Family adventure year - Simon

What I am Not Going to Tell you About – Italy

2011-03-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

I am not going to tell you about all the awesome stuff I have been doing in Italy.

Like how we had to go on the six hour plane ride from Boston to Amsterdam overnight and also the 2 hour flight from Amsterdam to Venice. The airport in Boston is called Logan. The airport in Amsterdam is called Schipol. The airport in Venice is called Marco Polo. Marco Polo is a very fun game to play in the swimming pool. It is very funny how they named an airport after a swimming pool game. Marco Polo was actually a great Italian explorer but I didn’t know that until my mom just told me.

And I won’t tell you how the airplane company Delta left our check in luggage in Amsterdam. And that the courier broke the deal that they deliver our luggage in 24 hours to the hotel – so I had to stay in my stinky clothes for 2 days.

I am not going to tell you all the fun stuff I have been doing either…like going skiing with two of my friends from London and how we have an awesome skiing instructor named Lukas. He is awesome because he is a great Italian ski instructor and he teaches things like how to do perfect parallel, we learned how to ski backwards today and ski on one ski.

I will not tell you how we have a room just for skiing and it is ironically called The Ski Room.

Our view from the window is of the ski slopes. It is kind of boring except for the occasional Moose who races by. Here in the Dolomites it is fun! The Dolomites are mountains in the Alps. We hear people speaking Italian and German. We say “Ciao” a lot.

I will not tell you about the awesome swimming pool and how the management is very mean in saying “This is not a FUN hotel, it is a WELLNESS hotel.” BORING!

So far I have only eaten penne pasta for dinner but today I am trying a chicken schnitzel. I did not want Vienner Schnitzel because it sounds too much like Weiner Schnitzel. And I think most of the readers know what a Weiner is.

I hope you enjoy this blog in which I do not tell you anything.

Go Dog Go - A Book Review

2010-10-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Go Dog Do – A Book Review

I liked this book because it is just sort of fun to read it again because I read it when I was much younger and just learning how to read – so now it just felt good reading it again. I remember reading it in front of a fire on Christmas Eve at our old house in London. I think it was our first Christmas there.

The kind of words that use to give me trouble were “three” – because it looks like it should be pronounced “Ta” “Ha” “Ree” – which isn’t a real word. And the word “Night” because it looks like it should be pronounced “ni” “ga” “ta”.

I also think the pictures are quite funny – especially the one on Page 60, 61 and 62. The picture on 62 is of a funky and interesting party hat that a pink poodle is wearing. I think the poodle is trying to impress another dog and is also on the way to a fun dog party.

The pink poodle is a girl because it said “a girl dog” not because it is a pink poodle because I don’t think there are specific boy and girl colors. However, I do think girls tend to like pink more than boys. Sometimes I wear pink. I have a shirt with pink in it – a tie dyed pink shirt from Ben and Jerry’s that says “I Tied it. I Dyed it . I Buyed it.”

The reappearing “Do you like my hat” is funny and interesting because the pink poodle is always trying to impress the dog – and finally she does impress him. And sometimes in our family I ask them, “Do you like my hat?” but that is usually when I am in my parrot hat. I am referencing Go Dogs Go when I ask them that.

Mainly I like the picture of the dog party because it looks like a fun and silly time. I believe there are some dogs playing tennis, some are bouncing up and down on a trampoline, one is being blown out of a cannon, opening presents, hanging from a swing, jump roping. If I was in the picture I would like to be shot out of a cannon and end up having gone all around the world and back to the tree. Then I would open up some presents and eat some cake. I would like to eat chocolate cake – or maybe ice cream cake with Chocolate Brownie Brownie Becket from JP licks. JP Licks is a very good ice cream shop close by my house. We can walk there. And my father is the Mayor – on Four Square. It is called Chocolate Brownie Brownie Becket either after my summer camp in the Berkshires or for Josh Becket, a Red Sox pitcher.

Go Dogs Go was written P.D. Eastman and I think he is a funny author good for children of young ages just learning how to read. I would strongly recommend it to kindergarteners and early first graders. But even thought I am in 3rd grade I still like to read it sometimes for good memories.

Signing off for now, Simon

A Conversation with my Mom

2010-02-22T10:40:00.000-08:00

Right now I am in the library in Memphis, Tennessee. Yes, it is true I am in the town where Elvis lived and yes I have seen Graceland but no we are not going to go there for the tour because my parents are just saying no, because it is too expensive.

And now here is:

A Conversation with my Mom!

S: Mom, what year were you born?
M: I was born in 1962.
S: Now tell me, how long has it been since you last had chocolate?
M: It was about 36 hours ago. We were in the RV and I had a chocolate covered macadamia nut.
S: Now mom, how many chocolate covered macadamia nut clusters are left?
M: I believe there are two.
S: Are those two for me and Josh?
M: Only if you eat a mess of carrots, milk and broccoli.
S: When was the last time you had something to do with chocolate in secret?
M: Do I have to tell you the truth?
S: Yes.
M: Alright. I bought some M&M’s in Scottsdale a few weeks ago, but it was just a small packet.
S: Now mom, are there any left?
M: No. Next question please.
S: When will you next get some chocolate?
M: I am not telling. Next subject please.
S: Have you ever met an alien?
M: Only your father.
S: Dad is an alien?
M: Well, you had to know sometime. He is from the planet Zorgulon.
S: Tell me the story!
M: Not until you are 18.

S: Do you like pie?
M: As a matter of fact, yes. Especially warm and with ice cream. Anything else?
S: All this is making me hungry what about you?
M: Absolutely.
S: Lets go have lunch!
M: Next stop – The RV Cafeteria!

Hawai'i: Expensive but Beautiful

2010-02-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

We have been in Hawaii for over a week and so far I have been snorkeling where I saw a humuhumunukunukuapua’a, the state fish of Hawaii; I went boogie boarding; I have taken beautiful walks in the park; seen the USS Arizona; visited the Polynesian Cultural Center where I learned how to play lots of Hawaiian games; and hiked through the Hawaii Volcano National Park. In the National Park I walked through a misty hot tropical forest, a lava tube that is pretty long, and along the bottom of a rocky and sharp crater. I also walked along a black sand beach and had a chat with a sea turtle. For our things we have done we didn’t have to spend much money for at all.

Here I am walking through a volcano crater that was once filled with molten lava:

Here I am chatting with a sea turtle on a black sand beach:

Because we are on a budget we have not been doing the things listed below because they are very, very expensive. They tend to be more expensive then you might think they are – because people tend to make money by things that people can’t do any place else. They also want to make it so thrilling they will recommend it to their friends, and their friends and their friends and so on.

Things we want to do in Hawai’i if we were to come back with wads of cash in our pockets:

(Editor’s Note: Simon read to me from a tourist magazine called 101 Things to Do. The following is a combination of the marketing guru’s ads with Simon’s take on the cost and the fun factor.)

Volcanic Air Tours – now you really see Hawai’i. Towering waterfalls and untouched beauty. Book your reservation today. It says it is affordable – so maybe between $400 a person. Kids rate of $380. I think that would be pretty much worth it. Although the $400 that is for just one person is what we spend for our whole family in just one week.

Open Range Horse Back Riding. Walk, trot and cantor on an 11,000 acre working ranch. How about a sunset tour? A great and fun thing. This I think is about $200 dollars per person, kids rate $130. This sounds like a ton of fun because you get out into the open plains and see Hawai’i.

Zip Line Through Paradise. Zipping over a dozen waterfalls it is the longest course and the only dual track on the island for the ultimate experience. Tours last 2 ½ hours along the Umauma stream and falls. Extreme fun for everyone. This I think is going to be about $200 per person/ kids rate of $290. This looks like fun because it is about 2 miles of zipping over a dozen waterfalls and who can’t like that?

