West Sand Lake, New York

Today we are at Poppa’s farm with our cousins. About two days ago, our cousins left for Canada. Now it’s just our family, Poppa, Uncle Clipper and Aunt Wendy. I like being here because I always wanted to live on a farm. Also, we got horses about four days ago from Uncle Eric! The horses are staying here for a long time. Their names are Ricario and Willow.

We’re done with our journey and the tour of America! I’m happy to have more space than living in the RV. Also I’m kind of sad because I miss Disney World and the lifestyle of going to lots of places. Another favorite place was Ontario, Canada. But we get to go there in a week! Nappanee, Indiana was one of my favorite places because the Amish people are really nice, and I liked going to Mrs. Marlene’s. I really liked going to Key West because of the good snorkeling. Michigan was fun because we have family there. I really liked going to Europe because of all the old castles. Niagara Falls was a cool place too, and I liked seeing the Daredevil Museum.

We’re going to live at Uncle Fred’s house. It’s like one mile from here so I can ride my bike to the farm to play with my cousins. There’s going to be a lot of chores like mucking the stalls and getting eggs from the chickens and painting the fence. That’s the bad part. The good part is we have horses to ride, and we get to see our cousins. Dad grew up here a long time ago. Also, we get to see Nana and Poppa almost every single day! Poppa gave me a tractor trailer truck to play with!

New York, Indiana, Illionios, Iowa

July 15, 2009

Today we went to the waterfalls called Niagara Falls. This one’s a lot different because it’s a lot bigger and wider than most waterfalls. The water is pretty clean and also there are dare devils who go down it in barrels. Not all of them live doing it. Some people die. One lady went down it in a wooden barrel and she only used 2 cushions and a pillow. She went down it with her cat. The cat died, but she didn’t. A 7-year old boy slipped off a boat and went down the Falls without any floats. He lived! One man was trying to commit suicide, but he lived. There’s a big whirlpool further down the river. I want to ride my boogie board on it!

Before this, we stayed at a Sam’s Club parking lot. Yesterday we were in Nappanee, Indiana. We stayed at the Newmar place again. We saw Ms. Marlene, and Princess the Pony. Also, we went in an outside buggee without a top. It was warm, and I sat in the very back with no seat.

And we saw Ms. Sara again! We went to this really awesome Mexican restaurant, but I drank too much soda and ate too many chips so I didn’t have enough room for the other food.

I helped out with chores at Ms. Marlene’s house. I mucked the horse stalls and swept the barn. We rode ponies, and had a water fight.

Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado

July 11, 2009
Today we drove a long ways. Yesterday we did the same thing. Last night we stayed in a Walmart parking lot. There were not too many campers, but there were a lot of tractor trailers.

Yesterday we were in Wyoming. We went horseback riding, but we didn’t get to gallop. My horse’s name was Hoss and it was a boy. It was pretty fun and we were in a big field. It was this little ranch and there was a baby horse, a baby llama, and there were cows and ponies. We also saw ostriches!

Now we’re in Nebraska. We see fields of crops like corn. Right before we left Colorado, we went down a river on boogie boards. And it was a white water river. There were these little waterfall things. Kayaks would do tricks on them. My board was facing up the river, and it was going kind of diagonal. It would make like a whirlpool that pushed me up the river! I felt like I was just sitting on the water!

We saw the Galvins again and went for a walk. We also spent the Fourth of July together. I was crying the whole time because I was just so annoyed by getting bullied by Will. We ate angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries. It was really fun seeing all the fireworks.
Then we went to a giant beer place named Coors, and I got as much soda as I wanted. I learned how they make beer, and you have to be 21 to drink it. Also we went to Buffalo Bill’s Museum, the cowboy. The reason he was called that is because he was really good at hunting buffalo. I wore a cowboy hat and sat on a fake horse. Colorado is a cool place, and it’s fun to be there. I hope Dad gets a job at Colorado!

Also we went and saw the police department for my Cub Scouts. Police are very special because if there were no police, bad guys would run around and kill people. The officer showed us tasers and guns. I got to sit in a police car and make the siren go.

Ben got a big puffy eye and he had to go to the Children’s Hospital. They did surgery on him, and he looks fine now. He was in there for five days. I want it to be the end of his eye problems.
We saw Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen. It was really awesome because they did big fights.

Air Force Academy, Colorado

June 27, 2009
Today we are in Colorado, and yesterday we finished all of our school. My brothers are all done. Now we’re on summer break!

Today we went to the stables and went horseback riding. My horse was named Peewee, because he was so short. I liked Peewee because he was a fast runner. We went riding in the woods on trails and it was really fun. We went on narrow trails and big, fat ones too.

We went to a place called Royal Gorge, and it’s a deep crack in the mountains. The Arkansas River cut through the big mountain. We saw the highest suspension bridge in the world, and it’s over 1,000 ft. above the river. We went on a tram. Then we went on the Skycoaster. It’s this big thing when you go up, and then the man says, “3, 2, 1.” Then I pulled this little rope, and it dropped us for a free fall. We went 50 mph! Will and Ben went with me. It was really scary, especially when we were hanging over the cliff. I want to do that again.

Next, we went to a cowboy place where they did a draw and they were fighting over a girl. About 5 or 6 men died in the shootout. They weren’t really dead, but they used black gun powder. It sounded just like a real gun. We went to a movie theater and we learned how they made the bridge.
Then we walked across the suspension bridge. We dropped pennies, and the wind blew them different ways. We heard about a man who flew over the bridge with a jetpack in just 19 seconds. Next, we went down on an inclined railway to the river. We saw river rafters come by. There were a whole bunch of hummingbirds too. They were so cute. Oh, and we saw a black bear running today! We were really close, like 10 feet away. It was awesome because we were in our car.
Yesterday, we went swimming and I did dives off the high dive. It was 3 meters high. Also, we met 2 kids named Tiger and Trevor at the RV park. We had a pinecone fight for fun. Also, we went to the pool with Spencer and Clayton. We went bowling, and it was really fun.

