Regarding Comments

These two pictures were sent from Mrs. Treu regarding her comments on More Camera Woes.

Chris, I wanted to include the "Monalisastache" in my post re: cameras surviving Europe, and here's a regular pic of us from last year...



thanks,
pam treu

They Are In The Air

Hey their flight has finally left!!!! They are scheduled to arrive in NZ now at 2pm! I was finally excited to see my son used his visa buxx - in the airport !! At least I know now it works!! Thanks for all the updates. I don't count on hearing from my son. We had a good laugh about the snake!! Only because we know noone got hurt!

Kathy Flood

More Camera Woes

Note From Editor: How is it these kids are responsible enough to go oveseas and yet can't keep track of their camera?!?!

We talked with Jonathan this morning and it sounds like so much fun. He liked the sail boat and the snorkeling. Jon is loving the food. He has always liked to try new things. All of you that are having phone problems please don't feel bad. We did it all correct with all the access numbers, hand written instructions and practice. Guess what, the sprint phone cards don't work on Fiji. He would just get other people using cards in other parts of the world! Let's hope for better luck on NZ and AUS. We also have a camera story. At the waterfall, each had a trash bag to keep things dry. Jon's had a hole. Say BYE-BYE digital camera and off to get disposables. May need picture help if he has areas he missed and wants photos. This is fun to keep up with all of you. Back to a past post, Jon had his luggage and I sooo wanted to ask if he had changed his underwear. That question will remain a mysteries from all the boys.

Cole Hargett

Snakes, Phones & Cameras - Oh My!

Sorry but I'm checking my email from the office and left my laptop at home. So no fancy photos this time. But I wanted to get you these updates.

***

Using a Sprint foncard does require different accesscodes when calling back to the U.S. And depending onwhat phone service you are using in that country(ClearComm,Telecom NZ,AAPT,OPTUS,TELSTRA) you may have totry a couple different access codes. 000-999 lookslike a correct code from NZ but there may be more andthe one in Australia will be different too. And then they have to dial in the nunmber they're calling and the card number. Lots to dial. My son used his from Fiji and got through. I wish he would have shared the info with others if they were having trouble but he isa little shy talking to girls. He said the place they went to use the internet wasn't working, but sounds like some of you have been receiving them. He did mention they were suppose to be up at 3:00am for the New Zealand flight.

J Carroll

***

Kristi told us about the snake yesterday in e-mail and my heart about stopped. I am afraid of any kind of snake and to know that she actually picked one up just sends chills up my spine. I then find out it was poisonous and you can only imagine what I am thinking. I am just thankful that nothing serious happened.

I would also like to take a minute to thank you for setting up this blog. We feel as we are on the trip with her and we can keep up with daily events (good and bad).

The Knights

***

Hello again! Like I said the camera died. So I bought a new one for 180 dollars (USD). Things here are cool. Hope you are having fun!

Jake

Parental Question: Will this trip ever stop costing me money???

Snake Tales

Now that the snake story has broken, here is Kate's version of it.

FROM KATE'S E-MAIL YESTERDAY . . .

Yesterday, while hanging out in the ocean, Erin's tie on her swimsuit kept coming out. It was black and white striped, so when Krissi saw something long and thin with the said pattern floating in the ocean, she picked it up and said, "Erin, you dropped your... AAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!!" Turns out it was a watersnake. She was so freaked that she was verging on hyperventilation, so we tried to calm her down by telling her that the guides said that they didn't have any poisonous snakes. So we were on the bus, getting ready to head home, and we told the snake story. The delegation leader said that
black and white striped snakes are one of the only three poisonous Fijian snakes. (Turns out they don't have any poisonous spiders.) HAHA Snakes . . . spiders . . . there is something in Fiji that's not poisonous.

Makes you feel pretty good about sending them out in the world doesn't it?

