Guest Post By Michael: Thanksgiving Dinner

My sister with my cousin

Last night, we had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner.  We prepared for this party by baking banana bread, pumpkin bread, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a huge turkey.  The turkey and the rest of the meal smelled phenomenal. It took my sisters and I hours to cook all of the delicious foods.  It was a lot of fun, and I hope to bake more yummy cakes.  My twin sister Hannah did a post on my sisters Sarah's blog about cooking the foods.  

Next, my whole family came over such as aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. When they came they gave us each a hug and a kiss. After we were done eating our meal, I had to read a paragraph I wrote at school to my guests. The paragraph was about what I was thankful for, my family and having fun siblings.

Cutting up the turkey

After, my cousins and I played tag, hiding go seek, basketball, and handball. When it was dark, I played the piece Clowns on the piano to all the guest's. My sisters also played on the piano and the violin.  I love all the people that came, and hope to see them again on different holidays.

My family

Eating the delicious foods at the kids table

Reading my Thanksgiving speech

How did you spend your Thanksgiving?

2014 Edublog Nominations

I am very excited to be part of the Edublog nomination process.  I have been blogging for 4 and a half years, and I have come across many interesting blogs that deserve an award.  

Here is my list of blogs that I nominated:

 Best Student Blog

Come Somersault with Sarah

One of my favorite student bloggers is my sister Sarah.  Sarah has been blogging for 3 years when she earned her own blog in Mrs. Yollis class.  Sarah publishes a new post at least once a month and comments back to everyone.  Sarah even sends me some nice comments once in a while.  I really think Sarah's blog is an excellent example for other bloggers who have just started blogging. 

Best Class Blog

Mrs Yollis’ Classroom Blog

I have seen many class blogs but my favorite is Mrs Yollis.  She has a new interesting post up every week and supports her student bloggers by leaving comments on their blogs.  She also comments back to many of her readers on her blog. 

 

Best Group Blog

Mrs. Yollis 365 Project 

I love the 365 blog because it has really engaged me to take pictures.  It has grown and expanded so much, that people from around the world contribute to it.  I now carry my camera everywhere I go thanks to Mrs. Yollis.

Best Library/Librarian Blog

Bulldog Readers  By: Mrs Hembree

The bull dog readers is an excellent blog because Mrs. Hembree really gets us involved in reading even in the summer.  She also gives great recommendations on books to read.  I really enjoy visiting her blog and so will you.  

Check out these great blogs and let me know what you think.

Visiting Toyon Bay, Catalina

A couple days ago, I went on a school trip to Toyon Bay, Catalina Island.  I had an amazing time from the minute we arrived. That morning, I had to get up a 5 am and get ready for the bus.  After a couple hours on the bus we arrived in Long Beach and went onto the Catalina Classic.  Our boat ride to Catalina was about 2 hours and on the way, I watched the beautiful view of the island.  It was really special to have our school teachers accompany us as chaperons on this trip. 

Catalina 

In my bunk we had 10 girls, and during our free time, we played a card game called Gumpsh. It is a silly game played with six people. Each team of two must communicate through a secret code in to get four of the same cards in order to win.  We also had fun doing each other's hair and just having girl time.  Its too bad it all became messed up when we woke up the next morning.

Our bunk

Getting ready to snorkel!

Our first activity on the island was a snorkeling trip around the coast.  I had to fight with my wet-suit pants to get them on.  It was particularly interesting to watch the teachers struggle in the same manner as we did to get their suits on. While snorkeling, the first fish that we encountered was the orange Garibaldi, which is the state marine fish.  This was one of my favorite fish as its bright neon orange stood out in the murky water.  This was only one of many fish that we saw off the coast of Toyon Bay.  During our snorkeling adventure, we also saw leopard sharks.  There were 10 -12 sharks swimming by us as we floated above the water peering down upon their world. These sharks were a couple feet long and had distinctive spots on them.  After changing out of our wet-suits, we had our evening activity, a squid dissection. I was kind of grossed by the fact that we had to pull out the guts of our squid but I later warmed up to the idea once I saw the coolest part of the dissection.  Inside a squid their is a feather-like pen and an ink sack.  When you dip the feather in the ink you can write your name and even draw a picture on a piece of paper.

Leopard Shark

The next morning, we went to pet sharks, sting rays, and many other interesting sea creatures.  The tank contained small sharks and stingrays that we were allowed to touch.  In fact, the tank contained the same leopard sharks that we swam with the day before.  This trip was one of the best school trips yet, and I hope one day that I will be able to go back to Catalina.

What did you think of our school trip? 

What is your favorite school trip?