Tampa, Florida

After the Turko’s house, we went on a really long drive. My Dad saw the place where he learned to jump out of planes. He told us there was a guy in the night time who was a pilot, and the road was all blocked off at the airport. He didn’t know the airport was closed, so he took off in his airplane and he almost hit a helicopter! We went to Florida, and we saw huge white beaches. Right when we were there at the campsite, we boogie boarded at the beach. Robby and Will went out in the kayak on huge waves. Then Ben and Robby went out and flipped it because the waves were so big. It was fun diving through the waves, but the crumbling waves were hard to dive through. It’s pretty cold. After that, we went to a state park that’s like a zoo. There were manatees, and their nickname is sea cow. They’re really nice, and we swam with the wild ones! They’re way bigger than me, and the baby ones are over a hundred pounds. They like to eat grass. They don’t eat other fish. The wild ones are really smooth, but the ones in the zoo have fish that eat all the algae off their backs. So their backs are as rough as sandpaper.
We caught a lot of hermit crabs at one of our campsites. They were pretty big. We would let them go after we caught them. We could see them come out of their shells. They were like octopuses.
At the zoo, there were lots more animals like birds, snakes, owls, and a river otter that would show off. Also, we went down and saw these fish. There were so many fish you couldn’t see through the water. There were lots of different kinds.
We did a lot of school again. I’ve been working on math like take away and adding. I am reading a lot, and my cursive is pretty good.
It’s kind of cool at this campground because there is a really nice pool. It’s heated and this morning we went for a swim to wake us up for school! Disney World is in 4 days!

Charlestown, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia

Jan 19
Today we left the Turko’s house. Their names are Janet, Robbie, Chris, and Mr. Turko. We didn’t meet their sister because she was on a skiing trip. They have a really nice house because they have a lot of room for stuff. It’s like a big, nice house all clean and shiny. We stayed there 3 nights, and we played wii. We climbed Stone Mountain that was all one big rock. It seemed like a mile straight up. We could see little lakes that looked like little pools. They have a basement and we really liked playing ping pong down there. They had trucks we could play with that are remote control. In their church were a lot of chairs and we helped with a service project for poor people. We put cookies in bags.
At Mr. Miles’ house, he made birds out of apples! He is a chef and a teacher. We got to go to the cooking school where we got chocolate cashews! Ms. Laura is his wife and she’s really nice. She has a little grandson and she really likes him. We spent 2 nights there and her house has really bright colors and sea shells.
We saw Nick, our friend from Alaska. They moved to South Carolina. We went to a park and played tag, and I almost got hurt on my bike. I’m OK. Nick has a brother, Adam, and a mom and dad. We had lasagna, and his little brother has an Elmo doll. It sings and talks and dances. Here’s an Elmo joke. What are two things Elmo doesn’t eat for breakfast? (lunch and dinner)!
Before South Carolina, we were at North Carolina. That’s where we saw Mr. Dennis. He was really nice, and has really nice kids. We had spaghetti there, and we played wii Super Smash Brothers. The kids are Adam and Hope. Adam really likes his school because he’s in a marching band. He plays the trumpet.
We did a lot of school there. We got so much done. I finished Test 100, so I’m over halfway done with first grade.
Before that, Ms Juliet and I made pastries with her for lunch. Chicken, sauce, and cheese were things we put in them. They have a swing that I played on with her kids.
Now we’re in Alabama, and soon we’re going into Florida.

Cary, North Carolina, Jan 12

Now we’re at Mr. John’s house, and he’s Daddy’s friend from West Point. Their house is really big and there are a lot of children with us here! Four + four are eight kids. My Mom showed me where we are on the map, and we’re in North Carolina. We had a lot of fun. We went on a play date today, and we played with Funkys, and had nerf gun wars, and I played on Mark’s DS. Their house is a mansion, and they have a lot of cool toys.

We went to Williamsburg and we got to see a shoemaker. We got to see a glassblower at Jamestowne. It makes me think it was really hard to do things with your hands. I learned that glass is made out of sand, potash, soda ash, and lime.
Back in the old days, there were stocks where you put your head through this wooden thing. You don’t die, but you can’t get out. It’s for people who did bad things, like stealing. I went in it, and it was really weird and uncomfortable.

We camped by a beach and we made a friend named Anthony. The trees were really good to climb. There were a lot of cactuses. We went up on a ledge, and we weren’t supposed to be up there. Then we saw a sign that said, “Danger, stay off the hill.” So really quickly we went off there, and found some cool sea shells. We saw boats, and we saw the sun come up.
We went to the big Washington Memorial. We went up it in an elevator. We looked outside. There were pictures of what it looked like a long time ago when there weren’t very many buildings around.

We saw the movie Forest Gump, and we saw the Lincoln Memorial in the movie. So we got to see it in real life. It’s bigger than a house!
Then we went to a big museum and saw airplanes. There were a lot of things you can do. My favorite one was flying a model airplane and there were lots of fans blowing on it. It was really hard to make it steady. You could use your feet to move the tail, and you could move the stick to move the ailerons and flaps. We put a ball up in the air. It wouldn’t fall down because air was blowing up at it.

I saw an aircraft carrier. I flew an airplane landing on it with a joystick. We saw a movie of jets landing on aircraft carriers. We saw a movie about the crash king. He would crash into lakes, trees, and farmhouses! He was like a stunt man.

Ft. Meade, Maryland

Now I’m in the RV and we just got back from going on a jog. It was good because I have new running shoes. We went to Uncle Eric’s house for Christmas. I got a loader truck for Christmas. My brother, Ben got a scooter. Will got an ipod Touch, and Robby got a laptop. The best part about Christmas was that it was Jesus’ birthday, and getting presents, and I got to meet my cousins some more. We visited Uncle Eric’s kids four times by now. I got to go to the park with my cousins and sleep in Duncan’s and Lauren’s room.

Also, we went to the Air and Space Museum. We saw the fastest airplane in the world and it’s called a Blackbird. It was all black, pretty big, and it had a huge point on the end. It had really huge engines. It made so many records. We got to see a cool movie about jets. We got to see the mechanic who was standing on the engine when it went full speed. There was a guy who parachuted off, and the bad guys were looking for him. We had a lot of people in our group.
We got to see Ms. Lisa and Mr. Frits, and we went swimming. Only people over 10 could go in the jacuzzi, but I still stuck my legs in there! I really liked seeing Ms. Lisa and Mr. Frits. I met Ms. Dianne, and at the end I got to play pool.
We went rollerblading for the whole night at New Year’s Eve! We got to ice skate a lot. We went bowling too. It’s really hard, and all these guys make it look so easy. The record at the place is 300. He had to get all strikes every single time. I like bowling with the bumpers up because it’s easier. I got a strike with a 4-pounder ball that was pink. It was really cool because it had 5 finger holes.

At school, it went pretty good. I didn’t do it for 3 days, and now I have to catch up. I’m studying pulls and pushes in science (forces). In math I’m learning to regroup and borrow.
I finished Hooked on Phonics. It took me 2 ½ years! I got Diary of a Wimpy Kid for my prize! It’s a book about Greg and his older brother, Rodrick. Now I read chapter books!
It’s cold outside. It’s not cold like Alaska, but you need to wear a sweatshirt. We’re going to Florida. Then when we’re at Florida, we’re going to Disney World! We have to first get lots of school done.