Merry Christmas!

We got out of Japan for the holidays! We were actually on U.S. soil, the first U.S. soil that the sun rises on every day, Guam! Watching the weather station was rather hilarious, as it was the same every day: high of 88 degrees, low of 77 degrees! (It is only 12 degrees above the equator.) We had a blast and never actually just laid out in the sun and relaxed, we were too busy having fun! The first five days we stayed at the PIC (Pacific Islands Club), highly recommended if you ever go to Guam! The bedrooms were actually really crappy and rather disgusting, but the rest of the hotel (water activities, etc.) more than made up for it! Everything is included so you don't have to pay for any activities, snorkeling, windsurfing, tennis, racquetball, archery, water slides, and much more. The next five days we stayed at the Marriott because Eric has a load of points from living there for more than a year! The rooms were of a much higher quality and I must say, we slept much better! That is the only thing they have to recommend them, as they have no activities at all and it was very boring. So we took the opportunity to tour the island. The first day of touring the north end of the island we got a flat tire and waited over an hour for the tow truck to come and change the flat. Surprise, the spare was almost flat as well, not a good start! The north end beaches weren't really accessible due to the strong current and waves. The south end of the island was much prettier and had some very interesting history from WWII. The staff at the PIC invited us back for the Christmas party, carolling, and lots of fun and games. What a great time we had. We ate as much American food as we could: BBQ ribs, hamburgers, steak, etc (Yummmm!) The kids are just pros now at snorkeling. Eric even found a brilliant blue starfish! I will have to add those pics later as they must be developed from the underwater camera we bought. Windsurfing is very hard! I have no problem standing on the board and raising the sail, it's when the wind starts blowing the sail that I just can't hang on, and can't pick which direction to go! All in all, Guam was a fun break and most of all, it was warm!!!