Nashville, TN and St. Louis, MO

We went to the Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville,Tennessee. It was like a mini-concert with the live country music and stage and lights and dancers. By the way, the dancers were the audience, including me. Yep, I got out on the dance floor and line danced with 20 other people.

We went to Lookout Mountain and saw the highest incline railway in the world, although we didn’t ride on its mile-long journey. Tucker left us 5 days ago but it seems like a month since he left.

We went to Fort Campbell and stayed there for 3 days doing nothing but school, school, school, and shotgun shooting. Yes, it is not the first time that I have shot a gun but the first shotgun that I have ever shot. I caught on quickly and soon passed Will, Ben, and Sam in the low tower, and high tower. Will shot better at doubles (which is both) and I tried once but could only destroy the first. The clay pigeons that we were shooting usually were obliterated, except when Ben or Sam was shooting. Even though the 20 gauge makes a bigger cloud I seem to shoot better with the 4-10. It kicks less you know, and is easier to hold than the 20 gauge.

Now we’re in St. Louis, Missouri at the Piatak’s house. Mr. and Mrs. Piatak have 4 girls and no boys. Their names are Kelly age 9, Nicole age 11, Catherine age 13, and Mary age 14. We’re staying at their house for another day, and today is the 3rd day. We’re having lots of fun with the girls playing basketball and wii.

We went to the St. Louis Arch and rode all the way to the top in a capsule that most people would get claustrophobic in. Kelly went with her mom to a soccer tournament for the weekend and will come back soon from Kansas. We went to a really nice neighborhood in St. Louis. Everything was Red, Green, and White. The whole neighborhood was Italian. We ate at a really nice Italian restaurant and waited an hour to get a table, and then another hour for a waiter, then another hour for the food but it was worth it because I had a good book to read and the food was great and we got to socialize with the girls for a while. They’re all very pretty and look much older and mature than most other girls their age, in a good way. Anyway we’re having lots of fun and it’s getting so warm that we sleep with the air conditioner blowing on full in the R.V. They let us sleep in their house last night. Bless their hearts. Because it was HOT OUT HERE!
Bye I’m going to go play Mario Kart racing with the girls now.

Tennessee and Huntsville, Alabama

4/19/09
Ok, a lot has happened since I last blogged. I’ll start with Tucker’s arrival. He flew in at 6:00 PM and we drove home to Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee. We stayed there for two days leaving the first day to explore a mountain called Lookout Mountain. We saw hang gliders, rich folk’s houses (or castles), and Civil War battle statues.

Then we left (and to Tucker’s great enjoyment) drove all the way to Huntsville, Alabama in the R.V. Just to fill you in, I got a scholarship at Space Camp in Huntsville three years ago and stayed there for a whole 5 days. It was like a boarding school for astronauts if you ask me. This time we had a blast too(he he get it, blast?), running around on that nice sunny day, going on rides, movies, and climbing walls as well as seeing that very familiar museum. All in all we had a good time.

While in Huntsville we had dinner with one of my dad’s friends Mrs. Ronda at our coach. The next night we had dinner at Colonel and Mrs. Lamb’s house. It was a deliciously cooked meal. We went to Mr. and Mrs. Scott Campbell’s house and had fun at their home away from home on Smith Lake. It was a very nice little cabin and we enjoyed ourselves greatly, as did they.


The next day we had lunch and dinner with Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong and his wife and kids at a lake. We also fished, played with their dog and smashed anthills for thrills. Today, we just left the Gargulinski’s house. Mrs. Gargulinski worked with my dad in Missile defense and we played with her boys touring their farm, shooting their air soft guns, all 7 of them, and shooting metal plates with a .22 on their shooting range in the rain. All five of us played Halo 3 with Tony and Chris at the same time! I totally smoked everybody except for Tony.

Madison, FL

4/12/09
Yea, it’s Easter! And the “Easter Bunny” came with all of his stolen bird eggs. My mom woke us all up at 6:00 in the morning to go to an early bird church outside! We’ve gone so far north that we were cold! It must have been 50 degrees outside.

