watched it grow older; it has seen us grow up. I will never forget it, so as a last 'Nolan family Adventure', we decided to travel down there together. My brother Jack goes off to college soon, so it really was a last FAMILY adventure. Traveling brought back memories. Just of the little things, like sitting in a plane, or waiting in the gate from our around-the-world-trip. This was the first time I had been out of the country since the trip so it was long overdue, and it was amazing. Seeing Belize was fun, to see how much it has changed, to see how much we have changed. It was so amazing to do the little things that I remember, like walk down to the ice-cream shop, or see Billy. I can not tell you how happy I was to be back there or how sad I was to see how much it had changed. It was really sort of like a right of passage thing, to come back there after so much. And have one last time smashed together in a small room with my family. I had so much fun and it was a lot more sentimental than anything else. The time went all too fast and soon we were leaving. When left it was POURING rain, the hard that only Belize can bring. Then our taxi BROKE DOWN and we all had to get out and push it, still in pouring rain. We were bumped on our first and second flight. Finally we get to the cities, our car will not start, the hotel we were going to stay at is booked, and their coffee machine is broken. So we get up this morning and our car is dead as a brick with what looks like 2 flat tires. This is where my mom says, "just a sign, just one sign that we should not live here or we should not have left Belize" and we all fall down laughing in the lobby of the hotel, laughing until we were crying......I loved it. This is my family, and this is our story.

heeeloooo people

2008-12-16T16:07:00.002-08:00

soooo, what’s new? oh wait, I don’t know who you are, and more importantly we cant communicate. haha oh boy wow, that was stupid. anywho..... I am going to this awesome new school, MNCS. I love it. I have a couple of new best friends. Siovhan (it is either spelled Siovhan or Siobhan) and Smurf (obviously not her real name but there you go) anywho.... yeah it’s pretty cool. yup. It is kind of hard to believe that last year I was traveling around the world with my family. It’s a little surreal, you know?

heeeloooo people

2008-12-16T16:07:00.001-08:00

Birthdays and Butterflys

2008-07-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

My 13th birthday was 10 days ago, and as a birthday present my dad bought me a Butterfly of Life necklace. Being the age that I am the first reaction that went through my mind was "pretty butterfly necklace" but after all the guests left, my dad sat me down and told me what this necklace stood for. "The diamond stands for cancer awareness" he told me. "10 percent of every butterfly necklace, pendant, pin, charm or earring sold goes to fighting cancer". Now cancer has affected my life as well as the thousands of other people on this earth. I lost my Grandma to cancer, and my aunt was just recently diagnosed with cancer. I understand what this necklace stands for. Not only does it remind me of what my dad does, it connects me to my grandmother who passed away. It also keeps me thinking of the toll that cancer has taken from my life as well as so may others. Thank you Butterfly of Life.

This experince

2008-04-06T11:51:00.001-07:00

I know that I have not posted in so long, and I am sorry. This around-the-world-trip has been the best experience of my life. I hope that every one of you can have an experience like the one I had! Good luck to all of you! Remember Life is good!!!

Rock on!
-anna

Sorry

2007-12-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

i am so sorry that i have not posted in so long. I have been really busy catching up in school and right now im at school so ill sayt his: when i get home i will post a long letter

got to go bell just rang!

-ANOAO

We Are Home Day After Tomarrow!

2007-10-22T00:23:00.000-07:00

We left our cozy little house in Germany and drove to everyone’s worst nightmare, the airport in Frankfort! Tomorrow

As we walked through the door the only thing that kept me from falling to the ground was the thought of sitting in the “fancy pants lounge.” (All right, all right that’s a little over dramatic.) We got there, check in our bags, went through what we did not know was the 1rst security where they had us empty our pockets and walk through the security thingy and then had some of us go into separate booths for more security checks. We all lost site of each other as the crowd engulfed us. Arrrggghhh! So we soon found each other and walked through the first half of the airport.

Next we walked through the other half of the airport to find that we had little time left and that the fancy pants lounge in on the other side of that security check that we had just walked through!

I said to myself that I schould enjoy it cause this trip would be over soon and then I would miss it as we went through security number 2 and 3. Double and triple backpack checks and more security procedures!

When we finally got to Prague and met up with Adrienne—(we call her Ado for short) and her friends David and Kristine, we were all very happy! It was a lot of fun seeing old friends again and meeting new ones! Soon Jeff came to live with us—One of Ados friends, then said goodbye to David and Kristine!