Dolphin Quest. Swim, dive, touch and play with the dolphins. For the young and the young at heart. This I think will be about $290 per person/ kids $280. This looks like fun because you get to play with dolphins, and who doesn’t like that? I will tell you who, a big mean grouch.

Ride a torpedo. Snorkel with ease and dive deep. Lunch is included. Snorkel and dive with manta rays at night. I think this will be about $350 per person/ kids $320 because they include lunch which I am pretty sure is a hot lunch and they launch you out of a torpedo and they have to pay for all the equipment.

4D Movie Ride: taking you to the next dimension. National Geographic sea monsters and an alien safari. This I think is about$20 per person/kids $10. This looks like a ton of fun because you get to operate your own seat to what the movie is like. All the movies look very fun – who doesn’t like alien safaris?

Time Machine at the gateway of the great mountain Maunakea. Learn of its place among the stars and the hearts of the Hawaiian people. A once in this universe experience. This will be about $50 per person. Kids $20. This looks like fun because you get to go through time. And once I do that I shall change history so it can be better and I shall stop World War II from even happening so war shall not exist - but I don’t think this is about that. This is about the history of the great mountain.

Sunset Lava Adventure aboard the Lava Adventure Boat. This thrilling boat ride features fire shooting down from the cliffs into the ocean, dolphins and whales. This I think is going to be about $400/kids $390. It is so expensive because the more cooler the more expensive. Very hard adventures that are once in a universe opportunity turn out to be amazingly expensive.

Aloha from Hawaii. Mahalo for reading.

What I Am Not Going To Write About #4

2010-01-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

Hello again. This is what I am Not Going to Write About #4, but technically it is Number 5 because I wrote a Christmas Edition.

First I am not going to write about Santa Monica and seeing my mom’s friend Janet – a.k.a. the Omnipotent Force of Janet. I am not going to write about playing poker - both Black Jack and Texas Hold ‘em or New Years Eve or going to the Santa Monica Pier where we rode the Ferris wheel and Roller Coaster and we played Whack a Mole. And my dad won the Whack a Mole game and he let me pick out the prize and it is a Blue Shark and he is named Snappy Zoo Year.

I am not going to write about making our own Sundae’s at Janet’s house with chocolate fudge ice cream, hot fudge sauce, caramel sauce and whipped cream. Or the big hike we took into the Santa Monica Mountains and my brother and I climbed Hairy Scary Hill and we did not fall down. And we thought we heard a mountain lion. The views were incredible – we could see all the way across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii.

I am not going to write about going skiing at Big Bear on my Dad’s birthday and how my brother and my mom were big wimps and they did not want to go. But I am BOJ - the Bundle of Joy – so I went with my Dad as his special Skiing Buddy birthday present. I am not going to write about coming home from skiing and Mom and Josh had set up a birthday party and we all wore beards and mustaches so we would look like my Dad. And I certainly won’t tell about the big box of Twizzler’s my dad got for his birthday.

I am not going to write about going to Joshua Tree National Park where I did the Junior Ranger Program and did lots and lots of climbing in the rocks. Or the Ranger Talk we went to about Light Pollution and another one on Humming Birds. The Light Pollution is bad because we cannot see the night time sky. Mostly the light pollution is coming from Las Vegas and Los Angeles and now I can’t see the stars and the Milky Way and things of that sort.

I am not going to write about how I went to Las Vegas and did lots of really weird things like stay at the Excalibur which is a Knight Themed hotel but it is mainly a casino. I am not going to talk about Tournament of Kings Arena which is a really cool Dinner Show or how we were sitting in the France Section and our knight won! I am not going to talk about the fair called The Midway which was downstairs in the hotel – but I do have 4 more stuffed animals that travel with me.

I am not going to write about the Grand Canyon or how I jumped off it and I am still alive – otherwise I wouldn’t be here to write this blog. When I jumped off the edge of the Grand Canyon I landed on the roof of Phantom Ranch. Nobody knew I was there because I landed very quietly. Then I saw a big chicken and I ate him in a teriyaki sauce. He was very tasty – he tasted like chicken.

I won’t write about a how I did the Junior Ranger packet as well as the CCC packet. The Civilian Conservation Corps was busy right after the Great Depression, where the workers made $25 a month which in those days was a lot of money. The CCC built the national parks and somebody even snuck a heart shaped stone into the wall of the Grand Canyon to show a girl he loved her.

Now I am here in Scottsdale, Arizona to see my Mama Jo who is my Mom’s mom. Mama Jo likes to play games, eat chocolate and have fun. And that is a very good thing in my opinion.

Good Bye from the Public Library in Scottsdale, Arizona and I will write again in a week from now.

My Disneyland Adventure

2010-01-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

Hi, the weirdest thing happened to me just the other day. You see, I went to Disneyland. I went because on my birthday I got a special certificate that said I got to go there. I was very excited to get that certificate. I had once been to Euro Disney in France and this time I went to Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

For those of you who don’t know what Disneyland is, it is owned by Disney Corporation. I don’t know if Disney is an evil or a good corporation. I know that Wal-Mart is a very evil corporation because they destroy lots of small businesses. And people who once were the owners of small business are now check out people at Wal-Mart so they must be pretty sad.

Disneyland might be evil because it takes up lots and lots of space for the park and the parking lot and Disneyland uses lots and lots of electricity and makes lots of light pollution. Light pollution is bad because then you won’t be able to see the night sky and everyone should be able to see the night sky. In the night sky you see stars, planets, solar systems and the Milky Way. They say that Disneyland is the place where happiness is born and where dreams come true but in my opinion that is not the truth because I saw some babies crying at Disneyland

But Disneyland might be good because it gives fun times to lots of people.

Now the first ride I am going to talk about is the very scary Space Mountain. I wish I could add some scary music and some 3D effects to my blog. Actually 4D effects would be better but I think 3D effects might be more do-able. But anyhow, Space Mountain is one the top 5 scariest roller coasters in the world. Space Mountain is in a big dome so you don’t go down very often but there are lots of turns. And there are stars everywhere and you can’t really see which makes it even scarier.

The second ride is Thunder Mountain (Bah boom, bang bang bang, claps of Thunder) Thunder Mountain wasn’t that thundery. It went down many times and up many times. You were always really scared when you were going up because you knew there would be a down hill afterwards. It was like you were a minor going down into the mines in search of gold. We didn’t find any gold but we did find some dinosaur bones.

The third and final ride is the Indiana Jones Ride. Now that was very scary. I have trouble explaining because I didn’t see very much of it because it was so dark and my eyes were closed for much of the time because I was scared.

In conclusion it was definitely worth going to Disneyland because it was very fun but I would not like to pay their electric bill. I do feel a little guilty about going there because by going there you go on more rides and use more electricity and then even more people will come and use the rides and use even more electricity. I guess Disneyland has its ups and downs – kind of like roller coasters.

That is all for now. This is Simon signing off from Simon’s Blog. Good bye. Adios. Farewell. Bye bye.

PS One last thing, I do like pie.

A Blog About Simon from a French Persons Perspective

2009-12-31T16:38:00.000-08:00

Bonjour. I am Pierre. And I am the French brother of Jean Claude. Jean Claude happened to be a pen pal of Simone when he was little. Actually, he is still little because he took a special potion. He wanted to take that special potion to ensure that he would be Simones Pen Pal for a while. Because like me, he likes Simone. He is about Simone’s age. You see, my brother was born 8 years ago on December 17, 2001right next to the Tour Eiffel in the hospital.