Denise Mersmann

Another Calling Option

Chris –

Another calling option would be Voice Over IP (voip), which is what skype uses. We use voip.com for our business phones and just noticed they have an offer to make a free voip-based international phone call with NO DOWNLOAD OR CONFIGURATION (just plug in your number and the number to call, and the voip server calls both numbers and initiates the connection)

http://www.voip.com/voip_call.asp
New Zealand calls appear to be $0.03 per minute. Blue Springs is free…

Full Disclosure: I have never used this vendor for an international call.

Brad

Editor's Note: Alright, Brad. I caught that. :)

Flight Delay Today

I just checked in and it looks like their departure flight has been delayed 1:45 minutes, already. At least there are no connectors this time.

Email From MY Son

Well. As most of you that have been reading I have been whining about my son not responding to our emails. And as it turns out, I once again must remove my foot from my mouth. (That happens to me occasionally.)

Anyway, after reading one of the comments about an email not coming through correctly I got to thinking. So I logged back into my son's email account (I know, you hate me) and went to his Sent Messages folder and found that he had responded.

It's quite the informative post. The parents of Kristina Knight may want to cover their eyes when reading... Before you read, just know my son can be a little sarcastic. I'm not sure where he gets that from.

Here is what he wrote...

Well we are here in Fiji. So far nothing much has really happened. We have gotten to the resort and are having a good time. Everything here is on Fiji time, so if you say be here in 5 minutes then they probably won't get there until 10 minutes later. We went swimming on an island and Kristina Knight picked up a poisonous snake. The sad part is that we kept telling her that it wasn't poisonous, and when we got on the bus they told us it was. Twas quite sad.Also I managed to drop the camera off a waterfall. It still works, but I will probably have to buy you a new one later.

Talk to you later!

Parental Observation: I suspected I may never see that camera again.

*** *** *** *** ***

Editor's Note: None of my added photos (that aren't in Flickr boxes) are photos sent from the trip. These are all just photos I've found online. Sorry for the confusion for a couple of you.

New Zealand Weather

I went to New Zealand.com to look at a map of New Zealand and noticed that while they stay in a different hotel every night they don't actually venture very far. Also, I went to weather.com and found that day temps will be upper fifties and night time temps upper forties with a forty percent chance of rain on thursday (their warmest day at sixty-one degrees).Sunrise is at 7:30 and believe it or not sunset is at 5:10. Weather.com also shows a satellite view so you can check out the cloudcover.Looks like long pants and jackets are on the agenda. We are really enjoying the blog. Thanks Chris.

The Morgans

Contact & Phone Point

Hi Chris,

talked to Sarah last night. She was so tired. Said they had a great day yesterday. I did not realize this and I could be the only one but I was supposed to call an 800 number on the sprint card to get an access code for Sarah to use to call home. Each country has its own code. I called Sprint this morning and called Sarah to give her the access codes for New Zealand and Australia and asked her to let the other Sprint phone card kids know the access codes. Example: in New Zealand they will dial “000 999” which will put them through to a prompt that will lead them threw making a call. I don’t think Sarah would have used her card much in Fiji due to the cost but I am thinking she will use it the rest of the trip (I hope).

Chris, I have never called home from another country. If the info above does not sound correct, you don’t need to post this but I did actually speak to a sprint customer service rep and she explained this is how they work.

Toni Henderson

Editor's note: Since most of my long distance trips are over to Blue Springs and back I'll defer to more traveled people as to whether or not this sounds right.

More Contact

Here is a child that loves her family...Just kidding. But I'm gonna bean that son of mine! He checked his email (he will now know I know his password!) but didn't respond. I would be interested in your comments on what kind of slow torture I can administer upon his return.

Kate called yesterday in the middle of the afternoon. Her previous calls had all been between 1:30 and 4:30 in the morning so I wasn't expecting it to be her. She hinted that we hadn't been as lucid as we could have been when she called during their evening so decided to try calling after she got ready in the morning to see if we could actually make conversation.

We could barely understand her since her voice was really hoarse. Apparently they have discovered a way to connect their I-Pods to the speakers in the bus. There was quite a sing along to everyone's different I-Pod songs. Now I really wish we would have gotten nicer gifts for the bus drivers instead of the little token gifts we sent.