Prague was really pretty but it was also kind of dirty and really smoky! Towards the end of our 4 nights there Ado, mom and I went shopping for new school cloths, all in all it was a fun time!

Now we are in Dublin, Ireland with only 3 nights left before we get home! We all like Ireland a lot cause the people are so friendly! Our taxi driver from the airport to our little house told us about some cool restaurants to go to and he told my parents what pubs to avoid because “yell die a twirst.”

See ya guys soon!

Anna Nolan Over and Out!!

LOVE IT HERE!!!

2007-10-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

We sat on the couch one sunny afternoon, our parents told us that they were going to the office to use the internet. About an hour later they burst
through the frontdoor and told us to start packing, 'cause we're going to France!
We spent 2 nights wandering around the fariytale-like city of Reims, France.

We had fun looking at churches and cobblestone rodes, meandering up colorful, flower lined streets, practicing our basic knowledge of the French language, taking it all in.

The drive to and from France was absolutely amazing- every bend around the Rhein River gave us a new castle, church, or colorful,sunny, flowerfilled town to
explore. My mom would tell us to come here and look out her window while squeezing my arm saying "look how pretty this is!" We would say "mom, mom yes its
pretty here, now let go of my are-mom -mom!"

We also visited my dads sister for her b-day! We had a small party -- all the usual b-day stuff.

The drive home was-if at all possable- more beautiful, mom sat looking out the window down the rode to France as we drove away seeming on the verge of
tears.

Jacks 17 birthday was a sugar filled, cake infested, day of fun. But mom's birthday was amaiing! We drove out to this castle and found tiny, horned goats wandering
around looking for some food or a sunny place to rest. We spent a good long time petting and feeding them.We explored the castle amd its restauraunt. After
that we found a butterfly habitat and walked inside. Mylucky mom had the colorful butterflies landing on her in secounds-- she was wearing a flowered shirt
and she would turn slowly toward my dad and tell him that this was her best bithday ever!

Yesterday we went to a 444 year old estate of a Baron and Baroness wine produce. My parents tasted the wine and we tasted the grape juice they make. Charlie and I played with the son of the people who invited us there and became goods friends
with 12 year old Sabastian! After a while we went inside to the parents and sat down, they pored a tiny taste of wine for me and charlie and we sat with all
of the grownups who were tasting different wines. We quickly became bored and went back outside to play soccar and baseball! All in all it was a great day!

Anna Nolan Over and Out!

Germany

2007-09-16T02:22:00.000-07:00

We got to the airport and rented a car, driving home with a GPS, in a new place, where their language consists mostly of the word "fart", was a big fiasco! Charlie and I sat in the back with our fists in our mouths tiring not to laugh while Jack tried to direct my dad on where to turn with his GPS. Every tine we screwed up (5 times) we headed back to the airport to take what we called a “cool down lap" in the airport parking garage!

We finally made is though, in a nice little neighborhood, on a tall hill looking over the many castles and vineyards, of the Ryan River valley, that is Germany.

This old fashion house is a nice little 3 room house with no drier or dishwasher. We go outside as much as we possibly can playing jump rope and tag.

We sit at the dinner table every night with a steaming homemade meal in front of us, made my Mom- but sometimes I help, afterwards Mom and I wash the dishes and clean up. If I’m not careful, ill start talking old English! :)

Dinner is at around 8 or 9 at night and if at a restaurant it is a 2-4 hour process! We love it!

Well, only 4 more weeks here then off to Prague and Dublin and then we are home!

Right now I am in the university- my dad is teaching an Entrepreneurial class here and if we are lucky, we can use the computer lab! 40 high tech computers and no one but me and my parents! YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY! :)

Got to go!
Anna Nolan Over and Out!

Greece!

2007-09-03T01:11:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/julenenolan- more photos!

So we got to Greece and swamm our brains out at the beach!

The food here is great!!!!!!!!!

Anna Nolan over and out!

Oh ya before i forget, my mom and dad have a website called www.takethekidswith.com and it is so funny. My mom writes for it and its really good!

Greece

2007-09-01T02:02:00.000-07:00

We are in Greece!

Ok nothing much to say 'cause we only got here 2 hours ago

Anna Nolan-Over and Out

Veinna

2007-08-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

So after that train, and a day in Beijing we arrived in Vienna- 8 PM for them, 2 in the morning for us. We got off the plane and Charlie was still fast asleep so he accidently took his airplane pillow with him.

