My+USA+Trip

17th of JULY, ( New Zealand and American time!)

Today I woke up at 4:00 IN THE MORNING!!! You bet I was tired! We woke up at this outrageous time because our flight was at 7:15 and we were getting a shuttle at 4:30 ( also in the morning unfortunately ). Instead of sleeping on the way to the airport I decided too catch up on my sleep on the first flight. ZZZZZ ZZZZZ ZZZZZ, 3 hours later. We are in sydney, although unfortunately we can not leave the airport for our next plane is in an hour and a half. I decide to go to a candy store and buy some lollies, but OMG you have to spend over TEN DOLLARS! And Mum only let me choose one small lolly called fizzers ( you don't get them in New Zealand. ) An hour and a half has passed, we are boarding onto the second plane today. This plane trip is 13 hours long! Luckily you get your own lil personal TV! I thought that if I just watched movies for the whole time it would be all good. BUT NOOOOO! I had to start feeling sick. I was forced to lie down. Bad news: I felt sick and it had only been like 2 hours! Good news: I forgot to tell you that I am getting an Ipod-touch, and the newest generation too! YAY!!! FINALLY after 13 hours of watching movies and feeling sick we landed in L.A ( Los Angeles ) Our plan was to get off the plane, catch the Metro to North Hollywood, then use a phone to get Leif or Katie to come pick us up ( Leif and Katie are my Dad's cousins ). This plan all ran smoothly until it came to using the phone, we decided that we wouldn't bother Leif and Katie and that we would walk, ( it was not long ). So we were walking the streets of L.A when we realized we were not completely sure where to go! But in the end we used a phone at a diner and Leif came to pick us up.

18th of JULY, ( American time.)

BOY, I woke up at 9:00 IN THE MORNING! I definitely slept in. Probably jet-lag, no surprise there! After I was fully awake I.... I was about to say I had breakfast but then I remembered I DIDN"T EVEN HAVE BREAKFAST! So instead I went to the coffee shop with Mum and Katie, of course I didn't get coffee, Mum and Katie did. I got this like mini frozen milkshake ( CHOCOLATE FLAVOR IS THE BEST! ) It was YUMMY! Once we had finished our drinks we went to a kids clothing shop called Children's Place, I bought... 2 singlet tops ( IT IS SOOOOO HOT IN L.A ), This awesome hat and a pair of jandals. After we had finished roaming Childrens Place, we decided to head to a Surfy shop to see if they had any jandals for Mum. We were there for AGES! After that we went back to Leif and Katie's house and I checked my gmail. I am going to go for a swim, IT IS SOOOO HOT! Later on today I am going to get my toenails painted, professionally!

= 19th of JULY, ( American time.) =

Today I woke up at about 7:00, which wasn't so bad but I am pretty sure it was Mum talking to Leif that awoke me. But I didn't really mind since I would rather wake up early than sleep in. For breakfast I had Cheerios, after breakfast I watched a few movies on Leif and Katie's I-pad. I watched The Wizards Of Waverly Place Movie. Once I had finished watching just about every movie on the I-pad ( There are only about 2 or 3 ). Riley woke up and so immediately he wanted too go in the pool. So sure enough we went in the pool, lots of splashing went on. Riley and I stayed in the pool for about 2 and a half hours! After we were all dry, Riley decided to whine about playing water balloons, so that went on for quite a bit. Mum and I had already had this conversation with Riley, and we had decided that we would wait for Jasper, my brother, for the water balloon fight. After Riley's whining, Katie took Mum, Riley and I out to a famous diner called Mels Diner, I ordered some chicken nuggets, some fries and one chocolate milkshake. And just incase you havn't been to America, let me tell you that they serve HUGE milkshakes! After Mels Diner on the way home we stopped in at the DVD store and we got four movies called, Flipper, Surfs up, Evan Almighty and Grease. Once we got home Riley and I had a long long swim in the pool, I taught Riley how to do a front flip underwater ( Riley is 4 turning 5 ). After the pool we watched the movie Flipper, it was really good. Flipper is about a boy who goes to his Uncle's house by himself and meets a dolphin, the dolphin follows him everywhere. So the boy names the dolphin Flipper. After the movie Riley and I went

back in the pool AGAIN! Then we had dinner and then went to bed. Oh I almost forgot to say that tomorrow Mum and I are going to Universal Studios. It will be FUN! = = = 20th of JULY, ( American time.) =