After the gator park in the Everglades, we went to Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Campground. There we stayed for the next 3 consecutive days. We got full hook-ups and we met Yogi and Booboo who stopped by our campsite on a golf cart to hug all the little kids and get their picture taken. Yogi tried to steal my sandwich. Stupid Bear. We met some people and my dad fixed the satellite Antennae. Now we have satellite T.V. wherever we go. I enjoyed the shopping trip mom and I did into the cutest little town called Madison. We saw all the little old buildings and the old grocery store while we shopped. The prices were probably the greatest I have seen so far on this trip. Giant 2 liters of soda for $ .99, not that we got any of them Nana. (She doesn’t like Soda). But we did get watermelon and a whole bunch of fresh fruit for the arrival of my cousin Tucker who is flying in from Albany to stay with us for spring break, as well as Will’s Birthday. We’re driving to Nashville, Tennessee today to pick him up tomorrow.

4/6/09
We had a great week in the last few days; I’m on lesson 119 and 114 Algebra. The reasons I didn’t say week was because on the day after I blogged, Sam and Ben rode Will’s and Ben’s bikes to the front of the R.V. They parked them resting on the very front of the coach while the R.V. was parked for a whole 15 minutes while we waited for the previous occupants of the slot where we wanted to go were still departing.

By the way, do you know those yellow strips of plastic on the front of school busses? The ones that fold in and out while kids have to cross the road to the bus or their house. Well the reason that is there is because the driver can’t see over the dashboard and see the kids. That is there so the kid doesn’t walk too close and the driver doesn’t drive over the kid. Well, the bikes that my complete idiot brothers parked in front of the R.V. (one of which was not theirs I might add!) were in that area and when my dad did not see them HE DROVE OVER THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND IT IS ENTIRELY BEN’S AND SAM’S FAULT!

Ben cried out of stupidity and self-pity and Sam was so cold hearted that he only wimpered and didn’t even shed one tear. Will cried, I cried, Dad swore. By the way Will’s bike is $380, and is a 21 gear mountain bike with gray chrome finish. The mechanics said it would cost $100 to repair but it cost more around $250. Ben’s Bike cost $50 and was a mongoose. Both of them were expensive and totaled. AND IT IS COMPLETELY BEN’S AND SAM’S FAULT IF I MIGHT ADD. Of course as soon as it happened Ben tried to find someone else to blame.

Otherwise our week was fine. We visited Judy and Pascal and played with Luc and Lea and had a blast. We also went to the Earnest Hemmingway Museum and went on an Alligator air boat ride. There were lots of cats at the Hemmingway House, who by the way had 4 wives. As for the Alligator Airboat ride, Mom was picked on to wrestle an alligator by the tour guide and we had a lot of fun on the actual airboat. We saw a total of 12 alligators.

Dry Tortugas and Key West

Ok. It was a great last week. The first couple of days were all very productive school days and you could definitely tell by the green tests we accomplished. I’ve already started test 120 and started a new Calvert book that I haven’t been able to put down. It is called David Copperfield, a tragic story of a young boy in England in the 1800’s and all the clever things he must overcome from infatuation to an evil stepfather to the death of his loving mother. He overcomes the worst and the best with luck and a considerable amount of naïve style.

I set up a large scale Nerf Gun war with the kids at the local CYS (child youth services) so we had a lot of fun attacking and shooting at each other the next day. We had the most fun snorkeling at the Dry Tortugas National Park on Garden Key which is 70 miles west of the main land. So we packed up our stuff 2 days before and were going to call this a camping trip because we were going to camp there in tents because we obviously couldn’t take the R.V. out there. Finally the day came and we boarded the Yankee Freedom ll, the name of the ship, at 7:30 in the morning after we woke up at 5:30. We were very drowsy except for my parents who were quite ecstatic about the whole idea of camping on an island with an abandoned Fort Jefferson that held the 4 tyrants who helped John Wilkes Booth who assassinated President Lincoln. We went out there watching Coral Reef movies and looking for sea turtles and dolphins on that very large 2 story catamaran. While out there I ate a complimentary breakfast and lunch and read David Copperfield.

There was a real character named Tortuga Jack, real name no joke even if it is April Fool’s Day. He told jokes, stories, and the history of the Fort, island, and inhabitants. What a day! When we arrived we set up camp immediately and went snorkeling. Visibility: terrible for that hour. So while it was cloudy and cool we explored the Fort. And I myself explored the moat, island, all three stories and all three sides of the hexagonal Fort that was available for me and me being alone to explore. I read every history board, every sign and listened to every park ranger who told me about the Fort.
Then we did sea glass collecting, big hall echoing, and lots and lots of snorkeling as the weather got brighter and hotter as the ocean got clearer and clearer. Oh the things we saw, and the fish we met, and the coral we discovered! It was like the commercials and tourist trap advertisements. Come to think of it, they might have been telling the truth, huh. Well, we saw people fishing and sailing and kayaking. We had a lot of fun and did a lot of fun things and that is how I spent my Monday and Tuesday which was technically my weekend.

