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!

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.