Here's a funny that only a parent can appreciate. As some of you heard at the airport, I had purchased five disposable underwater cameras for Katy to take on the trip. She was adamant that was ay more than she would possibly need. One or two would be more than enough. I finally told her to take two and I would just take the rest home with me or just give them to kids who might have forgotten to take an underwater camera along. Being a mom I couldn't resist adding that I only got extra because I wanted to make sure she had enough to take all the photos she wanted. Just trying to make her life a little better. After all, the cameras were in the checked luggage, how much trouble could they be? She fell for the guilt and took all five cameras. When she had to have her luggage scanned, the cameras had to come out and go into her carry on. She was pleased! Then when they went through security, the cameras were 800 speed film so she had to take them out and have them hand checked. She went through security with disposable cameras hanging all the way up her arm! She was a happy girl. When I talked to her yesterday, she told me she had used four of the five cameras and was "trying to save" the last one for the rest of the trip. Even through we're half way across the world, I still had to remind her that how lucky she was to have me. I can't imagine how these pictures are going to turn out, but we will have plenty of them. If your kids were ever underwater, we probably will have a picture with them in it!

It sounds like they are having a great time and getting to know each other. I have heard really funny stuff about many of the kids. I can't wait to see Kate's personal journal that tells the real story!

DMersmann

Editor's Note

Note the updated clock (although the time doesn't change) and the weather report. There was a 17 degree change, to the colder side, the moment I did the update.

Yesterday @ The Arts Village

This email was received from Kathy Flood.

Here is the link for today http://www.artsvillage.com/

A Morgan Email

Another email received. And I do have to say I'm surprised. I thought for sure my son wouldn't miss an opportunity to get on the 'net. I guess I don't know him as well as I thought. Yet another parenting miscalculation on my part. :) But not as bad as the time I thought it was a good idea to let the dog clean the chili off his face when he was two years old. Marie thought that was...well, I'm not supposed to use obscenities on this blog.

The kids are starting to send email. I received the following message from Brad

HEY FAMILY i am having an awesome time yesterday we went snorkeling at an island it was awesome. today is my last day in fiji we will be leaving tomorrow to new zealand at 3 in the mornin.. we also visited a authentic village.. i really understand how good we have it. i must of took over 100 pictures already.. tell everyone i miss them

The Morgan Family

Skype

I just received this email regarding another communications option. I am familiar with the technology but do not have any experience actually using it. You can always google it if you want details. My best friend uses it for business and loves it.

Hi Chris,

First my girlfriend Laura Diskin is one of the P2P leaders on the trip. I’ve been keeping up with the blog off and on. I see many parents are calling their kids since there have been phone issues. I too ran into a case where Sprint did not recognize the calling card number, so it sent Laura right to voice mail. In any case, I have been using Skype to call the hotel. You seem to be savvy enough to be aware of this technology, but thought some of the parents might be interested as well. It has been .20/minute to Fiji and the cost drops to .02/minute to New Zealand and Australia (If the hotels have toll free #’s then it is actually a free call. The hotel in Sydney is 1 800 024 231.). I hope that helps and thanks for allowing me to check out the blog.

Paul

A Christian Email

At least someone has heard from their kid by way of the fantabulous internet.

Chris-

We just got an e-mail from Emma. So there is hope that some of them will e-mail. I had e-mailed her a long note in case they did get to a computer. She did answer-It wasn't very long but she said going to the school was cool. She was having fun shopping--postcards, jewelry, and a T-shirt with a matching wrap around skirt. She had trouble using an AT&T calling card. She reminded me to subtract 7 hours from my time to find out what time it is there. She doesn't know about the clock on the blog to keep us straight. She said she liked her roommates but of course didn't say who they were. She likes rice and spaghetti and I had asked if she had any. She said she had but it was so-so. She didn't complain about anything so I always figure the no news is good news holds true. We have appreciated following the messages when people hear from their kid.

Meredith Christian

More News From a Preemptive Phone Call

Just received...I'm sure with the email rumor flying that most of you will be checking your emails tonight...I know I will.