It’s kind of hard living in an RV. We’ve been living this way for a year. It’s a small space. But it’s good because we’ve been seeing a lot of friends. We saw state parks, Disney World, went surfing in Florida, and visited Europe.

Colorado Springs, CO

In Colorado we went on a camping trip with the Bailey’s. We hiked up to a reservoir in the mountains and it was steep and hard to climb. We spent one night up there. We had a big campfire, and we went swimming, and it was awesome. It was Spencer’s first hike in his life! We found Fools’ Gold all over. Will got a twisted ankle pretty bad by falling off some steep rocks. I puked in my sleeping bag because I ate way too many marshmallows.

We’ve been doing a lot of school. Most days were boring at the library for me. I got to watch movies while my brothers were doing school. I finished my school already, so I can play most of the time. My brothers have less than 2 weeks left.

Last Sunday we thought it was Father’s Day. But it was too early. So we had Father’s Day on the wrong day! Then we went to Zach’s house and it was really fun. Their house is pretty big, and we played outside and in the basement. And Amen is about three, and he’s a lot bigger than the last time I saw him.

Also we went to the Bailey’s house for a sleepover. That was before the campout. We watched The Dark Knight and played Rock Band and had the best time. We ate a really good dinner that was lasagna. Mrs. Bailey is the best cook. She made this awesome dessert. It was a whole bunch of layers with cream and cake and fruit. It was so good! It was sugar-free except one part.

We went to Garden of the Gods. It’s like a whole bunch of sandstones stacked up and you can climb on them. They’re over a thousand years old. Some are a million years old. We went on a bike ride and it started raining. There’s a really cute town called Manitou Springs. It has a really cool park because it wasn’t normal. It had a merry-go-round that’s tilted. When you walk on it, it spins. We had ice cream, and they had a natural spring with soda water. It tasted horrible.

Colorado is almost like Alaska but not as cold. It’s really country. And the mountains are huge. I’d really like to live here. I shot a bird with Will’s BB gun. It only lived for a day. It was blue and really small. It fell out of the tree, and I felt bad. I named it Flapper. I spent a lot of time with Flapper and I gave it water, but I couldn’t find any food. When it died, I buried it and made a cross for it. Now it’s outside. I’m going to shoot cans from now on.

Colorado

Today we are in the Air Force Academy and the state is Colorado. Our campsite is pretty cool because there’s a park that’s really big here. Also I bought a paper airplane. There’s this little stick with a rubber band on it. You pull it back and shoot it and it goes over 100 yards!
We visited our friends named Spencer and Clayton. They just moved here from Alaska, and their whole family is here. We went back in the woods and played Cops and Robbers. There’s a train on the train tracks.

We saw Carmen Bowen. Today she’s having her birthday and she’s turning 8. Carmen was my neighbor back in Alaska before Colonel Hildreth moved in. Carmen’s mom and dad are really, really nice. We went to their house and it was an awesome house. They have a greyhound and her name is Polly and she’s really fast. The fastest she went was 49 miles per hour! She used to be a race dog and then she retired. We played Monopoly, and also I gave her one of those rubber band planes. She really liked it!

We went to a really awesome ranch and Mr. Roger and Ms. Sue own it. There’s a Bobcat and I got to drive it! There are two levers on it. One’s for steering and the other’s for moving the bucket. We planted 100 strawberry plants for Ms. Sue. First, there was kind of a big hole. We had to smooth that out. We put these heavy railroad ties on it. We put wire there so the ground hogs won’t eat them. We put dirt down, smoothed it out and planted it.

We got to drive a 4-wheeler, and a horse named Dusty. They have another horse named Ladybug. Ladybug is all black. Dusty is all black with a white strip down his nose. It was pretty smooth riding the horse. When we got hungry, Mr. Roger cooked up a huge bucket full of food with shrimp, corn on the cob, and potatoes. He boiled it and then dumped it on the table! We put the butter right on the table to butter our corn. It was a fun, messy dinner. It was a dream come true. Then we went in their house. My brothers and I changed into our underwear and went in their hot tub! They have 3 dogs. One’s Annie, one’s Red, and one’s Corky. Annie went under the cooking pot and she singed her hair and almost caught on fire! I love their ranch!

We saw Ms. Ronda and Mr. Gene at a really small church. We wanted to see them again and they’re leaving today to move to Alabama. One person started crying because Gene is leaving.

Liberty, MO and Ft. Leavenworth, KS

June 3

Next we went to a person’s house, and their names are Mac, Christine, Mr. Mike, and Ms. Susan Conge. And they have a dog, and his name is Duke. He is a Yellow Lab, and he’s one year old. Their house is pretty big, and they have a big trampoline in their back yard! We played with water with Duke and everything. We all got soaked, and it was really fun. We slept over at the Conge’s house two nights, and one night at our RV. We played a lot of games with them.

And then we went to Dylan’s house. Dylan is another boy and he’s 12. He lives there with his brother and his sister and his mom and dad. We played with their dog named Leo, and then we went to this play. It was really cool but I didn’t really get it. It was written by Shakespeare about old-fashioned stuff. We all played in the woods.


After that we left. We went to this campground on a giant river. It’s called the Missouri River and it’s all brown because of all the sand and dirt. It was humongous, and we couldn’t swim in there because it would swoop us away. We went to the Haney’s house, and caught a tiny little frog. Then we let it go. Then Ben caught another thing. It was a lightening bug, and he let it go.

Then we went to visit Olivia’s family. They’re really nice! Shelby and her parents live there too. We had a sleepover and it was really fun. We found a little bird that was alive. It could barely fly because it didn’t learn how yet. We put it in a little dirt hole, and then we went to a museum. When we came back, it was still there! Then we taught it how to fly.

Iowa and Chicago

May 29, 2009
Today we are in Missouri. We just drove through Iowa. My Mom’s Grandma grew up in Iowa. Yesterday we ice skated in Iowa and it was just us. There was no one else ice skating! We climbed one tree and it was really good climbing because there were a whole bunch of branches. We met a dog named Sonny. He was really nice.