I read over my brothers letters and realized how nice and kind Simone is. Simone is a very nice garcon. He is very kind and always says "Bonjour" to anyone he happens to pass including the very nice little toy French poodles. The white little ones, the pink ones, the black ones. The ones with painted toenails. Even the ones with bows in their hair. He knows a lot of things and is amazing at mathematiques. He is a truly amazing and outstanding garcon.

I cannot believe how extraordinaire he is. For example, he loves chocolate crepes. They make them nice and hot here in Paris. Simone is also extraordinaire because he is very good at writing and is actually an author and has published many books. My favorite book that Simone wrote is The Life and Lies of the Biggest Toy Chihuahua in the World. I also love the way he dresses – always in green. Green is my favorite color. And guess what? Green is Simone favorite color as well. We have so much in common.

You may wonder where Simone is right now. Maybe here in Paris? You may know he is on an RV trip – so it would not work to drive the RV to Paris across the Atlantic Ocean, However I know he has a magical button in the RV and if he pushes it he is then transported into the driveway of me and my brothers condominium here is Paris about 20 feet from the Tour Eiffel

I have been to the Tour Eiffel about 500 times, I am serious. But I will not be allowed to go on it anymore once I reach 1000. One trip is cool, two times is cool. Three times is ok. Four times it is nice but it is a little boring. Five times is very boring, six times it is very very boring. Once you get to 500 times up the Tour Eiffel you don’t even want to go anymore. But once I get to 1000 times up the Tour Eiffel you get a special prize – it is a surprise what the surprise is. Perhaps free tickets to go another 1000 times up the Tour Eiffel. I hope not.

Simone has walked up the Tour Eiffel once. He counted 657 steps.

I am afraid I must be going now so Avoir to you all.

PS If you email Simone please send him best wishes from his friend Pierre.

What I am Not Going to Write About - Christmas Edition

2009-12-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

I am not going to talk about my presents under the tree, the gingerbread Christmas Tree, the real Christmas tree, or the headless gingerbread men because they were crushed in the box before we even opened it, or how we are having salmon for Christmas dinner which I really don’t like.

I am not going to talk about the little Christmas tree we have in the RV, or the way my Mom what made me write about what I liked about Christmas on the little pieces of colored paper to make the chain that goes into the dining room of my Aunt Lalitha and Uncle Garret's house.

I am not going to talk about the Christmas presents I got for people because my Mom, who is typing this, will then know what her Christmas present is.

I am not going to talk about what Christmas means to me and how I wake up every morning and count how many days it is until Christmas.

I am not going to talk about how all the presents under the tree are for me and that what I really want for Christmas is a secret.

I have missed having a lot of junk food like we normally do at our regular Christmas Party. I particularly miss having our own house because then I have my own room so I could have some peace and quiet during parties.

I really don’t miss going to pantomimes and since I already went ice skating in Sun Valley I am ok not going this year.

If I was King of the World I would have all my other stuffed animals join us for Christmas (the ones that are in storage) and my Panda names Snookie would be fixed – he has a very big hole in his leg that I can put my thunb in it is so big. And all my other close relatives would be able to join us – just to make it more interesting and to learn about people from all over the world – I would invite everyone from all over the world to Christmas.

There would be an enormous feast with pasta and pizza from Italy, from France there would be crepes, and from England Cadbury’s chocolate, and India rice and China dumplings and bamboo for the pandas. Not just ever body but also all the animals would come to Christmas as well.

I suppose there would be a choir – maybe multiple choirs – but they might not have brought their instruments except their voices. The songs would be about many different things like Rudolph, joy, peace and hope. The choirs would sing songs and everyone would feel peaceful.

Here is my wish for everyone in the world: I hope they have a wonderful new year filled with happiness and peace and everyone becomes an amazing joke teller and that everyone brings me a good joke at my next party.

Oh no, I just wrote about something. Good bye and Happy Holidays

Things I am looking for in my life...

2009-12-10T12:34:00.001-08:00

A dog to play with and tell my secrets to and a big garden for it to run around in and play.

My own room painted green.

A big house in a town with a YMCA that has a swimming pool and a climbing wall.

Our new house has to be within 5 miles of a natural history museum with dinosaurs in it.

A house big enough to get lost in.

It must be a nice house with two staircases to the top.

4 floors including the basement, a porch and a balcony.

And it has to be in a place with sunny summers and snowy winters.

The view from my window must be of the back garden where I can look and see my tree house that is up in an actual tree with little wooden planks to climb up into it.

The public library has to be big. And friendly. From the outside it has to look cosy - where you just walk in and sit down with a book and read. And comfortable chairs - yes, a very important place.

A library with a big fountain in front of it but you cannot go in during the summer time.

And we have to go to a good school where we can make lots of friends very easily. I don't know about you, but I like having lots of friends so I can play because I like playing. I like to play all sorts of things like pin the tail on the donkey, or hide and go seek - classical things like that.

I have to have a nice teacher at my new school - as nice as my teacher this year.

Park Poet

2009-12-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

Is a tree falls in the forest, does it still make a sound?

Tree
Enormously majestic
Growing with the rain fall
Swaying in the wind
Falling in the forest
Protecting animals during storms
Oak

The Truth About My Other Pie Blog and a Story

2009-12-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

Really, I don't like ketchup with cherry pie. And I don't like mustard or anchovies with apple pie. And I really don't like nines with eights pie, and I don't like twos with ones pie, or fives with fours pie or threes with twos pie.

And the reason I don't like gluey pie is because gluey pie glues my tongue to the roof of my mouth or the bottom of my mouth. Or someimes to the roof and then the bottom, or the bottom then the roof - it is really a pattern you know. Roof Roof Bottom Bottom - you know what I mean?

Now I will tell you a story about the mural that I am looking at as I write this in the library. We are in Hood River, Oregon. We are here because one of my Grandpas lives here and we are visiting him. We are living in a house just down the street from his and it feels like we are neighbors - that is because are neighbors.

The house we are staying in is a good house. It has three floors if you include the really spooky basement and four if you include the attic, but we cannot get into the attic. All I know about the attic is there is a string hanging from a closet that should pull down but it doesn't.

Now, here comes the story. It is 100% fiction. That means fake.

Once upon a time an iguana took a bite out of a leaf from a weeping willow tree. The iguana started to grow and magically turned into a lovely flamingo that was a beautiful shade of bright pink. The flamingo's name was Sparky and he wore a purple braclet on one foot and green beads on the other.

Well, that flamingo decided to take a little walk and there as he walked he saw a monkey sitting on a red and blue stripped bench. The monkey was green with a blue face and he seemed to be playing the trumpet and Sparky didn't want to disturb him so he walked on. He walked for about 15 minutes and then he saw a lion.

Standing on the lions back was a penguine holding an umbrella. "How interesting", thought the flamingo. "I shall go talk to them and see if I can join in their fun."

So Sparky walked over to them and asked what they were doing.

The lion said they were having some fun and playing around, the Flamingo asked if he could join in and the lion said, "Sure, but please be quiet. There is a human asleep beside us, and we don't want to wake him because we are kind animals are we don't want to disturb other creatures."

"Oh goodness," said Sparky. "I don't think I will be able to be quiet"

Editors Note: Did I mention that Sparky the Flamingo happens to be the very noisy one?

The lion said, "Oh no, please don't go. You always have much more fun when there are more people and animals to play with."

"Oh, you are right." said the Flamingo because Sparky thought the same way.

But then the Flamingo said, "You have to understand lion, that I am very noisy and I am afraid I cannot be quiet."

"That is sad," said the Lion. "Perhaps you can come back tomorrow if you can be a little more quiet, for the human might be awake then. The human might even be able to play with us."

