Friday, December 19, 2008
Back in the USA
6 Dec - Another very, very long plane ride. I got to watch one movie, play on my dad’s computer a little, and then I was bored the rest of the way to the U.S. It was very boring, but I survived. When we walked out of the airport, we heard some cheering. When we got outside, we saw dozens of people holding up signs, cheering for the soldiers. I was a little embarrassed since I wasn’t a soldier, but I thought it was great that people would enjoy the night cheering for the soldiers coming back from Iraq instead of doing something else like work or video games. When I got home I set up the bedding and crashed for the night. The next day we got up at 6:00 because my body was used to Europe’s time zone. We got dressed, ate breakfast did some school, and by 1:00 we would take a day trip to our old house. I couldn’t wait!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
France and Switzerland, Dec 1
The people who my mom used to work for in France were really nice. The father’s name is Pierre-Yves, the mother’s name is Marie-Luce, and they have four children (one boy and three daughters). I enjoyed hanging out with the boy. At age 13 he was tall enough to be 18! His name is Julien, and he knows a little English and is learning Spanish. Julien, Robby and I slept downstairs while everyone else slept upstairs. We stayed up awhile talking, and it was very interesting. The next day we got a tour from Pierre-Yves of where he works. He works at his winery. He told us how wine is made, where it is put in to ferment, and my parents even got to do a little wine tasting while we drank some of the juice right before it is fermented. We loved it and before we left we bought some wine and juice. The Perrachon Family was very, very hospitable to us and I’m glad we came and visited them. 
Then we drove a while and came to a person’s house who is a great friend with both of my parents for a long time. Her name is Mrs. Lisa, and her husband’s name is Mr. Frits. They gave us our own apartment building with everything we need. Then we went to their house and had some magnificent pasta and then talked a while and got to know each other. After that we brushed our teeth and went to bed. The next day we got dressed, ate breakfast and went over to Mrs. Lisa’s and Mr. Frits’ house. They planned that we would go to another market before it closes. I got to go to the market in a Smart Car! Everyone else rode in the van. My Dad went shopping while I went and found a young swan that lost its mom. I hand fed it some chocolate and then when my Dad finished shopping we took a walk, ate some pizza, then went to a massive dam where you can go and bungee jump in the summer time. The very dam I’m talking about, actually, was where James Bond bungee jumped in the movie Golden Eye. We got back to the car, and this time I rode in the van and made it back to the house. When we got to the house, we watched a couple movies on their movie theater, ate some dinner, and then went to sleep. The next day I ate some breakfast and went and saw Mr. Frits’ Mercedes 500 SL, one of the fastest cars in the world! Now we are driving to the air port to go back to America. I don’t really want to leave, but at the same time I can’t wait till I get back to America! See ya laterSunday, November 30, 2008
Paris Nov 28
I got a great dinner of lasagna and then an almost perfect night of sleep at an, okay (worst one yet) hostel. The next day we took a walk to a metro system. When I got into the metro, we were packed so tight that if I lifted my legs off the ground it would take about 5 seconds for me to hit the ground. We got off at the Arch of Triumph. It was built by Napolean in the early 1800’s to commemorate his Armies. It has plaques for other wars too, like World War I and II. They added the flame to remember all the soldiers who died in World War I.
Next we got off at the Louvre Museum. I went inside and it was breath taking art. I saw Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and Mona Lisa. We also saw a lot of other miraculous art like Hercules fighting a dragon, Spartans wrestling and killing a deer, a lot of pictures and sculptures with people’s privates exposed. After that we went to the information booth to meet one of specifically, Robby, my parents’ and my friend, Yolanda. 
When I was about two and Robby 3, Yolanda watched over us. So we spent the day with Yolanda and her friend David. I had a magnificent time with them and I can’t wait until I go to Spain with her for a whole two weeks. We had lunch together, saw Notre Dame Cathedral, an astounding cathedral with over one hundred sculptures carved in one doorway. There were three doorways. How could anyone make that?! We also went to THE Eiffel Tower at night (except Yolanda and David weren’t with us because they already went there.) The view was amazing. Then we went and had dinner with Yolanda and David and Ben choked. But he’s okay now. We just now were driving for a LONG time to Macon to visit some friends that my mom lived with back in her college days. Bye!
Luxembourg, Belgium, and Holland Nov 25
Next we went to Trier. The first stop we made was a HUGE rock tower built in 300 B.C., called Porta Nigra. It went very high and had a lot of history to it. That night we went to a place called a Youth Hostel. A Youth Hostel is a place for college students with not a lot of money.
After the HUGE Porta Nigra, we were famished and wanted something to eat. So we went over to the town square and found some people singing a German song. We found a restaurant close by and I ate something fantastic called a Giro (Hero). It is a kind of meat (I had pork) and white sauce put in some bread. It was great and the music was fun too.
The next day I went to a city called Luxembourg, in a country called Luxembourg. It had gigantic walls made at around 900 AD. Everyone fought over Luxembourg: Spain, Austria, France, and Holland….over 1 town! We think it’s because of its roads. Luxembourg had very good highways.
Sam and Ben also wanted to go to a pirate ship park (as they call it). I have to admit though, it was pretty fun.
After that, we went to a new country called Belgium. First, we went and got a hotel. We found it in a city called Mons. That night we took a walk to the town square. We were very lucky because there was a carnival. We walked around but didn’t do anything. When we were about to leave I spotted a BB gun booth. So I went over, my Dad paid and I hit every single target with “deadly accuracy” (as I call it).
The next day, we drove by an amazing cathedral. When we went inside, there were statues everywhere you could look. They were made out of alabaster marble. It was very beautiful.
After that we drove to another city called Brussels. When we first drove into Brussels, we came across a flea market. A flea market is a place where you can get things for a super cheap price. We parked the car and went out for awhile. When we came back, I had a warm coat, my Mom bought a hat, scarf, and pair of socks. Ben got a sweater and Sam got a sweatshirt and we all had new gloves. After awhile of running around like some helpless mice, we came across a little statue of a peeing boy as a fountain.
Next, we came across a very colossal place called the Grand Place. When you go and see it though, you’ll know why they called it The Grand Place. Everywhere you look, you see 100 statues at least! When we were leaving, we could go up and rub a low relief of Christ. It is supposed to give you good luck.
The next day we arrived in a different city called Mechelen. We went to a toy museum. The first floor had mostly dolls. The second was tin soldiers and trains. The third floor had Legos. I liked the tin soldiers the most. They were even educational. They taught me what happened in Waterloo.
The Legos were amazing too. They had a life size lego statue of Hagrid in Harry Potter. His beard even had different colors!
The only good thing about the youth hostel was the shower. But we couldn’t take one because we had no towels! There were 6 mattresses strewn across the room. But we still slept on them.
The next day we took a long drive and ended up at a city called Soust, Holland. It had a pool table and we got very good over the next two days.
The next day, we packed up some rain clothes and walked to the train station. We were going to a place called Amsterdam. First of all Amsterdam is not a regular city. Number 1, it has marijuana in “coffee shops.” Number two, it allows something called the Red Light District. I shouldn’t tell you what that is. It’s inappropriate. When we got to Amsterdam, the first thing we saw was a person with an amazing yoyo thing. Then we went to a museum about a person named Anne Frank. She was a Jew. When the Germans attacked, she and seven other people hid in the back of one of their friend’s houses for two years. Then the Germans found her and her family and friends, and she died one month before the war ended. People found the diary she kept and it’s been published all around the world. People found out how wrong it was.
Then we walked around a little, and then we went to a boat tour. It showed us a lot of canals and a drawbridge so perfectly balanced that the bridge drawers could lift it with a finger.
After that, we tried to get to another flea market but it turned out that it was closed. So we started wandering around town a little and my Dad walked through the Red Light District.
We got back to the hotel and went to sleep. Now after about 6 hours of driving, we’re in Paris! I can’t wait to tell you about it later. Bye!
After the HUGE Porta Nigra, we were famished and wanted something to eat. So we went over to the town square and found some people singing a German song. We found a restaurant close by and I ate something fantastic called a Giro (Hero). It is a kind of meat (I had pork) and white sauce put in some bread. It was great and the music was fun too.
The next day I went to a city called Luxembourg, in a country called Luxembourg. It had gigantic walls made at around 900 AD. Everyone fought over Luxembourg: Spain, Austria, France, and Holland….over 1 town! We think it’s because of its roads. Luxembourg had very good highways.
Sam and Ben also wanted to go to a pirate ship park (as they call it). I have to admit though, it was pretty fun.
After that, we went to a new country called Belgium. First, we went and got a hotel. We found it in a city called Mons. That night we took a walk to the town square. We were very lucky because there was a carnival. We walked around but didn’t do anything. When we were about to leave I spotted a BB gun booth. So I went over, my Dad paid and I hit every single target with “deadly accuracy” (as I call it).