We apparently did a lot of stuff but I can’t remember for the life of me. My mom said that I was pretty out of it-- as in yelling that I hated this country and I was tired but I was still fast asleep so I have no idea. A 20 min wait and a taxi ride later we were in a hotel.

God it is beautiful here, we are all really happy to get out of China because we were sick of the smog and the hacking spitting couch that you heard every 4 min. One remark was- "I loved China, it was a great experience and I am so gosh darn happy we are out of there."

After the push shove, ignore people selling you stuff, loud yelling that was China, we all made a pretty big fools of ourselves in Vienna, which is the totally the opposite!

All of the streets bend so you can’t see the ends, which was a war thing, so my mom- (the absolute worst direction giver in the world- no really, if we need to get back to our hotel we ask her and if she says to go one way we go the other,) is in her personal heck.

We all are traveling like 5 year olds- you blunder around, not being able to read the signs, perfectly lost, crying a lot, ..... But you get ice-cream whenever you want it.

So the Americans walk around laughing at perfectly normal words-(this is in the perception of an Austrian person) like heptensmoochen and fartinbloging.

Seriously, as we walked around we passed a farmers market named runnenfahrten- so they must think we are crazy laughing at a perfectly normal words! J

We were told that 3 till 4 is cake time so got to go-

Anna Nolan- Over and Out!

The Train Ride of Death!

2007-08-27T05:06:00.000-07:00

The 3 day train was… interesting…, we all shared a bunk rather like my back closet. 6 by 5 feet across and very…. Umm what’s the word I’m looking for…..? Ummmm… oh yes, cozy. The kids stayed in the bunk while the parents went out and mingled. After 25 hours of nonstop Malcolm in the Middle I went out and mingled (Hey I had no choice, after watching the same MITM (Malcolm in the middle) over and over we started to get a little loopy over the fewms of the apple cores and the noodles). We met some really nice people and played cards in a smoke filled bar car. All in all it was not great.
We are back in Beijing and staying in the same great hotel. One of the people we met- (his name is Peter, and he is a very good at guitar and is really funny,) lives here and showed us around.
A late lunch with Peter at a fancy restraint was astronomically funny! We laughed about all the hilarious comedians that we have listened to. So we, laughing, slamming fists on the table, loud Americans drew a lot of looks.
A hot bath and a soft robe will put me right to sleep.
Goodnight!
Anna Nolan Over and Out!

Despite how much i loved Japan we had to leave. :(

2007-08-23T02:28:00.000-07:00

We arrived in China tired and hot, so we went straight for the hotel. Again- one of the smartest things we have ever done was to hire a tour guide, here our tour guides Chinese name was about 47 letters long so he let us call him Sam.

Beijing, China- The first night we did nothing but try to get used to the pollution. My Dad would keep telling us how much more polluted it was in Shanghai. As for me it was hard to get used to the air for I have lived in small towns chocked full of clean air for all of my life.

The second day we drove to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was the palace of the Emperor of China. That Emperor believed that China was the center of the world and seeing as he was the Emperor he should live in the center of china. In my opinion that is a little self centered. This Palace was stocked full with treasure of jade, gold, ruby, and sapphire. I still cannot imagine what one person would do with all of that room not to mention all of that treasure. It was very interesting to learn all about the Emperor; Sam would talk about everything that happened at that time in great detail.

Our next destination was the Temple Of Heaven; this is a very tall building where the Emperor and Empress went to pray for a good harvest. It was so beautiful. A while there was spent learning, walking, and sweating.

The 3rd day was a marathon! We went to the Great wall of China- and we hiked our brains out. Charlie, Jack and I went ahead of our parents to hike up the mountain and back to the lift, (because they were a little ALOT slow.) Leave it up to me to get lost on the Great Wall of China. As I walked along trying to find the exit which was little more than a hole in the wall I started to realize that I was lost. I finally found two hot and sweaty Americans--(not hard to spot) which were my mom and dad.

Next was the Sacred Rode, this was a long walkway leading up to the Emperor’s tomb. It is lined with huge stone animals. Half of The animals were kneeling to pay tribute to the Emperor and the other half rose up to towering heights guarding his tomb. This was so pretty!