"Alright," said Sparky sounding a little happier.

Then the Flamingo continued his walk and saw a tiny little lady bug who seemed to be resting. He didn't want to disturb it so he continued walking and came to a lake.

In the lake there was a turtle, a whale, a person with a surfboard and a pink and purple sea monster with big bulgy eyes, a twisted tail and a big belly...

TO BE CONTINUED

Random Words

2009-11-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

I am in Sun Valley lying down on my bed with my eyes closed. I am wearing my green Holland shirt and some pants that are getting too small for me. I can tell because they are really short on me and my ankles are starting to show.

I am not alone in my bed.

I am with my brother’s polar bed Shotzy and my little polar bear Snowflake who I love and I got in Churchill, Manitoba and my lovely Teddy Bear Monty who is from Vermont.

My bed is a queen sized bed and I have it all to myself. It is very nice because it is very soft.

In this blog I shall say a completely random word and then describe them.

For example: Polar Bear. A soft, small creature which is one of the three most dangerous creatures on earth. The other two are alligators and I forget the other one. The polar bears that I have are 100 percent real. I know this because they told me when I first laid eyes on them. I first laid eyes on Monty when I was a baby. Snowflake I saw her in the Eskimo Museum in Churchill and she called out to me, “Simon, Simon. Help me, help me!” and she bounded towards me and I just had to get her. She told me she was only fed a quarter of a fish every day. It made me feel sorry for her so I had to rescue her. I had to free her. I just knew I had to. She came home riding on my arm and she has been with me ever since.

She loves to play with Monty and Ice Cube. Ice Cube is my other polar bear. Ice Cube is a boy my Mama Jo rescued for me from the San Diego Zoo. He was being ill treated because nobody ever paid attention to him. And I cannot imagine anything worse then not being paid attention to.

Ice Cube and Snowflake are long lost brother and sister. Ice Cube was very excited to go back to Churchill and Snowflake was very happy that I rescued her because she was starving. I could tell she was starving because it was hard to hear her over her tummy rumbling. But now she is nice and fine.

The next word: Green. Green is a color. A very nice color. My favorite color. I don’t really know why it is my favorite, it just is. When I see green it makes me feel calm and I like to feel calm. When I am feeling calm I am more creative in my thoughts and then I can think about…well, anything. When I use to look out the window in my old bedroom in London I would see lots of green – the grass, leaves, flower stems. I could see the green covers on our folding chairs. Green is the color of life.

The next word: Cupboard, also known as a wardrobe. They are very helpful. They help you to store things; however they don’t help you if you are putting them in storage. A cupboard can hold all sorts of things: boxes, stuffed animals, legos, pillows, baby cribs – pretty much anything – except a bigger cupboard.

If I was walking into an empty room and there was cupboard in front of me and I opened it up I would want to find candy bursting out at me. This magic cupboard would not have any drawers, it would be filled with candy. You could walk inside it and you could keep on going and it would never end. Candy for eternity. There would be every single type of candy like Twixt, Kit Kats, Three Musketeers, Maltessers, ice cream, every single thing that is not healthy for you. Everything that you would want. The Cupboard of Life – it would give you everything that you would want

However, I am afraid there is no such thing. If there is – please tell me because I would like to see it. And I would also like to go in it. Please send me a picture or a video. My email is simon@familyadventureyear.com

The next word: Candy. Something that all kids love and grownups despise. Something that you only love when you are a kid and never when you are an adult. So enjoy it now when you can, if you have already passed the time for candy then too bad for you.

Good bye for now. Signing off from the queen sized bed in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Marble Run

2009-11-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

Here is a video of a marble run I constructed. Special thanks to my friend Jack C. for letting us stay in his holiday house and play with his toys.

What I am Not Going to Write About #3

2009-10-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

Today is Wednesday October 28th and I am in Bozeman, Montana and it is snowing outside. Actually, it is not snowing right now there is just a lot of snow on the ground. Oh – here is the update – I just looked out the window and it is snowing a bit.

I was not surprised about the snow today at all because it was snowing very hard last night when we came back from the pizza restaurant.

Now back to the subject of what I am not going to write about today.

I am not going to write about how I saw polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba on a tundra buggy. I am not going to tell you about the 4 polar bears that I saw napping or the one named Paul that was the biggest and scariest and ate bananas or how he came on board the tundra buggy and started to drive. He drove us to the shopping mall to get some more bananas. The shop keeper didn’t let him buy anything because he didn’t have any money so everybody on the tundra buggy paid for him to get 500 bunches of bananas. He goes bananas when he doesn’t get bananas.

Alright, that was a lie. He really doesn’t like bananas. Here is a polar bear fact – polar bears eat fish and seals, they are carnivores and they don’t even eat fruit although if it is a matter of life and death they will.

I am not going to talk about the Bear Jail where they keep bad bears. The bad bears are those that come into the town of Churchill and try to eat the food from the garbage cans. One stripe is their warning, the second stripe and they are out. There is even a bear police. It is all very serious because no one likes bears eating trash – because if they eat all the trash the trash workers don’t get paid. And if the trash workers don’t get paid then they quit and then if the bears stop coming then the trash builds up – it is all very confusing.

I am not going to write about making chocolates with Julia – my mom’s friend who is now my friend too. The hardest part about making cakes with Julia is the taste testing because you always need to make sure the cake isn’t poisonous. To do a cake taste test you have to take a bite of the finished product, in this case chocolate cake, and the secret ingredient is fish. And that is not a joke.

Julia told us that the cake makers have to be very happy when they are making the cake or otherwise the chocolate turns bitter. I told the cake some jokes and we were all very happy anyway because we knew we would get some chocolate when it was done. I can never imagine a chocolate cake maker who wasn’t happy.

And I will not even tell about a hotel we stayed in in Chamberlain, South Dakota. The first one had a wet floor, the second one smelled like cigarettes smoke and the third one had weird coffee stains on the sheets. But the final time we went to the manager he was really upset that we were upset and he gave us a complimentary upgrade so we got to stay in a suite.

Today we are off to Idaho Falls – I hope the storm doesn’t follow us.

Adios Amigos.

.

I Hate RV Elementary School - Fiction

2009-10-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

RV Elementary is the worse school I have ever gone to. The teachers are terrible because they make me do really boring work. You may think we are the luckiest people on earth – well, you don’t know what it is like to go to RV Elementary!

The teachers clothes are very ugly especially Miss Snodgrass and Mr. Higgenbottom - or Mr. HagissButt as I should say. For example – Mr. HaggisButt always eats haggis and it dribbles down on to his socks and Mr. HaggisButt doesn’t wear pants and has haggis on his head. He says it is refreshing, but I don’t believe him

Miss Snodgrass’s hair is so long it makes her trip. She has tripped all the students and they get tangled up in her hair. There are about 500 kids stuck in her hair right now and all the class pets are stuck there as well. Such as James the Gerbil, Thomas the Turtle, Harvey the Hamster and Dom the Dog. The only way to get out of her hair is by her tripping – which happens about every 30 seconds.

Miss Snodgrass wears rags – she doesn’t have any proper clothes. She wears a tunic the color of swamp green and the reason why it is swamp green is from the annual Swamp Trip where you go swimming in a swamp. At first when the Annual School Field Trip was announced everybody below second grade ran to sign up because they thought they were going swimming. All the second graders warned the first graders so they didn’t go. We forgot to warn the kindergarteners so they came back smelling of a swamp with tons of flies all around them. Nobody wanted to be near them, except for the flies, but I don’t think they count as people.