Hi Chris,

I sent this email early this morning but had incorrect email address so i will try again. We talked with Sarah this morning. After reading that the Morgans called Brad, we decided to do the same. It was very easy but we had to call back three times because we were told the line was busy. Sarah said they were not on the phone and she thinks there was something wrong with their phone because they had tried to call another room and could not use the phone. We finally got through though and Sarah was very happy to hear from us. She had tried to use her calling card and could not get it to work. Didn't get to talk long because of lights out and she still had to write in her journal. She said many times that she is having a great time and that it is so much fun.

They had Italian for dinner last night and she said it was good. Sarah has never liked Pineapple and said they ate pinapplee and she loved it. She loved swimming in the water fall and has taken lots of pictures. She said she thinks the kids will have a chance to email parents today. FYI - she said she is in a room with Maddy and Taylor Scantlin.

Events of Last Couple Days

This link comes from Meredith Christian. I did drill down a little deeper to take you right to the cruise they were on yesterday, our today. And see a previous post of the internet time they will have today, our tomorrow. This is all so quite confusing. (Can't everybody just use American English and our clock?) But here is the link...

SV Ra Marama

...and here is her email...

Chris-you may already have this info. I found the web site for what looks like the Island cruise they will be taking. www.captaincook.com.au/home.asp go to cruises, then fiji islands, then day and dinner cruises, then island cruise. It has some pictures and what they may be doing. you can look at the button that says fleet, then fiji islands and then SV Ra Marama and see the ship they will be sailing on. (I know Pirates of the Carribean has been big at our house). Thanks for keeping the blog up and passing the info on to all of us. Our house enjoys your humor.

Meredith Christian

Now here is a link to a float tour company that I found that serves Navua. Is it the same company? I can't say for sure. But they do serve the village of Navua and they have a really cool video to watch. So take time to visit Rivers Fiji.

Missed News - I'm Sorry

To everyone and especially the Brake Family I'm sorry I didn't get this on earlier. Somewhere along the line I just missed it. :(

Hello! We just talked with Troy and the kids are having a great time! Troy said the hotel is right near the beach. There is a small man made island just a few yards away and the kids are hanging out over there too. He loved the bamboo boat ride. Troy was very excited about getting a big breakfast in Fiji. In Europe, he only had a glass of juice and bread! As far as the food goes, they have lamb sausage instead of pork and the octopus they ate yesterday was pink and very chewy! The Fijian school was very different. They split their day with grades 4 and 7. The 4th graders were amazed with digital cameras because they don't learn about computers until 5th grade. The waterfalls were awesome and the kids were able to jump from above them and land in a small pond below. He said they were having fun, but tired too.

Note to parents: have your child pass their camera to friends so your child can be in the pics too. Last summer, we had 800 pics of Europe and only 3 with Troy in them!!

Brake Family

Phone Tips & News From The Island

Here are a couple of very informative emails. This one I received regarding the phones AND the kids.

THIS NOTE WRITTEN 5:25AM SUNDAY – 10:PM SUNDAY IN FIJI…

Check comment about international calling card under the “Fax-ual Idea” note. The on-line calling card Cary got worked great.

We just talked to Abby for about 30 minutes – for less than $10 !! (Sprint operator last night had quoted me over $5 per minute to call direct from home!) The first thing she said was “why did you call?” Too funny! She sounds awesome (“wananavu” in Fiji ) didn’t even sound tired.

She, Kaylen and Kathryn (sorry if those aren’t spelled correctly) are roommates. She says that their Sprint calling cards don’t work there. I understand I forgot to give Abby the information to use hers internationally but she says she wouldn’t have called us anyway – she’s too busy. She’s made lots of friends. She never goes to her room – just to go to the bathroom and sleep. Hers is one of the lesser rooms but obviously couldn’t care less. Abby’s bought lots of gifts and has lots of money left.

