But before I get to that, I will briefly catch you up on the past year or so. The last trip we took was a three week trip back to Guatemala to teach a few girls how to travel independently. That was the last trip that we took in a year. We also moved into a new house on Wolfe Island where we hope to build a permanent home. We rented a cottage and moved into it and the first winter we were here we went on the biggest ski hill on this side of Canada. We also had our Australian friends over for the whole winter. Out of all the places you could have gone to why Canada? In the winter?

When I found out that dad wanted to sail down to the Bahamas from Ontario, I thought it was a bit nuts. I mean, we had barely any experience on a big sailboat. But then he started to tell us about all the cool things along the way. After that I did some reading on the Bahamas and the sail down, and it looked really cool. So, I agreed to go with and we bought a beautiful boat named TearAway. We get to go through amazing locks, sail down the historic Erie Canal, and on the Atlantic ocean. I, for one, am very excited. The odds of swimming and snorkeling are high and I have heard that the Bahamas has some great diving areas, so that’s another reason I want to go. We leave in 11 days on a full moon if all goes well, the boat passes inspection, and the engine exhaust actually works.

TearAway in our bay

So fingers crossed that all goes well. In the mean time, my job is to gather boat recipes that involve two pans at most. I also have to figure out where all the food is to be stored for passages.

Anchored at Amherst Island

The last passage Gabe, Dad, and I went on was from Toronto to the Thousand Islands in the Saint Lawrence River. The pass is 150 miles and was supposed to take two days but it took three because all hell broke loose. We got caught in a storm, our navigation lights went out, and we hit a few rocks. All else said, it was a nice sail, good cruising during the day and the one night with the storm was troublesome. But what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger! I am very excited about the trip!

For Gabe’s birthday we went to a place called OSG paintball with about fifteen teenagers who all knew how to shoot a gun, except me. When we arrived we got a gun and a mask each and then we went through the safety rules. As soon as the referee was done with the safety rules we went out on the field. Then he said, “Three, two, one, go, go, go!”  There were popping sounds all around me. Me and my buddy peeked around the corner and three paint balls whizzed by my head.

We ducked down behind a bunker. I said to him, “Cover me!” I bolted out and to another barrier. Then I saw the person who was shooting at us and it was my brother Elisha. I capped a few shots off and then I heard a loud shout, “Hit!” Elisha put his gun in the air and walked out of the field. I did a fist pump and yelled, “Oh yeah!” What I didn’t notice was that I was in the wide open. A searing pain exploded in my butt and I yelled out and walked out of the field holding my left cheek. As I was limping out of the course jokingly shouting, “Something jumped up and bit me in the bum!”

The next course we went to was called urban town. It had three cars to hide behind. When it was go time I ran into a building and tried to shoot mom but instead she shot me in the heart. I called, “Out!” and walked out of the course. I jokingly said, “Nice shot!” to my mom. Thankfully, my best friend Jordan avenged me and shot mom in the thigh.

The next course we went to was called castle. We tried to take the castle over so we went grunt rushing onto the walls of the castle and and began firing into the keep.  My friend Betsy and i got behind cover. When we tried to go somewhere else they would shoot at us. I just bolted out of the cover and looked up to see a blue paint ball flying at me and then, BAM! I got hit right in the face! I yelled, “Hit!” but not for the last time. It turns out it was a blind firing person (your not supposed to blind fire in paint ball) who had shot me. He kept firing so I got one in the back and one in the head before I yelled out again, running as fast as IU could to get out of the fire fight.

The next round was the same field only we were defending the castle. The guy yelled, “Three, two, one, go, go, go!”  I ran up to the bell which the other team had to ring. Then I ran to the front of the castle and began popping people off. I hit Rachel and missed Hannah. Then I got pinned by Dad and Jeremiah whom I couldn’t shoot. I went down the stairs and I looked up towards the bell, I saw mom running towards it I was slamming every piece of paint out of the gun at her. When I heard the ding, ding, ding, ding, I knew she had won the game and I had failed to shoot her.

Then next course was called sherwood forest. The guy, again, yelled, “Three, two, one, go, go, go!” Our team ran up to the fortress, which was our weakness. We began firing when I moved into position I was pinned there. I had shooters on all sides and then Kari came to a log barrier and I shot her in the head. Elisha a sneaked up behind me and shot me in the back. It turned out I was the soul survivor of the whole team. Elisha was supposed to say, “Surrender,” but he shot me instead.

The last corse and was capture the flag. What made this game different was that we got unlimited lives by going back to base and touching it. We ran for high ground and the fire fight began. I shot Dad, then Jerry, and then Mom. They captured the flag. Hannah shot me in the face and three times and in the pinky finger three times in the same spot. The other team won.

When the fighting was over we went back, returned our guns, and ate lunch. I got the worst welt of the day, the guy said so. After we had a picnic at OSG we loaded up and went to the Wood’s place for dinner. I asked if i could sleep over and mom said I could. So I did.

Today we drove to a proboscis monkey sanctuary. When we arrived we saw pig tailed macaque monkeys crossing the street. At the feeding platform we saw a swamp snake. The lady said it was not poisonous.

The word proboscis means nose, so we saw the nose monkeys. Some fought over the food and even a squirrel joined in on eating the salty bread, but this bread does not have sugar. If it did and they ate it they would die.

When we went to the second feeding platform we saw silver leaf monkeys. We could feed those by hand! One even jumped on my shoulder and played on my head. Soon he lost interest in my head and took the bean for payment and leapt off of my head. There was a baby that, if you fed it, would hold your hand, as in your finger.

