The Ice Show

December 19th was the day of my ice show.  As soon as we got there we met up with the other girls in the show.  One of our partners in our number came running up to us and said that we were the first number to perform.  "No" we said to her obviously thinking we were not going first.  "Girls you are the first to go!" my mom yelled to us.  "Thats just great" I thought.  I put on a black dress with a golden stripe down the side, Jessica wore a red dress with sparkles all over it.  After our dresses were on we rushed onto the ice.  We practiced a little backstage before it started.  Then the director of the rink picked up a microphone and said "Our first number is Carol of the Bells, the Fab Four will be skating to this."  We all nodded behind the curtains while hearing our new nickname.  "So presenting the Fab Four" she said loudly.  We nervously stepped onto the cold ice.  My hands were shaking as I skated over to my spot.  Carol of the Bells rang through the air.  We spiraled, we spun, we did footwork and we just really enjoyed ourselves out there.  The music ended with a BANG!!!  We were all laughing so hard when the song ended for some reason. The crowd went wild people were standing up and cheering.  If you want to see the ice show go to YouTube and type in, Sweets and Treats Pond ice show.  I am in the Sweets. Treats. Clarity. Synchro.MPG. Im also in the Finale and the Fab four MPG.

Hope you enjoy
Alyssa

Dairy Queen

A few nights ago I finished reading a book called Dairy Queen.  It was actually the first in the series to Dairy Queen.  It was about a girl named D.J. Schwenk.  She has two older brothers.  One named Bill and the other named Win.  They were pro football stars.  The setting of this story is on a farm.  She grew up learning how to milk the cows, shave the sheep and pluck the feathers of geese for pillows.  In this book she realizes that some people seem like a cow to her.  People at the supermarket check out all of the peoples items. People at banks cash in all the checks.  (I mean thats mandatory though.)  But the point is everyone does what their supposed to be doing which is good to a certain extent.  But D.J has a really un-cowish idea.  She wants to play football on the football team. In this book she has to deal with being around obnoxious boys, strange friends and odd parents.  I give this book a four star.  It was really sad at some parts and really happy at some parts too.  I recommend this book to anyone who likes teen novels.

Thanks,
Alyssa

Who Was JFK?

Just yesterday I finished a book called Who Was J.F.K?  This is a small book with tons of facts on John F. Kennedy.  I would rate this book a five star because there are so many interesting facts presented in this book that I never new about.  John F. Kennedy was born May 29th 1917.  He had 7 other siblings. The oldest was Joe Jr. Kennedy, named after his father.  Then there were his sisters Rosemary, Jean, Patricia, Eunice, Kathleen and last there was their baby brother Teddy Kennedy the youngest in the family.  J.F.K became the 35th President of the United States on January 21 1961.  John F .Kennedy died November 22 1963.  J.F.K was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald when he was going to make a speech in Texas about African american Rights.  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes learning about presidential history.

Thanks!
Alyssa

Lets Bake!

 My mom and I always used to bake together.  Lately I haven't really had the chance to do that with her.  But luckily today I had that special chance. So I went onto Food Network looked around at some amazing varieties of cupcakes until I found the flavor I had been craving.  I chose out a key lime flavored cupcake.  My mom and I had a fun time mixing and pouring all the ingredients in.  Though occasionally we made some messes.  We finally got to pour the batter into our flower shaped silicon cups.  The recipe said that it would need to cook for 25 minutes.  We eagerly waited for the timer to beep.  It loudly went off.  My mom pulled out the cupcakes and let them cool.  After they cooled down most of the way, I lifted a cupcake up and took a bite.  Flavorful, zesty, sweet and DELICIOUS!  I told everyone to take a bite.  They all picked up a cupcake took a bite and all gladly nodded in approval.

Thanks,
Alyssa

Ice Show Rehearsal

Yesterday at our ice rink we were rehearsing for the big Christmas ice show coming up on the 18th.  My sister Jessica and I will be in three different songs.  One, is our foursome group skating to Carol of the Bells but an electric guitar is playing the whole song so it sounds really cool.  Next is our synchronized skating song from Sister Act.  I will be lifted up in this one which I am not too thrilled about.  But I still think it is really fun!  In this song we have to be nuns, so we have to wear the nun headpieces.  We were all making fun of ourselves saying how weird we looked in the nun costumes.  Then finally the last one Jessica and I are in is Feliz Navidad.  Every skater gets to come out and do one of their favorite spins or jumps.  I am doing a scratch spin for the finale and my sister is going to do her amazing sit spin.  I am very excited about this show and hope I do well!  Wish me luck!