The 4th day we went to a local family to eat a local lunch. We rode rickshaws’ throughout this cobble stone neighborhood back to our van. We went to the zoo where we looked at the pandas. They were up and about- an unusual site from my mom and dad’s stories. They would tell us that it was like seeing a panda run a marathon if he walked across his pen, because seeing pandas usually meant watching a furry black and white fluff ball in the corner of his habitat. The silk market was next; we just bought a couple of DVDs for a good price. By the end we were all too tired to drag our feet back to the van, we made it though, if barely

After Beijing we went to Xi'an and met our tour guide Xin. She and I would play cat’s cradle and cards while in the van. We saw the terracotta warriors, one of the 7 wonders of the world- it lives up to that title! The Terracotta warriors are around 6000 life size clay Chinese soldiers, each one having different faces, clothing, and ranks. As well as horses, weapons, and chariots. They were arranged in a Chinese battle formation. These were built by slaves who were commanded by the very first emperor of China- Qin was his name, in order to protect his tomb. Shortly after this emperor died, these clay figures were destroyed by peasants during the peasant uprising because they thought Qin was a cruel man so they destroyed the legendary protectors of his tomb.—around 2000 years later the remains were found by a local farmer who was digging a well.

There’s your history lesson for the day!

One of my favorite things about China was the People always trying to take pictures with us. You see, White American children are still a rare sight to see in China because China has been opened to the West since the late 70s so I suppose it must be cool to see a American child. At first we all were giddy with glee thinking we were getting the rock star treatment with everyone wanting to take pictures with us but after a while when they started to touch our faces or hair as if we were not real it started to creep us out a little.

A short plane ride and we are now in Tibet. Our new tour guide Lo Song took us to our 5 star hotel, (a first for me,) and we are all ecstatic about the new luxuries despite our altitude sickness. After a while we all started to get headaches, and feel a little loopy. It’s hard to breathe because the air is so thin—you feel tired and almost like you have the flu. Did you know that they actually have bottled of oxygen in the hotel rooms?! You put the hose in your mouth and twist the knob so the air flows and you take deep breaths. We have a lot of medicine that can make us feel better though. I mean stuff like pills, chews, and a lot of water, we also have these syringes without the needle on I mean, and you squirt .1 ml of the lotion like substance on your wrist and rub your wrists together being careful not to get it in your eyes! After a min you wipe a alcohol swab on them and wash your hands-- it really helps!

Today we went higher up the mountains to see the largest monastery in Tibet. My dad who was feeling the worst would, as we climbed up the steep stone steps, mutter to no one in particular, "oh great let’s bring the Nolans 13,000 ft up in the mountains and then make them climb flight after flights of steps." We would dash ahead, hoping that he would not hear us giggling.

Day after tomorrow we take a 3 day train ride back to Beijing then we are off to Vienna!

Anna Nolan- Over and Out!

Heyyyy

2007-08-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

So we are all fine. I have to get off the computer in like 14 seconds so i just thought to post a note saying my brothers are total computer hogs!--(not really) and reassure all my loyal fans-- :) (he he he- joking) that i will post as soon as i can

Well that's Jack saying for me to get off the computer so got to go!

Japan

2007-08-12T02:35:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Japan--- Thankfully!!! There was a mistake made by one of our airlines and we almost could not come but after a 14 hour flight- a 2 hour layover- and a 10 hour flight- we are here- and no one speaks English!!!!
We just got Internet and I am so so glad I LOVE it here! No one speaks English so for all I know they could be cursing at me- like I said, I LOVE it!! We live in a one room house that serves as a bedroom, living room, tea room, and an eating room! We sleep on the floor on little futons that we pull out of the closet! We eat on the floor cross legged and our food is raw fish eyes and rice!!!-- Oh and soy sauce!

We wear kimonos with ties and everything!

We have visited a lot of temples and the Buddha and wished for good luck-- by now I should live 2 be 101 and all my friends and family should have great luck for ever!

On a more delicate note- the bathrooms here are... well ... interesting! They are squatters with bidets and everything- if you do not know what that means---- look it up!

We leave Kyoto, Japan today- a total of 2 nights was spent here- and go to Nagasaki, Japan
Wish us luck as we dive into the culture, language and religion of the Japanese people!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!!!

2007-07-27T23:38:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that I have not posted many pictures - but we are low on internet, bandwith, and patient brothers.

For more photos of our trip go to http://picasaweb.google.com/julenenolan

If that doesn't work go to www.picassaweb.com and search julenenolan.

Electric Paridise!!

2007-07-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

Those so you who are lounging it up down there on your couches watching TV and what not count your self lucky!