Silver leaf monkeys are rare to see. They don’t show themselves in the grey trees, they blend in to the dark.

One monkey pinched me so hard I almost cried out, “Ouch! Ouch!” But I didn’t.

Today we are driving to an orang utan sanctuary. While we are driving mom tells us some facts and I also researched it for an essay I’m writing for school. There are about twenty thousand orang utan in the world.They only live on two islands, Sumatra and Borneo. We have gone to one other sanctuary on Borneo.

When we arrive we only have five minutes to get to the feeding platform. When we get there we see some big orang utan apes (did you know that orang utans are Asia’s only giant ape?) They are feeding on bananas, young leaves and nuts. It is fun to watch them eat their breakfast. They were obviously interested in us too.

Some of them would fight over the food until the dominate male came. He did not have face pads yet. Those develop when they are twenty or so. The dominate male would fight and always win the food. There were two apes wrestling on the platform. It was fun.

When we hopped back into the car we drove to a national park. There we went on a canopy walk. We got to see pitcher plants and a flying squirrel fly off of a tree.

I hope you enjoyed the story!

So here is a story of a week with traveling families the week is a foam party going to a beach and to a pool party hope you enjoy.

Today I wake up and get my breakfast. Then I go up to my friends place and play video games. Then after two or three hours we hop in a van and go to a foam party. They spent most of the time filling the foam pool. While they were doing that me and my friends went swimming. The Hard Rock had a regular pool that had three water slides. Two small one big. Finally the foam pool was full and we were aloud in. I won a prize of food in a lucky draw which is when they draw pieces of paper out of a box. Then the foam party was done and we went home. We baby sat a kid named Spencer. he was funny.

The next day we went to a beach it was fun we made dams with Spencer. Then we went to eat lunch with Spencer. Then we drove home with him in the trunk of the car, this is not as bad as it sounds. We took turns riding in the back all week!

In the same day we go to a pool party at a hotel and we meet most of our travailing families: Mrs. Bender, Mr. Bender, Mr. and Mrs. Hickcox and a Canadian family and the Palmers who were all nice. When we got to the pool there was a big water slide and we all went on it. My friend Oliver and I made a club together. We welcomed one other kid to our club and he was also nice and we all had fun.

Another day I woke up and ate breakfast and then we went to a slide park. There were only three slides one had a straight down drop one was wavy one was also wavy but you had to go in bags on it. It was all in one indoor playground. We had races down some slides and it was fun.

The next day we went home and the Canadian family went with us.

After breakfast we loaded up in a bus and we drove to a boat dock where we got on a boat and rode up river. When we docked we had lunch at a restaurant.

After that we took a roll up the mountain. When we got to the top the tour guide lead us to a cave. When we got there Hannah interviewed me for her video she is making.

When we went inside there were lots of incenses burning.

On the way back to the trolly I saw something that I thought might be betel nut. I saw them again at the bottom of the hill. It was not betel nuts, it was pill bugs rolled up!

We took the boat and the bus back and had dinner before we went to the hotel. I was ready for bed!

When we were in Pai Mom surprised me by saying, “Ezra, happy birthday, we are going to ride elephants today for your birthday present!” Then I said, “Wow thanks Mom thats  awesome!”

When we loaded up in the car I was giddy as a school boy, only I wasn’t a school boy.

When we  saw the elephant camp and we got out I thought to myself, “Wow that’s so cool, I’ve never seen a elephant that I can touch!” There was a guy with a large knife, he chopped some banana leaves up for us to feed the elephant.

Then the  guy put a banana leaf behind his back and the elephant hugged him to get the leaf.

A woman came and and asked if we wanted tea. We had tea then we went to the elephants.

First Elisha and Gabe got on theirs then Dad and I get on ours. I thought to myself,  “Man this is at least ten feet!” When I asked dad how tall it was he said it was twelve feet at most.

Then the elephant started to walk. After a while on tarmac we turn onto a dirt road. Then we go deeper into the jungle. We see fields and once and a while a elephant would take a plant out of the field.

Then we saw a river and the guy led the elephants into the river. We got wet because the elephant sprayed us. Our elephants started to play with us buy shaking us off.

When we went  back to the camp  we ate lunch and played with the elephants. On the way to the hot tub we saw a dog killing a cat.  We scared the dog away then we went to the hot tub.

We played with the elephant and said good bye. Just before we left a woman brought a elephant book and gave it to me for my birthday before we drove off.

It was the best day of the trip and I liked it.

Here is the video my sister made about the day:

We arrived in Bangkok after two long flights and backpacked to the train station. We took a train to near our hotel then we backpacked another mile or so to the hotel because we got a little lost. There was a pool and we refreshed ourselves with a swim but what I really wanted to do was eat!

I love to eat dinner at a street vendor. I’ve eaten lots of interesting things as we’ve traveled like, tacos in Mexico, fruit in Guatemala, Berber bread in Tunisia and chicken right off the grill.

In Bangkok I ate a pork kabob. It was yummy. Then I ate some fried pineapple. The fried pineapple smelled good we drank water with our lunch. Because we had bad jet lag we went back to the hotel to rest.

For dinner we went to another street vendor we ate noodles with pork and soy sauce. Gabe ate a fish kabob, he thought it was yummy but I did not like it. When we returned to the hotel I ate some Roman noodles, since I didn’t like the fish too much, they were good. The next day for lunch we ate at a another street vendor. I ate a pineapple kabob with noodles and a sausage kabob and a pork kabob they all were good these were the best yet.