The next day, we drove by an amazing cathedral. When we went inside, there were statues everywhere you could look. They were made out of alabaster marble. It was very beautiful.
After that we drove to another city called Brussels. When we first drove into Brussels, we came across a flea market. A flea market is a place where you can get things for a super cheap price. We parked the car and went out for awhile. When we came back, I had a warm coat, my Mom bought a hat, scarf, and pair of socks. Ben got a sweater and Sam got a sweatshirt and we all had new gloves. After awhile of running around like some helpless mice, we came across a little statue of a peeing boy as a fountain.
Next, we came across a very colossal place called the Grand Place. When you go and see it though, you’ll know why they called it The Grand Place. Everywhere you look, you see 100 statues at least! When we were leaving, we could go up and rub a low relief of Christ. It is supposed to give you good luck.
The next day we arrived in a different city called Mechelen. We went to a toy museum. The first floor had mostly dolls. The second was tin soldiers and trains. The third floor had Legos. I liked the tin soldiers the most. They were even educational. They taught me what happened in Waterloo.
The Legos were amazing too. They had a life size lego statue of Hagrid in Harry Potter. His beard even had different colors!
The only good thing about the youth hostel was the shower. But we couldn’t take one because we had no towels! There were 6 mattresses strewn across the room. But we still slept on them.
The next day we took a long drive and ended up at a city called Soust, Holland. It had a pool table and we got very good over the next two days.
The next day, we packed up some rain clothes and walked to the train station. We were going to a place called Amsterdam. First of all Amsterdam is not a regular city. Number 1, it has marijuana in “coffee shops.” Number two, it allows something called the Red Light District. I shouldn’t tell you what that is. It’s inappropriate. When we got to Amsterdam, the first thing we saw was a person with an amazing yoyo thing. Then we went to a museum about a person named Anne Frank. She was a Jew. When the Germans attacked, she and seven other people hid in the back of one of their friend’s houses for two years. Then the Germans found her and her family and friends, and she died one month before the war ended. People found the diary she kept and it’s been published all around the world. People found out how wrong it was.
Then we walked around a little, and then we went to a boat tour. It showed us a lot of canals and a drawbridge so perfectly balanced that the bridge drawers could lift it with a finger.
After that, we tried to get to another flea market but it turned out that it was closed. So we started wandering around town a little and my Dad walked through the Red Light District.
We got back to the hotel and went to sleep. Now after about 6 hours of driving, we’re in Paris! I can’t wait to tell you about it later. Bye!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Germany Nov 21
The plane ride to Ramstein, Germany was OK. I watched a couple movies and then tried to go to sleep. But the truth is I never go to sleep on plane rides. I don’t because everything is so amazing to me.
When we landed, we got off the plane and went through customs. After that we waited at USO for a couple hours and I played XBox the whole time.
My Dad rented an awesome van that could hold 9 people! The gas mileage was still better than our SUV! Anyway, we got in the car and made some stops. Then we went to a hotel. I watched some hockey and then went to sleep.
The next day, we drove into Heidelberg, parked the van, and took a walk into a huge castle. We took a tour of the castle. Everything was great to me except one thing. Hundreds of years ago people found it stylish to raise animals, and when they were grown, the people would lock the animals in the moat and “daring, brave” men would go down and hunt the ferocious animals. The women would be above cheering them on.
Now we’re going to another country called Luxembourg, near Germany.
I forgot to mention our great friend, Mrs. Karin. She had a BBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGG, beautiful house with 4 floors, a swimming pool, an elevator and you could go on the roof. We had a lot of fun in the swimming pool, talked some, and had a super fun time eating great bread and ham from the Black Forest.
When we landed, we got off the plane and went through customs. After that we waited at USO for a couple hours and I played XBox the whole time.
My Dad rented an awesome van that could hold 9 people! The gas mileage was still better than our SUV! Anyway, we got in the car and made some stops. Then we went to a hotel. I watched some hockey and then went to sleep.
The next day, we drove into Heidelberg, parked the van, and took a walk into a huge castle. We took a tour of the castle. Everything was great to me except one thing. Hundreds of years ago people found it stylish to raise animals, and when they were grown, the people would lock the animals in the moat and “daring, brave” men would go down and hunt the ferocious animals. The women would be above cheering them on.
Now we’re going to another country called Luxembourg, near Germany.
I forgot to mention our great friend, Mrs. Karin. She had a BBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGG, beautiful house with 4 floors, a swimming pool, an elevator and you could go on the roof. We had a lot of fun in the swimming pool, talked some, and had a super fun time eating great bread and ham from the Black Forest.
New York and Maryland Nov 17
Nov 17:
After awhile of driving, we came across a big, beautiful house owned by a nice family by the name of the O’Neil’s. That night we had a great dinner of spaghetti and we watched “Shrek the Third.”
The next morning our family loaded in the SUV and took off to Manhattan. We bought some bus tickets, and drove to the Empire State Building. Did I mention about how I almost broke Robby’s foot? Well, that day Robby was on crutches. A man said that it was about an hour’s wait to go up to the top of the Empire State Building. But then he saw Robby on his crutches and since he was “handicapped” he turned it into a 5 minute wait. In no time we got to the top of the Empire State Building and were outside, seeing the view. We could see anything in Manhattan you wanted to see. After that we took various stops, but the second highlight was going on a water taxi and checking out the Statue of Liberty! It was so big, and its toe was as large as 11 people!
After that fabulous day, we went back, said goodbye, and arrived at our cousins’ house before Halloween. We all got in some costumes. Sam was a banshee, Ben a pirate, Robby was a reaper thing, and I was a car crash victim. The best costume on the street was my uncle. He got in big, black polypro, got a 12 foot stick, put foil on it to make it look like a scythe, got on some stilts, and he was a death angel like the Grim Reaper, about 12 feet high!
We stayed about two more weeks. We went to a Boy Scout lock-in. We went into a scout house, got all the doors locked, and stayed up all night playing video games and dart gun fights.
After that we went to a place where I used to live for five years! We played and had fun with our friends for three days. The people who I liked to hang out with were named Kira, Shane and Scott. I played a lot with them and it was very generous of Kira’s parents to let us park in their driveway. After a while we had to leave. It was hard to say goodbye again. But I’m also looking forward to our next adventure. We are going to Europe on a military flight! I’ll tell you about it when I get there. Bye!
After awhile of driving, we came across a big, beautiful house owned by a nice family by the name of the O’Neil’s. That night we had a great dinner of spaghetti and we watched “Shrek the Third.”
The next morning our family loaded in the SUV and took off to Manhattan. We bought some bus tickets, and drove to the Empire State Building. Did I mention about how I almost broke Robby’s foot? Well, that day Robby was on crutches. A man said that it was about an hour’s wait to go up to the top of the Empire State Building. But then he saw Robby on his crutches and since he was “handicapped” he turned it into a 5 minute wait. In no time we got to the top of the Empire State Building and were outside, seeing the view. We could see anything in Manhattan you wanted to see. After that we took various stops, but the second highlight was going on a water taxi and checking out the Statue of Liberty! It was so big, and its toe was as large as 11 people!
After that fabulous day, we went back, said goodbye, and arrived at our cousins’ house before Halloween. We all got in some costumes. Sam was a banshee, Ben a pirate, Robby was a reaper thing, and I was a car crash victim. The best costume on the street was my uncle. He got in big, black polypro, got a 12 foot stick, put foil on it to make it look like a scythe, got on some stilts, and he was a death angel like the Grim Reaper, about 12 feet high!
We stayed about two more weeks. We went to a Boy Scout lock-in. We went into a scout house, got all the doors locked, and stayed up all night playing video games and dart gun fights.
After that we went to a place where I used to live for five years! We played and had fun with our friends for three days. The people who I liked to hang out with were named Kira, Shane and Scott. I played a lot with them and it was very generous of Kira’s parents to let us park in their driveway. After a while we had to leave. It was hard to say goodbye again. But I’m also looking forward to our next adventure. We are going to Europe on a military flight! I’ll tell you about it when I get there. Bye!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Oct 29
Rhode Island was very fun. We went on a 2 ½ mile long walk called Cliff Walk. Robby and I jogged in front. When we got to the end, I found out Dad had to run back. I ran with Dad and for the next 4 days my legs ached whenever I even power-walked!
The next day, we got to Mystic Seaport, CT. Mystic Seaport is a museum where we went on docked boats, saw a blacksmith at work, went to a printing shop, and met a boy named David. We went to the park and had a lot of fun.