Miss Snodgrass wears baby shoes. She just crams one toe in each one. But baby shoes don’t count as shoes unless you are a baby. They do not look comfortable for any one I know.

Miss. Snodgrass’s voice sounds sharp and fierce. No one ever wants to be in her class. For instance she calls herself, “The Teacher from The Old Country”. And everything must be done like it was “In the Old Country”. It is very annoying.

For lunch we go to the cafeteria which is pretty good. That is the only good thing about RV Elementary. There are all sorts of delicious things like pasta with butter – they will cook anything you want.

Recess? We don’t even have recess at RV Elementary.

We are strapped into our chairs for about 15 hours each day. But it feels like 15 years. During that time we are suppose to be learning but really we are just listening to Miss Snodgrass read to us from the longest chapter book in the world called, A Long Way From Home. It takes about 15 years to read the entire book – well, that is the least anyone has read it in. She reads us a page a day and it has 5 billion pages in to. It is actually a pretty good book but she spits on us when she reads. I sit in the very back – that is my assigned seat – luckily. The kids in front, well, no one over likes them because they are always soaking wet from Miss SnotGrass spit.

Time for me to go clean out the rat cage. Bye.

What I Am Not Going to Blog about #2

2009-10-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today I am sitting in a coffee shop called Timothy’s World Coffee in Winnipeg, Canada. Winnipeg is in Manitoba which is a Province. They don’t have states in Canada. I am drinking a hot chocolate and eating a big nice chocolate brownie thing.

We just finished going to the Winnipeg Zoo which until 2008 contained the world’s longest living polar bear. But then in 2008 unfortunately she died. Unfortunately they don’t have any more polar bears at the Winnipeg Zoo.

Oh man, we are off the subject again…alright…so this is what I am not going to blog about…

First off I am not going to blog about how I really don’t like cherry pie with ketchup. I just wrote that for fun. Really I like my cherry pie plain or with any type of ice cream.

I am not going to blog about Minnesota or staying with Rachel and Leah and playing Knights of Sedonia on guitar hero until I was sick of it.

I am not going to blog about the Renaissance Fair and how I won a toy dagger with a game involving frogs and a catapult and a big bucket of water. That is for another blog another day that will only happen if I go to a city in an alternative universe in an alternative dimension 50 million galaxies away on a planet called Zenuom. But the chances are about 50 50 that I will go there.

I am not going to blog about Gabby and Isobel, the beautiful golden retrievers that live with Rachel and Leah or about how it makes me want to get a dog in our real house on the planet called Zenuom.

And I am certainly not going to blog about the book I am reading called Double Fudge by Judy Blume. Or how I am already on page 94 out of 213. I shouldn’t say too much because this is just way off the subject…

I am not going to talk about any of the parties that people had for us in Minnesota like at Auntie Julia where we played Scrabble and Electronic Life and Josh ate 50 billion cake bites. I only ate 3, don’t worry.

In fact I am not going to blog about anything.

Oh man, I just bloged about something.

Gotta go now.

Bye.

PS I like pie.

Wild Animals I have seen

2009-09-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

Since we left Vermont we have been seeing wild animals all over national parks, national monuments and state parks.

Some of the parks I have been to are Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Devil’s Tower, Rocky Mountain National Park and Jewel Cave. And in all of these parks I have become a Junior Ranger – but let’s not get off the subject.

Back to wild animals.

The first wild animal I saw was a very nice one and definitely one of my favorites. So nice in fact that I spent my own money to get a stuffed one. I bought it at the Rocky Mountain National Park gift shop. Here are some hints to what it is: it bugles, its mating season is about now, the mating season ends in mid-October, the babies come in the spring. The antlers have velvet on them at first. The men have lots of females in their harems.

Can you guess what it is?

If you guessed Elk you were right. If you guessed anything else, you were wrong.

Next I saw a coyote in Rocky Mountain National Park. The coyote was a good coyote. I saw him but he didn’t see me – luckily. It was walking in the prairie. It was stalking it’s prey. I don’t know what exactly it was stalking – it could have been a mouse or something. But it was stalking the prey alright.
He was yellowish in color and he was licking his lips and his blue tongue was very long. Well, it wasn’t really blue I was just saying that for fun. But its tongue did reach past its nose. But then quickly I saw its tongue lash out and then it was chewing something.

In South Dakota at Badlands National Park we saw Prairie Dogs – many, many, many of them. They were really cute popping in and out of their houses squiring along. But unfortunately I was in a very bad mood because my parents were making us listen to cowboy music that was playing on the radio. Every Sunday from 1 – 2 PM is the Cowboy Hour in South Dakota.

Cowboy music is the worse kind of music on earth. I don’t like it because the music is really weird -- the singers sing about sad depressing things. One song was about a man’s dog named Shep. Shep was an old and blind dog and the man had to shoot him. But he couldn’t because he loved Shep too much.

Another one was about a constipated cowboy who finally went to an outhouse to go potty. His friends decided to play a trick on him and have a bull run him over in the outhouse. And it worked. The cowboy finally pooped and the bull ran over the outhouse.

Oops I am off the subject of wild animals again.

We saw lots and lots in bison. They are like buffalo but they are not buffalo. We saw them at Yellowstone National Park. Some of them were cute, some were ugly. Some were stinky, some were clean. Kind of like people.

The average bison weighs 2500 pounds. That is about 2450 pounds more than me.

And now I am sorry to say that it is time to finish up with chipmunks.

Chipmunks are sometimes wild and sometimes they can be pets. There was once a chipmunk that pet me – or I pet him – but who cares. I was walking out of the RV to get something for my dad when a chipmunk came bounding towards me. It curled up next to my leg and I stroked it and it fell asleep. I had to wake him when I remembered I needed to get something for my dad.

Seeing all this wildlife has made me think we all need to help animals because if we help animals they will help us.

Good bye from Simon’s Blog

I like pie

2009-09-26T21:43:00.001-07:00

Different types of pie I know

I like pie.
I like cherry pie with ketchup because that way it is very yummy.
I like apple pie with chocolate sauce because then it tastes like chocolate apple pie.
I like lemon pie with lemon juice that way it is extra lemony
I like chocolate pie with Hershey’s hot fudge because that way it is extra chocolaty
I like blueberry pie with blueberry jam. It is very blueberry that way
I like pumpkin pie plain because that is just the way that I like it

But my very favorite is white and dark chocolate fudge pie with dark and white chocolate fudge because that way it is very and white chocolate fudgy.

I like pie because it is yummy.

I have eaten pie in many different places but I have never tasted yummier pie than my Mom’s. My mom’s pie it always the best because of her secret ingredients. I have no idea what they are but I think it is cooked lima beans and liver pate because that is my mom’s favorite.
.
Good bye
Simon

Swinging

2009-09-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

One two three four
Five six seven eight nine ten
Eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen
Seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty
Twenty one twenty two twenty three

I have done 24 swings so far.

I am sitting on a swing right across from my Great Aunt and Uncles House
That is right.
Number 1050 Vine Street.

One zero five zero

Twenty five twenty six swings

I hear some dogs barking and cars roaring.
I hear the crickets buzzing and the wind blowing.
I can hear the train whistle.
I can hear the acorns rattling on my head.
“Ouch. You naughty squirrel don’t throw acorns on my head.”

I hear the crunching of the leaves as I walk on them in my Mickey Mouse blue and green crocs.

I see my RV.
I see my great Aunt and Uncles Suburban.
I see stop signs, trees and bushes.
There are lots of vines growing on that tree and it makes me think about the jungle.

I feel the autumn mist in the land of Hanalee.

I am not swinging anymore.

I am winding the swing up so I can swirl around and around.
I like to go around and around but it makes me feel very dizzy – it feels as if the earth has been tipped upside down.