Thanks,
Alyssa

What Momma Left Me

            I just finished an amazing book called What Momma Left Me.  It was about an 8th grade girl named Serenity.  She grew up in harsh times.  Her dad always beat her mother and her brother kept getting more and more distant.  Her Grandparents finally realize what is happening in their  house and decide to let Serenity and her Brother Danny live with them.  In this book Serenity loses and finds hope, finds love and finds happiness.  This is definitely a 5 star book.  I read this in about two days and could barely put it down.  Every time I finish a book I will try to update it on my blog. =)

Thanks,
Alyssa

The Planets

Last week, after all the Thanksgiving craziness was over, my dad bought tickets to another orchestra performance.   It was called The Planets.  I learned that the musicians would play different types of music for a different planet.  So,  Mars was loud and vibrant while Venus was soft and beautiful and so on.  Also I learned that there would be a big screen showing different planets as the music went by.  Anyway that week I caught a cold.  My dad even started talking about not going if I had such a bad cough.  Luckily the day we were supposed to go my cough was barely noticeable.  I picked out a nice pink dress for the concert.  The only problem was that I kept shivering most of the time.  We walked into the room about fifteen minutes early until suddenly the lights began to dim.  Mars was the first planet to be shown.  It was loud and scary but I kind of liked it.  Then Venus came on and my eyes began to shut.  The music was a perfect lullaby.    *cough*, *cough*, *cough*!  I woke up with a start.  "Darn it" I thought, and of course the music was at its very quietest and i'm coughing profusely!  Some heads turn back to glance at me.  My cheeks burn red.  I try to hide my face into my thin jacket while I cough.  Then the last note started to come beautifully out of the instruments until someones loud cellphone went off.  ring, ring RING!!  The room was quiet until a loud applause broke out.  People were standing up and smiling.  When we got out my dad took me by the shoulder and said "You did so well except for the last part!".  He said smiling.  "I know" I said.  At least I wasn't the only one who was embarrassed that day thinking back to the cellphone.

My Skates!!

Last Sunday I had my solo ice skating competition.  I was competing with 8 people in total (me as one of them.) Well, I took 4th place.  Mostly because I was not going very fast I guess.  Anyway usually I leave my skates at the ice rink that I go to.  But after the competition we thought might as well just bring them home for now and not make another trip to our ice rink.  Apparently that wasn't a very smart idea.  Yesterday morning at 6:00 A.M. my mom woke  me up and said its time to go to the rink.  This wasn't unusual because we occasionally did this on two days of the week.  So we got in the car.  My mom kept telling me all of the stuff I needed to work on that morning.  I nodded in agreement as we finally pulled into the rink.  As we got inside we went into the room were I always leave my skates.  "Oh my gosh were are my skates??"  My mom looked at me wide eyed.  We both new what happened at the same time.  "No, no, no, no!" she said.  "How could you leave your skates?"  I frowned clumsily and shrugged.  "How was I supposed to remember?"  "Because its your responsibility" she said seriously.    I sighed and said "Yeah your right".  While she went out to teach one of her students I had to stretch the whole time she was teaching.  My mom wanted me to do the splits, run around the rink 20 times and do  jumping jacks.  By the time she got off with her student I was panting after doing so many jumping jacks.  I smiled at her and I said "I'm never doing that again."  She happily smiled back.

Thanks
Alyssa

Guava Juice!