Today I woke up at around 7:45, this time nothing woke me up, it was just excitement because today I am going to Universal Studios! For breakfast I had a bagel with cream cheese, it was GOOD! It is too bad that bagels are hard to get in New Zealand. Once I had finished my breakfast and had Riley force me to put my shoes on we all hopped into the car and drove off. First we had to drop of Mr. Riley at pre-school, then Katie dropped Mum and I off at The Universal Studios. When we got through the ticket stands we looked around for a bit ( There was sooooooo much to see! ) then we started walking torwards the first ride, even though we were heading towards a ride, I stopped and asked Mum if we could stop in at the House of Horror. WRONG DECISION! I got SO freaked out! I had to make Mum exit at the nearest door before the end! Once all the terror had left from my mind we headed towards the Simpsons Ride, we didn't have to que for too long. When we were in our seats and everyone was ready we took off! There were HEAPS of twirls and spins! It was really awesome. Next I took a picture with ScoobyDoo, he was really funny. After we qued for DUN DUN DAHHHHHH, the Jurassic Park ride. It was sooooo cool, at the end we all got sprayed with heaps of water and we were all absolutely SOAKED!

= 22nd of JULY ( American time ). =

I am so so so so so sorry that I havn't updated in a while, I have just been really really busy! To make it up to you guys I will do an extra long reflection of today. I woke up at around 7:00 today, I was expecting to wake up at around 8:30 because I stayed up so late last night! Once I had fully woken up I got out of bed and played on my DS for a bit, I only played my DS because I was bored and I didn't know what to do... Once Riley had woken up it was all rushing around! It was about 8:30 by then and Riley had to be a holiday camp at 9:00! For breakfast Katie cooked Riley and I cinnamon french toast, at first Riley objected but when he tried it he found that it was quite tasty! After one and a half pieces of cinnamon french toast Katie and Riley were out the door! So I kinda just hung around on the computer and drew pictures. Once katie was back Mum, Katie and I all went out to shop. At first it was just Mum and I because Katie had work, but Katie joined in soon after. we stayed for about 3 hours. We spent about one hour looking at shoes, after the hour I had bought 3 pairs of shoes. I bought some awesome strappy sandals and a pair of canvas sparkly shoes, and some netball sneakers. Once we had finished roaming the shoe aisles, Mum decided that she would spend a nice good hour looking at handbags! I decided that it would be to boring to stand so I told Mum I was going to the girls clothing area. Didn't find much there at first but when I looked closer there were lots of cool things! I bought some awesome shorts, 2 dresses, some Hellokitty PJ bottoms, and a few more but I can't really remember! Once we had shopped ourselves out we rushed out to find ourselves stuck in a mini traffic jam! Once we had finally got out of that mess we went to pick Riley up. To our surprise Riley entered the car with PINK highlights! I asked him why he chose pink to have in his hair and he firmly informed me that it was red! Before we could go home we had to pick up Katie's car and get dinner ( chicken takeaway ). It took longer to pick up Katie's car to get the chicken! Though it was close since in the drive-thru we had as particularly deaf women. Once all the errands had been finished we headed home and I found that my Ipod-touch was there! And it's the newest generation! It was awesome, it is charging right now.

**//Wow!!!! It sounds like you are having the most amazing time. We are incredibly jealous! Lucky you getting a new i-pod touch and doing lots of shopping- and you still have weeks to go. DM//**

**//Thank-you Miss Mayall, I can imagine you all are having fun to learning about trending - Jessie//**

5th of August ( USA time )

