Stratford

Salutations lords and lady’s from the land of Shakespeare.

Translation, wassup.   I'm in Stratford Upon Avon.

Yesterday we decided to start the morning by walking to the house of Anne Hathaway (pronounced hate-a way),wife of Shakespeare. Hilariously, the majority of the time we spent there was taking a walk through the woods around the house.

So we pretty much took a walk, so we could go an a walk.

The house was boring but a good example of an English Tudor House with a thatched roof. There was a  tour guide who told us:

1. Anne Hathaway inhereted the 2^nd best bed when her husband William Shakespeare died.
2. Anne was 26 and William was 18 when they got married – their daughter was s out walking he meets born 6 months later. She was not born early.
3. People would sleep with cheese above their beds since there was no refrigeration and they lived on a farm.

Enjoy the pictures below that have pictures of the walk and the house. 

After the Hathaway House we went to the Royal Shakespeare Companies production of Hamlet.  In case you don’t know the story – here it is:

Hamlet in a Nutshell

Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark and off at University when his father dies.  He comes home and is horrified because his mother has already remarried his uncle (his father’s brother).

One night while Hamlet is walking he meets the ghost of his father who tells him he must avenge his death because he was murdered by his brother. 

Hamlet doesn’t know if this is true so he gathers a troop of actors and has them put on a play re-enacting his father’s death as told to him by the ghost.  He carefully watches his uncle (the new kings) reaction to the play.  Sure enough, half way through the play within a play, The Uncle finds he cannot breathe and runs away. This proves to Hamlet that the ghost is telling the truth and the uncle must die. 

Before Hamlet has a chance to murder the uncle, the uncle sends him to England, with 2 of his university friends.  Unbeknownst to Hamlet, the friends have betrayed Hamlet and are carrying a letter from the king (his uncle) to execute Hamlet upon his arrival in England. 

Hamlet however catches wind of the plot to kill him and makes his way back to Denmark where his love interest Ophelia has killed herself by drowning. 

Bottom line: Pelonis dies (Ophelia’s dad and the kings advisor - Hamlet stabs him thinking he was the king), Queen Gertrude dies (by drinking a poisoned drink that was meant for Hamlet), Larities dies (brother of Ophelia, by the poisoned sword that Hamlet wheeled), King dies (drinking from poisoned drink and stabbed by poisoned sword), Hamlet dies (also by being stabbed by poisoned sword).

The only one left was Horatio (Hamlet’s only true friend) so he could tell the story. Also because nobody wanted to kill him. 

This was a fun play to see – even if it was a little gruesome. 

See you next time on my blog. 

 But before you go,check out these pictures of the Hathaway house.

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Stratford Upon Avon

I'm back! That's right, Simon David Ace Grossman, Lord High Ruler of all Awesomeness is here to tell you about his latest adventure! 

Yesterday my mother and I hopped on board the 12:18 train to Stratford Upon Avon, following in the footsteps of the great bard himself. For those of you who are unaware, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford. If you don't know whoWilliam Shakespeare was, he was known as The Bard of Avon, owned his own acting company, and and wrote over 35 plays. Please look at the following pictures to learn more.

 This is Shakespeare portrayed as a demon, as many of his plays included death.

This is what some people think Shakespeare would look like nowadays, since he was wildly popular in his time. Also sometimes people like to update his plays and set them in modern times. Did you know that West Side Story is based off of Romeo and Juliette?

This is me standing next to a bust of the bard himself!

This is fireplace in Shakespeare's childhood home.

This is the kitchen in Shakespeare's childhood home.

this is Shakespeare's childhood home.

These are pictures of the garden in New Place, the large house Shakespeare bought.

thanks for coming! today we are going to see Hamlet. Wonder how it ends...

I'm back! that's right, Simon David Ace Grossman lord high ruler of all awesomeness is here to tell you about his last adventure! Yesterday me and may mom hopped on board the 12:18 train to Stratford Upon Avon, following in the footsteps of the great bard himself. for those of you who are

I'm back! That's right, Simon David Ace Grossman, the Lord high ruler of all awesomeness is here to tell you   about his latest adventure! yesterday my mother and I left the confines of the city and boarded the train to see

Hello again! Fancy seeing you here! Do you come here often? Well you should! Today I shall tell about my travels to the Churchill War Rooms! The Churchill War Rooms were originally called the Cabinet War Rooms, since the Cabinet (a group of military advisers for Britain that included the Prime Minister) met there. The Cabinet War Rooms were a series of rooms that were used as a Top secret place to plot against the Nazi's in WWII. Everyone who worked there was sworn to secrecy. Please enjoy the following pictures.

   .                                                            

This is a picture we took right in front of Big Ben! We were right outside the Westminster Tube Station, and had to pass it to get to the Churchill war rooms. Did you know that Big Ben is actually not it's own building? It is a part of the House of Parliament! The House of Parliament is like the US Congress but instead of Senators and Congressmen and women they have the House of Lords and the Ministers of Parliament.

This is the sign that says Churchill War Rooms. We passed right by it while we were waiting in line.

In the Churchill War rooms we saw the actual rooms. We saw inside the rooms that only Winston Churchill and a few of his top staff used. There was a secret room used to telephone the President of the United States - President Roosevelt. While this seems like nothing for the present times - back then it was incredible technology.  Everyone else thought the secret room was the only flushing toilet available.  There were also bedrooms so people could spend the night. One of my favorite places was the map room - it was covered with maps of Europe and Russia and it was there where they would make their plans on how to stop the Nazi's.  

Winston Churchill seemed like a hard boss but a nice man.  

Remember to keep watching, next time you will hear about our train ride to Stratford Upon Avon, and my big viola world tour! Keep looking every day! 