All the kids are doing well, although with the types of activities they’re doing, there have been a few cuts and bruises here and there… nothing major. They went to the school with the Fiji kids and about 14 went on a yacht trip with them today. Her favorite part was yesterday going on the long boats and they got to jump in the river. She’s amazed at how beautiful that trip was. They’re seeing a demonstration in the village of how they walk on hot coals.

Don’t be fooled by the beautiful water in the pictures online. She said it’s actually all brown. They don’t go to the ocean – they go to the pool. The ocean water is only ankle to knee deep and empties out in the afternoon – assume with the tide.

She says that the people there are nicer than they are in Kansas – that you say “Bula” to everyone – it means hello. She’s excited because they get to “sleep in” tomorrow – until 7:30!

They have buffets for breakfast and again for dinner. They have different themes for dinner and had Italian tonight and it was good. Lunches are a different story.

** BIG NEWS – They will have internet access “TOMORROW”… meaning Sunday afternoon our time… They are going to a village where they can have internet access for $5 and hour! I understand that MANY are planning to do that. Send e-mails now! J

Janis Lieberman

Now here is an email that has to do with your money and your kids and those telephones/faxes/portable communication devices.

Chris--I posted ths as a comment under the Fax-ual Idea posting but thought you may want to make it a separate posting--- .

I just found out that international rates from Sprint long distance from our house to Fiji was in excess of $5 per minute..ridicules! So I found a website that sells immediate access virtual calling cards--about 19 cent per minute to Fiji---I bought one for $10-got 54 minutes with it and the called the hotel and left a message for my daughter--2 minutes worth of time expended--not bad--about 40 cents vs 10 bucks--anyway this is the website that I got it from... www.callingcards.com and I picked the $10 "FAR EAST" card. We did use the card and got over 45 minutes of talking time with Abby and the card is rechargeable. We will be buying one for New Zealand and Australia when they get there as well. No extra $$ needed for access numbers either.
Cary Lieberman-Abby's Dad

Fax-ual Idea

A recent email...

Chris:

I just faxed Matt a little letter to the hotel. Don't know if he will get it or not, but the Hotel Accommodations List we were given had phone and fax numbers. Figured it might be a good way to send him a little update from home. Also wanted to let him know that I had found his gloves on the floor of our bedroom...and remind him not to spend all his Visa Buxx $$ in Fiji...lol. Can't help giving advice even when they are half way around the world...it's a mom thing. Just thought I'd pass the idea on in case anyone else was so inclined and hadn't thought to communicate via fax.

Tedi Posladek

Celebration!!! The Luggage Has Arrived!

The luggage has arrived. Here is an update email about the luggage from the Morgan family followed by a tip from Holly Murray. Enjoy.

Just talked to my son Brad. They got back from their little boat ride and their luggage finally made it. They are having a terrific time although ate a lot of Tums because of the luggage ordeal. He said his roommate was Armon Rejai who also lost his luggage. Brad said they needed deodorant pretty bad. Brad bought some Fiji shorts which ripped on him the first day. Some of the girls who lost their luggage spent over $200 on items...I told him he should have done the same..must be a boy thing!!

He said the airplane food was horrible (several times)..apparently they were suppose to have sandwiches, but ran out. They were served curry vegetable rice instead.
Tried Vegemite - didn't like it. They did have Mongolian BBQ which was much more satisfying. They are drinking lots of bottled water.

Every place they eat has an outside view or access to the beach.
The place is beautiful but the people do not have a lot and their houses are on cinder blocks.
The village defender which had his face painted black and carried an ax, paraded them through town.

They have several handcrafted shops..busy buying souvenirs for everyone.
They played rugby with the local kids, made friends at a local school,
Taking lots of pictures. They are having a wonderful time. I think my child can relax now that his luggage is with him and enjoy his trip even more.

The Morgan Family.

p.s. Would like to also add that their curfew is 9:30pm..lights out at 10pm. Rise at 6:00am ready to leave their rooms by 7:00am.

As far as posting what and when the kids are doing for the day, their itinerary is listed in detail for each day on the People to People website. Parents can log on there if they want to know what they are up to.

Holly Murray

News! And They Are Spending Money!

We have more News. This just in within the last hour or so...