I can smell the summer air.

I am enjoying Springfield because I am here with my family and my Mama Jo.

I will see you on my next blog – all about a Minor League baseball game. I will tell you the two team’s names then.

The American Idol Concert in St. Louis

2009-08-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago I went to the American Idol Tour in St. Louis. It wasn’t really a tour, it was a concert, but who cares, anyway, it was about 3 hours and there were ten people – the top ten American Idols. I had been really excited. Unfortunately, my Mom wasn’t with us, she was helping my Grandma move, but we didn’t just buy 4 tickets, we bought 6 tickets. First there was my brother and dad, then there was my cousin Curtis and then my second cousins Mary Jo and Madison.

We had good seats. We were looking right down at the side of the stage and there were also two big screens. And out of all the concerts we’ve been to, it was the loudest. I couldn’t see one person who didn’t like it. It was so loud we had to use earplugs, but the earplugs unfortunately didn’t work too much so it was still pretty loud. Then we gave up trying to block the noise and just listened.

The concert started with lots of commercials. First there was one trying to get you to buy a very weird new car – they tried to say all the American Idol people drive this car, you should drive it to. In the commercial there were weird combinations, for instance there might have been half of a wheel at the bottom, for the body Alison (who was one of the top 4) and the head of Adam who came in second and then a big pink hat – you’d never know it kept swapping. But whenever there was a part of Adam or Kris or Danny, everyone would be like “whoo” because they were the top three. Kris came in first (unfortunately, I was rooting for Adam), Adam came in second and Danny came in third.

The concert started with #10, Michael Sarver; I gave him an overall 3 on a scale of one to ten. I liked the background stage and the lights, but his singing wasn’t the best.

Then came #9, Meghan Joy who I rated an overall 6 then #8, Scott MacIntyre who I rated another overall 6 then #7, Lil Rounds – I decided to rate her an overall 6 and a half. The way I remember these ratings is that I told my Dad the ratings during the concert and he wrote down notes [ed. note – I wrote them in the dark, which was a little hard, but they’re reasonably decipherable – anything to support Simon’s blogging habit]. After Lil came #6, Anoop Desai – I gave him a seven and three quarters. I liked his last song the best, it’s kind of hard to describe, but all I can tell you is he was really, really good [ed. note, he really rocked on a version of Bobby Brown’s My Prerogative].

After Anoop came #5 Matt, who we like to call “Matt in the Hat.” I don’t really like the hat much, he looks all weird. His songs were good. So I decided to rate him a 7 and a half. And the way the singers got up on stage was because there was a little square in the stage that you stood on and then you could go down or up (you’d only go down if you’re on the stage, up if you’re below the stage). It was really cool to see Matt come up on it with a piano. [ed. note – Dad really liked his rendition of Georgia on My Mind]. After Matt, there were three songs, all combination songs – the first one was Megan and Lil, then a piano duel between Matt and Scott [Billy Joel’s Tell her About It] and then for the last one all six teamed up and did Beggin’ by the Four Seasons. Then it was time for a twenty minute intermission. During the intermission we got some water and had to rest our ears and stretch our legs.

After the intermission they did the top four. It went Alison, Danny, Adam Kris. I thought it should have gone Allison, Kris, Danny Adam. Unfortunately it didn’t go that way. Her songs were very good, I rated them a 10, a 9.5 and a 10 [So What by Pink; Cry Baby by Janis Joplin; Barracuda by Heart] Her last song was Barracuda which I know from Guitar Hero #3 – if it’s your first time playing, it’s one of the hardest songs, but after you’ve played Guitar Hero awhile it’s very easy.

After Alison came Danny Gokey. Danny was my second favorite on the TV show but unfortunately he came in third. I rated him a 9 and three quarters. [ed. note, he introduced his last number, Rascal Flatts’ My Wish by talking about his own personal loss just before the Idol competition and saying “Never be defined by a tragedy… don’t let bad things kill your dreams” – it was very moving. Here's a link to him performing it earlier on the tour...]

Then the lights were going off and on and for a second I thought the power was cut off and then Adam appeared. His first song was Led Zepplin’s Whole Lotta Love. I rated that song a 10. Then he did Starlight, by Muse which I also rated a 10. Then he did Mad World by Tears for Fears – it was my favorite song in the concert. [Here's a link to Adam doing it on the show ]I also saw him do it on the show, except on the show he was wearing all black robes and there was a lot of blue smoke. Then Adam and Alison did Slow Ride by Foghat, which I also remember from Guitar Hero as one of the first songs I did (although I started with The Story of My Life but I’ll get into that in another blog). [ed. note, Adam finished his set with my favorite number of the concert, a David Bowie medley of Life on Mars / Fame / Let’s Dance. There are rumors that Adam has been asked to be the new front man for Queen, and he certainly can pick up where Freddie Mercury left off]

Adam’s overall score I would say was a definite 10.

And then came Kris. I didn’t like Kris because he came in first and I wanted Adam to come in first. But unfortunately I can’t change what already happened. Kris’ final overall score was about an 8 and a half. Hey Jude was a really good song, I gave it a 10, but I wasn’t rating it just for Kris, because he was joined by the other idols.

Then all the idols came on stage and did Journey's Don’t stop Believing which I thought was the most appropriate song they did in all American Idol because it told all the idols even though Adam came in second it wasn’t the end of Adam, I’m guessing that he’s going to try out next year. And to all the people who want to get onto American Idol it’s saying that you can’t stop believing in yourself, you just can’t even if everyone is like “you can’t do it, you can’t do it” you just can’t say no.

For the last and final ending, I shall say 'bravo' and 'go on' to anyone who wants to join American Idol. I’m not stopping you, I’m encouraging you, Go On!

The National Baseball Hall of Fame

2009-08-22T20:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning I woke up in the RV next to Josh and I realized I was going to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, but it was ok. First we watched a video and it showed a bit of Babe Ruth (aka George Herman) life. Like when he was playing baseball with his friends when he was l10 years old and they lost the ball.

I had a couple of questions, well really one question, before we got there. My question was: What team were the White Sox playing when they got in trouble because of the Black Sox Scandal?

In case you don’t know what that is, here, I will tell you: One year the White Sox were in the world series playing a different team. They lost but many people thought they had bet lots of money that they would lose. I don’t know why they would do that. Maybe because they thought it would be easy to make a lot of money if they would do that. I don’t know. I just don’t know. But then the White Sox players were found out and all the players were banned for life from ever playing baseball again in the Major and Minor Leagues. I found out what the answer was – they were playing the Reds. I don’t remember when it all happened, but it was a long time ago.

There were two very good baseball players, Babe Ruth and Roberto Walker Clemente – but his real name is Roberto Clemente Walker. Barely anyone knows that, but that is the truth.

We are also going to start a patch collection and sew them on to a hoodie. So yesterday I got another patch –so now I have three patches – all from baseball.

The end.

See you next time on my blog

P.S. Here is a picture of me and Babe Ruth.

I Will Blog About Nothing.

2009-08-16T06:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a list about nothing I am going to write about...

I want to write about nothing because there is nothing to write about.

I am not going to write about the movie that I saw last night called Legally Blonde or the movie I saw the night before called G Force.

I certainly I am not going to write about the 334 pages I have read in my book Harry Potter And The Order of the Phoenix.

I will not even think about blogging about the hour and a half long bike ride I did yesterday with my Mom on Kendall Farm Road.

I am not going to write about my friend coming over to visit today or the Treasure Hunt we hope to go on.

I am not going to write about the new pair of socks I just got - they are white with pink polka dots. I wish I could return them. But I can't. My mom lost the receipt.