That night we parked in an RV parking lot at West Point, put up the beds, and fell asleep. The next morning we got in our rain jackets and rain pants and went to watch a football game in the rain. We went to a parade, and then watched the football game. The Army beat Louisiana Tech 14 to 7! We stayed two more days. One of them I almost broke Robby’s ankle, but instead he sprained it very badly. (If you want to hear more about it, go to Robby’s blog.) We also bumped into some people with the name of The Johnson’s. They have 2 kids, one is Bradley and the other is Noel. COL Johnson gave us a tour of West Point. We went to the hall of fame, a lacrosse field, and the main weight room.
Then we went to a campground called Round Pond. We stayed there for two days. The first day was school, and the second was half school. Then we went in a paddle boat! We went to a rock in the middle of the pond, then on a dock on the other side of the pond.
Oct 22:
Hola! My Dad bought me a system called Rosetta Stone, so I’m getting active in Spanish. I’m learning so when we get to Mexico I’ll be able to interact with them. Anyway, when I was leaving Vermont, it was only a 2-hour drive but it felt like a whole day!
When I got to my Poppa’s farm in New York, I had to wait for my cousins to get home from school! I was so impatient! When my cousin Tucker finally came home, he showed us the garage, the barn loft, the tree house, and the chickens. My favorite was the barn loft. We brought scooters and skateboards up there and swept the floor clean so it would be smooth riding. After that we hiked all over the farm with the wheel barrow and picked up every wooden board we could find.
After that, when we had a wheelbarrow full of boards, we all went to work. We took the board and set it up so we could make a jump. We caught some air off the jump, and then collapsed in the hay pile.
It took a long time for that to get old, but when it did, we packed our knapsack high and started to hike up the hill in the pitch black night. When we got to the top, we started unpacking our tents. We finished one for Ben, Sam, and Tucker’s little sister, Avery.
We started unpacking our tent just to find out we forgot the tent poles! That night, Robby, Tucker and I slept under the stars. For the next week or so, we fed the chickens, did some school, and then played with Tucker and Avery. One time, we had to haul a bunch of logs from one place to another. We caught salamanders and a snake in the process. It was hard work, but we got to watch a semi-pro hockey game.
Another time my Dad found a mouse that climbed up on the tractor and was too scared to get down. It stayed up there for hours, till I caught him in a jar. When I examined him, I found out that his front paw was wounded.
After a couple weeks, it was time to leave. It was hard but when we did, we were on the road again. About 30 minutes down the road, we saw a car contest/show. N They were old and new, and down on the other side of the field there was a snow machine going across a pond. We pulled over, looked at some cars, then went over to the pond and saw Robby and Sam running over yelling, “The snow machine sunk!” So we ran over and found the driver swimming out, shivering like crazy.
Soon a truck drove up with a towing rope and the snow machine driver had to swim back in and connect the towing rope to the snow machine. The snow machine driver said the pond was iced over that morning too. I know it might not sound much for the people back in Alaska but you should have seen him! He went in, put it on, and everyone cheered! The truck started going and they pulled up an empty hook. The driver stared open-mouthed at that hook for at least a minute, then picked it up and walked in a 2nd time. This time he got lucky and the truck pulled the snow machine up with ease.
So the driver went to work on it, checked the engine, and no water was in the gasoline tank! After a couple jerks on the starter cord, it came to life! The driver was overjoyed and we went to check out some more cars. My favorite was a truck that was so low, it was resting on the ground. When the driver turned it on, he would pick it up a little before he drove.
We got back in the RV and started driving to my Grandma’s little brother’s house for dinner. In about an hour, we stopped and unhooked the SUV. After that we met the hosts and had some delicious spaghetti. After the dinner we played some and had fun finding bikes and shooting BB guns. Ben even took a swim in a pond that was iced over that morning. After that we were in the RV going on to Boston, the capital of Massachusetts.
The next day we were off to Boston. We went to Quisno’s, the Freedom Trail, Paul Revere’s house, and for the highlight of the day the fountain! There was a fountain on some cement, with water spouting up, and when the water was down, we printed across. It was loads of fun. Sam got blasted, and Ben got soaked. Robby got hit, but I stayed dry. That was a great day. The next day we made our way to Newport, Rhode Island.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
After that superior ferry, we went on the hardest and most long day hike I ever did! It was truly 11 miles and rainy. It took about 2 hours to get up and when we were up we were stuck in a cloud and couldn’t see anything. I was proud of myself too because I was carrying the heaviest rucksack and still was usually in front. Then we got great pizza and retired for the night.
Then we went to a splendid campground. It had a paddle boat and a Kayak and colossal frogs! We enjoyed swimming there and Ben caught a salamander.
After all that fun we went to a place in Maine and one of my uncles had a friend in college who works at a place called L.L.Bean. We could get something there for a 20% discount! It was grand!
At New Hampshire we took a thirty-mile long, breathtaking drive! It was outstanding. We got to Vermont and visited some friends. Their Dad was the boss of a ski resort and in the summer it’s a fair. So we got in free and had loads of fun going down the biggest Alpine Slide in the US!
Now we’re going to a farm that my dad grew up on and my cousins now live there. Bye!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Ahoy blog fans! The ferry was amazing! If there were no trucks or RVs, it could hold 220 cars and pickup trucks! And it still went 13 knots! It was so cool looking down and seeing the amazingly fast river! After we also went to the world’s best ice-cream store! I’m not joking. It was actually rated for the world’s best ice-cream!
We also went to a place called Louisburg. Everyone acted like they were in 1744. They only talked about that year and nothing else.
After that we went on an 8 hour drive called the Cabot trail. On our way we stopped at a place called the Leather making shop and bought some leather to make a spinner. What you have to do is spin it up and then keep on pulling it to keep it going. We went to a beach and had some amazing chowder.
We were just at Halifax and had a swell time. It was great at the board walk and we also went to a museum called Pier 21. It was about some people who came from all over the world to Canada and some of them got rejected and went all the way back to their home. There was a movie and a tour and we got to look up some people who we know.
Did I mention it was Ben’s birthday? We are going to have a party soon at the world’s greatest tide changes! I think it’s going to be great. Well, bye now.
Tuesday, September 17, 2008
I took 19 breaths, and after the bridge my head hurt so badly I needed some Tylenol. P. E. I. (Prince Edward Island) is a wonderful place. They had an amazing campground, my favorite one yet, because of a huge trampoline called a bouncy pillow. They have the most delicious lobsters ever, and I had my first oyster, which I almost threw up, because all you do is take an alive oyster, cut it off its shell, and slide it in, raw and alive. It was slimy and snotty, take it from me, DON’T EAT OYSTERS! We also went to a place where a little girl had to live with her Grandparents because her mom died and her dad went to Ontario to get money. When she got older she wrote a very popular book on P.E.I., Anne of Green Gables. A little orphan Girl who got adopted instead of a boy and had a wonderful little imagination and with that she made up all kinds of things. My especially favorite, the haunted woods. Anne made up the haunted woods because she was never scared and on e night, after dark, her foster Mom made her go down and get her sandal. She was so scared that when she came back, she could hardly breathe. After that my Dad did something called Kite boarding. It’s like wake boarding, but instead of getting pulled by a boat, it’s getting pulled by a Kite, you can go really fast and do wicked jumps! Then, we did the worst part of this vacation, school. We did a lot of it to. it is so much harder than public. It has no lunch, but it does have recess.After that, we packed up, and instead of going across the bridge, we’re taking an hour and a half ferry. By for now!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