Chris,

It was fun talking to Dylan last night. He sounded a bit homesick, but I wasn't too surprised since his only other trips away from home were with Scouts, close to home and for only a week at a time. He had some great details that I thought others might like to hear.

1. He said that the first day he felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong and that they raced through the airports and even RAN through customs - surprized me!!
2. He said they swam in a "real" waterfall day before yesterday, and that it was just awesome!!!
3. They already went to a Fiji school and the kids were great. He enjoys choir alot at home and said the kids sang to them and it was beautiful and he loved it.
4. He was having a terrific time shopping and the things for sale were great. He said he got me a gold ring with a little opal and it was sooo pretty and a silver ring for my daugher with waves in it, and that there were cool shirts with Fiji greetings on them and bright colored girls clothes with red and pink and orange flowers (couldn't believe he thought to notice all that!! He only had 1/2 of his $69.00 Fiji money with him that day, so things much be pretty reasonable!!
5. He said the food stinks and he is starving, but I told him to keep trying stuff till he found something he liked, but he was headed to dinner and sounded a bit afraid of that.
6. He has already take about 100 pictures and said it is the most beautiful place he could ever imagine.

That was about all he could fit into our brief conversation, but it was sooo fun to talk to him. The $10 phone card ran out at the end and I already had to call to fill it up, but overall it sounds amazing.

He also sends they all send their love and not to worry. Hope you all hear from your kids soon. Wish I was there - how about you???

Dylan's mom - Debbie Richey

P.S - keep up sending comments the blog site is exciting and I go on to check it as often as I can - I am a stay-at-home mom, so call me anytime. I attached a few pics from the party, just thought if your child was in them you might like to see, even though it is a bit after the fact.

I Need Your Input

I would love to hear your comments on the following question/situation. Please just hit the comment link at the bottom of this post and give me your input.

Meredith Christian has emailed me a really cool web link involving one of the upcoming events the kids will be participating in. I think it's great and that everyone would love to see it. But I'm hesitant to publish the link or date/time the kids will be there.

In an earlier life I was an investigator in Washington, DC. (No. I'm not Shirley Maclaine. I was referring to when I was younger.) And the kids' safety is a big deal for me as I'm sure it is for you.

I also have a really cool link for what they are doing today. And as it is 11:07 a.m. there right now I'm sure they are well on their way. But yet I really don't want to give the info out till they are gone.

So my question is this:

• Do you think I'm being too cautious? Would you rather me give you the info as I have it when it concerns events or would you rather I wait till the event is over?

After all, the chances of bad guys reading this blog are almost nil. But none-the-less...

Please respond by comment below. Your input is most valuable to me.

More News and Luggage Discussion

This email just in...



I just got off the phone with my daughter and the luggage has not yet arrived. I talked to the P2P rep this morning and if you paid for the protection plan your child can spend up to $500.00 to replace items they need . Clothing, shoes, personal items things of that nature. You however have to pay for it when they purchase it now and will be reimbursed once they return home WITH the receipts! They can use their Visa Buxx and their parents can reload them if necessary from home. This option is available because the luggage has been MIA for more than 24 hours. Other than this glich they are having a wonderful time!

Holly Murray

Thanks Holly. Also, please note the newspaper in the upper right hand of this blog. When we get "kid news" the icon will appear for easy recognition. The blue question mark sign will appear when you have an urgent question. Hope this helps.

Delegation Protection Plan

I just received this email. If you have a child with lost luggage pay special attention!

Chris,

we just discovered from the blog this morning that our son Brad may be one of the unfortunate ones who didn't receive his luggage. We were looking at our delegation protection plan pamphlet and discovered that if their luggage arrives over twenty-four hours late they can buy items and be reimbursed for it. I don't know if they realize this but I'm sure they will need to save receipts. I called the P2P home office and they reassured me that the delegation leaders have been taught to deal with this sort of matter and they know these details, but if anyone talks to their children please pass on to these kids to buy what they need to get by and save those receipts. Hopefully their luggage will show up soon.