That’s the great thing about homeschooling. You can catch up on the weekends when you’re doing nothing, and do fun stuff on the weekdays when everybody’s at school or at work. You can take a recess whenever you want (If you’ve earned it and your teacher says so) as long as you work up to it and then catch up to it. For my break 4 days ago I went snorkeling in Key West and loved it! Where else in the world can you find a school system where you can do that! Well we have to move our R.V. to a different slot. The R.V. office says it’s time for someone else to get full hook-ups. Bye.

Key West, Florida

3/23/09
We’re just doing school, lesson 107 to be exact, and decided that while I’m waiting for Mom to finish with Will so she can finish review with me, I’m going to blog. Recent studies, my studies, show that I’m doing very advanced work. For example, for each lesson I get a mix Algebra 1, reading, grammar, History, Geography, vocabulary, spelling, science, and composition. For one subject, I received the following assignment; Write a five paragraph book summary on a non-fiction book that you have read recently using examples of why you thought it was a good or bad book and why. That is for ONE subject in ONE lesson, and it is NOT the only subject in the lesson. I also have Algebra, reading, spelling, History, vocabulary, and science. So those of you who think I’m slacking off or falling behind, start changing your mind please!


Now it’s time for some more pleasant news on our lives. We are currently in Key West for our fifth day, and we enjoy it greatly, even though we have to use expensive diesel fuel for the generator because we are in a military campground. Nonetheless it has no electricity or water or sewer. We are right on the Gulf of Mexico, but people pronounce it MEH-HE-CO. We rented a boat 4 days ago and went out snorkeling in the United States’ only living coral reef. The things we saw, oh! We had so much fun with no dive instructor and got to see all sorts of animals. We saw purple sea fans, which are not plants but animals. As I am interested in plants I took much surprise to discover that the purple color in the translucent fan is from a different formula than the Animal uses for photosynthesis. In other words, because it is an animal that adopted the use of the plant’s ingenious photosynthesis technique and it is not a plant, it must create a different formula to keep itself alive because the old formula (carbon dioxide + sunlight + water = sugar) couldn’t apply to the animal because it is not similar enough to the plant to use the same formula. So it devised its own, the new formula (sorry, I don’t know what it is). It’s strange enough being underwater; makes the plant turn a brilliant dark purple.

We also went on a bike ride to Fort Zachary Taylor State park. There we snorkeled, played in the sand, rode our bikes, and saw very strange art and a breathtaking sunset. The next day we came back to get some key lime pie and stayed for the sunset at Mallory Square, where there just happens to be about a thousand street performers. We saw dogs walk on tight ropes, men walk on tight ropes, men jump through hoops of fire and cats jump through hoops of fire all in hopes that you’ll leave a buck or two in their hat, guitar case, or bucket. We saw a guy get out of a chained straight jacket, and another juggle flaming torches. We went to the southernmost point in the US, and saw gold and treasure at Mel Fisher’s Museum. I held a finger bar of stamped Spanish gold that was lost at sea, and probably saw the world’s most expensive 3 ounce rock. It was an emerald and was worth more than three of our R.V’s and all of our stuff inside. Oh, my Mom’s ready for me now! I’ll save the rest for later. Bye!

Key Largo, Florida

Yesterday after I blogged we went snorkeling! It was in the United States’ first underwater state park! Usually state parks include lakes and ponds but not huge acres of the Atlantic Ocean. The state park is called John Pennekamp state park and it has a charter with a private diving/scuba/snorkeling business that brings tourists (that’s us) to the coral reefs and watches us as we safely snorkel around the coral shelf. We saw all types of coral that I had studied in a previous grade of school like Brain coral, Fire coral, and many other types.

The scariest fish that we saw were the barracuda, long menacing looking fish that can dart at speeds up to 60 miles an hour making it one of the fastest and deadliest fish, but none got eaten by the 3 foot long monsters. We saw beautiful parrot fish, with so many colors like the parrot and brilliant ones at that: green, blue, red, and yellow. What a sight! The water was slightly chilly but we had a great time swimming in the 72-74 degree water. Everything from fish like sticks, to conch shells, to the most graceful flying fish… everything was absolutely amazing!