Before that, we were at Lake Michigan, the campground at the Navy base. We went swimming on the base, and bowling too. I got a strike when I went bowling. I don’t use the bumpers. We went kayaking way out to a big cool lighthouse. We all went, and we all had our own kayaks. We went to a Memorial Day Ceremony. There were a whole bunch of chairs looking out over Lake Michigan, and we were thinking of everyone in the military. They had really good donuts and food.

Also, we went to Chicago and met Matt and Julia, and Sophia and Alex. That was really fun because we got to meet them again. The last time we saw them was in Florida at Disney World. In Chicago, we went on a boat ride. We rode bikes to the zoo. We saw kangaroos, silver back gorillas, a zebra, and a whole bunch of monkeys in the monkey house. We saw a little baby one that was getting held by its mother. It was brown, not black.

We went up a tall building that seemed like it was a mile high. We were above the clouds. My ears popped in the elevator. We had pizza that was so thick I couldn’t even finish one slice! We played the werewolf game with Sophia and Alex, and it was really fun.

Great Rapids, Michigan and Nappanee, IN

Today we are in Michigan, and we’re going to fix our RV. We have an oil leak that’s tiny. It is going to take a day. Michigan is like a rain forest because it’s all green and there are a lot of hills. The weather’s really nice and sunny. We went to a skateboarding park. We brought Ben’s scooter and Will’s ripstick. The first time we went there, we watched a whole bunch of guys do really cool things on BMX bikes and skateboards.

At Newmar, we went there again. I liked this time more because we went to Ms. Marlene’s house 3 or 4 times. They have ponies, and we had fun playing with their kids, Kari and Michael. We had a silent prayer before supper. That’s when nobody talks, and we think about God. It’s like praying but nobody talks out loud. The dinner we had was bread, salad, noodles, meatloaf patties with ketchup, and the dessert was the best thing ever…peanut butter pie! It tasted just like peanut butter and whipped cream mixed together. Our friends Sara, John, Jonathon, and Katie came too.

We did our school at the library once again. The library was boring, but Mom liked it because we did so much school. We went to a restaurant we really liked and it was called Corner Café. It was pretty cheap, the food was so good, and our favorite waitress was Amish and her name was Amanda.

At Newmar, we made friends named Joe, Anna, and Sam, and Mr. and Mrs. Wahl. I really liked Sam. He was all the same as me. We are both 7, and we have the same name! They were there to do the same thing as us. They were searching the world for a new home, just like us. They are going around the United States and Canada. They are going to go to Germany. We actually got to see kids! We taught them how to shoot Red Rider BB guns and air soft guns.

We went to the horse auction. It’s where Amish people go to buy horses. They need horses to pull their buggies. There were a whole bunch of horses lined up in order. People run around with the horses in a circle and that shows how well the horses listen. They have an auctioneer who was talking really fast (faster than I could ever talk). It was cool because there was another guy who looks for people to buy the horse. There were a whole bunch of buggies. I got to stand up on a post. My Dad held me and I took a picture. There was this stallion at the horse auction that was jumping up, and a man was whipping him to settle him down.

At this Amish restaurant, there was a fish fry. They gave out chicken and fish and mashed potatoes. It was really good. Our friends the Wahl’s came too. The Amish people are really nice and I want to be one when I grow up!

Chicago

May 9, 2009
Today we are going to Newmar again because they ordered parts for us. So we’re driving back to Indiana. We’re going to an Amish farm again for dinner in 2 more days.

We were just at Chicago, and we camped at a Navy base. There were a whole bunch of sailors who worked out and jogged at the campground. We went swimming at the pool, and I did really bad dives off the diving board. My brothers did a lot of school.

My Dad was in Chicago at a big wind turbine job fair. We got to go and see it. There were a lot of people there, and no kids. It’s a giant room full of advertisements about wind turbines that they were trying to sell. Wind turbines are really high and tall, and they have a big propeller that spins and makes electricity. I got trinkets and candy.

We went to a museum before that, and we went to Harry Potter’s place. We saw Harry Potter’s wand and clothes. At the gift shop, they sold wands for $40, and the wand that’s most popular is Voldemort’s!

The weather here was rainy, and some days it was really nice. It’s 58 F outside now and it’s daytime.

Nappanee, Indiana

May 2, 2009
Today we are in Indiana and I really like it because there’s a whole bunch of Amish people and they’re really nice. Amish people don’t use electricity. Also, there are a whole bunch of horses all over the roads and the towns.

Mom talked with an Amish lady in the laundry area. Her name is Ms. Sara. She is super duper nice. She let us go in her buggy, and we went to her farm. Buggies are like the carriages in the old days, and that’s what they use. I really like their home and they have a 2-week old calf (that’s a baby cow). They have a whole bunch of chickens. They’re not nice because whenever you go in the chicken coop, one rooster tries to run into you. We got 10 or 15 eggs in a bucket and Robby brought them to Ms. Sara.

We rode in the buggy to a guy’s house who takes off the old horse shoes and puts on new ones. He sands down the hoof because it grows like finger nails. He puts in nails and uses a hammer to do it. Boots was standing there and seemed a little nervous. He pooped at least three times, and Ms. Sara said whenever they get scared, they poop a lot.

He had a whole family and I got to use his pedal tractor. He has a farm and I got to pet the pony. Their girls wore dresses and they had white scarves on their heads. The boys wore blue shirts and pants with overall straps. I really liked their family. We went to a really cool store on the way home. There were clocks that went apart and songs played when it was a new hour. They had a whole bunch of toys too! After that, we got in the carriage and went back to the farm. We went in the top of the barn and we jumped into cushions. It was fun.

We’re at the Newmar place because we have some dents in our bins, and some of our electricity doesn’t work right. The Newmar people built our coach, and they’re going to fix it.