I am not going to write about the cross country skis that are in the house that I am staying in.

I am not going to write about making blueberry jam with my brother and Dad yesterday. And I definately will not blog about cleaning up the messy kitchen after we made the jam.

I am not going to write about the computer game I like to play called Dragonfable.

I am not going to write about another copmputer game I like called Poptropica.

I am going to write about nothing because I like nothing.

Hey, I just blogged about somthing! I just blogged a list about all the things I am not going to blog about.

The end.

Bromley Mountain

2009-08-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I went to Bromley Mountain which is in Vermont. It is a giant amusement park with tons of fun stuff, but in the winter it’s a ski mountain. We went in the summer, which you probably know because it is the summer and I’m writing this in the summer, so it was still the amusement park.

My favorite thing is the alpine slide, it’s the most famous ride. You start by going up a half hour long chair lift ride. Then you get off the chair lift, get your sled and start sledding down the track. You’re in a little sled with a handle, the farther back you pull the handle, the slower you go. You’re on a track going down the mountain and there are lots of turns and some bumps along the way – it’s really fun, you wouldn’t believe how fun it is, it’s so fun.

My second favorite thing is the rock climbing. I only got into it this year and on my first try I got up face #2. I can’t wait to get up face #3 and #4. And face #4 has the funniest name ever, Mount Neverest (instead of Everest) and it looks really hard, but I want to try it after I do face #3 which has a really weird name – it’s called YK2.

There’s also something really scary that you have to be over 5’ tall to do – the space bikes. You’re strapped into these bicycles and the bicycles are attached to a big metal bar and when you pedal them they go around and around in a circle so that at some points you’re upside down. Below is a picture of our friends from London who came to visit us trying the space bikes. My friend Maddie loved them…

My friend upside down on the space bike!

This summer I’ve been to Bromley two times and we’re planning to go there a third time with two of my brother Josh’s best friends.

My third favorite thing is the water slide. Basically you’re in a little raft going down a slide. Parts of it are covered but not all. There are lots of turns and it’s impossible not to get wet because there’s a shower at the end. There's a little thing at the side of the last tunnel that comes out of the slide; it shoots water kind of like a shower only you can’t control the temperature and the shower is partly cold, partly warm, but you don’t really feel it because you’re going so fast. It’s nice to do the water slide on a nice hot day otherwise it’ll be very cold.

A Turkey On The Side of the Road

2009-07-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Last week I saw a turkey on the side of Winhall Hallow Road. I was in Vermont in the car when my mom saw it.

My Mom said, "Look there is a turkey."

I said, "Where?"

She said, "There."

I said, "Where?"

She said, "There, on the side of the road."

So I pushed myself up with my feet out of my seat and I saw the turkey bobbing its head up and down. Its head looked like a turkey head - it was brown and had feathers. He was about up to my knee. But we don't know if it was a he or a she.

My Mom said, "Hey, lets get a closer look."

When I opened up my door the turkey ran up through the bushes and it took off and flew. It flew like it never flew before. It flew up over the trees. It flew up over the houses. It flew up over the hills, over the clouds. It flew higher then a turkey ever flew before.

Where did it fly? We don't know.

But I hope that turkey will live a well and good life.

And I hope it won't get caught at Thanksgiving but if it does, I hope I will be the one who eats it. Although I doubt it will.

Le Mix

2009-07-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

A pretty long while ago when we were driving from New York to Atlanta we stayed at a dumpy McDumpy hotel (ed. Note in southern Virginia). It was terrible, it looked terrible, it was terrible. The bed sheets felt rock hard, the bed felt rock hard. When the hot water was on full blast it felt like the cold water was on full blast. The colors were terrible it was like the mess if you got a bald eagle and smooshed it and squirted green goo on it.

But looking at the bright side, after that we went to our friends in Atlanta, the D’s [Ed. Note real names not used for reasons of Internet privacy / security] who have a boat on Lake Lanier. We got to ride on a tube towed behind a jet ski. At the start it was freakishly scary, I mean we were going about 28 miles per hour and it was really scary and our friend Mary D. was doing all sorts of things like pretending to do the “can can” and lying on her back without holding onto anything. Then I got the hang of it and started doing all of those things too, though my Mom was a scaredy cat. My friends, Nick, Matt and Zack like to do even more scary things – they like to put four people on it when it’s only supposed to hold three people and they flip it. The people closest to the handles will hold onto the handle and everyone will push forward and the whole tube will flip. My favorite move was the one where you crouch down and jumped and the one where you go backwards with no hands and let the waves take you by surprise.

The day before I went on the tube behind the D’s jet ski, I actually rode on a jet ski for the first time at some of my dad’s friends, the R’s. They also live on Lake Lanier but far away from the D’s. I liked riding in the front of the jet ski. There were two, a red one made for going fast and a yellow one made for bouncing. The yellow one was my favorite but the red one was also fun. I liked to see how fast we were going on the red jet ski which had a speedometer – the fasted I went was 51 miles per hour. I got to ride on the red one with Mr. R. and my mom and my dad, and then Mrs. R gave me a ride on the yellow one. We bounced a ton (boing, boing, boing) and then we sped up and jumped really high waves. Jet skiing is so fun, it’s even more fun than real skiing I have to admit. We were at the R’s on the third of July and after the jet skiing and dinner we got to watch the fireworks at night from a boat. The fireworks were really cool. One of them was a sideways smily face.

Me on the red Jet Ski with Dad

Me driving the yellow Jet Ski with Mrs. R.

For the last week, I’ve been going to a camp called Camp Kingfisher at the Chattahoochee Nature Center. My counselors were Scott and Lucy and we did all sorts of things – We went swimming every day and my favorite part of lunch was not the food but the “bug juice”. They always made some yummy juice cocktail that they called “bug juice”. And there were all sorts of different colors, orange, blue, yellow and pink. We went on hikes, we went to the aviaries, the “disco” center (ed. note, the Discovery Center), all sorts of fun things.

On Thursday I was on TV – Fox 5 news to be exact. They came to camp and were filming us doing all sorts of really fun things. I was filmed in the disco center and we looked at all sorts of things from nature and we were asked to pick out our favorite thing that we found and tell Fox 5 news what we thought it was. I chose a really cool shell that I said “it looks like a pen and the water is like ink – put the shell in the water and you can write.” I was also filmed getting my face painted.

[ed note, below are the two videos. Simon is wearing the orange shirt and appears near the end of each one]

First segment with Simon talking about shell (simon starts at 2:01)

Second segment with Simon getting face painted (Simon starts at 2:10)

Then on the last day of camp, which was today, something very bad happened. We were doing a mini competition and the first activity was tug of war and I was in the front. The rope was too short so we had to tie two pieces together. My counselor Scott was holding the rope together so it didn’t fall, but then it wasn’t the knot that broke, but I snapped a part of the rope and I got a bad rope burn and started bleeding on one finger. But I was a trooper and didn’t cry although I couldn’t join in for the rest of the activities. Today was popsicle day and everyone got a popsicle except if you picked up a piece of trash you got two, but I got three – I got a normal one and then my counselor Scott offered me a second one and then one of my friends in my group said “here take mine.”

Coming soon to Simon’s Blog – Apple pie across America.

Tune in very soon to watch. Here’s a picture of me with my first slice, at Greenwood’s in Roswell, Georgia.

Cracker Jack

2009-06-29T04:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had my very first Cracker Jack. For those of you who don't know what a Cracker Jack is, it is a special type of food that is carmel coated popcorn and every packet comes with a special surprise inside.