After the wind turbines, we got in the RV, and drove to a place called Percy Rock. We went out on a tour with a guide. The rock was formed by a lot of coral so we found a couple of fossils. The guide told us we couldn’t take any fossils, but we snuck a couple by. Next we went to Carlton, which had the best park ever. It had a huge slide and two racing ziplines. I had so many blisters when I was done with them. We took a really nice roller blade on a bike trail to the town. There we had lunch and when we came back we took a great swim then went to the park and played some more. After that we stayed up and watched a movie. The next day we woke up, did some school, and started going to one of my dad’s friend’s mom. Her name was Miss Grace. When I got inside I looked at the beautiful table, the big stereo, and the nice kitchen. The dinner was delicious and then the dessert was wonderful. When I got to the RV, we drove to a cottage she let us stay at. It was rainy and I got wet and my mom fell in the mud. So when we were parked and we were going to bed it felt so good. The next morning I woke up, did some school, and Miss Grace came and gave us a tour of the town. After that we went back home and went swimming and fishing. The next day we went got the slides in and drove away. Now were at Shediac and just stopped at the world’s biggest lobster! It’s not a real lobster, it’s made of reinforced steal frame and is covered by concrete, it is 50 metric tons, and is over 30 feet long! Now we’re going to Prince Edward Island, and were going to go on the longest bridge in the world right this minute! I’m going to try to take the least amount of breaths I can. I hope I don’t pass out!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
I’m such a mess; I forgot to tell you about the museum. It was about a ship that sunk and killed over 1,000 people. The ship was called the Empress of Ireland. We got a tour of a light house, after that we watched a movie. The ship was like a big box. With a lot more little boxes. So If any water got inside, they would just seal the little box and the water would have nowhere to go. So the ship would continue to float. They got from Ireland to only about a couple miles away from their landing spot when another ship was backing up and the other ship collided and made a hole right in the middle. Water poured in from both sides and the Empress of Ireland sunk in 14 minutes. If it collided in the front or back the empress of Ireland wouldn’t have sunk at all. Today we went to a windmill field and got a tour. Our tour guide was very specific and was funny too. She told us about how windmills work and the new model they made and how she would make it, it was very interesting.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
I would have written about old Quebec days ago if this computer didn’t delete everything about old Montreal. This blog will probably be incredibly long because I also did something today. But I’ll talk about that later. Right now I’m going to talk about the 400 year old Quebec! Old Quebec is amazing, the only thing I like more in Old Montreal was the Insectarium. I liked everything more in Old Quebec! They were celebrating so much, there. There was even a Chinese Dragon that when it was stretched out it was at least a mile long! Then there were hundreds of people behind the dragon. Next we went to a little shop and saw some wristbands and hair pins that people bought back then. We walked a lot to. We were supposed to take a tour bus but when dad saw all the traffic he said no so we just walked. We saw a lot of painters on the way to. We saw a lot of statues and we stopped at a very old hotel to use the bathroom and got shocked at how nice it was. Then we did a lot more walking until we came along a wooden set of stairs. We started climbing and when we got to the top I counted around 310 steps! I looked over the side and when I looked over the side I simply just had to take a picture. After that we walked a lot more and then came along some street performers. They were so good at flips and break dancing and they were funny to. After that were saw another street performer. He was a rolling stones one man band! He was really good and probably was noisy as a kid. After that we walked to a subway for dinner and while we ate we listened to a band called the back doys. The d is actually supposed to be a backwards b. After that we went to a movie on silos with no words and it told about the history of Quebec. The French traveled to Quebec and made a town. Later the British came and stole Quebec from the French. They even rounded up as many French and sent them to Louisiana and that is why they have so much French in Louisiana. After that show we took a ferry back to our car and left.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Today is a very special day. Yesterday was a very special day also. Today is my mom’s birthday. Yesterday we went to Old Montreal. Before I talk about Old Montreal, I want to say a word about they the really nice Frenchman and women and kids. The frenchman’s name was Mattew and the French women’s name was Isabell. The oldest kid is a girl and is named Juliet, the second oldest is a boy named Christian and he was adopted by the family. Next was a boy named Max. Next was a girl named Beatrice. They had a big, beautiful home with a pool, swingset, trampoline and chicken coop! They let us stay at their house for 3 days and when they left for 1 and a half days they left they even loaned us a key to their house! They were really nice people. So now let me talk about old Montreal. The only bad part was it is summer so there was no hockey. The first thing we did when we got to do when we got to Old Montreal was something called a Bio Dome. It was like an inside zoo, but it was inside because everything had to be exactly the right temperature. I liked the bio dome more than a zoo is because the walls are only about 4 feet high! It makes you really feel like you’re with the animals. There are several different places there too! From The rain forest to the grassy plains. Next we went to a place called the insectarium. The insectaruim is like a zoo, but instead of animals, its insects. I thought it was amazing. I got to touch a centipede and I learned they make necklaces out of a certain kind of beetle. I was inspired by the person who collected all the bugs and now I starting to collect bugs. After that we went to a church called Saint Joseph on the side of Mount Royal. People go to Saint Joseph in there wheelchairs, crutches, walkers and canes and prayed. And when they left, they were walking out of there, with their crutches, canes, wheelchairs and walkers left behind. Sam and I even got to go in some wheelchairs. Then we went to another, smaller church beside it and two people were praying right there. Also, we found many crutches there also. After that we took a long hike up Mount Royal and I carried Sam on my back part of the way. After that we went to an organic restaurant and boy was it good! After that we got in the car and by the time we got home it was 12:00am.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
I have but only one thing to talk about today, something that actually happened yesterday. Let me give you a hint, boats, boats everywhere. I was an antique boat museum. Did I like it? What was my favorite part? I’ll tell you right here right now. The truth is I loved it, and my favorite part was the skiffs and sail boats. My favorite skiff was called the duck skiff. The paddles were turned an awkward way so you could go farther without using a lot of energy. So that means it is really good for duck hunting, and I didn’t even decide my favorite sail boat yet. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Now we’re going to a French man’s house to camp for the night. We met him at some hot springs on the way to Canada. He’s got 4 kids around our age. I’ll update you again soon. Unless I start having a lot of fun and forget. By!
Monday, August 25, 2008
I apologies again for being so late but now since we left frost point Canada I’m sure I’ll keep up a lot better. Anyway I’ve got lots of things to tell you about. First of all, when I told you about swimming and fishing, I was just meaning swimming off the docks and fishing with worms at the boat house. Well, I guess you could say we sort of upgraded the fun.
So there was a fishing contest for the biggest bass and we went to see how big the bass were there. We saw a person with a great sized bass and he said he used frogs as bait. So when we were walking back a frog jumped when I was about to step down. So I caught it and put it in a bag that we got from a cruiser. Then we caught another, and another, and another until we had about 15 frogs. When we got back we cleaned out a trash can that wasn’t being used and put the 15 frogs in and my dad told me about a place called gray shoal. Gray shoal is an awesome fishing hole. So almost every morning I’d wake up at 6:00am and I went out to gray shoal in our fishing boat. Here is the biggest two fish I caught this year.
Now let me tell you about swimming. We did a lot of work for that day, so I wanted to go for a swim. Everyone planned on just swimming off the docks again. But I had a better idea. My dad has been telling us about something called boat house tag. Boat house tag is when you climb up on the boat house roof and a rule is when you climb up you can only get down by jumping off into the water. So boat house tag is you run on roof, in the water, and on land. So theirs pretty much no boundaries. So I asked dad and he actually said yes, so now we could jump off the roof instead of just our docks. Today we got to swim in Lake Ontario! So we’ve swam in all 5 of the great lakes! Bye.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged so I’m going to be talking about a lot of things. First of all I’m still in frost point, Canada. After all the swimming and fishing which was okay we went out in our speed boat. Did I mention we had a speed boat my dad, Uncle and cousin bought years ago?