We were getting tired.  Tired of having the same old apple juice, water, grape juice and cranberry juice.  So  my brilliant dad decided to order canned guava juice straight from Hawaii.  Everyone sighed happily in relief when he told us that.  It was going to be a couple days before we could get it though.  Then on one special evening the doorbell rang.  We all walked over to the door quickly.  We opened the door and their were three boxes.  We all didn't want to get our hopes up just in case it was a new book ordered by my dad or something.  We wanted to wait till my dad got home from work so we could open whatever it was with him.  But we just couldn't wait.  So we got the scissors out and tore open the boxes and sure enough there was........GUAVA JUICE.  To my surprise their was also passion fruit and orange. Then at the very bottom of the box their was a little note that said thank you for purchasing and ma-halo which means thank you in Hawaiian   Finally when my dad got home his eyes were wide and saw that we had laid out the juices in a decorative manner.  He smiled and gave us all a hug.  When dinner was ready we popped the lid of the cans and took a nice long gulp of such wonderful tasting juice.  "Now remember, you kids cant have more than one a day OK?" My dad asked.  We all nodded except for Ryan who gave a mischievous smile.  Ryan hasn't taken any more than one juice per day......yet

Thanks
Alyssa

Jumping off the high dive!

A couple of months ago my friends invited me to go with them to a swimming park.  There were a lot of cool things there like a big trampoline a huge slide and the scariest of all a 50 foot tall high dive.  It took me a couple of minutes to jump into the water.  When I was ready to, I plunged myself in, going under the clear water.  First, since I had never been there before my friends took me over to the big trampoline. We busied ourselves by jumping and falling on it a hundred times.  After that you can see how we got a little bored.  Next, my friends and I jumped off into the water and swam over to the big slide.  I was a little cautious at first but I went down anyway.  Then my friends pulled me by the arms and took me over to the high dive.  "Alright guys have fun jumping off!"  I said laughing.  "If we go you have to go too" they told me.  I frowned but I knew that sometime I had to get over my fear of jumping off of that thing.  I watched older and bigger kids than me jump off the board screaming and putting their hands in the air.  I sighed but shrugged it off.  Soon there was one more person and then it was my turn.  Butterflies attacked my stomach.  I started praying there would be some sort of distraction.  Apparently my sister who didn't really want to get in the water told me that my little brother Ryan was just about to get in and I had to help him. I happily agreed.  I quietly tried to escape from my friends they seemed not to notice...for a little at least.  Soon one of my friends came over to me and made a really sad face and begged me to go.  "All right" I said.  I called over Jessica and told her I was going off of the high dive so she had to take Ryan back for a little.  I slowly swam over and climbed up the latter again to go up to the high dive.  I climbed up and looked over the edge.  "Don't look down." I told myself over and over.  Finally I gathered up my courage and jumped!  I was going down so fast I couldn't even comprehend why I did it.  I hit the water and went under.  I got up and yelled "Wohoo!"  My friends were clapping and smiling.  It was fun I admit, but after all of that I was about done with swimming by then.  I dried myself off and told my friends bye.  I got into to the car and thought I'm glad I did something that I thought I would never do.

Thanks
Alyssa

The Orchestra

Last week my dad had the great idea of taking us on a trip to the orchestra.  We found out that the people who are playing in it are ages 12-18.  We drove a little while and had to park in a freezing cold parking lot.  I walked out of the car shivering in my red dress.  The automatic doors welcomed us inside with warmth.  As soon as I decided to sit down for a minute, my dad had the tickets already in his hands and said "Come on guys, lets go!"  I stood up and followed my dad to our seats.  Apparently he had gotten us a box seat. I could see the whole orchestra.  There were really small kids and  really tall kids setting up their instruments.  The conductor stepped out from behind some doors and the room was filled with applause.  The lights soon dimmed and everyone was silent.  The music started with a blast.  Violinists glided their bows gently over their violins, trumpeters blew their horns loudly but gracefully.  The room was filled with many different sounds including percussion, (one of my favorite parts to hear.)  It ended with a bang.  Everyone was standing up and clapping.  The orchestra bowed deeply, smiles spreading across all of their faces.  At one point I had almost fallen asleep because it was so pretty.  We all got up skipping to the door humming the last song.

Thanks,
Alyssa

ACT Test

My parents have very high expectations for my education.  Starting last week Jessica and I had to start practicing for the ACT test.  I am doing the ACT four years before I need to, it may sound crazy but its good for me because, most people who are taking the test have never studied it and just take the the real test without ever practicing it.  The first test my sister and I had to take was a vocabulary test.  I admit I did a bad job I got a 31 out of 75.  YIKES!!!  We reviewed our tests a couple days later.  The next time I took the test I improved by 8 points!  I was so excited that I had gotten a 21.  Today we had to take a math test.  60 problems in 60 minutes. I ended up getting a 15.  I looked at my paper disgusted almost every other problem looked like it had a huge red x through it.  I'll take it again next week and hopefully I'll do better!  From now on every single week Jessica and I will take practice tests for the ACT.  Isn't the coolest way to spend your weekend, but is definitely one of the smartest ways.

