Search Institute has a new parenting Website called, ParentFurther and it offers great ideas for families who want to be rich in Developmental Assets. In addition to a blog and linkable resources, you can also find ParentFurther on Facebook and follow the site that way.

I especially like the Summer Splash Challenge because it structures a discussion about ways to spend the summer doing all the right things. There are four challenges in all:

Summer Service
Creativity
Culture and Environment
Brain and Body Smarts

These are easy goals to set and achieve as a family in the summer, and the printable “Challenge Tracker” helps families to structure their goal-setting so they can get started right away and be sure to meet the challenges by the end of the summer.

We’re going to tackle at least some of these challenges this summer as a family. Which will you do?

(Kona wreckage after the March 2011 tsunami.)

During our trip to the Big Island of Hawaii in March, besides the generally adventurous touring, we had the added excitement of an impending tsunami. Oddly enough we didn’t even know about the Japan earthquakes and the threat of the tsunami, until my husband woke up at 1 AM (there’s a five-hour time difference) and turned on the TV. What followed was several hours of us watching the news as the tsunami waves reached each of the Hawaiian islands. Although the footage was difficult to see because of the pitch blackness, we could watch the waves slowly come into one of the lamp-lighted beaches on Waikiki.

While it seemed like a relatively mild event and our part of the resort didn’t even have to evacuate, there was significant damage in some parts of the island, as well as other islands in the chain. Hawaii has the most advanced early warning system in the world, and it is used as the model for other countries, so we were probably never in danger as long as we followed the safety precautions that were given.

Some resorts were evacuated on our island, though, and many spent the night sleeping in their cars up the mountain a ways, toward the saddle road. We had a helicopter ride planned, so we were on our way to Hilo early that morning, and saw many vehicles along the road. Our helicopter tour was canceled because the Hilo airport was still closed from the evacuation, and when we tried to get to the beaches along the East coast, we found a long line of residents who had been evacuated and still not allowed back to their homes until about 11 AM.

Big Island Adventures
Caving on the Big Island
Volcanoes National Park
Swimming with Dolphins
Kayak and Snorkel at Captain Cook’s Monument
When a Tsunami Hit the Big Island