President Lincoln grew up in Springfield, IL. We went to the museum, and it’s the best place you can find out about how his life was. I learned that Lincoln was a very good man. He liked slaves and wanted to stop the slavery. He got shot by Booth in this theater. Booth didn’t get caught running away, and he broke his leg. Dr. Mudd helped Booth. And then Dr. Mudd went to Dry Tortugas because he helped Booth and so he was a prisoner. Booth died in a shootout. Also, we went to Dry Tortugas about a month ago and we saw Dr. Mudd’s cell. It was really, really dark. Dr. Mudd helped people there with Yellow Fever. Then they let him out and he went back to his family in Maryland.

St. Louis, Missouri

Today we’re at St. Louis, Missouri and we’re visiting Dad’s friend from college. Mr. John, Ms. Robin, Nicole, Catherine, Mary, and Kelly are their names. Their house is giant, and I really liked doing the sleepover in their basement. They have a wii and they have exercise machines and ping pong.

Yesterday we went to this really big arch. It was like a big circle but the bottom was cut off. There were cranes that went up and they put big triangles made out of steel on top of each other. We went on an elevator that doesn’t look like an elevator. There are these little seats for 5 people in a car, and there are 9 cars. I really liked going to the top because you could look out of the windows. I was really high, at 660 feet! Everything looked tiny, like a lake, the Mississippi River, and buildings.

We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant. The menu was in Italian. The spaghetti was so big that Ben and I split it. I finished mine, but Ben couldn’t eat all of his!

After that, we went to this really cool place called the City Museum. It wasn’t a museum; it was a giant playground! They call it a museum because there are all these antiques and wires that are really old. They made them into tunnels and we could go through them. There was a jet and an airplane. Inside there were a whole bunch of tunnels called the caves. I got separated from my group, and then my Mom found me. We left there in the night time and I fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Before we came here, we went to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky and I got to feed a horse some peppermints. I really liked shooting at the skeet range and playing with my trucks in the mud. We did a lot of school there. Now I’m in 2nd grade because I finished 1st grade and it’s pretty hard.

Before that, we went to the Wild Horse Saloon. I got to play pool with Tucker and my brothers and Dad. Also, I danced a line dance. They call it that because a whole bunch of people do it at the same time in a line. It was fun. We went there because it was Will’s birthday. Will got a sweet rip stick and an air soft pistol for his birthday.

Then Tucker left. I really liked Tucker coming because it made it more fun. I hope he’ll come again.

Huntsville, Alabama

April 19
We’ve been playing with Tucker now for one week, and it’s been really fun! Tucker is a great cousin. Two boys sleep on the floor, and three sleep on the couch and air mattress. It’s really comfortable.


We shot air soft pistols at my Dad’s friend’s house, and her name is Mrs. G. I really liked this big gun. It wasn’t a pistol but a giant rifle. They have a big field with two chickens. Also, there’s a pond with a rope swing, and another pond without a rope swing. Ben and I went off the swing, and the water was cool. They have two boys named Tony and Chris.

Yesterday we went out with Trevor and Robert Armstrong to a lake. I got to ride in their Dad’s mustang and it’s fast and fun! The top was down and it was sunny. One day I’m going to have a car like that just like his (dark blue). We went to this lake and we went really fast through a giant mud puddle. We had two boats and we went around in those. I went swimming. Ben went swimming. I went supermanning into their boat. We caught minnows using nets right off the dock. There’s poison ivy, snakes and ticks and we didn’t get any of those things.


We went to Space Camp and it was cool. It’s a place for kids and adults to go and learn about space. I really liked it because I bought an awesome F117 stealth fighter. I had to build it. I learned about Apollo 13, and I really liked the movie we saw. It was about astronauts walking on the moon. I went on this cool ride called the G-wave and it spins around really fast. I want to go there as a student someday.

Ms. Ronda is a nice lady who we saw and she had dinner at our RV. She has grandchildren. They were really little when they were born and their lungs didn’t work very well. Now they’re OK and they’re at home.

We went to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell’s cabin, and we jumped off a boathouse that was 20 feet above the water. We were on a big lake. We got to feed crackers to fishies, and they were about 3 feet long. They are really slow, and you could stick your hand in because they don’t bite. Their cabin was small, and Mrs. Campbell’s Dad built it a long time ago. We went for a boatride, and I really liked it because we went fast.

We went to COL Lamb’s house. All the kids went playing around in the back yard. We had a fun time eating dinner and watching King Kong. Their house was very big and nice.

In Tennessee we went to the community center. We had fun playing Rock Band and I really liked playing drums. I sang two songs. Ben sang. Tucker sang too and he did really well. Will played guitar. We played Ninja Turtles, and I built a big tower with Lincoln Logs.
Today we’re having Will’s birthday party, and he’s going to be 12. His real birthday is in two days, but we’re celebrating it today before Tucker leaves.

Tennessee and Florida

April 12

Today we just went to a giant fireworks store and now we’re in Tennessee. Our first stop was the fireworks store because Robby really wanted to come because he loves fireworks. They had a million fireworks. It was like Wal-Mart! Tennessee has a lot of hills and rocks. It’s beautiful.

This morning we got up early before the sun came up to go to church. Before church, I found my Easter basket! It was behind the queen’s throne. The queen’s throne is my Mom’s favorite seat in the front. In my Easter basket was googly green, that’s really squishy and cute, and has funny eyes. Also, there were lots and lots of candy. Church was outside on a picnic table at the campground. It was really cool because it wasn’t that long and we could look out at the lake.

We were at that campground for 4 days. It had a giant water slide, a pond, a pool, a skateboarding park, a play ground, a game room, an Easter egg hunt, and lots of bike paths. I met some friends and then I got to ride their dirt bike. It was really cool because it had training wheels on it, and it was a 50 cc. My Dad rode a much bigger dirt bike. I went too fast on a turn and got stuck in the woods.

I finished my last green test for first grade! My brothers are working hard on their 120 green tests. Also, last week we went to Luc and Lea’s house. They have an awesome pool, and I really liked playing with them. Luc is 7 like me, and Lea is 4. They have a cool toy helicopter that you fly in the air with a remote control.