After an hour and a half (but it seemed like 20 minutes) the captain’s mate sounded the horn and we all came in. Sam got in last and the dive master started making jokes about the last one back buys the first round of drinks at the local bar’s happy hour. But as I said, it was a joke. Then we went back and when that boat hits 30 miles an hour (fast enough to water ski behind) the bow tips up about 20 feet and you feel like you’re flying. When we got back we thanked the crew and went back to the R.V. park and went to bed. Well, back to school.

3/16/09
Alright, I have finished my green test for math and I am currently on lesson 101 in all my subjects except for reading, which I am on 103. Everything seems to be in working order. We pulled into a large county park with a driving range, (Yes Mrs. Clark, keep reading, for I know you will enjoy the following part about our two periods of G.E….Golfing Education of the year), water park, and sewer hook-ups right at the slots! That’s a treat not having to go dump black water (sewage) and greywater (dishwater, shower water, and sink water) every other day. I’ve taken a liking to Harry Potter books and finished the Half Blood Prince in two days.

The next day we went to the driving range, did school, and went to a local “Relay for Life” promoting how we should, wait, need to find a cure for cancer. We enjoyed every minute of it. Then we went back and watched a blockbuster movie called August Rush. Good movie, kid got separated from his mum and dad and got sent to an orphanage, musical genius follows the music in his heart and you’ll find out the rest if you watch the movie. The next day we went to the beach and I was introduced to the nicest family that my Dad and Uncle Clipper know. We played in the ocean with their adorable little children Luc and Lea. Mr. Pascal and Ms. Judy talked with my mom and dad while my brothers and I surfed and what not. When they left we stayed an hour or two longer and then explored South Beach. Those of you who know the place know that the strip of land is covered in expensive condominiums and girls in bikinis. Afterwards we went home and it was dark outside.

The next day we went to that water park and had a blast for about 4 hours, and then we went to the driving range with my dad and four brothers. We rented a 5-iron, 1 driver, and 2 large buckets of balls. (We originally bought only one bucket of balls, but the machine wasn’t very smart and gave us two!) We went to the bottom of the two levels and started taking lessons from our dad. After he was convinced that we were both good and safe enough to try by ourselves, or that we were just a lost cause, he turned us loose and I believe from the look on my dad’s face that I was doing better than he expected. (Unless he just set his standard really, really low). Finally, I got to try something other than a 6 or a 9 and tried a driver. I hit it pretty close to a chip and a putt from the blue flag out yonder; it was next to the 125 yard mark. I thought, my algebra teacher would be proud, because she loves to golf.

Then we met up with Colonel Tio, A friend of my dad’s. He and his wife had the most beautiful house and the tiger tail lilies matched the orange walls and everything. Gorgeous. We had dinner and met their children who are fully grown and have their own children, Ali and Gabe. We played in their pool and had a great time at dinner watching “Meet the Robinsons” and half of “Arthur and the Invisibles”. When we eventually went home after 9:00 we immediately went to bed. Today we left the park and came to our friends’ house, the family that we met at the beach. We are having fun playing with Lea, while Luc is off at school, and the lunch was spectacular. Well off to do more school. Bye!

Pembroke Pines, Florida

3/12/09
I know that I haven’t blogged in a long time and I keep using this as an introductory sentence, but I also know that I’m getting so bored that I’ve listened to the Mary Poppins soundtrack from my iTunes at least twice a day. That sentence was long wasn’t it? Oh a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine - oh forget it; I can’t type as fast as the song any who. I just finished putting the RV slides out, helping cook dinner, helping eat dinner, and finishing my green tests, Oh I’m just bored! School all day and the most fun that we had was washing the R.V. and jumping in the intercoastal waterway. It was actually warm though.

Now I’m blogging and the rest of my brothers are watching pinokeokeeo, did I spell that right? Can someone email me a comment? I want to do something other than the dreaded, dreadful green tests. I only have one left and it’s math. Actually it’s advanced algebra and I loathingly detest it! The Space Shuttle got delayed again today and everyone is disappointed. Can someone give me something to do or a flower to trim? I’m passionate about plants and it relaxes me to be around them and do them good, or well. Whichever is the correct term of grammar usage. I’m off to do more school, anyone going to stop me? (Imitating Robin Williams). No, No, don’t go, you’re going to drive yourself mad with all that school, you don’t have to be ahead of your brothers in a more challenging curriculum, don’t stress yourself, give yourself a break, not even a little rest? Nobody? Typical, I’m just wasting my time anyway. My eyes are brimming with tears, I’m going to sign off before I start to cry. Bye.