And here h

Hello again! Miss this fabulous blog yet? Well you should! In this edition you'll find out about the fabulous   London Museum Of Natural History! 

First we (I was there with my Aunt Bonnie and cousin Dow. Dow, who is my age, and I lived in London at the same time - when we were 2 - 5 years old.  Now she lives in Geneva, Switzerland and she and her mom rendez vous'ed with us for this trip) went to the favorite exhibit from our past, THE DINOSAURS! Unfortunately many of the school groups had the same idea so we decided to check out the mammals. The mammals exhibit was interesting and informative. Did you know that some scientists argue that a panda bear is actually more like a raccoon then a bear? The majority of scientists however, agree that the panda is a bear and the red panda is a relative of the raccoon's. There are also over 20 kinds of bats and they are the only mammal that can fly.

Then we couldn't stand it any longer. we had to see the Dinosaurs even though there were a ton of people - just too many childhood memories. First we walked up steps onto a sort of metal catwalk. On the floor were many dinosaur skeletons, there were also many in the air. At the end of the cat walk, we found ourselves on a ramp. but we could only see what was behind us not in front of us. This was due to a large wall covered with t-Rex facts, for instance the t-Rex was tall enough to ride a double decker bus, and the t-Rex weighed about out as much as 30 2nd graders. then suddenly we heard a very loud "rrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" as we turned a corner we saw it, A LIFE SIZE TYRANNOSAURUS REX! it was about 24 feet tall, with arms that were about 1 foot long.

Up next was the Darwin Center. In the Darwin Center there are over 100 scientists at work, trying to use different pieces in the museum to find out what starts, spreads and stops diseases like malaria. they are also at work trying to think of names that fit different species.

I hope you enjoyed your visit! Please click on this great virtual tour of the London Natural History Museum:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdQDm4gdSOc



and here I am...

And this afternoon we are off to The Cabinet War Rooms!

Dear Followers,

Welcome back, or in the case of my class, welcome! If you have come to this site by accident, then read on since I assure you it's better then the site you were trying to get to. For the next week or so I, Simon David Ace Grossman, will be blogging about the trip to London that  me and my mother are on. Please note that I am writing this on the 25th of March 2013 so if you are reading this in the year 500,000 AS(After Simon) trying to find out about my early life, I am NOT still on that trip. Below i am going to post some photos from our 1st and 2nd days.

In the food court at Logan, we noticed that up on the wall were these signs for many major cities. It'f funny to think that America is wider then the Atlantic ocean.

In the Victoria and Albert museum  there was a very cool screen that allowed the user to create their own coat of arms. if you are in my class, then ask Ms.Adams to show you the one I made for the class. The motto in Latin means "through effort to the stars" I have the same motto on my coat of arms which you will see below.

This is my coat of arms. I worked hard on it so enjoy(or else, DUN DUN DUN).

These are pictures of models of the Globe Theater. They are, hilariously, IN the Globe Theater. Humans (snort). The Globe Theater we were in was the 3rd globe. It was where many of Shakespeares plays were preformed.  It was originally built for Shakespeare in fact - the the late 1500's.

I shall now tell you the great Chronicles of the Globe.

The 1st Globe, burned down. they were in the middle of a show, and the King of England was part character in the show. A cannon was shot to salute the king, but the technical people must not of positioned  the cannon quite right, and boom bang whiz ( or woop zoop sloop) the cannon hit the roof and the roof was on fire. Since the roof was made of thatch the Globe burned down quickly - with over 2000 people in the audience. Nobody was hurt but one poor mans britches caught on fire - but dont worry, he had a bottle of beer handy and used it to put out the fire. He ruined his britches but he saved his life.

Today we are off to the Natural History museum.  Keep reading as i will post about it tomorrow.

Dear followers,

welcome back! or in the case of my class welcome! if you have to this site by accident, then read on since i assure you its better then the site you were trying to get to. for the next week or so I, Simon David Ace Grossman will be blogging about the trip to London that  me and my mother are on. please note that I am writing this on the 25th of march 2013 so if you are reading this in the year 500,000 AS(After Simon) trying to find out about my early life, i am NOT still on that trip. below i am going to post some photos from our 1st and 2nd days.

in the food court at Logan, we noticed that up on the wall were these signs for many major cities. its funny to think that america is wider then the Atlantic ocean.

in the Victoria and Albert museum  there was a very cool screen that allowed the user to create their own coat of armor. if you are in my class, then ask Ms.Adams to show you the one I made for the class. the motto, in Latin means "through effort to the stars" I have the same motto on my coat of arms which you will see below.

This is my coat of arms. I worked hard on it so enjoy(or else, DUN DUN DUN).

These are pictures of models of the globe theater. they are, hilariously, IN the globe theater. Humans (snort). the globe theater we were in was the 3rd globe. i shall now tell you the great Chronicals of the Globe.
The 1st globe, burned down. they were in the middle of a show, but it required the king of england. so what do they do? they get the king of England! a cannon was shot to salute the king, but  he must not of positioned  the cannon quite right, and boom bang whiz ( or woop zoop sloop) the roof was on fire. for the low watt bulbs in the audiance the cannon hit the thached roof and bang in fire it went. we do know that every one was evacuated, b

How far is it to London?

Sign in Logan airport

 r

London - Getting ready to go

Getting ready to go to London, I'll be posting every day so keep watching! The plane leaves at 8:50 tonight
(March 22nd) and will be landing in London 7:20 AM, which is 2:20 AM here in Massachusetts. Hmm, not the party all night I was envisioning. I wonder if I will be tired...?

Getting ready

What I am Not Going to Tell you About – Italy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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.