We went to an awesome place called Gator Place. There was a really funny tour guide. He called up my Mom and told her that she was going to wrestle an alligator. She got really scared. Then he brought out a small alligator with a strap around its mouth so it couldn’t bite. My Mom held it, and then everybody else got to hold it.

The airboat ride had an airplane engine and it was really noisy. It’s called an airboat ride and you go around, and the driver went really fast. The water was only 4 inches deep, but the mud was 4 ft. deep. We didn’t get stuck in the mud because our airboat doesn’t sink down. We saw a peacock too, and awesome fish in the canal. We saw about 10 alligators too.







Key West was a really nice place. I love Key West and going to Dry Tortugas. Also I really liked holding Lucy, the parrot. She was green and blue and red. She kind of bit me, and her tongue is shaped like a thumb. It’s really dry and she uses it to hold food, and she also uses it to bite the cage and climb. I made a coconut fish. We got a coconut from palm trees, and then drilled holes and put little sticks in it for fins. We put little seeds for eyes and glued them, and then painted it pink, blue, green, purple, yellow, and light blue.

Cousin Tucker is coming here in one day!

Dry Tortugas and Key West

Two days ago, we went to Dry Tortugas National Park. It’s a big Army Fort called Fort Jefferson, and in the moat you can look down and see lots of sea urchins. Dry Tortugas is a key that’s 70 miles out from Key West. We went on a big boat called a cat. I really liked seeing Dr. Mudd’s cell. We went in it with flashlights because it’s pitch dark and the door is pushed out. Dr. Mudd went to jail because he helped the guy who killed President Lincoln. He was a doctor and the man had a broken leg, so Dr. Mudd had to fix his leg. The man who killed President Lincoln was killed, but Dr. Mudd went to jail at Dry Tortugas. Then everyone started getting Yellow Fever. Dr. Mudd helped these people, and then after 4 years, they let him go free. I went on top of the fort which was 3 stories high, and I jumped off (April Fools!).



There isn’t much land on Dry Tortugas because the fort takes up almost all the land. There’s a little area where we were camping, and it had lots of roots where I stubbed my toe. Now I have a bruise. We camped for one night. I slept in my own tent until a hermit crab came and I could feel it on my big toe. Then I got kind of freaked out, so I slept in my Mom and Dad’s tent. Mom stepped on my hurt toe!

We went snorkeling and saw lots of parrot fish and a big puffer fish. I still really like the parrot fish. The best place to snorkel was right where all these fish were. There used to be big boards on top where Navy ships would come get coal. Now all that’s left are just the poles down into the water, and the fish love it there.

It was really cool when we saw big Grouper fish, and there was a man who caught one on his fishing pole! They’re about 6 or 7 ft long. The biggest one is called Otis by the park rangers. Otis likes to swim right off the docks under the boats.

There’s a key nearby, and it’s called Bush Key and it’s only like 100 yards away. There’s like a million birds over there. They’re eating bugs and getting ready to fly to their summer place because it’ll be way too hot here. You could hear the birds so loudly. The color of the water right by Bush Key is really, really light blue.


When we came back to Key West, we passed the place where the Atocha sank 350 years ago. It was really cool looking off the bow because you could see the other pontoon of the cat slicing the water, and it would go under the water. We saw a big turtle, but the captain turned so we didn’t hit it. When we were going to Dry Tortugas, we saw a dolphin.

Now we’re at Key West again. There were two dogs at the last campground called Suzie and Charlie. They’re really nice. I took them for walks, and I brushed them. I really want to have a dog. I played street hockey here on a rink wearing my roller blades and a helmet. It’s different from ice hockey, because it’s hard to stop. It’s similar because you have the same game. I shot a puck past an adult goalie!

We did lots of school here. I finished green test 140, and now I’m getting close to the end of 1st grade. I have to do test 160 still.

Key West, Florida

Today we’re on another key called Key West. It’s the farthest key to the west. The keys are like these little islands made out of coral. We got our RV here not by a boat, but by a seven mile bridge.

We went snorkeling about five times. We got a boat that my Dad drove. It’s a speed boat that you get to rent. I really liked it because we went about 7 miles out and we went to Sand Key. This one is underwater and it’s really, really shallow. I loved it a lot because there are so many fish! We saw parrot fish, angel fish, and little ones that were all black with electric blue dots that hid in the coral. The parrot fish are curious about you and want to find out about you, and so you can get really close up to them. If you try to touch it, it shoots off. I like going snorkeling because you can dive and swim with the fish. There were these buoys that we hooked our boat up to. Right by us was a huge party boat. There were so many people snorkeling.

Mallory Square is my favorite place to go. There are all these street performers like a cool guy who has a guitar and is a one-man band. He has a harmonica, a giant drum, a kazoo, and stuff all over him. He has pipes that make really cool sounds. There’s a dare devil and he juggles a chain saw, a grenade, and a machete! After that, he lays down on a nail bed and then a lady stands on his chest. They were real nails because his back had lots of marks in it. There are jugglers, unicycles, and people who juggle fire. There was a lunatic with a whole bunch of cats, and he made the cats jump through a ring of fire! The people give them money. Also, people come there to watch the beautiful sunset that turns orange and purple (but Alaska is better!).

I really like this campsite because we’re only about 50 ft from the Gulf of Mexico. Also, we’re close to CYS and I can play tennis.

We went to Mel Fisher’s Museum and there’s a whole bunch of gold. He found a Spanish ship called Atocha and it was sunk. He found $400 million in gold, silver, emeralds, and pieces of eight. There’s a big gold bar and I got to lift it up! It was so heavy, and it was a foot long. We got to go to the southernmost part of the United States, and it’s in Key West.

Key Largo, Florida

Now we’re just leaving John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Yesterday we went snorkeling. My favorite kind of fish is big and is called a barracuda. They look cool and they have big teeth. It would bite me, so I didn’t grab its tail.