You know when you've learned to appreciate life a lot more when you have spent the last 3 days on a island with no electricity,no indoor toilet and shower facilities, no electricity-(yes electricity is so important to me that it gets to places in my list)- anyway you know when you have learned to appreciate life a little more when you are completely exited about a 40 min taxi ride in a comfy car.

We reached our apartment in Auckland at night and my mum had to talk to a lady in the box and get the mysterious envelope from the box and wave a secret little chip in front of the elevator to get it to open while Charlie, Jack and I are dancing around like Super Secrete Agents.

We All nearly jumped out of our skins to find we had a TV, a kitchen, and a shower that produced HOT water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have already met up with our exchange student who came to live with us when I was little and is like my sister only she live on the other side of the world! Her name is Jessica and we (we being my mom Jess And I) went shopping for a while, came home and ate cookies while the grown-ups drank wine.

My Mum and Jessica were gunna go get some more wine and I volunteered to go with so Jess and I got hopelessly lost and ran around a wile caring a bottle of wine and some popcorn- all in all it was a fun day.

Right now my brother is screaming the ending of the new harry potter book though I am only half way through!

Au Revoir!

Happiness

2007-07-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

We boarded a 3 day cruise 3 days ago-(fancy that)-and it was great! the Crew came to know me as "talented girl" at the end of the 3 days- (again fancy that) :) but more on that later.. the boat was nice though the smell of the engine was nauseating. We met a lot of nice people and had a lot of fun.

We spent all most the whole day on the boat sailing to Barefoot Island. When we got there they gave us a tour of the small- (and i mean small- it took 97 steps from one side of the island to the other) island with no electricity. :(

Sleeping on the island was one step up from camping,we slept in Bures with thatched roofs and outside toilets and showers. for teatimes and meals they would beat the drums for everyone to report to what was called the Main Bure to eat, and if you were lucky enough to hear it you would get to eat fresh fruits and the catch of the day.

The snorkeling hear was amazing. As you swam trough the heaps of coral in ever color you can imagine right of the beach the fish dart,turn,and sore around in bright flashes of exotic colors!

every morning we would bored the boat and sail to a new adventure- witch include snorkeling, village tours and much more.

The last night the 9 people and the crew through a culture night (basically a humiliating talent show.) we did a big magic show and every one else did theirs. at the end Fiji did a show with a bunch of men in grass skirts and bracelets took their axes and spun,flipped, twirled them around as they danced around bare chested- :). Despite the skirts it was very manly.

After that they took us out side and did a fire performance.-Do i need to say anything else? IT WAS COOL.
As they flipped the blazing torches and set the grass around them a fire they danced and sang.

We are now in Nandi, Fiji in a cute little hotel- with electricity. :)

Tomorrow we set out for New Zealand and there we will have free Internet so i will Post all the pictures i have taken when we get there.

Hasta La Bye Bye!

Finally!!!!!

2007-07-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! We have Internet!! We have left our little place and are now in Savusavu, Fiji, staying in a nice little place for only 4 nights. in New Zealand we will have Internet so i will be able to show you all of the pictures that we have taken....
On my birthday the whole stinking village had a surprise party for me! it was awesome!
Oh i got to go--- my brothers are anxious to talk to their friends,
So i will leave you with-
So long for now!
Anna Nolan Over And Out!

Fiji

2007-07-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

After 11 hours in LA- 5 hours in the Business Lounge- and a 13 hour flight- we finally made it to Fiji!!

It is beautiful here and the scuba diving is amazing!

we had a bad encounter with a spider as big as your hand! it was in the bathroom and my dad was tiring to kill it with a canoe paddle as Charlie Jack my Mom and I were all gathered around the door, just as my dad took a swing at it, it ran toward the door and at all of us and the lights went out! and it was freaking fast! we all screamed and ran- Jack leaped to the bed in the other room with just one leap- Charlie disappeared in a puff of smoke- (not really) and I did the splits on the couch with one leg on each arm rest. Oh ya you laugh now but if you were there you would have been crying like a little girl!

It is great here though Charlie and I have been fighting like rats and hogs-no- bats and logs-no-hats and smogs- wait what the heck's a smog?! any way we have been fighting like cats and dogs!

Anna Nolan Over And Out!

Scuba Diving!

2007-06-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

I am certified to scuba dive!!!!!!--- So is Charlie and my Grandma.....