Thanks,
Alyssa

Art Museum

Last weekend, my whole family was brainstorming something fun we could do for the weekend.  It took us a while before my mom suggested we go to the art museum.  Mom asked for a vote to see if anyone else wanted to go.  We all shot up our hands like rockets.  "OK" She said a huge smile lighting up her face.  We all raced into the car and drove towards our destination.  Jessica, Ryan and I had all fallen asleep on the long drive over to the the museum.  When we parked mom and dad shook us awake saying "c'mon get up!"a couple times.  My eyes were still partly closed until I saw it.  The art museum loomed over us casting a huge shadow around it.  "Woah" I said in whispering awe.  My mom already had started walking to the entrance like she was so familiar with this place.  We walk into the building get our tickets and head over to the new exhibit called "Treasures From Heaven".  That sounds interesting I think to myself.  There was a desk with two women sitting there.  "Tickets please".  My dad hands over the tickets.  "Would you guys like the audio tour?"  She held up five small devices that looked like a phone and explained to us how to use them.   "you push the numbers on the device and push the play button and then you'll hear a person explain about whatever object you are looking at."  "Sure" my dad says.  She hands us all one.  Ryan gladly yanks one out of my dad's hand examining it very closely.  We check for a number beside the object and listen to it.  Even Ryan is gladly listening  and learning from it.  Every time the audio ended he would tell us a fact he learned.  We finally came to one object that had a piece of cloth with a face on it (clearly it was Jesus Christ's face) , laid into this gold sculpture.  I listened to the audio and it said, "  A very long time ago someone wanted a painter to paint Jesus's face.  The painter accepted and traveled a long distance to come to Jesus.  Jesus wiped his face on this cloth supposedly when the painter was there and you can still faintly see his face on the cloth".  So instead of painting him he used the cloth and laid it on the sculpture.  It was very fascinating to see that.  Then we checked out some of the Egyptian art, beautiful paintings and a lot of different sculptures.  After a couple hours we were so tired we were dragging our feet across the floor.  "Lets go" Ryan said sleepily.  "OK" Dad said yawning.  We all drove away tired but very happy to do something very special for the whole family.

Halloween

"Halloween would be really special this year" I thought for some reason.  Before, I didn't know if I would trick or treat this year, but I hadn't had candy for what felt like a lifetime so I had to go.  I didn't feel like being creative so I just dressed up as an ice skater (which is good because we already had all of the stuff to dress up for being one.)  My friend called me and asked if I wanted to go trick or treating with her.  I gladly accepted .  Our neighborhood has a little forest in the middle where people can walk through.  This Halloween there was something in the woods that was supposed to be really scary.  I really didn't want to go but my friend did.  I told her if we trick or treated for a while then maybe we could check it out.  She agreed.  So we started collecting candy putting it in our bags (pillow cases).  After a while of trick or treating my friend asked if we could go in the forest now.  I looked into the woods, it was dark and gloomy and really spooky.  My friend looked at me pleading me with her eyes to go in.  "OK".  I said in a unsure shaky voice.  We walked through the woods the wind blowing through the trees making it sound like a dramatic horror movie.  There were a couple candles on the ground leading the way to the end.  At the end their was a woman dressed up as a witch with a bucket of candy.  "Are you kidding me?" I think to myself.  I was so scared in there and this is all it turned out to be?!!  "Thank you" we told the lady and walked off.  "I thought it was supposed to be a little more scary then that" I told my friend.  "Me too" she said.  We kept on filling our bags with candy until I realized it was starting to get really heavy.  In one of the driveway's I stepped on something.  It started squeaking really loudly and my friend and I jumped back screaming and laughing.  It must have been a small field mouse or something because we saw it scamper away.  We were getting so tired we thought that maybe we should turn back now.  As soon as we got back to my friends house, we dumped out all of our candy on the floor.  Our eyes were wide and our and smile was huge.