So when we went out on it I wanted to try a thing called wakeboarding. Wakeboarding is something like skateboarding or snowboarding. It’s just that it’s on water, and it is a lot easier. The first time I tried it I did everything right, except turn my board after I got out of the water. My front edge caught, and I fell face first, belly flop, into the water. My second time, I remembered to turn my board, and I easily popped up and went for a good 2 miles. I caught on very easily and soon I was going over the wake and could get up on each foot. After a while of wake boarding I took a brake and went water skiing. I had tons of practice water skiing. I started when I was probably 4 years old and this year was the year I was to learn to slalom ski. Slalom skiing is to either drop 1 ski while you’re going or to get up on one ski and fit your free foot into a little holder behind your boot. I tried dropping a ski and every time I just fell. Then my mom had an idea I’ll switch one of the wooden skies with my dad’s fiber glass ski. The first time I tried to drop a ski with my dad’s fiberglass ski I stayed up and I fit my foot in the back and went for a while then I let go and I was done for the day. Now since I was practicing, I can go over the wake and I made my first rooster tail yesterday. The only other thing I have to talk about may be my favorite thing I learned here, sailing. There are 2 steps to sailing. 1, the tiller, [rutter] and 2, the main sheet [sail]. I myself steer the boat while Robby controls the main sheet. When I takeoff I can probably go 15 miles per hour if there’s enough wind. I’ll try to write sooner next time. Bye.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Four days ago I got to Ontario Canada. Every year our family gets together at Ontario Canada for a family reunion. We have a big cottage and a little cottage that my great, great Grandma and Grandpa built and coming here every summer was from my dad’s part of the family. We haven’t been here for two years so I’m really looking forward to this. Also today my Nana and Papa are coming. We’re also moving from the little cottage to the big cottage to make room for my cousins, so today is a lot of work for us. The main two things we do for fun is fishing and swimming. We didn’t catch any huge fish like back in Alaska, but we caught one worth eating. So that’s pretty much it for today, tune in next time.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Yesterday was a lot of fun too. When I woke up I got dressed, ate breakfast, put the slides in and started driving. As we drove by a beach, Dad spotted a kite surfer. A kite surfer is someone pretty much wake fboarding but instead being pulled by a boat he’s being pulled by a kite. Just like mine, but a bit bigger. It even has an inflatable side so it can’t sink. So Dad pulled over and we all got out. It was very windy, so I got the kite. When we got there he took off and I saw him do the highest jump I’ve seen! It was at least twenty feet in the air! It was fun to watch him. I watched him all the way till he was done. When he was, I went out to take out my kite. When it got in the air, it seriously pulled me down and jerked me forward! It was crazy! When I got back on my feet I fell down again. All of a sudden a crazy idea came to my mind. I got up slowly and carefully then when I was up I jumped as high as could and then it pulled me up even higher! I had to start steering in midair! It was so much fun! After awhile my hands started hurting so I had to land it, but it was fun while it lasted. Then Dad started talking to the kite surfer and it turned out he has a 4 boys! The one my age was named l
Luke and he was 12. So I let him fly my kite and he was pretty good at it. We started driving again. About 2 hours later, we stopped at Lake Heron sense we want to swim in all 5 of the great lakes. We took a swim and it was by far the coldest lake we swam in. I really didn’t want to go under water but I was forced to because there were biting flies. There were also tadpoles and polliwogs in a nearby stream. It was okay but Lake Eerie was a lot more fun. When we left we found a RV park pretty quickly and went to sleep. The next day I woke up and we started driving to a canal. It’s pretty amazing how the canal works and how they built it as one side of the canal is America and the other side is Canada. The canal works by having two gates and two valves on each gate. The first valve opens to let water in while the second gate and valve is closed raising the boats up in the canal. (To lower vies-versa.) Then we left for a brake and got ice-cream. Then we came back and watched a cargo boat come in. After that we left and finally found a beach on Lake Superior. We swam for about an hour than left to the Canadian customs. When we got when we got their Dad went through and we went in for stamping our passports. It looked like a police station. When we were done we left. Now I’m typing about a hitch hiker named Keith. He’s not like a bum, he’s just a kid whose hitch hicking.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
After a whole lot of fun I’m finally able to catch up again, and I can’t wait to tell you about Lake Michigan. Last time we came to Cousin Jon’s house my dad pulled into a road in the middle of the woods and got really scratched up. So instead this time dad just went to a RV campground just down the road. It was a pretty nice campground. It had a trail down to the beach and two nice playgrounds also. I slept very well that night because last night I stayed up ‘till 1:00 AM watching a movie. The next morning we woke up and immediately we changed into our bathing suits and went down to the beach. That day had huge waves so my dad taught us about something called bodysurfing. What you do is you go out ou go to about your thigh and wait for a wave that is just starting to curl. When the wave is just passing by, push off the lake floor and straighten out as well as you can and it will carry you all the way to shore. If you go to soon, the wave tumbles on you and sometimes even rolls you, if you go to late the wave just passes by. After that Dad got a kite out. This was a serious kite to. It was a gift to dad from some of my dad’s paragliding friends back in West Virginia. When he got it in the air he taught me how to fly it and it was so strong it almost swept me away a couple times. After awhile of body surfing and kite flying Robby came down with sandwiches and drinks for lunch. Then Cousin Jon came and we walked down to his cottage. When we got there we just remembered that today was my Dad’s birthday! So while my dad was outside Mom fixed up a birthday cake. It looked just like a regular chocolate cake until Robby and Alex unpeeled 49 chocolate kisses {‘because we didn’t want to put on 49 candles on the cake} and when they were done with it looked like a weapon! Then we met my Cousin Steve. He played goalie all the way up to college. After that we all went back to the RV, started a campfire and ate the cake with ice-cream. After that we went down to the beach and set off the last of our fireworks. That night Ben slept in Cousin Jon’s guest room. While everyone else slept in the RV. That morning I slept in and when I finally got up I put away my bedding and went to the beach. When we got back to the RV we ate some lunch got in the white SUV and drove to a party by the Watkins. They are Cousin Steve’s daughter, Georgia’s, Grandparents. It was very fun. We got to go kayaking, and I found a paddle! Then we ate dinner and went swimming. Then we said our goodbyes and left for bed. When we woke up we spent a lot of time with our cousins at the beach because we were only going to stay till lunch. Then we would leave. We did a lot of things. Caught bugs dug holes. Made castles, went swimming and flew our kite! After all that fun we went to the cottage had lunch, said goodbye till we see each other and the rest of the family in Canada and left for Canada.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Today we woke up and drove a while until we got to Lake Eerie. We found an island made from a bunch of rocks. We started making our way out there until two territorial seagles started dive-bombing us! After we spent about two hours we had some lunch and left. Now we’re going back to Lake Michigan to visit our co
usin Steve for two or three days. On our way down we found a museum about Henry Ford. He’s famous about making an assembly line. So we parked, got some tickets and went to the outside museum. There were a lot of things to learn about, but my flat out favorites were Thomas Edison’s work shop and the glass shop. The glass shop was amazing how people can shift a glob of melted glass into a beautiful vase. The work shop was also great with all the bottles on the wall and how they invented the light bulb. It was all great stuff. I can’t wait till I tell you about Lake Michigan tomorrow.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
When I first got to Bea’s it didn’t seem much fun because I liked Lake Michigan so much and I was only about 2 weeks old when Bea watched over Robby and I so I don’t remember her too well. But when I got there I saw their big, beautiful house and knew I would love it.
My favorite part about their house was there indoor swimming pool. It was a little bigger than a normal sized Jacuzzi and about six feet deep in the deepest part. It doesn’t sound that much fun but it had one of those fans that keep you swim in the same spot at your normal speed. So we turned it on high and timed ourselves to see who could be fastest from the back going up to the front. After swimming I grilled up some cheeseburgers and Robby set off some fireworks. The next morning my Mom woke us up early so we could go to the zoo before it gets warm and all the animals go to sleep. So we got up, put away our bedding, and got dressed for the zoo. My favorite day animal was called a Silverback Gorilla. We saw all kinds of animals, we saw hunting dogs, rhinos, elephants, frogs, snakes, alligators, monkeys and more! When we came back we took a swim, ate dinner and went to bed.
Tuesday, July 8 2008
Today I didn’t do a lot and I left early to go to Ohio to a person named Bea. She was a lady who watched over Robby and I when my Mom still had a job at a wine factory and my dad was still in the army. When I was still at my cousins house, I spent a while just playing around until we went down to Lake Michigan to play. We walked down the beach till we found a stream and built dams up till there was no water going into Lake Michigan. After that we played in the waves for a while then went back to the cottage.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Now I’ve been at my cousin’s house for 3 days and we’re going to stay here till Saturday. The first time I came I had some dinner and went down to the beach with everyone else. The water was freezing ‘cause the sun wasn’t out. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention what lake we were swimming in. I was swimming in Lake Michigan, one of the great lakes. After swimming we stayed up watching cartoons. The next morning we got up and went to a lake called silver lake. It was great for swimming and boating. But right next to the lake was giant sand dunes. As big as a house! It all started to be a big forest. But then humans came and chopped it down. Then all the sand started blowing around until it turned into a giant sand dune. When we were done we got some ice cream then we came back, played in Lake Michigan and went to bed. This morning it was rainy so today is just an inside day.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Today I went to the best museum in my life! In the morning my dad had to wake us up really early so I wasn’t looking too forward to it. But when we got there I knew I would love it! The whole place was covered in airplanes! The only people I could think would like it more than me would be my Dad and my friend Riley Brown back in Alaska. My favorite thing there was a flight simulator. Robby said it was better than the ones in space camp because you could shoot down other planes! My favorite plane was called a gyrocopter, a plane with a helicopter rotor so it
would cause more lift therefore take off easier and land easier. But it was a very slow flyer. I got to fly it in a different simulator. The museum was very educational also. They showed a movie about the first civilian to go to outer space and how it would cause more drag to slow it down when it is entering earth’s atmosphere. It was very clever. It was also hard leaving the place but now we are on our way to Michigan where cousin John has a vacation house. We are going there for the fourth of July.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Today was just a ordinary day, except this morning. The RV camping site was so much fun; it had a playstation, swimming pool and putt putt golf! It was all very fun until we had to leave. Now we’re on our way to Oshocaush, Wisconsin.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Hi again, okay guys the last two days might be one of the best two days on this whole trip! We had to go to Minnesota for Ben’s eye appointment {which went very well} and we just thought that we should go see the people that kept our RV till my dad came to pick it up. So we went over with my dad thinking they could just oil the engine and stuff. But instead they needed to work on the engine and weld stuff in for a while so we would have to stay there for a night. After a while he got up from welding and said, “I almost forgot! Want to come to the demolition derby with us?”
If you’ve never heard of a demolition derby before, it’s a bunch of old cars smashing themselves into each other until 1 or 3 cars are left. It is so much fun to watch! There were compact cars, pickup trucks and cars! After that we went to the fair and took some rides. Then we all went home at a very late hour and all went to sleep.
