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.

Back in the USA

Dec 19
I am in a car going to Mrs. Tone’s house, and I’m going to play with Jack and Alex. At the campsite, I’ve been playing with some of my new friends like Truman and Nathan. We’re camping at Maryland at an Army base. I chop a lot of weeds and I ride my bike. We’ve mainly been doing a lot of school and it’s really boring. I’ve been learning cursive, and I’m in first grade!
My whole family went rollerblading in a roller skating rink! It had disco balls and smoothies. It started to do a disco ball, and it did only boys, and only girls. It did slow skating, and really fast skating. There were guys who did all these tricks on their roller skates. This one man did a duck squat. He took off one skate, put it beside him, and then sat on it when he was moving. I did more laps than anybody because I kept going so fast. My Mom was learning to skate backwards for her first time, and she got pretty good.
Ben’s eye was really scary. It was as big as a golf ball. It was a really cool hospital with a little tiny playground, and a teen room with all kinds of videos. He was there for 3 nights, and now he’s in the car and he’s really grumpy.

Switzerland Dec 1

We saw Mr. Frits and Ms. Lisa and we had a great time there. They have a dog named Fargo. Their house wasn’t like other people’s houses because it’s 800 years old. We got to stay in her apartment. Her spaghetti dinner was really good. They live next to a HUGE lake. I really like Fargo the Wonder Dog. We went to a huge dam where James Bond jumped off, well James Bond didn’t do it but a stunt man who looked like James Bond did. When we come back, Will and I want to bungee jump off it. It was really cold. If you threw a big snowball off the dam, it would make a huge sound like a gunshot. I rode in Mr. Frits’ Smart Car and it was awesome. We’re going to the airport so we can go back to the United States.

Switzerland, France, Holland Nov 29

We are driving to Switzerland. We visited some people that my Mom lived with for 2 months and their names are the Perrachon Family. There’s one boy’s name and he’s 13 and his name is Julien. We played lots of games and had fun. They have 2 dogs named Comet and Lisa. They live in a 150 year old house that was nice. Mrs. Perrachon cooked us really good food. We went to see my Mom’s work place for grapes and she made wine there. Will, Ben and I went in a wine tank! We got some really yummy juice.

In Paris, it’s a huge city. We met a girl named Yolanda who likes me a lot and I like her. She used to babysit Will and Robby. We went to an art museum and it was big. I saw a really famous painting named Lisa (Mona Lisa!). We went on a huge Eiffel Tower that was tall, and it was dark out with dark blue lights. I saw the whole city and lots of boats on the river. I played with my brothers a lot, and I skipped so much that my knee hurt the next day.

At Paris, they don’t do Thanksgiving because it’s only for America. We went to a Chinese restaurant and it was really fancy. When we were going to the Eiffel Tower, we took a metro and it was really fast.
At Holland, there was an awesome youth hostel and it had a bar and a pool table. I learned how to play pool! There were really cool, fun people there and I really liked it. In Amsterdam it’s really cool. We took a train in and Will and I played cards. We went on this boat tour in the canals. There was a sunken speed boat, and lots of sunken fishing boats. Amsterdam is famous for its canals and they’re really skinny. There’s one story about a dam, and there was a leak. A little boy was riding his bike and he stopped to put his finger in it. He was there for 12 hours and he saved the city because it could have flooded the city!
One of the other places we went to was Anne Frank’s House and we bought 2 books. We saw the secret hideout in a pretty big room. These bad soldiers were going to kill all the Jews. So this secret hideout had a bookshelf that would open and close. They had to duck under the windows. They were there for 2 years, and there were 8 people hiding. Jews got really skinny because they didn’t get much food at the bad camp. Anne got really sick and died. It made me kind of mad and sad.
There were lots of bicycles. My Mom and I almost got run over by them! There are one million people and one million people in Amsterdam. There was a yoyo man who put this thing over his head and it was really funny.
People don’t speak English here sometimes. They speak French, German, and Dutch. It makes me want to learn another language so I can talk in other countries. There’s a huge castle right outside the window! We’re in Switzerland. The mountains are huge and snowy like Alaskan mountains.

Holland

We are in The Netherlands now, and I’m looking at a map. I just saw new and huge wind mills out my window. It’s pretty flat here. It was so snowy, and now it’s slushy and sunny. We saw a really cool toy museum, and Ben got a choo-choo train and Dad bought a spinning top. There was an awesome fair. You could press a green button and all these things would move. It was old fashioned, like a history museum of toys and legos. There were dolls, teddy bears, planes, warriors, and giant legos. There were huge legos of star wars, a huge church from Brussels that was taller than my Dad. It was so big that they had to make a hole in the ceiling.
We’ve been staying at youth hostels. It’s not as nice as hotels, and it’s cheaper with lots of bunk beds. You have to make your own bed, and it’s very clean. The first one that we went to, you had to bring your own food. The last two were much nicer, and we ate at their kitchen.
There was a boy statue that was about 3 and he was 3 and smiling! We were in Brussels. We went to a really cool flea market and it was like one mile long. There are hats, sweaters, and really good food and candy. We bought gloves, hats, a sweater, oranges. It was really snowy and windy. One of the guy’s big umbrellas fell over, and there was trash flying around.
We went into this one place called the Grand Plaza and people were singing. Everybody was rubbing this statue of Jesus for good luck. It’s the biggest building and there were lots of statues.
We went to a different town called Mons, Belgium and there was a fair. We had a great time. I shot a ball that was floating with a pellet gun and hit it every time. We gave all our points to Will and he got an awesome lighter. We went in the Haunted House. It wasn’t scary, but these guys would light up. At one part there was a lady who screamed because her husband went Boo. She was rubbing Robby’s face in the dark!
Before that we were at a neat park in Luxembourg. It was a pirate ship and had a big slide. There were a lot of cool statues. We got to go into another church and it was huge. There was a statue of an angel stabbing a bad man in the head with a spear. It was not flat there. It had steep hills.
At Germany, we went to this one castle and it was like 50,000 years old (not really). It was really big. We got to go in it and we saw statues, a bat, and the prince’s rooms. A princess wrote 60,000 letters! It’s called Heidelberg. We went to Ms. Karin’s house and her house was huge with an elevator. She had a pool and we went skinny dipping! We had a great time. On the roof there was a garden. They had a sauna and a steam thingee. There was a current in the swimming pool so you can swim against it. Ms. Karin was really nice and she knows my Nana.
The plane ride was really long. It took all night long. I got the biggest sleep because I was lying down on 3 seats! There were lots of Army soldiers on the plane and they were going to Iraq. It was my favorite plane because it was really cool and it was free because Dad’s been in the Army. There were empty seats for us.