My Skating Test

October 30th was the day I had to take my preliminary skating test.  I wake up in the morning with butterflies in my stomach.  I quickly get up and slip on my dress and run downstairs.  My mom is hurrying around the house making sure we have everything we need to go.  We hop into the car and drive to the rink.  As soon as we get there we burst out of the car.  "Every thing is such a rush" I think to myself.  I take my skates out of the bag and quickly tie them on.  I stretch for a couple of minutes so my legs aren't completely stiff.  I push through the big doors scared and nervous.  A cold icy blast freezes my face as I skate onto the ice to warm up.  I go through my test a couple times wishing no one else would be watching me.  The three judges arrive and sit down in the hockey benches.  They motion me over to them.  They ask me what my name is and tell me good luck.  I lock eyes with my mom for a couple of seconds and remember to smile.  I start, I settle down and tell myself no one is watching me as I glide across the ice.  I pretend I'm the only one in the rink right now.  Now I'm not even scared, I feel really happy.  I end my last move with a small curtsy. I thank the judges and skate off.  My mom gives me a high five and gives me a big hug.  I can see the judges on the other side discussing if I should pass or fail.  I see one of the judges smiling.  Well that seems like a good sign I think to myself.  When the three judges come over to me they smile and hand me the papers.  All three of them said a pass!  "Oh my gosh"!  I said over and over again too excited to stop.  I couldn't believe it, I was so happy.  And all it took was a calm spirit and some determination!

Thanks
Alyssa

Landing My Axel

Yesterday on the ice I was so determined to land my axel.  My mom demonstrated it so gracefully I just had to get it.  So I attempted my axel over and over again until I was so tired I fell down every time I tried to jump.  For a couple of minutes I tried doing something else so I wouldn't get to dizzy from jumping so much.  The director of the ice rink came out to see what I was doing.  "Hey Alyssa lets see one of those axels I bet you could do one".  "OK" I said nervously.  I did one and she didn't seem that pleased.  She helped me by  telling me to jump straight up into the air and cross my leg over the other so I wouldn't land on the wrong foot.  I tried it again and again so determined to land it.  Until finally after the hundredth time I landed correctly.  I was so happy I jumped up and down so much that I almost fell over!  When it was time to get off I was already looking forward to the next time I could skate.

Thanks
Alyssa

Sushi restaurant

I am totally in love with the Japanese culture, partly because I'm 1/4 Japanese.  I am truly obsessed with sushi. This week my family decided to take a trip to an amazing sushi restaurant.  I ordered the tori katsu like usual.  This is chicken in  breading with this really good dipping sauce on it.  Then a waitress pushed through a double door and  happily set the food on our table.  On the tray lay all of the sushi in such a beautiful order my mouth starts watering just looking at it. I took out my chopsticks and practically crammed the sushi in my mouth.  I knew it wasn't totally polite but I was so hungry and it looked so good.  Since I'm partly Japanese I can use my chopsticks pretty well, but you probably wouldn't call me skilled at it either. At the very end we all split some green tea ice cream (my favorite kind of ice cream) and it was amazing like I hoped.  After we got up and thanked the waitress, we went outside and we all said "Thanks dad!"
After all he had the idea of taking us there.

Thanks
Alyssa

Ice Skating

I have been on a synchronized skating team for two years and I love it! Our team is called Clarity.  Right now our synchronized skating teacher has choosen a song from the movie Sister act.  It's pretty neat.  It is has been a couple weeks since we started choreographing our synchro team and we are well on our way to a good program.  It's great because the first year we had an ice show that I was in, we did our first synchro performance in front of a lot of people.  Jessica(my sister) said, that seeing me out there, got her way more influenced in ice skating.  So now Jessica is on the team too!  I have been skating ever since I could walk but for some reason I wasn't really serious about it until these last two years.  I am so glad I chose the sport of skating.  You get a ton of exercise and a huge amount of determination!

