My birthday at kids club [James Burke]

For my birthday I went to the Kids Club in Patong, Thailand.

There were two play rooms. One had a soccer field and a trampoline the second had a ball pit with lots of plastic balls.

In the ball pit we covered ourselves with the balls and made a secret hideout. There were guns with balls that you could shoot.  Most did not work. There was a big slide that led you down to the ball pit. There was also a zip line that went down a small slope where there were obstacles spines and blocks that were every where.

Later we made cup cakes and in the play rooms we played soccer, freeze tag, tag as well as hide and go seek. My favorite game and place was the ball pit along with freeze tag. By the end of the day we were thirsty and my parents got us drinks.

My brothers and I had a great time.

Where is Sea glass? [Joshua Burke]

Where is Sea Glass

It feels like we have been in Phuket for ever, and we have for a boater, ten months. Although we were in Australia for a year, but we were moving up the east coast going different places. For most of that time I have been doing Muay Thai, homeschool, and Thai language school. Sea glass is also getting finished up and should be back in the water next month.

Doing some school work.

Sparring time. 

Doing some clinching.

I have been doing Thai language class for the last 4 months and it has helped me in Phuket. I only know how to speak Thai, not read and write. Our teachers name is Ms. Bunny and the class is like a private tutor in her house. We (Jacob, James, and I) go every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

If you ever go to Thailand here's how to say some words. 

Sawadi kup or hello 

Kap un kup (men), kap un kaa (women) or thank you 

Horng nam or bathroom 

Gin or eat 

Duem or drink 

Ah Haan or food 

Sabadi Mai? or how are you? 

That's just some of the easy words that you have to know. I can order food when we go to a restaurant and talk to my Muay Thai trainers in Thai. It has helped me a lot being able to speak Thai. 

I have also been doing some work on sea glass. Our workers have the mast and boom back in and replaced some of the teak deck. I took out and replaced the gas filter for the generator the other day and did some cleanup.

That's all for now
Joshua  

Anyone hungry?

Anthem Wake Park [Jacob Burke]

Anthem Water Park

Here in Thailand I have been making a few friends. One day my friends Mateo, Isabella, and Lucas invited my family over to go Wakeboarding at Anthem Water Park. It was a long car drive, because we didn’t know the way there.

Later when we arrived, my dad got tickets for Joshua and himself while James and I watched.

The Wakeboarding Park was made up of a lake that was split into 2 sections, the beginner side and the advanced side, separated by a wooden bridge. The handles that you held on to were towed by an elevated, moving wire. The beginner side had a smooth-going no-turn course while the advanced side had a fast-moving turning course with jumps and other tricks.

I choose to give it a try after I saw Dad and Joshua do it. I mastered the beginner field quickly and even didn't fall of when the manager turned the speed really high.I almost made it on the advanced, but it was really tricky because of the super fast jerk in the launch-off. I fell every time.

James was also doing great, he was able to stay up for a bit on the beginner course.

After two hours of fun, we all got tired, said our goodbyes and thank you's, and left.

Thanks for reading, Jacob

James and I ready to wakeboard

Group Photo

About to wakeboard

A Trip to America [Jacob Burke]

A Trip to America

It only took a few days for Mom being gone for us to miss her. We decided that we would all go to America to visit her and to see Melissa's wedding. After a 15 hour flight, plus a 9 hour wait in Seoul, we arrived in Seattle. When we finished checking in, Mom came and picked us up. When we arrived back at home we spent the rest of the day visiting our neighbors and riding our bicycles.

Later, Granny (Grandma) came over for a visit bringing Arlene and Glen with her. When they arrived we talked for a while then decided on going into Coupeville for lunch. In Coupeville, we went to Knead and Feed, where we all got sandwiches. After lunch, we strolled down the sidewalk and got Ice cream from my favorite Ice cream shop, Kapaws.

A few days later, we went down to Oregon to see Melissa's wedding. After a long car drive we arrived at the hotel that we booked. Next day, we went to Kelly Point Park, the place where Melissa's wedding was located. At Melissa's wedding, we met a lot of our family which we had not seen for a long time. At the ceremony of Scott and Melissa, there were three ministers that shared the speech. When the wedding was over we went to the party zone. There, I had a great time eating the good food and talking with my family. I also danced a bit ;-).

After the marvelous wedding, we arrived at our hotel and slept. The next morning, we woke up and went straight to the cheesecake factory to celebrate Glen's birthday. There, we exchanged pictures and had great food.

Another thing I want to talk about in my blog is my stay at Granny's (Grandma's) house. I had a great time. We spent a lot of time playing outside games, like croquet and Bouche Ball. We also helped water  the garden and pick berries. I was very happy to see my cat, Pj, again. I was so happy, that I slept with him on the small, green, couch. Another thing I did was visit Sandy's house (Sandy is a friend of my Grandma). Their I took a piano lesson and did many other fun things.