For the 15th time I am so so so so so SORRY! I have been really busy in L.A running around trying to stop Riley from doing everything he's not supposed to do! Riley even managed to spill water all over his Mum's Blackberry! Last night was goodbye, pretty emotional but we knew we were coming back to them in 2 months so that saved most tears. It was about 10:00 when we actually got on the road, which was a unplanned late start! We drove until midnight. Well actually I slept most of the way but that's beside the point! But I was awake for a little bit as I was staring out at the highway. In the end I woke up just as we were pulling into a supermarket parking lot. Dad calls " This is where we are sleeping tonight ". It turns out we had stopped in a town called Victor Ville. I had a good night sleep and woke up at around 7:00. Jasper and I had a bagel for breakfast. At around 8:30 Mum went to go get some coffee. She took about half an hour but at about 15 minutes Dad and Jasper went to go look for her. We are now entering one of the hottest places on earth! THE DEATH VALLEY!!! After about ten minutes we saw a sign that said " Calico Ghost Town " and of course we just HAD to stop there! Calico Ghost Town is a mining town from 1886. First we looked at a few shops, then we went into a prehistoric building that told us about the town. It also showed us what animals were in the town... And low and behold my worst fear the Tarantula Spider!!! So for one hour I lived in fear that I would be bitten by a spider! Luckily we did not come across a tarantula but we did see a desert chipmunk and 2 quail that I decided to name CeCe and Bruno! Once we had roamed most of the shops we went into a mine that was dark. At that point I was really scared about spiders! At the end we checked out a gem stone shop and I bought a really cool amethyst necklace. We piled back in to the car and got going! We were all pretty excited when we saw a sign that said 72 miles to Las Vegas! There is a huge hill coming up! In case you are wondering I am typing this on notes on my iPod Touch. I was pretty tired so I had a little sleep. When I woke up we were pulling In to a fashion Outlet store. We went in two shops, Levis and Nike. I did't get anything at Levi's because all of their jeans were to big for me. But I got a pair of running shoes at Nike and I got some bright pink laces for them. I really must have been tired because I fell asleep AGAIN!!! Once I woke up we were pulling into a camp ground. We drove around for a bit looking for a nice parking place. Once we found one we went swimming in a lake called Lake Mead. When we came back out of the water the wind was HOT!!!!! It was actually warm! After we had dried off ( that didn't take long! ) we went for a run and on the way we met to rangers and they told us that they were putting on a concert called " The secrets of Lake Mead ". I am at it now so I will be back. At the start it was very informational... And guess what? So was the rest of it! I expected it to be a show but it was more of a presentation. I have to say it was a bit boring in parts! But I did learn that an atomic bomber landed in the lake we swam in. I also learnt that there was actually a little city called St Thomas that got sunk like Atlantis. The show started at 7:30 and ended at 8:00 and we hadn't even had dinner! It is now 8:13 and we are sitting out in the dark. For dinner we are having curry And rice but it isn't even on the stove!!! We have just returned from the gas stations at which we bought 2 bags of reesies peanut butter miniatures. We will eat our treats while watching a movie. But guess what? We hadn't even had dinner so we had dinner first and then turned on the tv and we watched a bit of the movie. But then it got to late and we had to go to bed. Right now I am typing this at 10:26. So I think that it is time for me to go to bed. I had a pretty bad sleep last night, Dad and I both woke up at around 3:00 in the morning! It was just so hot! We decided to sit outside on some chairs and gaze at the stars. Eventually we went back inside and went to sleep. I woke up at about 6:45 and I went outside to see how hot it was. Luckily it didn't seem to be as hot as yesterday! Right now it is 7:41 and I am sitting outside. We plan to take another swim in Lake Mead, go to look at the Hooverdam, and return the caravan. Mum is just calling me and she says that breakfast is ready so I will go... My battery is running low so it will have to charge. But I will be back. Right now, I am in a line waiting to get into the elevator so we can actually start the tour of Hooverdam. We had our swim in Lake Mead earlier. I took a lot of pictures of Hooverdam. Mum is annoys because we might not make it on time to return the campervan. We are finally going in I think... This is really boring just standing here. We went n two elevators and now we are looking at huge machines. Can't type much more sorry battery is REALLY low. We finished the tour and then we were in a rush to return the campervan. Once all the campervan stuff was out of the way we hailed a taxi and she drove us to he hotel we were staying in. The hotel we are staying In is called Circus Circus and it had circus acts everyday! Once we had checked in and found our how every thing worked we went up to our rooms and settled in. The first thing we did in the hotel was go into the pool, which was really big by the way. We stayed there for about one hour and then we went back up to our rooms and planned where we were going to go for dinner. I wasn't really listening to this conversation so it was a mystery to me! When we were waiting In line Dad told us that this place was like Valentines!!! An all you can eat buffet! We walked in and immediately the first thing that I saw was the DESSERT!!!!!!!! Dad spied at what I was looking at and said, maybe you should have something savory first!!! I got some Mac and cheese, some potato and some fruit. Now I haunt had dessert left so there's a lot moe typing coming! I think I will top up on my drink now so I'll be back. Once we had stuffed ourselves we decided we were going to go see some shows on the Strip. It took about half an hour too get to the first show which was kinda a Pirates VS Sirens show. The sirens were really pretty and of course the pirates were really UGLY!!!! That show was at the hotel Treasure Island. After the Sirens show we were going to see a volcano erupt at Caesar's Palace but I was WAY to tired so I walked home with Dad while Mum and Jasper got some stuff at the grocery shop. Did I forget to tell you that there were heaps of lights? I think I did, well there were HEAPS of lights! They were all really bright and colorful my favorite sign was the sign for Riviera the hotel. Once I got back to the hotel room I collapsed and fell asleep really fast. I woke up at around 7:30 and I played on my iPod Touch for ages and then I went back to sleep for a while. It is now 10:40 and we plan to go on some rides in the adventure dome and maybe play some games. We also plan to hire a rental car so we can drive to Denver and fly from Denver to New York. Of course on the way we are going to visit some of our friends. I think I am going to go on the ride Disk'o, which is where you are in a spinning top and it spins round and round and up and down! But I am not really sure. We ended up going on the rollercoaster that went in to loops!!!! It was really really scary! Afterwards we went too watch a circus act, the first one we saw was a duo when they did heaps of flips. Once we had finished we went to a pizza place and had lunch. Then we got back to our hotel room and changed then went for a swim. After we were all dry we hung out at the hotel and then went to watch another circus act. After the circus act we looked for a place to eat but we couldn't find one so we went on a tour bus to go up and down the strip. We stopped in at Caesars Palace for a bit. We got so tired that we came back to the hotel.'I woke up at around 8:00 and that was when we were supposed to leave to get the renal car. After packing up and checking out we finally made it out. After heaps of buses and taxi's we eventually made it to Fox rental cars. Right now we are waiting to get our rental car that we ordered.After about 4 hours of driving we found a hotel to stay in. We set out at about 9:00 and we drove until we got to my Dad's friends house to stay the night.I am now on a plane heading to New York.