Cracker Jack is very yummy and they are like a supreme delicacy although the surprizes are not like plastic bunnies because they always are flat to fit into the box. For an example a pencil topper. A pencil topper goes on to your pencil and has a picture on it and when you twirl the pencil the picture will move.

My great Aunt Jean introduced me to them. She is 92, almost 93 and she lives in the Versailles - when I say the Versailles I don't mean the Versailles outside of Paris - I mean an apartment building in Philadelphia.

Now I have to go. Ta ta for now.

The Banksy Exhibit

2009-06-24T04:14:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't who Banksy is, he is a graffiti artist. And last Saturday I went to go see his exhibition in Bristol, it is at the Bristol City Museum and it is called Banksy V Bristol Museum.

We got there on the train and I went with my friend Dom, my brother, my mom, my dad, my brothers friend, and our friends Peter and Juliane. First we took a taxi to Mathews house, then Dom's house, then to Paddington Station to meet Juliane and Peter. Paddington Station is the same station where Paddington Bear was found and he was named for the station.

At the train station I went to The Candy Factory and picked out some very yummy pieces of candy - some white chocolate fudge, a couple of gummy coke bottles, a marshmallow twisted thing, a candy blackberry and a sticky thing covered in chocolate sprinkles that tasted like coffee which I did not like.

The train took about an hour and a half. However me and Dom were prepared. I had brought some Simpsons Uno Cards and Dom brought a kids crossword puzzle book, a dot to dot book, a Horrid Henry Jolly Joke Book and that was it.

Then when we finally got there was a gigantic line and my dad got us some pizza to eat in a field. Finally it was time to enter. It was a very funny show because Banksy just snuck around doing all sorts of crazy things like the hen house with the hen and the baby chicken nuggets coming out of the eggs. There was an ice cream truck inside with a giant ice cream on top covered in graffiti. We also saw a miniature Stonehenge made out of Port A Loos with a picture on Stonehenge on the morning of the solstice. We were also there on the solstice - June 21st.

We saw the funniest thing ever - we saw a picture of baby Jesus and Mary - and Mary was listening to an Ipod and the picture was called Silent Night.

We also saw a picture of some UFO's sending down some green laser beams. It probably meant that the aliens were going to abduct some people.

There was also a picture of a woman looking through a window with a computer note saying that an error has appeared on the computer and to please X out and try again. This was funny because you don't normally see a computer error in a picture. [ed note - picture titled "Woman at Window"]

One of the funniest things was the living hot dogs. They were moving hot dogs. One was plane, one s was still in a wrapper, one had mustard on it and in a bun - and they were all moving. And now I don't think I will ever look at a hot dog the same way again.

And now last but not least - the attack of the LIVING CCTV Cameras. There was a mother CCTV camera up in a tree and two baby CCTV Camera in the nest and another baby on the floor. It was probably saying, "You don't get the CCTV cameras the CCTV camera get you."

Graffiti can be bad for the earth but if it is done by Banksy it is very funny.

I would recommend anybody who reads my blog to go and see it.

My Later Impressions

2009-06-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

I am really excited about the whole RV trip but also really sad. I can't decide if I am happy or sad. I am really a cross between the two.

I am really sad because I am going to be leaving all my friends and I probably won't be able to travel back to London again. I am also really really sad because I have lived in London almost all my life and I have lived on the same street for 6 years. 6 years is like forever when you are 7 years old.

I am really going to miss my bedroom and the view from the window when it is sunset or sunrise. From my bedroom window I can see most of the garden and part of the crematorium and part of our neighbours gardens. The colors in my garden are mostly green, black, gray and red. The red part is the shed and the playhouse. The green part is all the grass and plants and the bamboo. We have bamboo in the garden becasue I like pandas. The black part is the soil and the gray is the stones.

We have a swing set, a wagon, a playhouse, and a lot a lot a lot of green space. We also have a sprinkler and a hose. We have a lot of gnomes to take care of the garden - but I am not a gnome expert.

I will miss the London Eye, Big Ben, the aquarium, the Natural History Museum, and riding on Bus Number 82. I will miss the All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet especially because of the chocolate fountain.

The Spaniards Pub I will miss because it has good food and it is also really cool because there are ghosts living in the shadows - that are going to come and eat you!

But I am also really happy because we are going back to American where I was born and where all my family was born. We are planning on seeing most of our family - but not everybody. We are going to see my Oregon Grandpa, Mama Jo and Grandma and Grandpa.

And we are going to see some volcanos in Hawaii and have a ton of fun in the RV.

I am not a Volcanologist but I am hoping to become one.

As you can see I am both really sad and really happy. But I am mostly happy.

Ta ta for now.

2009-06-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture I did in computer class. We had to draw what summer means to us. And, to me, it means the soon coming trip in the R.V.

What I want to Know About RV's

2009-05-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of things I want to know about RV's:

1. If you have a big RV that is about 15 meters long and 10 meters high, and you are completely out of gas how much does it cost to fill up the tank in dollars?

2. Is it really messy if you empty out the toilet?

3. Is it easy to get into problems? Like - the RV rolls away by itself or if the RV gets a breakdown.

4. If in the middle of the night and you have a breakdown - what do you do?

5. How much room do you have for toys?

6. Is it fun in an RV?

7. Is taste testing apple pie as you are travelling around the country a good way to judge places?

8. Is there a bathtub in the RV?

9. Are there any stairs in an RV?

10. Are there radiators in an RV?

11. Is there a home phone in an RV?

12. Do you sleep in sleeping bags in the RV?

13. Do you have a garden in an RV?

14. Do you have a refrigerator in an RV?

15. How do you make friends if you live in an RV?

My First Sleep-over

2009-04-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I had my first sleep-over at the house of someone who isn't related to me!

I only found out that we were having a sleep over that day. I was excited. I was not scared at all. He is in my class at school. I had a lot of fun, and had chocolate crepes for breakfast - I ate 6 but they were really small. And I met my friend's mom's boyfriend.

My friend and I slept in two different beds in the same room and I slept in my new sleeping bag that I got from Santa, it is red. We stayed up until about 11 o'clock talking - but I forgot what we were talking about. We also ate hot dogs for dinner. I like my hotdogs with ketchup in a bun.

We played on the computer, television and wii alot. Nothing could have made it better - only if the crepes were bigger.

I hope that I have another sleep over sometime soon.

What will happen next time in my blog? Find out on Tuesday.

What I want to visit

2009-03-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

First I want to go to Vermont so I can see my grandparents. Then I want to go to Springfield, Illinois so I can see my great aunt and uncle. Then Oregon to see my other grandpa. Then San Diego to see my other grandma and go to see the pandas. For Christmas I was hoping we could go down to San Francisco to see some of my cousins. Then Washington, DC to get a tour of the White House, then Churchill Canada to see the Polar Bears.

I am feeling so weird that I don't think I'm ever going to do this. I've told all of my friends and they said "where are you moving?" then I said, "I don't know because we're going on the year long trip in the RV."

Currently, at school, I'm studying the human body and this is the last week of it. Next I'm going to be studying oceanography which I am very excited about because we get to pick out a sea creature to study about and my one is going to be the humuhumunukunukuāpua (also known as the Reef Triggerfish).

My first impressions

2009-02-28T04:22:00.000-08:00

(as dictated to his Dad)
When I first heard that we are going to do this I had feelings that I didn't even know what they were. What could it be? I guess I'll never know but I'll keep on trying to think about it.

I'm looking forward to seeing all my relatives in America and seeing my cousin in Manilla. But most of all I'm sad for leaving London. I'm going to miss all my friends and going to my school.

I'm looking forward to seeing panda bears in San Diego and seeing the polar bears [ed. note, google churchill manitoba to find where to see polar bears in North America].