It’s just fun because it’s really shallow and you can stay in the water for a long time and swim with the fish. I didn’t get cold. We went on a boat that was pretty big. I really liked the parrot fish because they have a lot of bright colors like yellow and green and blue. I felt like I was a fish when I was diving down. I held my breath and then I shot out the water from my snorkel. It’s called clearing my snorkel. Also there was a fish called a trumpet fish. The trumpet fish blended in with the coral to hide.

There’s an animal called fire coral that looks like a plant. It’s called fire coral because if you touch it, it gives you a rash that really burns. I never saw just one fish by itself. I saw lots of fish together called a school. I was the last one out of the ocean, and the boat driver said the last one out of the ocean had to buy all the people beer. So he said I had to! But he was just kidding.
When we were first going to the reef, it looked like this rainbow color because it got so shallow. I saw really bright blue water. Now we’re driving on the Florida Keys to Key West. It’s really cloudy and it’s 76 degrees now. There are huge iguanas here about 2 ft long. Robby was walking along the grass and he got scared of a huge iguana. Will touched its tail!

March 17
Now we’re still in Florida, but we’re driving to a different campsite. Now we’re going to the Florida Keys! There’s really good snorkeling, but without the big tanks. So we’re going to go snorkeling at a park under water in this really cool state park.





We’ve been doing some school. We went golfing and I bought baseball gloves for golfing. Golfing is fun. It’s my favorite summer sport, and hockey is still my favorite winter sport. We went to a water park there. It’s kind of cold because it’s not heated. We went to “Relay for Life.” They do it in Alaska too, but it’s different here because there are cheerleaders here who go up on a stage and dance. Relay for Life is for fighting cancer. They went overnight, and we could hear them from our campsite because the music was so loud.

Also, we met Luc and Lea. They are two kids who are 7 and 5 years old. Their Mom and Dad are Judy and Pascal, and they live in Miami. We went swimming in their pool, and also we saw them at South Beach. It’s a beach where there are really pretty girls. There are like millions of people there. We saw girls without any bras on. People were swimming, sun bathing, boogie boarding, and surfing. I built a sand castle with Luc and Lea.















There’s another person we visited named Mr. Tio. He used to be Dad’s boss. His two grandkids came over and their names are Gabe and Allie. I went swimming, and Allie played water taxi with me. Mrs. Tio made dinner for us, and then we watched a movie and a whole bunch of fun things.

I like Florida so far because it’s nice with all the beaches.

March 11, 2009
Today we are at the same campground as before. We went out in the water in our red kayak and saw a whole bunch of dolphins right by us! It made me feel freaky, and Will was making lots of splashes to make them come closer. I thought the dolphins were going to flip our boat. Its head is shaped like a dog head kind of, and its skin is like a really shiny metal. Sometimes it looks like they’re sharks because their fins go through the water. We also go swimming, but not with the dolphins.



Also, I slept in our kayak and it was really fun. I was really comfortable. Now I’m in the red kayak blogging, while my Mom types and I talk. Yesterday, we went fishing in our friend’s canoe. His name is Mr. Ray. We saw two manatess, and caught a whole bunch of yellow tail fish. They’re only 5 inches long. We cleaned them, and had them for lunch today. You don’t cut up the rib cage because then you get too many bones in the fish meat. Mr. Ray has a think called a scaler. You rub that on the fish and it takes off the scales. So we ate them with the skin.



Tonight there’s going to be a space shuttle launch from Kennedy Space Center. We’re going to a beach to watch it after dark. There’s going to be 7 lucky astronauts on there. We’ve been doing a lot of school. I’ve been having fun too. When you go outside for almost 10 minutes, you get sweaty because it’s hot now!

Long Point County Park, FL

March 4
Now we are at my favorite campsite. This is called Long Point. You can go swimming, fishing, play at the park, ride bikes, and so many other things. Last night I slept in a tent with my brothers. It wasn’t just camping outside of the RV. We had to go through the ocean in a kayak, and it was a deserted island. We camped on it! It was freaky because the trees were croaking at night! I really liked watching the jetboil that made the water boil so fast. Robby did it and made Top Ramen and oatmeal for us. It’s like a cup that’s a miniature stove. I slept well, and just slept in my underwear! We saw a whole bunch of lizards and pelicans.

Also, I get to paddle around here in our red kayak. I got to sit in the bow of a neighbor’s canoe on the water. Today, Dad said, “Hey look at the dolphin so close to land.” Then we saw dolphins herding fish. They get the fish in really shallow water, and then we saw the dolphins eating the fish.

I did a whole bunch of school, and I finished my green test 120.

Also, Nana and Poppa came. I played, and went surfing. I talked with them, and played Ruckus with Poppa. We had an awesome beach house. The neighbors were nice. We got to sleep in a great big bed. We could just walk on our walkway right to the beach. Nana and Poppa left to go to New York. It’s really freezing cold back at New York, and Nana was used to the warm weather here in Florida.

Cocoa Beach, Florida

Feb 20
Today I went boogie boarding and it’s when you look for a big wave. The good ones are when they’re curled and all white. You just push really hard with your feet and you jump on the board and the wave will push you. One time I went really fast and I got onto land. You don’t get sand up your nose or anything. You just get mouthfuls of salt water.

Poppa and Nana flew in and they’re visiting us from New York. They’re staying in a hotel, and we’re staying in our RV in their parking lot. Poppa really likes it because it’s comfortable. I like it because it’s close to the beach where we like to boogie board. There’s a swimming pool and Jacuzzi too.

I like talking with Nana and Poppa. They like watching us go out on the big waves. Today we did school. My three teachers were Dad, Mom, and Nana!

The campsite we were just at was my favorite campsite so far on this whole trip. There’s really good fishing for blues and whiting. There are pelicans that fish too! There’s a really cool swimming pond. Will and I saw 2 dolphins in the water next to our campsite. I really like the nature pond because there’s fish that jump out and birds that like to be in there. Here's a picture of me with a puffer fish we caught! We did school, school, and more school.