//**Wow!! How action packed is your trip! That was a massive update. DM**//

//**It was quite thrilling at times! Jessie**//

//**18th Of August ( USA Time )**//

We had to wake up at 4:30 AM to catch the plane so by the time we landed in New York we were very very tired. We caught a taxi to the train station and then we went on a train for about 1 hour. The train was very nice, and not at all bumpy. We had a taxi arranged to come pick us up and take us to my Grandma's house. But when we got there, there was no taxi to be seen. We waited 15 minutes and then we hailed a different taxi to take us home. When we got to my Grandma's house it was about 9:00 at night and we hadn't had any dinner. Grandma had ordered pizza for us so we ate that. The next morning we had a lot of planning to do because some of the cousins were coming the next day because we planned to have all the cousins over for the weekend. I made a list of what we needed to buy and I made some decorations. I was also assigned the job of cutting food. We all worked hard that day. And to celebrate we invited our friends Claire and Elliot over. Plus their Dad Robert who is one of my Dad's great friends. Claire and I had a great time swimming in the pool and camping in the tent. The next day was when all the Cousins were expected for arrival. The first cousin that came was Max. Max is 18. He is very very tall. The next Cousin that arrived was Celia and Nick, who were 11 and 15. Claire, Celia and I made up a game where whenever there was a silence we would all go " Awkward Silence! " and the boys got really annoyed at us which made it even funnier! We all stayed up late that night because we were waiting for the last of the cousins, Lily, Gideon, and Rufas. It was about 10:30 when they actually got here. So we were all sent straight to bed and we all went to our tents. Even though we were told a number of times by the boys to shut up, we kept talking until it was about 12:00. The next day was really fun with lots of swimming and laughing. The day after that was practically the same but with more " Awkward Silences! ". When everybody had gone apart from, Jasper, Me, Celia, Claire, Nick, and Elliot. We all went up to Celia and Nick's country house in Deposit. There was a pond there so there was still lots of swimming and awkward silences. Jasper, Nick and Elliot also managed to catch 3 snakes. The next day we left and Nick, Celia, Claire and Elliot all headed up to New York City where as Jasper and I went back up to my Grandma's.

