Outdoor Education Trip

We just stepped outside of our bunk and boy was it cold!

My counselor Elle and I

Last week, I went to a sleep away camp with all of the fifth grade classes.  The camp was called Outdoor Ed, and we were able to learn about many different plants and animals.  The camp was part of the Santa Monica Mountain Range in Southern California.  During the five day trip, we saw many animals such as mule-deer, red tailed hawks, gopher snakes, cooper hawks, and many ground squirrels.  We were divided into different trail groups, and we had a naturalist names Lisa that explained to us about the plants and animals that we spotted.  We also had a counselor named Elle who was a senior in high school. Elle cared for us so much and even decorated my bunk room on my birthday. On the first day of the week, I dressed in shorts and a t-shirt with no sweater.  I literally froze that day because as soon as the wind picked up, the air temperature dropped.  I learned my lesson to always dress in layers! 

Resting at a creek after a long hike

One of my favorite days of the week was Tuesday when we did an all day, 7 hour hike.  We were the only group that saw a family of mule-deer. We also saw some gees and a beautiful landscape.   While on the hike, we crosses a creek with fish swimming in the water.  I missed a step on one of the rocks in the creek and fell right in.  I had to suffer the rest of the hike in cold wet socks and shoes.  Although, that was a pretty bad misfortune, I still had a good time.  At the end, we went to a rock pool to journal about the day.  Walking back, everyone was pretty tired, and we sang some songs to make the time pass by   It was a tiring but beautiful day. 

Mule deer

Building a shelter. I am glad it didn't rain!

We also had a Chumash lesson where we made necklaces out of abalone shells, tried to make fire, saw different animal furs, and saw a live gopher snake.  I was very surprised about how hard it is to start a fire by spinning the stick. We all tried and tried as a group, but we only got a little bit of smoke.  We saw animal furs from coyote, skunk, rabbit and dear. All of these animals died in nature.  The coyote skull was also pretty incredible. I thought the best part of the whole Chumash lesson was  building shelter.  Imagine being stuck in the mountains with nothing but tress, sticks, ants, string, and rags. We had to learn to build a small night shelter with what was available to us.  I was in charge of gathering the sticks because everyone else was scared of ants. How would you have made the shelter?

So soft! (Racoon)

Smelly Skunk (the skin is actually very soft and does NOT smell)

Have you seen any of these animals?

Have you ever gone to sleep away camp? 
How was it?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you spent time to give someone your love.  I made my mom a special Valentine because she cares about me.  A few days ago, my teacher assigned us to write a few Valentine poems.  I hope you enjoy them.

Even animals show their love!

“Valentine’s Day”

I am so sick today

That I can’t go to school

But it’s Valentine’s Day.

 My face is all green

 And my stomach is gurgling.

I’m itching all over

With sweat running down me

And I do look atrocious

 But it’s Valentine’s Day

 And my love is waiting

  For me to give her

My special Valentine.

“Hours, and Hours”

Hours and Hours my valentine took

I just couldn’t figure out what kind of book.

My teacher had told us to give someone a present

But I just couldn’t figure out what to give.

I finally decided on a book

 But what kind of a book

A frog, dog, cat, person, soldiers, or a duke book.

Valentine’s Day is in an hour

But what do I pick maybe a flower?

The story was as bright as the flower I had found last night,

I just hope that my valentine is all right.

   

“Flunked”

Today at school I flunked a test,

And now I would be in trouble.

But Valentine ’s Day is coming up

And I still don’t have a present.

But now that I have flunked a test,

I don’t think it will matter,

I guess I’ll just flunk fifth grade

And then not have to think about

My secret Valentine.  

Did you do anything special for Valentine's Day? 

Can you write a verse or poem for Valentines Day?

Talent Show

The musical talent is on!  A few days ago, I performed at my school's talent show.   I performed the Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov, and Sarah performed Fur Elise by Beethoven.  We had many rehearsals that took place after school, and all the performing students worked very hard at perfecting their dances, songs, or piano pieces.  Show night finally arrived and we each performed our routines or pieces. The lighting and sound wasn't very good, therefore my mom couldn't record the concert. She therefore recorded us on our home piano. We wore the same beautiful ball gowns that we wore for the talent show. 

Flight of the Bumblebee is piece written for the orchestra by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899–1900. I have seen this as a movie at my grandmother's house many times.  It describes a magic Swan Bird who changes Prince Gvidon Saltanovich (the Tsar's son) into an insect so that he can fly away to visit his father (who does not know that he is alive). He stings his evil Aunt (his mother's sisters) in the eye.  The swan later turns the prince into a bumblebee and he stings his other evil aunt in the eye.  The aunts get kicked out of the palace and the prince visits the king and the family lives happily ever after.

Sarah played Fur Elise by Beethoven.  Nobody really know who Elise is, but they think that he misspelled her name and it was really meant for Therese. To read more about Beethoven, you can visit Miriam's blog who also plays this piece.

What did you think of the pieces we selected?

 

Safari Park Adventures

Over winter break,  my family and I traveled to the Safari Park. Safari Park is similar to the zoo except they let some of the safari animals out in the hills.   They have animals such as parrots that will sit on you if you have nectar, gorillas, rhinoceros, giraffes, lions, elephants, and even cute baby animals.  There were also some unusual animals such as cheetahs and jaguars. These animals as well as lions, gorillas, and elephants were not let out in the wild. 

Safari park is located in the hills so there are many animals in a secured area covering many acres of land. We took a tram to the hills and visited some of these magnificent animals.  There were many baby giraffes that even though they were very young, they still were pretty tall.  We also saw different types of endangered rhinos, some that had horns and some that didn't.  Some of the rhinos were endangered species that didn't have horns because the horns were hacked off.  These hunters believed that the horns have medicinal properties, which isn't true.  The Safari Park owns one of three rhinos species left in the world! 