Anyway we went on some more dives then I got certified, the first dive was ok i mean nothing cool---- unless you count hugging sharks cool!!!! We went with Billy, he was hugging the sharks and he put one on top of his head and blew bubbles in its gills and it would blow out a smoke ring! After that dive the next was ok- nothing really to see just coral and fish but I swam through somthing and it stung me so now my arm kind of hurts.....

Charlie and Jack skipped out on the last one and boy did they regret it! we went through caves and tunnels at 70 feet below the surface, it was pitch dark in one of the caves and I was the one holding this little wimpy toothpick of a flash light---- it was AWESOME!!!! When Billy first told us to go down I was confused because there was nothing to go down into unless you count the little tiny crack in the coral---- and that’s what we went through! Then we swam out of that and ito a pitch black cave and I was in love with that wimpy little toothpick of a flash light right about then. Out of that one and into another, then sadly our dive was over :( Billy gave me an under water handshake, and we went up.

We leave Belize tomorrow- early in the morning--- :0 :( wow I’m shocked! (ok if you did not get that I was being sarcastic you can just stop reading this now) and head out to Guatemala- not a long way away, two small plane rides and some waiting in line...- We stay in Guatemala for two days then go out to Fiji!
See Ya in Guatemala!

Anna Nolan Over and Out!

Thank God For Bug Spray!

2007-06-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

So today's adventure consisted of (the people above 16) driving ATVs through the jungle and Charlie and I, meanwhile, were stuck on a muddy jeep that would NOT do anything the tour guide- who was driving it- wanted it to do! every time we came to a turn the person had to back it up and tentatively inch it forward until he could yank steering wheel to the side the back to the center then to the other side while Charlie and I bounced up and down banging our heads on everything and willing ourselves to hold our breakfast down. Soon the ATVers were far ahead and out of site. I sat in the front and there was a big fan right in front of me and I had to breathe the fumes coming out of it in nauseating wafts.Once that was over, Charlie and I had to hitch a smile on our face and eat lunch-chicken+rice+beans.

We were the first ones down to the river banks where my sunburn kicked in, it made me cry when i had to put sunscreen on-fancy that sun burn and sun screen don't mix. I tried to hide the tears from everyone as I soothed my face it the cold lake water. Here I would like to give a shout out to my mother -Julen and my father-Mike for helping me now and for the help that they will give me further on. We kayaked down the river-not a big thing-no rapids-no fun :( . We took the Reef Rocker (sorry forgot to mention that before) it is like a really fast boat- we went 50 mph!!! Then we got home and well swam ate pizza you know.

Well stay tuned for our next Nolan Family Adventure!

Anna Nolan Over And Out!

Bad Expernce Good Lesson

2007-06-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

OK as you might see by the tittle that this Post will be about a bad experience- so we decided to go scuba diving with Billy-(one of our great friends from Belize) we went with a lot of other people and headed out. When we got in the water and everything seemed OK, we went down-though it wasn't very deep. The first problem appeared very quickly and it was my mask-it started to fog up and it wasn't just the fog that you get and you can clear out, it was a everlasting misty fog-- i started to think that there were dementors under water (you know damentors-Harry Potter) because they make mist and stuff- OK the people who are harry potter freaks got that one-

then there was the current that was sweeping us all out to sea- afterwards my mom told me that she was relieved that we were all safe and alive because there was a great chance that one of us could have been swept out to sea- and i was starting to get really freaked- everyone was grabbing fist fulls of coral and dragging themselves across the ocean floors while fighting against the current to get back to the boat even though all the dive people told us how it damages the coral so much when we touch it and all that stuff but since it was the dive people who started to do it first we thought it was OK. when we got to the top we had made little progress and started to head toward the boat in a ferocious Battle against the current- by this time i was crying and stressed and--- well it was a HORRIBLE experience. we decide to go down to the bottom again to make the swim a little easier- to top things off i scraped my knee (with out knowing it) on a bit of stinging coral and it was red and puffy and hurt like h- i mean it hurt really badly :) then i was full out sobbing- when we got back in the boat my mom said that in 20 years of diving that was THE WORST dive of her life and my dad agreed!- great ways to introduce someone (in this case me and charlie) to scuba diving huh?

little tip for traveling- if you had a bad experience(which you most certainly will if you are traveling) no matter what happens you can learn something you can use next time. for this one i guess it would be... ummm....uhhh....... stay low to the bottom when fighting a current-don't scrape your knee on coral- and umm well you get the picture right?

well after a day like today i am just glad to get in bed-goodnight!

Anna Nolan Over and Out!!!!