19th Of August ( USA Time )

Last night my family and I drove up to my Grandad's house for the night. We planned to stay the night and then leave around 9:30 in the morning. Last night my Grandad gave me a 100$ note!!! It was so awesome! That night we allw went in the hot tub. There was also lightning! So it was all very exciting! The next day I slept in because I stayed up a little late! There was a change of plans the next morning because we were meant to go back up to my Grandma's but instead we had other ideas. Instead we were going to have our brains looked at, to help people who have schizophrenia. Which is a mental disorder in the brain. I helped them by letting them take a picture of my brain so they can compare it to the people that have schizophrenia. Afterwards we drove back to my Grandma's.That took a while because we were right in rush hour.

20th Of August ( USA Time )

Today in the morning, I didn't do much because I didn't think there was much to do. I did watch a series of Disney Channel Shows though. After about an hour and a half of Disney Channel shows I decided to take a swim in the pool. Jasper wanted to come in and so we played a game of volleyball and we had a water gun fight! That afternoon my Dad's friend and his Kids arrived for the weekend. There was a 8 year old girl named Catherine and a 5 year old boy named Henry. Of Course Catherine and I hung out and Henry and Jasper messed about. It turns out Catherine has an iPod Touch as well so there were lots of discussions about apps! The next day Catherine and I woke up at around 8:00 because we had stayed up for a while the night before. We took a quick swim that morning while the sun was shining. Later that afternoon we all went to a park and we rolled down hills and played in the sand. Then once we had finished messing around we went onto this bridge that had a train track underneath it. And then a train came and we all yelled " PULL THE HORN! " and we made the action of pulling the horn. And guess what! THEY PULLED THE HORN! After that excitement we all went to an ice-cream shop called Stewarts, I chose the Make Your Own Ice-Cream. I also decided to overload my Ice-Cream with heaps of sprinkles and chocolate sauce! After that we went home and finished the day with a swim, dinner, iPod Touch and then bed. The next morning it was time to leave, it took a while to pack up alol our stuff but once we had finished we all pilled into one 7 seater car ( There were 8 of us! ) and drove off. Catherine had to go back to her home in New Hampshire but my family went back to my Grandad's house so tomorrow we could carry on up to Main with my Grandad so we can go camping.

Reflection

I am back from Camping! I ended up only staying for 1 week, but I still found that long enough! Grandpops, Hayden, and my family all went camping at a camp called Lobster Lake Camp, on Lobster Lake! The only reason I survived with only my annoying older brother is that my Grandpops and Hayden got a puppy! The puppy is a lapdog and is called ChuCho. ChuCho is pure Havanese, I'm sorry I don't have a picture of him for you but you can always look at the Havanese dogs if you search on google " Havanese Dogs " and click on images in comes up with dogs that are LIKE ChuCho. He is sooooooo cute! He has markings of black and white, he has long curly hair and a puffy tail. Back to camping! As you may know Lobster Lake is in Maine and around Lobster Lake you are likely to see... MOOSE! And guess what... WE DID! I saw a moose when we were driving to get there and I saw one crossing the road when we were driving back! The first sighting was very short because the moose got scared away by the car, but the second sighting was longer because he was slowly walking across the road, without a care in the world! Now, I am not going to tell you about every single day ( because I can't remember ) but I will tell you the most exciting parts. Now because the camp was by the lake there was lots of swimming and boating. One time we all went to an island and on the island there were wild blueberries! And they were delicious! Even better than the store-bought. Oh and you might be wondering what happened with the hurricane, ( If you heard of it ) well I can inform you all is well! Nobody was hurt though the winds were very pushy, once when I was running across the walkind board the wind blew me right off! That's all for now!

Reflection

Today I woke up at around 7:00, which was extra early because I had gone to bed at around 1:00! So at first I was really tired and I just kinda lay there. Then I decided I would stay in bed and watch The Dog Whisperer on my family's laptop. The Dog Whisperer is a series of episodes about a guy called Cesar Millan. Cesar Millan helps people who own dogs who misbehave. There are 26 episodes in season 1 which was the DVD I was watching. Some of them are just so funny because the owners can be so dumb sometimes! And Cesar Millan owns over 30 dogs! That is a lot of dog food and a lot of love! And he said that he loves them all equally. After we had finished lounging around the house we decided we would go to the beach, the waves were huge! Luckily we swam out far so they didn't crash on us. We stayed in the water for quite a while but then we got cold and decided to go home. Soon after that it was dinner time, and for the first round we had corn on the cob, then the main was lobster ( I had sausages because I don't like lobster and I think it is cruel the way they kill them ) and then we had salad. And for desert we had mango and coffee ice-cream.