Orlando, Florida

Feb 16
Now we’re not at Disney World. We just left. When our friends left, Sophia was crying. She was so sad that she was leaving. That was good because that means she had a good time. I gave her a big hug. I really liked the day when we didn’t go to any parks because I got to stay with them and we played a lot. We went swimming and then we had a tennis game in the morning. We were just practicing. I like the presents they gave to us like the magic tricks. The first ones I want to learn are the coins trick and coloring book trick. We did a treasure hunt for chocolate in their rooms. It was Valentine’s Day and they were shaped like hearts. Ms. Julia hid the hearts, and she gave Mom and Dad chocolate that tasted like wine. We went paddle boating, and then we went miniature golfing. Sophia got a hole-in-one two times!

Then we went to Blizzard Beach for a second time. It was my favorite day because the lines were so short because it was pretty cold. We did Summit Plummet four times. My butt still kind of hurts because you go over 50 mph and the water hits hard. Also this wave pool is really big and there are huge waves. For our last night we went to Hollywood Studios, and then Disney Quest.

Feb 13
Blizzard Beach is my favorite Disney park. It’s a huge water park, and the biggest slide is called Summit Plummet. It goes over 50 mph and you go straight down. You have to keep your legs crossed. It lasts only 3 seconds because you go so fast. I was scared at first. The line was about 1 hour long, but it was so worth it!

Also, there was a water slide with awesome turns and you go on a purple mat. It was a really hot day, perfect for going there. There was a huge raft called Teamboat Springs. A whole bunch of people go in the raft and you go on these huge turns. They had a huge wave pool, and I stood on a tube and then fell over. A wave pool is where they make these huge waves. I don’t know how they make them. There’s a lazy river that goes slow with a current. All these people go in tubes. If there’s a traffic jam, you just swim under the people in the tubes.

I got lost for about 5 minutes at this beach. I asked a man who works in a little bakery. So I was crying, and he walked me to the “lost kids” area. My Mom almost walked past me and then I gave her a hug. Earlier, my Mom walked past it, and there was a mom there who had tears on her cheeks because she couldn’t find her child.

Also there was a racing water slide with 8 people at a time. I didn’t win, but Will did because he’s the heaviest. My Dad won out of the adults.

Yesterday we had a school day. We went swimming here. Our friends went to Animal Kingdom. Last night we went to Mr. Roger’s hotel. He played a lot of awesome songs. Jackson can play the harmonica. The pool was the shape of a guitar. In the middle where the hole is, there were three birds. Donald Duck and 2 green ones would shoot water out of squirt guns at the swimmers. Donald Duck’s was the best because it went the farthest. Jackson and Parker are really tall now. Jackson is a pretty good swimmer, and Parker’s a really good swimmer. We played hide and seek with these little toy guns. I shot the most people when I was hiding in the bushes. Mrs. Hoselton is really pretty and it was good to see her.

Feb 11
Yesterday we went to Epcot again! We went with Alex, Sophia, Mr. Matt, and Ms. Julia. It was our first time on Test Track, and it’s the fastest ride in all of Disney World! You get in a car, and it tests your brakes and you go on bumpy roads. You go into a heat room and then a freezing cold room. Then you go full speed. When it looks like you’re going to run into a wall, the wall opens up. Then you’re outside and you go super fast and you do these awesome curves.

We went on Spaceship Earth, which is the big golf ball of Epcot. You go on this slow ride and you see different countries and things like telephones from back then. You also see Ancient Greece, cavemen hunting big mammoths, cowboys, and scientists discovering new things. We went to Italy and they have little shows. We saw an Italian juggler with a little gondola on wheels. It opened up and he had umbrellas that he could juggle. He could juggle soccer balls. A little 2-year old threw a ball into a net he had. Then Sophia was a volunteer and so Sophia got the net. She went really far back and he threw the ball and she caught it. And then everybody did a round of applause for her.

At this hotel, it’s really nice because it has 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a kitchen table, and a patio. Also, it has a swimming pool. It’s really nice and warm, and there’s a Jacuzzi. We go there and play this awesome game with torpedoes. Alex and Sophia are really good swimmers and we have fun together. I sleep really well at night!
Today we’re going to Blizzard Beach! The weather is really nice. I love this place!

Feb 10
Now we’re staying at a hotel. We went from our campsite to a hotel because our friends Alex, Sophia, Julia, and Mr. Matt are here from California. It’s a lot funner having friends because we have a big group. It’s easier not to get lost. Now we have 10 people, not just six.

We went to Hollywood Studios, but I didn’t get anybody’s autograph. I got an autograph book from my friend, Chance. There are people dressed up like Disney characters. I get to take pictures with them, and get their autographs in my book. Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Donald Duck, Pluto, Rafiki, Jiminy Cricket, and Angel our flight instructor signed it. Hollywood Studios has a ride called Toy Story Mania, and you get on a cart. There are these cannons and you shoot things. I rode with Will. We went on a guitar roller coaster, and I didn’t really like it.

We went to see Indiana Jones, and he almost got run over by a giant ball bigger than him. Trucks caught on fire, and the last part had a real airplane. They were fighting, but it wasn’t real fighting. Also, it looked like the bad guy got chopped up by the propeller. We saw a car stunt show where a man caught on fire. There were motorcycle cops chasing a bad guy. They did jumps too.

We saw a show about Mickey Mouse beating up all the bad guys called Fantasmic. It was at night time, with fireworks and water. There were lasers too. I liked it because Mickey Mouse got all the bad guys, like witches and snakes.
The campground was really nice where we camped. I liked it because the buses took us all over. I rode my bike there. Now the weather is really nice and we wear our shorts and t-shirts. Soon we are going to Blizzard Beach. Today we’re going to Epcot!

Feb 8
Right now we’re at Disney World! The first place I went to was the Magic Kingdom. One of my favorite places wasn’t at Disney though. It was Sky Venture. It’s all about a wind tunnel. You stand above the huge propeller. You start to go in the position you sky dive in! It blows wind up under you, and then you go up in the air and it’s just like flying! If you know what skydiving is, you jump out of an airplane, and it’s just like that. My instructor taught me to always look up. Don’t look down or you’ll go down. He showed us all the things you don’t do like wobble all around. The arch means you bend your back. My arch was really good. I felt like a bird! Then I watched myself flying on the TV later!

