Maryland, Virgina, and South Carolina

1/12/09
All right we’ve done more school and have finally left Fort Meade, Maryland. We are currently at Mrs. Juliet’s house in North Carolina. We’ve had a fun time playing with her kids. We went to Mr. Fred’s house and had Fred-mcmuffins instead of egg-mcmuffins. They were delicious. And Ian is really good at Lego Star-wars.

My Dad says that we’re getting more visitors looking at our on-line journals each day. It’s really cool looking at all the e-mails people are sending us when they look at the site. So the more you click on the site the more our counter counts!

We went to the Smithsonian Air and space museum in Washington D.C.. They had a simulator where you land a fighter plane on an aircraft carrier. It was really fun. We also watch a short movie about how air planes take off and land on an aircraft carrier. Apparently they attach the plane to a catapult, fill it up with steam and fire it off the deck of the ship in 50 ft! We also saw the Lincoln Memorial and Washington monument. There’s a great view from the top of the Washington monument. We saw the White House and Korean memorial from the top. They say that on a clear day you can see 30 miles in each direction from the top of the 555 ft tall monument.
We went to a mock-up of a colonial town called Williamsburg in Virginia and we saw the dig site of colonial Jamestown. Both were historical, educational, and interesting. Williamsburg had a lot of people and we asked a lot of questions and were heavily informed. I had questions I had to ask to get my Life scout Rank for Boy Scouts and we also learned much from the experience and have also done a lot of school. The Jamestown dig site had a kids program where you run around the museum finding answers to questions and you get a patch that says “You’re a Junior Park Ranger” I thought I could learn enough without the questionnaire so I didn’t do it, but Ben and Will were all for it. I helped them out a bit though.

We had fun visiting Mrs. Lisa in Switzerland so we decided to see her again in the U.S. We had a lot of fun at her hotel’s pool. We talked about Fargo, and the trip, and Switzerland.

When we lived in Maryland I had a good friend named Charlie. Well, on January 6 we went to his house and had dinner with Charlie, Mrs. Crystal, Josh, and Mr. Mark. We had a fun night of pizza, games, and visiting. Charlie seems to like the idea of homeschooling and I gave him some advice. We talked about Disney World because we will be going there in approximately 2 and half weeks.
We also went to the Mikatarian’s house for a visit another night. They had two very nice daughters named Kendra and Kaitlin. We played some games then went home and the next many days were school, school, and more school! Too much more of the dreaded word and my head will explode!
Last night we went to Mr. Dennis’s house for dinner and played with his two kids Adam, and Hope. Mrs. Karen made a lovely spaghetti dinner. We had fun and I showed them what I could do on the piano. More coming soon I’ll keep you posted!

Ft. Meade, Maryland

Nothing has really happened except for school, school, school, and New Year’s Eve! We watched the Ball drop on T.V. and went to the same Roller Skating Rink as last time. We skated till one in the morning and got served breakfast at midnight. My mom tried backwards skating the first time we went. I’m not going to say that she did badly, but she fell a lot. Now she’s a pro. It was a wonderful way to spend New Year’s Eve.
We also had fun going with our cousins to the new Air and Space Museum. We saw all sorts of really cool things, and most of the satellites and orbiters I recognized from space camp. Everything was fun and interesting. They even had a full original of the Enterprise. Not the Columbia that blew up in space. And not the enterprise from Star trek. We watched a fighter pilot movie called Red Flag, in the Museum’s very own IMAX theatre. If I have one word to critique the movie it would be AMAZING. It’s like you’re actually there. But that’s the effect that the producers want you to have. Anyway, I guess that we’ve earned it with all the school we’ve done.
Unfortunately, I was sick yesterday with the flu and practically stayed in my sleeping bag from dawn to dusk and dawn again. But now I feel better and am doing more school today. We also went to the Cryptology Museum. It’s not about crypts, which are where dead people are buried, but a museum about codes, agents, and hiding information. All in all a great place. That’s all for now.