Reflection

Today I woke up early again! I don't exactly know what time it was because I couldn't find my watch. I lounged around for a bit and then decided to get up. We got up extra early because we were planning to go to the flea market. We ended up going a bit later than we wanted to but that's okay. At the flea market I bought, a white and silver striped handbag, a pair of pink slip on shoes, and a pink belt. I could have brought more but I decided to save my money incase there was something I really wanted somewhere else. When we got back from the flea market it was around 12:00. We had breakfast/lunch afterwards. We are probably going to go to the beach but I am not sure, I will type again when I get back. I am back! We did end up going to the beach after all! We went to a beach called Coast-Guard Beach. Coast-Guard beach is really nice, it was windy so the waves were nice and big! They didn't crash until ages so you could dive through them, it was really fun! At one point a family came around and we hung out with them. There were 2 girls, one 9 turning 10 and one 5. They were both slightly autistic but you couldn't really tell. We made such good friends with them that we decided to have them over for dinner, dinner was really fun.

Relfection

Today I woke up at 9:00, which I was not suprised at because I went to bed at 12:40. I lay in bed just thinking about what we were going to do today, then I realised that it was tuesday, which is the last day that I was going to be at Cape Cod. Because we were driving up to New York City today we are going to stop in at the Well-Fleet library, so I could stock up on books. We are planning to leave after lunch, and right now it is 10:51. It is a 4 hour drive to New York City from Cape Cod. So I am making sure my iPod touch is fully charged. I will type more in the car if I am bored ( and not sleeping ) or I will type from the Little Barn which is where we are staying for tonight ( If we don't feel like going all the way up to NYC ). We ended up driving for 9 hours. WE are going to Brooklyn today to see my cousins, uncle and Aunt.

Reflection

Yesterday I stayed at my cousin Celia's house. We had lots of fun playing on her wii and shopping on Broadway. By the end of the day we were wiped out! We had been shopping on broadway for a few hours by ourselves. We had had so much fun! It was 10:00 when we were TOLD to go to bed, but we weren't tired so we decided to stay up longer. We ended up staying up until 1:43! We woke up at 8:30 in the morning. That morning we went on the wii again and we made pancakes ( that we burnt! But still ate. ). I stayed at Celia's house until 3:40 because at 4:00 Celia had a birthday party to go to. So I went home. I think we are seeing her again either tonight or tomorrow morning.

We didn't end up going to Celia's but we borrowed my Grandma's car and drove up to my other cousins house in Brooklyn. I stayed in my cousin Lily's room. We stayed there for a couple of nights. We went for a run and looked out of the Brooklyn bridge. Gideon my cousin is learning the trumpet so it was pretty loud. He was definitely better than last time we heard him play. We had lots of fun in Brooklyn but by Thursday we had to return to Grandma's apartment so she could have her car. We stayed in Grandma's apartment for a few days. The first day I went to Celia's house and we tried to decide what we were going to wear to Grandma's wedding. We tried on dresses and curled our hair. At first I was really bad at curling because I didn't understand that you ha to curl it horizontal but un curl vertical. In th end I had to go home because it was getting late. The next day we hung around and then we went to dinner at Claire and Eliot's place. It was so funny because Claire was pretty much the only one who was talking! She likes to talk a lot. The next day we joined two other families and all went out to dinner. We went to a Chinese place in China Town. We had a lot of fun.

The next day we lounged around until we decided to go for a run in Central Park. It was a long run, and it was really fun because I saw heaps of cute little dogs. One tiny dog even was wearing a pink flowery sweater! It was totally adorable! We were out for about half an hour but we had to rush back because we had been invited to Celia's for dinner. Dad gave me a $20 note to spend on desert for everybody. So I brought 4 tubs of Ice-cream including, A huge tub of Haagendaz coffee, a small chocolate, a small butter pecan, and a small vanilla. I wanted this desert to be extra special so I also bought, rainbow sprinkles AND Reese's peanut butter cups! And Mum promised she would help Celia and I make chocolate sauce. Celia and I made the best dessert ever! It was so good, after we finished it we felt so fat that we started eating lettuce leaves to feel at least a little bit healthy. It was so funny because Celia has a dog called Winston, and he is totally cute. And he is a bit tubby so Celia and I chased Winston around the house and Winston kept skidding on corners, it was hilarious! The day after chasing Winston we got up early and packed ready to go to Rhinebeck and join Grandma. The ride was about 2 hours but it was fun, I spotted dear on the side of the road. When we got to Rhinebeck we were so tired all we did was sleep. Today ( the day after ) we woke up and lounged around and then we got to work, I updated my wiki, went on mathletics and read my book. This afternoon Grandma is taking Jasper out to Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. I am not going because I am to young, but Grandma and I are going to go shopping in New York City instead of going to a movie. I almost forgot to tell you, this morning I plan to take a chilly and refreshing dip in my Grandma's next door neighbour's pool.