The next morning we tried to sleep in but couldn’t because the mechanics needed to work. So we got out of bed and went to a pond full of tadpoles. Then we went to a lake that was very warm and fun to swim in. Then we went back in the RV and drove out for some ice cream. After that we started back on our cruise and here I am. See you later!
Monday, June 30
After a couple of busy days I’m able to catch up on my the Blog. Right Now we’re on our way to Minnesota for a
Doctor’s appointment on Ben’s eye. The first time I met Jake Delange in South Dakota We talked a little then got on our swimsuits and went for a swim at a huge pool near by. It had a waterslide, which was a bit bumby but still. A divingbord and a fountain. We went swimming for quite a while actually, after that we went to the baseball dimond to watch Jake pitch. It was a pretty tough game, but Jakes team won 3 to 2 after that we went for a bike ride. We saw a lot of rabbits and we watched a baby bird fall out of a tree. That night we slept pretty well. When we woke up yesterday we put away our bedding and drove off to a dairy farm. There was a mom, dad and 2 sons. I made friends with One son named Josh, and Josh, Jake and I had a lot of fun together. First we found a lot of kittens, then we went to the baby cows or, calfs. And one sucked my thumb! Then we climbed up to the top floor of the barn and Josh showed us how he shoots birds from a window with his BB gun. Then we milked some cows, which is more fun then you think. Then we pet some sheep and sat on horses. When we started leaving I really didn’t want to go, but I had to. So we went home, filled up our water tank, went for one last swim and left.
Saturday, June 28
Today I crossed over from North Dakota to South Dakota. I’m going to one of my good friend Jake Delange house and tomorrow I’m going to watch him pitch at a baseball game. Right now I’m in South Dakota and I’m 4 hours away from his house. There’s not a lot to talk about right now if I’m looking out the window. All it is, is flat fields ghtas far as the eye can see. All I saw was 2 deer, Hundreds of horses and millions of cows.
Note: Will’s earlier blogs can be found on Dad’s page, under Will’s blog.
After that superior ferry, we went on the hardest and most long day hike I ever did! It was truly 11 miles and rainy. It took about 2 hours to get up and when we were up we were stuck in a cloud and couldn’t see anything. I was proud of myself too because I was carrying the heaviest rucksack and still was usually in front. Then we got great pizza and retired for the night.
Then we went to a splendid campground. It had a paddle boat and a Kayak and colossal frogs! We enjoyed swimming there and Ben caught a salamander.
After all that fun we went to a place in Maine and one of my uncles had a friend in college who works at a place called L.L.Bean. We could get something there for a 20% discount! It was grand!
At New Hampshire we took a thirty-mile long, breathtaking drive! It was outstanding. We got to Vermont and visited some friends. Their Dad was the boss of a ski resort and in the summer it’s a fair. So we got in free and had loads of fun going down the biggest Alpine Slide in the US!
Now we’re going to a farm that my dad grew up on and my cousins now live there. Bye!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Ahoy blog fans! The ferry was amazing! If there were no trucks or RVs, it could hold 220 cars and pickup trucks! And it still went 13 knots! It was so cool looking down and seeing the amazingly fast river! After we also went to the world’s best ice-cream store! I’m not joking. It was actually rated for the world’s best ice-cream!
We also went to a place called Louisburg. Everyone acted like they were in 1744. They only talked about that year and nothing else.
After that we went on an 8 hour drive called the Cabot trail. On our way we stopped at a place called the Leather making shop and bought some leather to make a spinner. What you have to do is spin it up and then keep on pulling it to keep it going. We went to a beach and had some amazing chowder.
We were just at Halifax and had a swell time. It was great at the board walk and we also went to a museum called Pier 21. It was about some people who came from all over the world to Canada and some of them got rejected and went all the way back to their home. There was a movie and a tour and we got to look up some people who we know.
Did I mention it was Ben’s birthday? We are going to have a party soon at the world’s greatest tide changes! I think it’s going to be great. Well, bye now.
Tuesday, September 17, 2008
I took 19 breaths, and after the bridge my head hurt so badly I needed some Tylenol. P. E. I. (Prince Edward Island) is a wonderful place. They had an amazing campground, my favorite one yet, because of a huge trampoline called a bouncy pillow. They have the most delicious lobsters ever, and I had my first oyster, which I almost threw up, because all you do is take an alive oyster, cut it off its shell, and slide it in, raw and alive. It was slimy and snotty, take it from me, DON’T EAT OYSTERS! We also went to a place where a little girl had to live with her Grandparents because her mom died and her dad went to Ontario to get money. When she got older she wrote a very popular book on P.E.I., Anne of Green Gables. A little orphan Girl who got adopted instead of a boy and had a wonderful little imagination and with that she made up all kinds of things. My especially favorite, the haunted woods. Anne made up the haunted woods because she was never scared and on e night, after dark, her foster Mom made her go down and get her sandal. She was so scared that when she came back, she could hardly breathe. After that my Dad did something called Kite boarding. It’s like wake boarding, but instead of getting pulled by a boat, it’s getting pulled by a Kite, you can go really fast and do wicked jumps! Then, we did the worst part of this vacation, school. We did a lot of it to. it is so much harder than public. It has no lunch, but it does have recess.After that, we packed up, and instead of going across the bridge, we’re taking an hour and a half ferry. By for now!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
After the wind turbines, we got in the RV, and drove to a place called Percy Rock. We went out on a tour with a guide. The rock was formed by a lot of coral so we found a couple of fossils. The guide told us we couldn’t take any fossils, but we snuck a couple by. Next we went to Carlton, which had the best park ever. It had a huge slide and two racing ziplines. I had so many blisters when I was done with them. We took a really nice roller blade on a bike trail to the town. There we had lunch and when we came back we took a great swim then went to the park and played some more. After that we stayed up and watched a movie. The next day we woke up, did some school, and started going to one of my dad’s friend’s mom. Her name was Miss Grace. When I got inside I looked at the beautiful table, the big stereo, and the nice kitchen. The dinner was delicious and then the dessert was wonderful. When I got to the RV, we drove to a cottage she let us stay at. It was rainy and I got wet and my mom fell in the mud. So when we were parked and we were going to bed it felt so good. The next morning I woke up, did some school, and Miss Grace came and gave us a tour of the town. After that we went back home and went swimming and fishing. The next day we went got the slides in and drove away. Now were at Shediac and just stopped at the world’s biggest lobster! It’s not a real lobster, it’s made of reinforced steal frame and is covered by concrete, it is 50 metric tons, and is over 30 feet long! Now we’re going to Prince Edward Island, and were going to go on the longest bridge in the world right this minute! I’m going to try to take the least amount of breaths I can. I hope I don’t pass out!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
I’m such a mess; I forgot to tell you about the museum. It was about a ship that sunk and killed over 1,000 people. The ship was called the Empress of Ireland. We got a tour of a light house, after that we watched a movie. The ship was like a big box. With a lot more little boxes. So If any water got inside, they would just seal the little box and the water would have nowhere to go. So the ship would continue to float. They got from Ireland to only about a couple miles away from their landing spot when another ship was backing up and the other ship collided and made a hole right in the middle. Water poured in from both sides and the Empress of Ireland sunk in 14 minutes. If it collided in the front or back the empress of Ireland wouldn’t have sunk at all. Today we went to a windmill field and got a tour. Our tour guide was very specific and was funny too. She told us about how windmills work and the new model they made and how she would make it, it was very interesting.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
I would have written about old Quebec days ago if this computer didn’t delete everything about old Montreal. This blog will probably be incredibly long because I also did something today. But I’ll talk about that later. Right now I’m going to talk about the 400 year old Quebec! Old Quebec is amazing, the only thing I like more in Old Montreal was the Insectarium. I liked everything more in Old Quebec! They were celebrating so much, there. There was even a Chinese Dragon that when it was stretched out it was at least a mile long! Then there were hundreds of people behind the dragon. Next we went to a little shop and saw some wristbands and hair pins that people bought back then. We walked a lot to. We were supposed to take a tour bus but when dad saw all the traffic he said no so we just walked. We saw a lot of painters on the way to. We saw a lot of statues and we stopped at a very old hotel to use the bathroom and got shocked at how nice it was. Then we did a lot more walking until we came along a wooden set of stairs. We started climbing and when we got to the top I counted around 310 steps! I looked over the side and when I looked over the side I simply just had to take a picture. After that we walked a lot more and then came along some street performers. They were so good at flips and break dancing and they were funny to. After that were saw another street performer. He was a rolling stones one man band! He was really good and probably was noisy as a kid. After that we walked to a subway for dinner and while we ate we listened to a band called the back doys. The d is actually supposed to be a backwards b. After that we went to a movie on silos with no words and it told about the history of Quebec. The French traveled to Quebec and made a town. Later the British came and stole Quebec from the French. They even rounded up as many French and sent them to Louisiana and that is why they have so much French in Louisiana. After that show we took a ferry back to our car and left.