Now I’m going to talk about the Magic Kingdom. I’ve never been there before this trip. At 8:00 they set off a whole bunch of fireworks. There’s something called Space Mountain. You go in a little car and it shoots you everywhere. It’s really dark so you cannot see the track. It’s a roller coaster. On the first day, I went four times! I went on Splash Mountain. It’s a story about Briar Rabbit. The fox wants to eat the rabbit. He goes hunting and catches the rabbit. Then the rabbit said, “Do whatever you want to do, but PLEASE don’t throw me in the briar patch.” So the fox threw the rabbit in the briar patch, and the rabbit got away. Then you go down this really cool thing, and you get soaked! It was really rainy that day, so the lines were really short.

Also we did Big Thunder Mountain. It’s really fast and it feels like you’re going to flip out. It’s a roller coaster. We did Pirates of the Caribbean. I really liked Tom Sawyer’s Island because you can shoot guns that make real noises. At the Swiss Family Robinson’s Tree house, we saw where they danced in the movie, their bedrooms, and where they ate their meals.

Then we went to Animal Kingdom. We went on Disney buses. My favorite one was Expedition Everest with the Yeti. The Yeti broke the track, and so the roller coaster starts going backwards. Then you go really fast and see the shadow of the Yeti. I saw the Yeti on my second ride. It was all hairy and had red eyes. There’s so many animals carved in the Tree of Life. Artists came and carved all the animals into the fake tree. There’s a bunch of real animals also. One of my favorite rides was the safari ride where you get to see giraffes, elephants, ostrich eggs, lions, and tigers. We even saw poachers who sneak into Disney World, and we found their camp. Also at Animal Kingdom, I found a brush at the petting zoo. I got to brush sheep and goats. We saw a Nemo show, with people carrying the fish. The show was like the whole movie.

I was really surprised to see my friend Chance all the way from Alaska. He had his birthday with me at Disney World. We went to Magic Kingdom. We did all the rides. It was super fun, even more fun that the other day because I was with Chance. Now he’s 7, like me! His Grandma was there too, and she bought me a toy car. Chance’s Dad and Mom were there too. I got to spend the night with them, and Chance got “Wally” for his D.S. My favorite ride with Chance was The Haunted House. It was freaky and pretty long. Also at Space Mountain, we saw the control tower because it was Chance’s birthday! We went in the Fast Pass lane. We saw how many carts were on the track. There were about five.

Chance got a Goofy hat that’s green and has long ears. I have the same hat. Also, Chance and his family came to our campground. We went to a campfire where we saw Chip N Dale. We cooked marshmallows and made S’mores. We went to a beach and saw Magic Kingdom’s fireworks. I played volleyball with Chance at the beach. It was really fun.

After Chance left, we went to Epcot. It’s another park. The first ride we did there was Soarin’. You get to see the San Francisco bridge, skiers, and a golf course. Then we went to a show called “What’s Your Problem?” and Will got called to be in it. At Innoventions, it was really cool. There’s this game you can download onto your computer. It’s a computer game with pictures of us in it. We had to dance, run in place, and jump in place and they took pictures. They you play the game and see yourself in it!

We went to the Mission Space ride. Robby was the pilot, and I was the navigator. Ben pressed every single button. I had to navigate to Mars. It was cool when we took off, and I tried to put up my legs but I couldn’t! The G-forces were too strong! We saw Crush, the turtle from Nemo. It was really funny. He could talk to us and ask us questions. He told us to say “dude” for the rest of the day, and that our parents would love us for it!

At Epcot, you could visit a lot of countries like Germany, France, Canada, and China. We saw chopsticks, and I got a set. They’re for playing. There were kids who were acrobats in China. They did flips, and they climbed all over each other. One was on a board balancing on a can. He threw these bowls up and caught them on his head. Then he flipped up a can and caught it on his head, and then a spoon that fell into it. He got frustrated because he couldn’t catch some. Then we went on this ride with three birds like Donald Duck from Mexico.

There were fireworks. Then this world came out on a boat and it opened up. There was fire inside of it that lit off more fireworks. I liked the fireworks at Epcot because they had this rhythm. They would shoot them off to music. Also, there was this belly dancer who was really good.
Today I’m going to go play with my chopsticks. We’re leaving this campground. Then we’re going to a beautiful hotel with Sophia and Alex from California!

Feb 1
Today we stayed at McDill Air Force Base. There is a man named Colonel Miller and his wife is Ms. Sue, and they have four puppies. My favorite one was called Chunky Butt because he had a really funny belly when I picked him up. He liked to bite on my finger and it really tickled. The other ones are called Shadow, Rosie, and Little Toes. Little Toes got his name because he has skin poking out that looks like an extra toe. It’ll get off when he gets older. They had us over for a nice dinner. COL Miller showed us turtles and we fed them dog food! Their son’s name is Justin and I like watching him do cool things on his computer, like how a motorcycle went over 100 miles per hour.

We went to a really cool museum in Tampa and we saw a movie about extreme sports. There are surfers who go on huge waves. They get towed by a jet ski until they’re right at a big wave and then they let go. Sometimes they fall, and sometimes they’re successful. We saw the Body Worlds where it shows you actually how special your body is, and you have to take care of it. Smoking and getting fat are bad for you. Getting sad can make you die too, so always be happy. They aren’t like manikins. They’re real live bodies that are dead. You can see the bones, because the skin isn’t there. There are the blood lines, and some were blue because there isn’t enough air in them. If it’s red, then there’s enough air in the blood. We got to hold a real kidney that used to be in a guy’s body.

I went to a beach on Treasure Island, and there were seagulls that were trying to get the bread we were carrying. They chased us really far. We fed them and threw the food straight up in the air.

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!