Apple Pie

Last Saturday,  we drove to a big apple orchard.  It had many varieties of doughnuts, cider, apples, spreads and cheeses.  My mom picked out a huge bag of Braeburn apples.  (I've actually never heard of those kind of apples  before.)  So we hopped into our car and drove home happily, hungry for some apple pie.  We were so tired that night, we decided to make it tomorrow though.  Early that next morning my mom, Jessica and I started cutting apples.  I was really scared about cutting myself, it never happened though.  Then we had to mix in sugar and cinnamon to the apples.  Sometime after, we started making the dough for it.  We dumped the apples into the dough and had to make another batch of dough for the top of the pie.  We took out some cookie cutters to put a few decorations on the apple pie.  We put on some hearts, an angel and a star in the middle.  We baked the pie for about a half hour.  The timer beeps so loudly it practically makes us jump to the ceiling.  My mom takes out the golden brown pie and we all sit down licking are lips awaiting a delicious treat.

Rock climbing

This last spring break my family went to Whistler, Canada. Almost every single day we were there, we went skiing down mountains.  Except on the second to last day, our legs were so sore and tired.  Besides on the last day we just wanted to enjoy the mountain and ski down every slope we could.  Anyway, on the day we took off, we went to a small playground that we all had to check out. It was actually really cool!  Then we went to a soup restaurant that was AMAZING!  A couple minutes later Ryan suggested we go rock climbing "Yes" Jessica says loudly and looks around a little embarrassed.  "Uh... you guys can go but I'd rather just watch" I say.  I was so scared of heights I didn't even like to rock climb.  "Come on you should go".  Jessica says.  "Maybe".  I said in a shaky voice.  We walk over to the rock climbing center.  A lady from behind the desk asks how many will rock climb today.  In a voice so quietly I can barely hear myself  I say "I'll try it".  "Okay great" she says happily.  She hands us our shoe sizes and we walk off to the climbing part.  The huge dark rocks towering over me make it look even more scary.  Ryan is the first to try it.  He starts climbing about halfway up until he decides he wants to go down.  I'm next, they strap me to the belt and I start climbing up.  My heart feels like its about to burst, and my head hurts, I keep climbing and realize I'm at the top.  Oh my gosh I'm at the top!  At the top!  Now the easy part let yourself slide down.  I have a huge smile on my face when I get down.  "Ready for the next one guys"?  The helper says.  "Yeah"! and  I'm the first one to say it too.

Spilling Spaghetti!

Yesterday was a very long day.  We got home very late from the ice rink because my mom had an important meeting.  We were at the rink from 3:00-7:00 pm.  We drove home in the dark all tired and cold.  When we got home I said "I know it's really late but can't we have something other than cereal tonight?  Something like... spaghetti!" My mom's eyes were drooping but we all seemed to want to shake things up a little.
"If you guys can help me make dinner we can eat spaghetti tonight".  "Sure!"  we say.  I turn on the stove and watch the water boil.  The clock is ticking faster and faster and the pot seems not to be boiling at all.  My mom told me a watched pot never boils.  That's really true I think.  So I go into the dining room and just sit there waiting.. waiting... waiting..
I'm about to fall asleep when my mom yells "It's boiled!"  I run in and practically claw the spaghetti noodles out of the box and  toss them into the steaming pot.  A couple minutes later the noodles are totally perfect and soft.  My mom gets out the strainer and pours the noodles in.  All the water pours out into the sink.  Just as my mom is about to place all of noodles in a nicer bowl I accidentally trip and fall into my mom.  She holds out her hands trying to catch the flying noodles into the bowl.  She catches about five.  All the rest fall onto the floor.
"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry mom!"  I said.  When I look at her she's laughing.
"No, no it's fine its my fault too I couldn't catch the noodles in time".
"Oh well, still, sorry".  I say.  My mom says alright lets make another batch.  It feels so long until finally the food is on the table.  So we all sit down eating and laughing about our spaghetti incident.

Alyssa

Learning a Language

Since school has started I have been very interested in foreign languages.  Through summer break Jessica and I took Chinese immersion for a full two weeks. I thought it was really fun.  At lunchtime they served delicious dishes from China like fried rice, spring rolls and this really amazing egg soup that I didn't know would taste so good.   But the language I have been interested in since I was really young has always been German.  I really like how the German words sound when you pronounce them correctly.  I just started taking German at the beginning of the school year so I'm not very good at it yet.  But everyday I try my best to learn how to speak German.  I even want to be at the point where I can speak German fluently.  I also know a little Spanish, and some Japanese, mostly because my Grandma is from Japan.  I really think it's important for people to learn a new language or languages because it is actually really fun and helpful if you want to travel somewhere.