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Today is a very special day. Yesterday was a very special day also. Today is my mom’s birthday. Yesterday we went to Old Montreal. Before I talk about Old Montreal, I want to say a word about they the really nice Frenchman and women and kids. The frenchman’s name was Mattew and the French women’s name was Isabell. The oldest kid is a girl and is named Juliet, the second oldest is a boy named Christian and he was adopted by the family. Next was a boy named Max. Next was a girl named Beatrice. They had a big, beautiful home with a pool, swingset, trampoline and chicken coop! They let us stay at their house for 3 days and when they left for 1 and a half days they left they even loaned us a key to their house! They were really nice people. So now let me talk about old Montreal. The only bad part was it is summer so there was no hockey. The first thing we did when we got to do when we got to Old Montreal was something called a Bio Dome. It was like an inside zoo, but it was inside because everything had to be exactly the right temperature. I liked the bio dome more than a zoo is because the walls are only about 4 feet high! It makes you really feel like you’re with the animals. There are several different places there too! From The rain forest to the grassy plains. Next we went to a place called the insectarium. The insectaruim is like a zoo, but instead of animals, its insects. I thought it was amazing. I got to touch a centipede and I learned they make necklaces out of a certain kind of beetle. I was inspired by the person who collected all the bugs and now I starting to collect bugs. After that we went to a church called Saint Joseph on the side of Mount Royal. People go to Saint Joseph in there wheelchairs, crutches, walkers and canes and prayed. And when they left, they were walking out of there, with their crutches, canes, wheelchairs and walkers left behind. Sam and I even got to go in some wheelchairs. Then we went to another, smaller church beside it and two people were praying right there. Also, we found many crutches there also. After that we took a long hike up Mount Royal and I carried Sam on my back part of the way. After that we went to an organic restaurant and boy was it good! After that we got in the car and by the time we got home it was 12:00am.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
I have but only one thing to talk about today, something that actually happened yesterday. Let me give you a hint, boats, boats everywhere. I was an antique boat museum. Did I like it? What was my favorite part? I’ll tell you right here right now. The truth is I loved it, and my favorite part was the skiffs and sail boats. My favorite skiff was called the duck skiff. The paddles were turned an awkward way so you could go farther without using a lot of energy. So that means it is really good for duck hunting, and I didn’t even decide my favorite sail boat yet. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Now we’re going to a French man’s house to camp for the night. We met him at some hot springs on the way to Canada. He’s got 4 kids around our age. I’ll update you again soon. Unless I start having a lot of fun and forget. By!
Monday, August 25, 2008
I apologies again for being so late but now since we left frost point Canada I’m sure I’ll keep up a lot better. Anyway I’ve got lots of things to tell you about. First of all, when I told you about swimming and fishing, I was just meaning swimming off the docks and fishing with worms at the boat house. Well, I guess you could say we sort of upgraded the fun.
So there was a fishing contest for the biggest bass and we went to see how big the bass were there. We saw a person with a great sized bass and he said he used frogs as bait. So when we were walking back a frog jumped when I was about to step down. So I caught it and put it in a bag that we got from a cruiser. Then we caught another, and another, and another until we had about 15 frogs. When we got back we cleaned out a trash can that wasn’t being used and put the 15 frogs in and my dad told me about a place called gray shoal. Gray shoal is an awesome fishing hole. So almost every morning I’d wake up at 6:00am and I went out to gray shoal in our fishing boat. Here is the biggest two fish I caught this year.
Now let me tell you about swimming. We did a lot of work for that day, so I wanted to go for a swim. Everyone planned on just swimming off the docks again. But I had a better idea. My dad has been telling us about something called boat house tag. Boat house tag is when you climb up on the boat house roof and a rule is when you climb up you can only get down by jumping off into the water. So boat house tag is you run on roof, in the water, and on land. So theirs pretty much no boundaries. So I asked dad and he actually said yes, so now we could jump off the roof instead of just our docks. Today we got to swim in Lake Ontario! So we’ve swam in all 5 of the great lakes! Bye.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged so I’m going to be talking about a lot of things. First of all I’m still in frost point, Canada. After all the swimming and fishing which was okay we went out in our speed boat. Did I mention we had a speed boat my dad, Uncle and cousin bought years ago?
So when we went out on it I wanted to try a thing called wakeboarding. Wakeboarding is something like skateboarding or snowboarding. It’s just that it’s on water, and it is a lot easier. The first time I tried it I did everything right, except turn my board after I got out of the water. My front edge caught, and I fell face first, belly flop, into the water. My second time, I remembered to turn my board, and I easily popped up and went for a good 2 miles. I caught on very easily and soon I was going over the wake and could get up on each foot. After a while of wake boarding I took a brake and went water skiing. I had tons of practice water skiing. I started when I was probably 4 years old and this year was the year I was to learn to slalom ski. Slalom skiing is to either drop 1 ski while you’re going or to get up on one ski and fit your free foot into a little holder behind your boot. I tried dropping a ski and every time I just fell. Then my mom had an idea I’ll switch one of the wooden skies with my dad’s fiber glass ski. The first time I tried to drop a ski with my dad’s fiberglass ski I stayed up and I fit my foot in the back and went for a while then I let go and I was done for the day. Now since I was practicing, I can go over the wake and I made my first rooster tail yesterday. The only other thing I have to talk about may be my favorite thing I learned here, sailing. There are 2 steps to sailing. 1, the tiller, [rutter] and 2, the main sheet [sail]. I myself steer the boat while Robby controls the main sheet. When I takeoff I can probably go 15 miles per hour if there’s enough wind. I’ll try to write sooner next time. Bye.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Four days ago I got to Ontario Canada. Every year our family gets together at Ontario Canada for a family reunion. We have a big cottage and a little cottage that my great, great Grandma and Grandpa built and coming here every summer was from my dad’s part of the family. We haven’t been here for two years so I’m really looking forward to this. Also today my Nana and Papa are coming. We’re also moving from the little cottage to the big cottage to make room for my cousins, so today is a lot of work for us. The main two things we do for fun is fishing and swimming. We didn’t catch any huge fish like back in Alaska, but we caught one worth eating. So that’s pretty much it for today, tune in next time.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Yesterday was a lot of fun too. When I woke up I got dressed, ate breakfast, put the slides in and started driving. As we drove by a beach, Dad spotted a kite surfer. A kite surfer is someone pretty much wake fboarding but instead being pulled by a boat he’s being pulled by a kite. Just like mine, but a bit bigger. It even has an inflatable side so it can’t sink. So Dad pulled over and we all got out. It was very windy, so I got the kite. When we got there he took off and I saw him do the highest jump I’ve seen! It was at least twenty feet in the air! It was fun to watch him. I watched him all the way till he was done. When he was, I went out to take out my kite. When it got in the air, it seriously pulled me down and jerked me forward! It was crazy! When I got back on my feet I fell down again. All of a sudden a crazy idea came to my mind. I got up slowly and carefully then when I was up I jumped as high as could and then it pulled me up even higher! I had to start steering in midair! It was so much fun! After awhile my hands started hurting so I had to land it, but it was fun while it lasted. Then Dad started talking to the kite surfer and it turned out he has a 4 boys! The one my age was named l
Luke and he was 12. So I let him fly my kite and he was pretty good at it. We started driving again. About 2 hours later, we stopped at Lake Heron sense we want to swim in all 5 of the great lakes. We took a swim and it was by far the coldest lake we swam in. I really didn’t want to go under water but I was forced to because there were biting flies. There were also tadpoles and polliwogs in a nearby stream. It was okay but Lake Eerie was a lot more fun. When we left we found a RV park pretty quickly and went to sleep. The next day I woke up and we started driving to a canal. It’s pretty amazing how the canal works and how they built it as one side of the canal is America and the other side is Canada. The canal works by having two gates and two valves on each gate. The first valve opens to let water in while the second gate and valve is closed raising the boats up in the canal. (To lower vies-versa.) Then we left for a brake and got ice-cream. Then we came back and watched a cargo boat come in. After that we left and finally found a beach on Lake Superior. We swam for about an hour than left to the Canadian customs. When we got when we got their Dad went through and we went in for stamping our passports. It looked like a police station. When we were done we left. Now I’m typing about a hitch hiker named Keith. He’s not like a bum, he’s just a kid whose hitch hicking.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