Jasper and Grandma did go to the movies but when they got there the theater was closed that afternoon, for some dumb reason. So they are going tonight. I did go for a nice long swim with Jasper when he got back. And it was so funny when I was on the closet bed and he crept up behind me and pushed me off. So then that night Grandma and Jasper went to the movies and I read my book and watched some TV. Grandma and Jasper came home around 8:00 that night.

The day after was a school work day, I went on mathletics, read my book, did a assignment on birds, and updated my wiki. Although I did go for another swim and watch some Spongebob.

The next day ( today ) I woke up late and played a game of monopoly with Grandma and jasper ( well I started a game, it takes forever to finish one). Once again apart from monopoly, today was a working day. I might go for a swim, but it is very cold so I'm not sure.

I did end up going for a swim and did more work afterwards.

The next day we lounged around and made a plan to go up to Grandpop's little barn. This time Hayden will be there. Grandpops planned to pick us up at Grandma's house. So we all got ready really fast. Grandma was going to the train station to pick up Hillary. When Grandma got back and we were all ready, Jasper, Grandma and I decided to get our monopoly game over andn done with. Jasper won because he was totally rich! He had more money than the bank. It was so sad because I kept landing on Grandma or Jasper's hotels, and all of the time I was charged over $1,000 !

Grandma and I went down together, but we decided to keep our pride.Grandpops arrived and we pilled into the car with all our stuff. It was an hour long drive but I didn't mind. When I got back to the Little Barn ChuCho the puppy ( remember I told you about him? ) was waiting for me! CHUCHO IS SO CUTE!!!!!!! After I had finished hugging ChuCho, Hayden, Mum and I all went to the library. And guess what? We saw two deer, and I got really close to one! We got back and had dinner. The next day we woke up at 4:00 AM to watch the France vs New Zealand rugby match. It was so awesome, and Dan Carter got heaps of great kicks in. The All Blacks won! YAY! I wasn't surprised, they are really good.

The day after we decided to take a trip to Washington D.C. We knew a family there called the Smiths. The Smiths have 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl. All of the children went to Gulf Harbour, but left to return to America. We stayed 3 nights with them. The first day we arrived in the afternoon and Joe ( The Mum ), my Mum, and I went to pick up Jade from school. Jade and I had lots of fun playing with their dog West, he is a poodle and retriever cross. And it's funny because this breed is not supposed to shed, but West does. West is only 5 months old and he is the size of a full grown Labrador. Jade and I have no idea how big he is going to get! Jade and I enjoyed chasing West around in circles down stairs. The day after Jade and the boys had to go to school. So all of my family went in to the city of Washington. We watched 3 men come down the Washington Monument ( We weren't allowed to go up after the earth-quack.) We saw the White House! And we went to THREE MUSEUMS! We went to the Air and Space museum, we went to the Art Museum and we went to the Natural History museum. My favourit museum would have to be the Natural History museum, because we saw the Hope Diamond. And Dad and I went through this butterfly tunnel with HUGE butterflies and moths. One landed on my Dad! We also saw lots of famous paintings by Picasso and Vincent Vangogh. After all the museums we got really tired so we drove home. When we got home Jade and I chased West around and gave him treats, when he shook our hands. The next day Jade didn't have school so we got to spend the whole day with each other. We have each other blind make-overs. We painted our nails. And we went out for a walk, and in the middle at the park it started to pour down with rain! Jade and I decided to take advantage of the bad weather, we ran out and slid down the slides and played on the playground. It was SOOOOOO fun! That evening Jade and I stayed up until 4:00, we planned to stay up the whole night but we fell asleep. The next day, early in the morning we had to leave to go back to New York. It was a 3 and a half hour drive. Not so bad. We got back, did heaps of school work and then Mum and I went shopping on Broadway. The next day we hung around in the morning.