Thanks - The Morgan Family

News From The Kids: Lost Luggage Update

Well folks, here you go. Much awaited news from the kids and an update on the luggage situation. Actually two separate emails.

HI, It was 5 kids, my daughter being one of them and 1 leader who did not get their luggage. I hope they get it soon!

Holly Murray

Chris,

More info for the blog -- Just got a call from Katy and hopefully remembered to pass on the various messages I had from parents for their kids. Now will she actually remember to pass them on? We'll see.

The luggage update stands . . . should be there early tomorrow morning. If memory serves, the luggage losers are Twila (one of the leaders), Erin Murray, Armon Regai, Lauren Thomas, Brad Morgan and Charlie Wolock. She wasn't 100% sure, but thought that was it.

If her description of her room is accurate, it is more like the Motel 6 than the room in the picture. Apparently, there were a lot of really nice rooms and then the one she's in.

They were going to dinner later at the hotel and then hanging out. If this group is anything like last year, I'm guessing that's when the poker games start.

It sounds like they are having a great time and are all getting to know each other pretty well.

Denise

Editor's Note: Thank you to both. Keep the news coming. Also, the time stamp situation has been resolved...for the time being.

Web Link

Thanks, Kathy!

I finally found the web address for Kula and thought others may want to look. http://www.fijiwild.com/pages/fauna.htm

Kathy

What Are The Kids Doing?

Kula Bird Eco Park the kids visited yesterday.

For security reasons I choose not to put the active itinerary on this blog. And when I mention places and attractions it will always be after the fact. So you will see some photos of the place the kids are staying below. I found them on google images. I won't name the place. You can look at P2P for that. Just look how cool it is though!



Look at that water outside their place. I hope that's not two of the kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!










This is a much better room than the Motel 6 I stayed at last week. I'm not complaining about the room I had. But this is better!

I know the Thomas' had a nice pool. But what about this?

Concerns About Lost Luggage

I've had several emails about any communication whatsoever regarding which kids didn't get their luggage. All I know is that one person said 5 people didn't get their luggage and one said 6.

Honesty, that's a pretty good percentage for the airlines!

I don't know which 6 it was. But here are some things to think about:

• Let's hope the luggage belonged to 6 boys. They probably weren't planning on changing their underwear, anyway.
• I predict that the luggage will arrive to the hotel with hours of the kids having already left for New Zealand.
• Some of the kids would have lost a bunch of stuff anyway. This just helps them to get it all over with quickly!
• It's really no big deal. How bad could a teenager smell after 19 days with the same clothes on? (Note: I'm glad I'm not on the flight sitting next to them on the way back!)

I'm sure it will work out fine. The airline has plenty of time to get the luggage to them at the airport.

Let us know if and when you hear anything.

By the way, I've had a couple of request to make my email easier to find. So now it is at the top of the right column. Hope that helps.

RSS Feeder

Subscribe in a reader

I'm real sorry I didn't do this earlier. For those of you familiar, I have added an RSS feeder (orange button on the top of the right column) so that you can be notified when there is a new post to check in on.

For those of you uninitiated, just click on the orange button on the top right (or the one in this post) and it will take you to a place where you can add this blog to your "home page" such as Yahoo! or you can add to a separate page of feeders.

If you get into it and can't figure it out, drop me an email. If you would rather just check back several times a day, you can do that, too. I'm just trying to make it easier for you.

Don't forget to do the poll below!

Case of the Missing Luggage

Time of Posting Issue

Question from Kathy -

why is your time on your postings off? I noticed it earlier today as 30 min off and now it is 45. Just curious.

Kathy

Answer: I have no idea. I have it set right on the control panel. Even triple checked it. Accounted for daylight savings and all. Just must be some temporary snafu. Webspace providers, especially free ones, can have that happen at times.

Update

Just thought I would pass this along.

Brenda's husband called me because he thought I was worried about not hearing earlier. Just for the record I was only teasing about Brenda not calling-I wasn't frustrated.