Auf Wiedersehen!
Alyssa

Meeting Garfield

A couple of days ago my dad suggested we go to President Garfield's house and take a tour around.  At first Jessica, Ryan and I made a loud noticeable sigh.  I'm thinking on my birthday weekend? Really?  Ryan exclaims can't we do this on a more boring weekend?  My dad says "it'll be fun" and motions us out the door.  We drive the 30 minute drive which felt like 3 hours to me.  We finally park into the grassy driveway and start walking in the building to get to our tour in time.  We are a couple minutes early.  "Great", I say sarcastically under my breath.  A tour guide from behind the front counter came closer to us looking at Jessica, Ryan and me saying "you guys can become a junior ranger if you just work through this workbook about Garfield." She hands us a glossy workbook with President Garfield's face on the front.   Ryan looks so happy and screams out YES!  I'm about to say no thanks but she says "Oh, and you also will get a prize at the end if you participate".  Well I think if it comes down to a prize then fine.  "Sure" I say not as enthusiastic as Ryan but I'll accept.  We start walking around with our tour guide she tells us all about President Garfield. He was the twentieth President of the United States, he had a wife named Lucretia and a daughter named Mollie. He died by getting shot in the back twice in 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau and much more fascinating information.  Ryan and I finished up our workbooks writing in the last few blanks.  Wow, I thought that was really sad and amazing as we started heading back to the main room to claim our prize.  The tour guide behind the desk looks at Ryan's and my workbook's and nods.  She tugs on a black cabinet and pulls out a pencil and a badge that has Garfield's face on it.  Maybe not quite what I was expecting but the tour was fun at least. "Dad that was really fun" I said. My dad smiles and looks down and says "told ya".  We go outside and laugh the whole way into the car.


Thank you
Alyssa

Exercise!

Every night for the past couple of weeks, Jessica, Ryan and I have been working out.  My dad bought a pull-up bar for everyone to use.  The only problem is its really close to the ceiling and I'll admit it, I'm really short. So I have to stand on a stool to do pull-ups.  After that we all  do push-ups the most I've probably done is 10 I think.  Then we tire ourselves with jumping jacks( I usually shoot for100) and many other exercises.  We feel so good, healthy and well.. very tired by the time to go to bed.  I always used to stay awake half the night because I was never tired! Its also really fun to work out with Jessica and Ryan we call it the KCE(Kids Club Exercise.)  Its great because now we wake up so much earlier!

Thanks
Alyssa

Books are awesome!

When I was little I learned to read about at the age of 6.  I used to think books were OK, but now I don't just take them for granted.  Now, I usually finish books by  3-4 weeks.  Reading, especially nonfiction books obviously helps the brain learn new vocabulary, new topics, and personally  I just think its fun.  Everyday if you have time, you should sit down for at least 15 minutes and read.  If you like to read fiction better than nonfiction thats fine. Some people at my public school a year ago( I'm home schooled now) could barely read aloud when they were asked by the teacher.  If reading is not your thing than music practice is good too.  I have been playing the piano for 7 years and my sister has been playing the violin for 5 years.  Music practice helps the brain memorize new things not just music notes but maybe you'll get faster on your keyboard as well!  I have a wonderful piano teacher, Mrs.Lilly who's from Russia, its really cool to hear her speak Russian sometimes outside of the lesson.  If you have an instrument or some kind of book, it would be great if you could take a couple of minutes to practice music or read!
Hope you enjoyed!

-Alyssa

Starting Up

       I am very exited about starting up my new blog Life is Good.  My sister and mom already have made their own blogs, Reflections(Jessica's) and Imagine Today( my mom's) that you should check out too.  Almost every day my mom, Jessica and I go to the ice rink.  Our calendar is filled with competitions, tests and ice shows for ice skating.  On October 30th we have to take a test that is very hard called preliminary moves, A solo competition on November 20th and a Christmas ice show on December 19th!
   We are a very busy family, but maybe not as busy as you think.  Jessica and I are actually home schooled in a program called K-12.  K-12 is a very fun and educational charter school with many science projects, games and more.  Today I had to put some yogurt under a microscope and watch the living organism called L.acidophilus go around.  Don't worry L.acidophilus actually is what makes yogurt so good for you!
Thanks for reading!
Alyssa