12/30/08
Ok, so we haven’t done much since I last blogged. We haven’t even left the city yet. We went to the bowling alley on post 3 times, the movies once (we watched Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa), the library once, the Muse twice, and Oh yea we went to Uncle Eric’s House for Christmas. I got 4 presents for Christmas. My first present was the Book ART OF WAR by Sun Tzu from my mom. It’s really cool and I read it all the time. My second present was a nerf blow gun from my dad. I can shoot a dart 30 ft silently and accurately. My third present was a couple of chocolates from Santa.

And my fourth was a brand-new Laptop from Santa. Thank you Santa! It’s so cool! It has got all these pre-downloaded games, and no pop-ups. I use it all the time. I don’t need to wait to use the other laptop and I’ve already downloaded all my favorite settings and programs and virus protection. I love it! I’ve even typed and edited 2 reports for Calvert, my homeschooling program. Talking about that, I’ve had plenty of it. We’ve done nearly nothing and way too much school for my likings. I’m ahead of my siblings in school, and do about a lesson and a half of school a day. My dad say’s 10 more days and we’re out of here. I very much hope since so we’ve been here waaaaaaayyyyy too long.

Back in Maryland 12/17/08

Hi people, I’m doing school again, for the umpteenth time. We haven’t done much, but we visited River Birch Court again. The place where I spent most of my life, remember? Oh well, if not go back to the 22nd of November. I also went to a Roller Blading place last night and it was really cool. It was called Wheels. They had disco balls, and slushies, and those little colorful balls that spin around and shine different colored lights all over the place. We also went to my dad’s friend, Mr. Pancho’s, house. He has a son, Francis, who is really good at the piano, and then we went to Francis’ High School after hours to attend a Christmas concert. It was really cool and sounded just like a symphonic orchestra… I know because I went to one a couple of years back. Francis played percussion. Then we went home and did school. And yesterday we went to the dentist. But besides that it’s been school, school, school. Now I have to go do more…….. School! Bye!


12/05/08
We’re back from Europe! We went to the airport after Mrs. Lisa’s house and boarded a flight within 2 days. Then we took the long 8 hour flight back to America. It was good to be back. Anyway I’ve been doing nothing but catching up on school since. That’s all... Bye.

France and Switzerland, 12/01/08

When we saw the vineyards my mom got really excited. She said that we were almost there! After 7 hours of driving we were ready to see the place where my mom stayed for a couple of months with a family during the crush period. (In the fall where the grapes are just right to be picked and begin to turn into wine). We met the really nice family that housed her. Mr. and Mrs. Perrachon and their 3 daughters (all in High school or have a job), and their son, Julien, in high school as well. We played French billiards, and racing games while my parents and Julien’s parents talked about wine. We stayed the night at Chateau Bonnet. It’s their house, or mini castle, or whatever you want to call it, and it’s huge! It’s surrounded by vineyards all in rows, some of which are over 100 years old! But my mom says that when picked just right, and crushed just right, and aged just right, it goes from grapes to amazing red wine. Then the next day, we got a tour of the place and left. Of course we bought some wine first.
Next, we drove 8 hours to Switzerland! We met one of my dad’s and mom’s friends, Mrs. Lisa and her husband, Mr. Frits and their dog, Fargo the Wonder Dog! Yea, that’s right, just like the movie! We had tons of fun, mostly throwing giant snowballs off a 1,000 ft dam in Switzerland. The dam is 2 miles from their house, which is over 800 years old, and like a mini-castle. It has a lot of candles and fireplaces to stay warm in the winter time back in the olden days, but now it has a heater so they aren’t used as much. But they still look nice! Now I’m blogging in their ginormous living room. Unfortunately, our plane leaves tomorrow so we’re going to drive and leave the mini-castle and Fargo, Ms. Lisa, and Mr. Frits. But Ms. Lisa made my dad Promise to come back in the summertime. So later today we’re leaving. That’s all for now. Bye!