But this is the info Brenda's husband said: Her cell didn't work on Fiji, so she tried another cell and it wasn't charged. So she used her calling card and her brand new card (I gather probably $20) gave her only 3.5 minutes. (so I don't expect to hear from my child from Fiji)

Excitement started in Dallas:
delayed flight
then LAX:
tight scheduled
lost passport- which was finally found somewhere
Fiji:
Twila and 5 kids didn't get luggage

But...they had a great day!!!! So now just pray for found luggage!!!!


Good night to all.

Kathy Flood

Kathy - Thanks for the update!

Confirmation

This comment was left on the previous post but I thought I would transfer it to here:

The calling tree is going right now so everyone should be getting the message that they got there OK. That 6 kids luggage didn't make it-not a surprise I guess since they didn't have much time at LAX to get on the Quantas flight. They were getting them swimsuits and are to contact the parents about the luggage.

Meredith Christian

And I just got my call and called the next person on my tree. I suspect we were more concerned about our kids than they were about us!!! :)

Phone Tree Question

Comments are welcome here on this question received by email:

Chris:

I was wondering what we should do if the calling tree starts late tonight. Should we continue calling into the early morning hours or wait until tomorrow to resume the calls. I personally don't mind a call any time of the day or night...but I sure hate to call other people late. Guess since I'm at the end of the calling tree...I'll be finding out...lol.

Tedi Posladek

Be Cool...

I received this email:


Chris,

I have had a number of calls from parents wondering about the status on the calling tree. I have not heard from Brenda.

Kate (my daughter) called at 1:30 this morning to say they were on the airplane to Fiji, but hadn't taken off. Knowing they were on the plane and the plane made it to Fiji, I am confident they have immediately gone to the first activity without taking time to call.

I will call the hotel and confirm everyone's arrival and fun level this evening. Once I have any information I will start the calling tree and also post an update on the blog.

Talk to you soon.

Denise Mersmann


Let me just add that airplanes can make up a lot of time "en route". They purposefully plan routes flown well below capacity so that when they need they can catch up. So as long as they made the flight and the flight actually arrived ahead of time I just can't think of anything to worry about.

This is my son's first trip, as well. But I guarantee you he won't have calling home at the top of his list. Sure, we'll be on his mind. However, there are things to do, people to see and memories to create.

Denise, Thanks for the update.

More Photos From KCI

Here are more photos kindly provided by the Flood & Gum Families. Enjoy.

They Are In Fiji!!!

I have not yet received any calls but according to the Quantas Flight Info link they landed at 4:57 a.m., that's 11:57 a.m. our time. Like I said, this is through the Quantas website if you would like to see for yourself. The link is on the right.

So what is the deal?

We send our kids half way around the world and this is one of the first photos I find when I do an image search on Yahoo!

More Photos & Other News

Well, they should be landing right now! So hopefully we'll hear soon.

Here are some more photos to look at provided by the Posladek Family. So enjoy.

Also - note the comments sections of each of these posts. You may miss a lot if you dont' check them out. For instance the previous post has a comment talking about the delay and confirmation of travel the kids experienced. So keep up!!

Still In The Air!

Imagine this. We all came home and had dinner with our families last evening and got a good night's sleep. It's now 8:14 in the a.m. and I just checked on the P2P Quantas flight. It is now 1:15 in the a.m. in Nadi, Fiji (tomorrow, mind you) and the kids are still 3 hours and 40 minutes from landing.

And that is scheduled to be 15 minutes ahead of time. So it shouldn't be too long before we hear by phone that they have arrived safely!

They Are Gone!!!

Well, their first plane flight out and their first delay. Their 4:40 pm flight turned into a 6:00 pm flight. Though I don't know exactly what time they took off since after they were behind the security gate we took off. Three kids get difficult to corral forever.

Remember, as soon as you have news give me an email at listwithchris@kw.com so that we can get it posted.

Also, if you have any photos from today we can put on the blog, email them to me and I'll take care of it. (My only digital camera is heading to DFW right now.)

One last thing. You can use the links provided to the right to follow the flights. Just click on the appropriate airline and put in their flight number.