After the tram, we visited some animals in cages such as bats.  Bats are nocturnal animals so they sleep all day upside down.  Seeing bats for the first time was pretty incredible.  As we headed along the trails of the park, we went to the elephants.  The elephants were the cutest animals you could imagine.  There were so many of them and there baby's were huddled close to the adults.  The elephants were playing so well that I thought I could go over there and touch one.

We continued on our path and went into the parrot exhibit. The parrots were in a caged area, flying overhead looking for people  with nectar in there hands.  My dad bought us a small cup of nectar which we all shared.  I got so lucky that two parrots landed on my hand and drank the nectar.  The parrots didn't have sharp nails so when they landed, it felt like a kitten purring against your arm.

Isn't that cute!

The last sight of the day was the cheetah run. The cheetah run is a 100 meter dash that a cheetah runs along with his companion Miley his female husky-mix domesticated dog.  The cheetah was raised as a baby together with it's best friend, the dog. Now the cheetah relies on the husky to show her how to do things. The cheetah was extremely fast.  It ran the course in less than 6 seconds. Wow! My mom caught a very short video of the cheetah run.  



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What did you think of the cheetah run?

Which animal is your favorite?

State Fair- Wyoming

In 5th grade, every student picks a state to learn and write.  I chose the state of Wyoming. 

My goal in this project was to persuade my class to visit my state.  Wyoming is filled with so much history and information, that it was hard to pick and choose which sections would be most persuasive to get people to visit the state.  For me, the most difficult part of the project was the oral presentation.  I had to say it over and over again until I had it memorized within the correct time limit.  After putting together my talk, I still had one more step, create a presentation board for the state fair.  Doing the presentation board was easy because I knew in my head where I wanted everything to go.  After I placed everything down on the board, I thought it needed more color so I made a red border around the section headings. 

Wyoming has so many interesting facts that it will amaze you.  Wyoming is known for its beautiful parks such as Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is filled with nature as well as animals such as grizzly bears, elk, buffalo, and deers all roaming throughout the park.  Yellowstone has the largest population of grizzly bears in the United States! Yellowstone is not only filled with animals it also has waterfalls and geysers like Old Faithful.  Old Faithful erupts every hour and astonishes the visitors viewing it.

Yellowstone isn't the only incredible place to see, there also is Devils Tower National Monument.  This gigantic rock column was the leftovers of a volcano that erupted many years ago.  As you continue your journey through Wyoming,  I encourage you to look up and view the high peaks of Grand Teton National Park.  These peaks rise over a mile above the valley floor!  Wow!

Since Wyoming is natural wonders, it has the lowest population in the country.  Don't let that discourage you from visiting, as the state has many dude ranches for people to explore and enjoy the Wyoming lifestyle of horse back ride and hardy foods.  Wyoming also has the largest outdoor rodeo in the world!  I hope I will be able to visit this state someday.

The whole 5th grade presented there posters to the other parents.  After my mom visited my poster, she went around and viewed posters from some of the other states.

What interesting facts can you share about the state that you live in?

Candy Cane Lane

A few days ago, on a cold evening, my family and I bundled up and went on a stroll to Candy Cane Lane.  Candy Cane Lane is blocks of houses lit up with Christmas lights and fascinating decorations.  After you see these images, I think you will be just as amazed as I was looking up at the lights. 

Candy Cane Lane started in 1952, when some homeowners decided to amaze the community with a display of holiday lights and decorations.  There success has been ongoing since with blocks of lights to see.  One house even hired a Santa to visit and take pictures with kids in his sleigh.  Some people come from hours away just to see these extraordinary sights.  It was good we arrived early because as we were driving back, the exit from the freeway was lined with miles of cars waiting to exit and see the lights!

There were lines of cars seeing the lights with many kids standing on the seats popping there heads through the convertibles.  Viewing the lights was amazing, but walking and viewing the lights was even better.  The best decorated houses had music playing.  There was even a building with a train in front of it puffing out thick clouds of smoke.  Some houses even had a motorized seesaws and merry-go-around spinning.  Others had a display of blown up Santas riding on motorcycles, sleeping in bed, and skiing.  Even after seeing all the houses, I still couldn't decide which one was my favorite.  I think the neighborhood did a fantastic job of making the holidays special and exciting!  Hopefully, I will come back next year and take another stroll through the neighborhood!

Everything was spinning and lit up with "Its a Small World After All" playing in the background

Hansel and Gretel walking to the yummy witches house

Puffed up decorations

Santa and us

The Train

The flickering lights made this image blurry but still amazing!

How did you spend the holidays?

Taking a Stroll Through the Neighborhood

A few days ago, My mom, brother, sister, and my friend Leah, went on a stroll through the neighborhood.  It was a cloudy, cold and drizzly morning.  As we were walking,  we noticed the gorgeous trees of Autumn.  Most of the leaves of the trees had fallen off which made it fun to walk through them.  The leaves made a crunchy sound as we stomped through them.  One house had many leaves for us to grab a few and  throw up in the air.  Instead of snowflakes falling, we had colorful leaves falling! As we were walking, we saw a huge leaf that took up half of my body!

My favorite leaf was a blood red one with a little bit of yellow.  Leah and I had a great time collecting our favorite leaves and making a bouquet with them. Every one had a good time included my dog Romeo, who raced after us.  As soon as we arrived home,  it started pouring cats and dogs!  We got very lucky to arrive home in time. 

We've had some unusually hot and cold weather lately, so we still have flowers and roses blooming in November.  Who ever heard of that?

I think this flower is unusual and gorgeous because of its shape and color.  If you look at it closely, it looks like a bird.  This flower is called bird of paradise. What do you think?

 

What does your neighborhood look like?