It was great to go back to America and see my family and friends.
Thanks For Reading Jacob

Portland

Me with Melissa

Us at the Party

The Wedding

group photo

Dancing

At the Cheesecake factory

Yum

Back home for a few days [Joshua Burke]

When mom had been in the States for a few days, dad told me after Thai language class that he was thinking about getting a ticket to go back home. I thought that he was kidding, but sure enough he bought the tickets that night and I had 1 hour to pack. Our flight from Phuket to Seoul left at midnight and was 5 hours. At Seoul we had a 9-hour layover at the airport and we just rested. We got a lounge area for four hours and I had a buffet and took a well-needed shower. I also played a cool game called Munchkins. It's a game where you have a character and you fight monsters and gain levels. I love it. After our time was up we went to the cultural center. I painted a fan and watched a really cool performance before going to our gate. The last flight was from Seoul to Seattle and took 11 hours. By boat it would take nearly a month.

Even though it is warmest part of the year in this part of the hemisphere, it still is feels really cold. Although the temperature is not as bad as when I last came here from Australia, in the winter. I basically froze as soon as I stepped out of the airport last time. Luckily this time mom came to pick us up in the Hummer at the airport, which saved us getting a cab. I also got to sleep in the back, since I was basically out. When we arrived at my dad's sister’s house, Aunt Debbie, I was so excited to see her. Unfortunately we were not able to see each other very long and we headed off to Whidbey Island. As soon as we arrived at the house I took out my bike for a spin.  Problem was I didn't fit on the bike. Luckily I fit on dad's bike perfectly. Before going to bed I went to go say hello to my cousins Bruce and Sharon, who just live up the hill.

The pier 

Me with Granny, Arlene, and Glen. 

Whenever I travel to a place by plane I always try to go to bed and wake up at the appropriate time. Going to bed is easy; waking up the next morning at the right time is hard. When we traveled to Norway in 2010 I took a nap in the morning and woke up at midnight. Whoops.

We drove down to Portland, Oregon for my cousins wedding. It is about a five hour drive, but it is not as bad as some other road trips I have done. We went in the Hummer and not some car which barley fit us all. We got two hotel rooms for a couple days and drove around Portland. The wedding was at Kelly's point park, which is really nice. Met up with a bunch of family from my Mom's side that was a lot of fun. Most of them I haven't seen for years.

At the wedding. 

The next day my family, grandma, and my grandma's sister, Arlene along with her husband Glen and their son Ben went out to the Cheesecake Factory. I had a deluxe French toast that was amazing. Best of all I had a peanut butter chocolate fudge cheesecake, which was super filling. It was only one slice and I couldn't eat it all. We then split up. I went with Arlene and Glen to aunt Kim's house. Jacob and James went to granny's house, and mom and dad went shopping. Glen is really good at tennis so I had to play Wii tennis against him. I ended up winning barely. I guess it is not the same, especially when you play both positions. We also played bowling and cycling. After getting our three-entry visa for Thailand in Portland, we headed off back home. 

My all time favourite ice cream store.

A Hamster Running [JacobBurke]

A Hamster Running, a double haiku written by Jacob

Feet are a running

In some repeated circles

The wheel is rolling

The hamster breathing

Tinkling sound of its wheel
Then the hamster stops.

14th Birthday [Joshua Burke]

For my 14^th Birthday my parents worked out a great surprise. I didn’t know what I was going to do for it until we got there. Dad woke me up at 6 A.M. I was a bit grouchy when I woke up. I don’t like to get up until 8. For some reason we had to get wherever we were going early. When we were all in the car we headed off. On the way I drew up in my mind what I was probably going to do. Could it be a movie, go-carts, a jungle adventure? When we arrived the mystery location it was not even on my list. We had arrived at the Phuket private airfield; I was going to fly a plane!

The airfield was made out of grass, and there was a huge hanger for the many small aircraft that they had. There was a six-setter propeller plane that an instructor and I were going to fly the family up around Phuket. An aerobatic plane, a small helicopter and small planes of all sizes were also inside the hanger. After getting briefed on some physics and all the controls on a plane we were ready to take off. When we got clearance from Phuket air control my instructor flew during takeoff. But once we were up 400 ft. I got to take command of the controls. Flying is actually the easiest part of it, all you have to do is control speed, flaps, and most importantly be aware of your surroundings. You actually look at your gauges very little while flying. Flying around Phuket was tons of fun. We went eye-to-eye with the Buddha, went over a number of beaches, and flew over the gym that I was training at. In Phuket airspace, you must be above 400 ft. when flying above people’s homes so you don’t “peek into their houses”. Seeing Phuket from a different angle was pretty amazing. We flew for about an hour before landing.

Ready for takeoff!

One of the many beaches.

Flying round the Buddha

Doing a turn. 

The next and last plane I flew was a red two-setter trainer plane. My safety instructor was a Thai who spoke really good English. I chose to go fly around the nearby, tropical islands. Before takeoff we tested the fuel on the plane because in a humid environment that we are in, the fuel could get wet and that would ruin the fuel. Takeoff was easier with this plane since it was lighter then the six-seater. The controls were easier too. You flew with a joystick to the right of you and there were fewer gauges. Flying was exciting since you didn’t have to fly strait, like in a passenger plane. I did a figure eight around two islands and flew threw through a valley with a river below us. It was so fun that it unfortunately cannot be described in words. You have to stay ten miles away from the Phuket airport because you could possibly fly into the path of a 747. Landing is easily the hardest part of flying so the safety instructor did the landing.

Testing the fuel.

Coming in for landing

Thanks for Reading

Joshua Burke