Paris 11/28/08

When we came into Paris it was dark. The stars were shining and the moon was gold. We came to our Youth Hostel and set up our beds. Then we went to bed. The next morning we called our former aupair, Yolanda. We organized a meeting by the Louvre, a famous art museum. While we were waiting we went inside and bought tickets. There were lots of naked statues that were fighting to the death. The paintings on the ceiling and walls are called Murals and there were lots of them. The Museum itself was a piece of art. A giant glass pyramid marks the underground pillars holding up the ground. We saw the Mona Lisa! It was fantastic. It was created by Leonardo Da Vinci himself! He has captured the very small degree of her eyes to make it look like she is always looking at you. No matter where you are standing in the room her eyes seem to follow you. It’s kind of creepy. Also you can’t tell what she’s thinking. She looks happy, sad, proud, and lots of other emotions, but you just can’t tell what one thing she’s really feeling.

Then we saw Yolanda and her boyfriend, David. *Robby talks in a very good French accent* (Paris is the city of love, no?) We had a great time looking at the Arc de Triumph, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Notre Dame Cathedral which is like the Flagship of all Churches. Then we went to lunch and I had a sausage on a warm, crisp, combination of a croissant and a piece of bread. Then we walked through the town aimlessly and saw the Seine River. We took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. By now it was dark and when it gets dark they light it up in a dazzling wavy hue of blue. It’s amazing! We went to all three floors by elevator and saw practically all of Paris. In the dark of night, the Blue of the tower, and the lights of the city was beautiful. And every hour, for five minutes, they randomly flash 50,000 white lights that make it look even more dazzling. Despite everyone’s ooohhhh’s and aaaaahhhhhh’s something was missing. I never really figured out but something was definitely missing.
Oh well, then we said our goodbyes to Yolanda and David and went to bed. In the middle of the night, some bozo hit the fire alarm. So everyone woke up, some went downstairs, and then we were told to go back to bed. Imbecile! Finally we went to sleep and almost couldn’t wake up at 9:00 the next morning. Then we packed up and left. Goodbye Paris!

Amsterdam 11/26/08

In the morning we ate the hostel’s continental breakfast and boarded a train. Because there was space available, we got to ride up in first class. Then we got off in a town called Amsterdam. There was a series of canals connecting the city. We took a boat tour of these canals. It was fun.
But unlike towns in the US, marijuana is legal here! You can buy it in coffee shops! I stood well away from it, but to my surprise, Sam kept asking questions about it. Go figure. We saw Holland architecture and the Anne Frank Museum and LOTS of pictures of tulips and bulbs for sale. Holland is famous for its tulips.
Then we left on the train, got off on the wrong stop, panicked, got back home, and went to bed. The next morning we got up and began to drive to Paris.

Holland

We are in Belgium (see map on Home page). We have also been to Luxembourg. We saw the Grand Duke’s Palace there and saw why the people of Luxembourg have been terrorized by invasions from foreign countries. (If you didn’t know that they were, they were, and now you know) They were terrorized many times because of their geographical and strategic point. They were on a cliff which made a good defensive area, and a continuous supply of water by a fast moving river. We also saw a cathedral with beautiful stained glass, high ceilings and lots of cold, smooth stone called alabaster. We played at a giant park that was supposed to be a sunken Pirate ship. Then we went and stayed at a Youth Hostel for about 10 Euros a person. (A euro is about 1.20 American dollars so it is worth more) The next day we went to Belgium and stayed at another Youth Hostel in the city of Mons. There was a fair going on and I went through the haunted house. It was in pure darkness and I wasn’t scared. A couple of sensors and lights and treadmills don’t get me scared. But they did Sam and Ben. There weren’t many traps but the thought of getting scared or getting eaten was enough. Two ladies gat scared and ran past us at top speed. The treadmill was fun. Then we left the haunted house and shot some golf balls with bb guns. I was a perfect shot. Then we stayed the night at the Youth Hostel. The next morning we left and went to Holland. We stayed at yet another Youth Hostel and treated ourselves to dinner pancakes. I know, I was surprised too, but don’t worry it’s delicious.