After a whole lot of fun I’m finally able to catch up again, and I can’t wait to tell you about Lake Michigan. Last time we came to Cousin Jon’s house my dad pulled into a road in the middle of the woods and got really scratched up. So instead this time dad just went to a RV campground just down the road. It was a pretty nice campground. It had a trail down to the beach and two nice playgrounds also. I slept very well that night because last night I stayed up ‘till 1:00 AM watching a movie. The next morning we woke up and immediately we changed into our bathing suits and went down to the beach. That day had huge waves so my dad taught us about something called bodysurfing. What you do is you go out ou go to about your thigh and wait for a wave that is just starting to curl. When the wave is just passing by, push off the lake floor and straighten out as well as you can and it will carry you all the way to shore. If you go to soon, the wave tumbles on you and sometimes even rolls you, if you go to late the wave just passes by. After that Dad got a kite out. This was a serious kite to. It was a gift to dad from some of my dad’s paragliding friends back in West Virginia. When he got it in the air he taught me how to fly it and it was so strong it almost swept me away a couple times. After awhile of body surfing and kite flying Robby came down with sandwiches and drinks for lunch. Then Cousin Jon came and we walked down to his cottage. When we got there we just remembered that today was my Dad’s birthday! So while my dad was outside Mom fixed up a birthday cake. It looked just like a regular chocolate cake until Robby and Alex unpeeled 49 chocolate kisses {‘because we didn’t want to put on 49 candles on the cake} and when they were done with it looked like a weapon! Then we met my Cousin Steve. He played goalie all the way up to college. After that we all went back to the RV, started a campfire and ate the cake with ice-cream. After that we went down to the beach and set off the last of our fireworks. That night Ben slept in Cousin Jon’s guest room. While everyone else slept in the RV. That morning I slept in and when I finally got up I put away my bedding and went to the beach. When we got back to the RV we ate some lunch got in the white SUV and drove to a party by the Watkins. They are Cousin Steve’s daughter, Georgia’s, Grandparents. It was very fun. We got to go kayaking, and I found a paddle! Then we ate dinner and went swimming. Then we said our goodbyes and left for bed. When we woke up we spent a lot of time with our cousins at the beach because we were only going to stay till lunch. Then we would leave. We did a lot of things. Caught bugs dug holes. Made castles, went swimming and flew our kite! After all that fun we went to the cottage had lunch, said goodbye till we see each other and the rest of the family in Canada and left for Canada.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Today we woke up and drove a while until we got to Lake Eerie. We found an island made from a bunch of rocks. We started making our way out there until two territorial seagles started dive-bombing us! After we spent about two hours we had some lunch and left. Now we’re going back to Lake Michigan to visit our co
usin Steve for two or three days. On our way down we found a museum about Henry Ford. He’s famous about making an assembly line. So we parked, got some tickets and went to the outside museum. There were a lot of things to learn about, but my flat out favorites were Thomas Edison’s work shop and the glass shop. The glass shop was amazing how people can shift a glob of melted glass into a beautiful vase. The work shop was also great with all the bottles on the wall and how they invented the light bulb. It was all great stuff. I can’t wait till I tell you about Lake Michigan tomorrow.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
When I first got to Bea’s it didn’t seem much fun because I liked Lake Michigan so much and I was only about 2 weeks old when Bea watched over Robby and I so I don’t remember her too well. But when I got there I saw their big, beautiful house and knew I would love it.
My favorite part about their house was there indoor swimming pool. It was a little bigger than a normal sized Jacuzzi and about six feet deep in the deepest part. It doesn’t sound that much fun but it had one of those fans that keep you swim in the same spot at your normal speed. So we turned it on high and timed ourselves to see who could be fastest from the back going up to the front. After swimming I grilled up some cheeseburgers and Robby set off some fireworks. The next morning my Mom woke us up early so we could go to the zoo before it gets warm and all the animals go to sleep. So we got up, put away our bedding, and got dressed for the zoo. My favorite day animal was called a Silverback Gorilla. We saw all kinds of animals, we saw hunting dogs, rhinos, elephants, frogs, snakes, alligators, monkeys and more! When we came back we took a swim, ate dinner and went to bed.
Tuesday, July 8 2008
Today I didn’t do a lot and I left early to go to Ohio to a person named Bea. She was a lady who watched over Robby and I when my Mom still had a job at a wine factory and my dad was still in the army. When I was still at my cousins house, I spent a while just playing around until we went down to Lake Michigan to play. We walked down the beach till we found a stream and built dams up till there was no water going into Lake Michigan. After that we played in the waves for a while then went back to the cottage.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Now I’ve been at my cousin’s house for 3 days and we’re going to stay here till Saturday. The first time I came I had some dinner and went down to the beach with everyone else. The water was freezing ‘cause the sun wasn’t out. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention what lake we were swimming in. I was swimming in Lake Michigan, one of the great lakes. After swimming we stayed up watching cartoons. The next morning we got up and went to a lake called silver lake. It was great for swimming and boating. But right next to the lake was giant sand dunes. As big as a house! It all started to be a big forest. But then humans came and chopped it down. Then all the sand started blowing around until it turned into a giant sand dune. When we were done we got some ice cream then we came back, played in Lake Michigan and went to bed. This morning it was rainy so today is just an inside day.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Today I went to the best museum in my life! In the morning my dad had to wake us up really early so I wasn’t looking too forward to it. But when we got there I knew I would love it! The whole place was covered in airplanes! The only people I could think would like it more than me would be my Dad and my friend Riley Brown back in Alaska. My favorite thing there was a flight simulator. Robby said it was better than the ones in space camp because you could shoot down other planes! My favorite plane was called a gyrocopter, a plane with a helicopter rotor so it
would cause more lift therefore take off easier and land easier. But it was a very slow flyer. I got to fly it in a different simulator. The museum was very educational also. They showed a movie about the first civilian to go to outer space and how it would cause more drag to slow it down when it is entering earth’s atmosphere. It was very clever. It was also hard leaving the place but now we are on our way to Michigan where cousin John has a vacation house. We are going there for the fourth of July.Thursday, July 03, 2008
Today was just a ordinary day, except this morning. The RV camping site was so much fun; it had a playstation, swimming pool and putt putt golf! It was all very fun until we had to leave. Now we’re on our way to Oshocaush, Wisconsin.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Hi again, okay guys the last two days might be one of the best two days on this whole trip! We had to go to Minnesota for Ben’s eye appointment {which went very well} and we just thought that we should go see the people that kept our RV till my dad came to pick it up. So we went over with my dad thinking they could just oil the engine and stuff. But instead they needed to work on the engine and weld stuff in for a while so we would have to stay there for a night. After a while he got up from welding and said, “I almost forgot! Want to come to the demolition derby with us?”
If you’ve never heard of a demolition derby before, it’s a bunch of old cars smashing themselves into each other until 1 or 3 cars are left. It is so much fun to watch! There were compact cars, pickup trucks and cars! After that we went to the fair and took some rides. Then we all went home at a very late hour and all went to sleep.
The next morning we tried to sleep in but couldn’t because the mechanics needed to work. So we got out of bed and went to a pond full of tadpoles. Then we went to a lake that was very warm and fun to swim in. Then we went back in the RV and drove out for some ice cream. After that we started back on our cruise and here I am. See you later!
Monday, June 30
After a couple of busy days I’m able to catch up on my the Blog. Right Now we’re on our way to Minnesota for a
Doctor’s appointment on Ben’s eye. The first time I met Jake Delange in South Dakota We talked a little then got on our swimsuits and went for a swim at a huge pool near by. It had a waterslide, which was a bit bumby but still. A divingbord and a fountain. We went swimming for quite a while actually, after that we went to the baseball dimond to watch Jake pitch. It was a pretty tough game, but Jakes team won 3 to 2 after that we went for a bike ride. We saw a lot of rabbits and we watched a baby bird fall out of a tree. That night we slept pretty well. When we woke up yesterday we put away our bedding and drove off to a dairy farm. There was a mom, dad and 2 sons. I made friends with One son named Josh, and Josh, Jake and I had a lot of fun together. First we found a lot of kittens, then we went to the baby cows or, calfs. And one sucked my thumb! Then we climbed up to the top floor of the barn and Josh showed us how he shoots birds from a window with his BB gun. Then we milked some cows, which is more fun then you think. Then we pet some sheep and sat on horses. When we started leaving I really didn’t want to go, but I had to. So we went home, filled up our water tank, went for one last swim and left.
Saturday, June 28
Today I crossed over from North Dakota to South Dakota. I’m going to one of my good friend Jake Delange house and tomorrow I’m going to watch him pitch at a baseball game. Right now I’m in South Dakota and I’m 4 hours away from his house. There’s not a lot to talk about right now if I’m looking out the window. All it is, is flat fields ghtas far as the eye can see. All I saw was 2 deer, Hundreds of horses and millions of cows.
Note: Will’s earlier blogs can be found on Dad’s page, under Will’s blog.
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