Guest Blogger Sarah- Gymnastics Competition

My sister Sarah, who is in second grade, is going to do a guest post on gymnastics. 



My name is Sarah and I am seven years old. I have been doing gymnastics for two years.  There are ten levels in gymnastics, and I just had my first level 5 competition.  At the gymnastics meet there were many different gyms. Some came even as far away as Canada! 

Coaches

I have two coaches,  Julius and Mariella. Mariella teaches floor and beam, and Julius teaches vault and bars. I practice 20 hours per week (five days a week for 4 hours at a time). 

There are 4 events in gymnastics, vault, floor, beam and bars. My favorite event is floor.



Beam



Bars



Award for floor routine



In competition, each event is judged by 3 judges.  Each judge can give you a score between 0 and 10.000.  At the end, they add up your scores from all the events to give you an all around score. The highest score you can receive is 40.000.  At my competition, I got first place on vault and floor, and second place all around. My all around score was 35.225.









Award for vault



What sports do you like to do?

The Getty Villa

It was a bright sunny day and we went to the Getty Villa.  The Getty Villa was built in 1968 by J Paul Getty to hold his growing art collection.  The villa is modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman century country house in Herculanium (modern day Italy) buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.  Today, the Villa has many Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities (old or ancient) which include Gods and Goddesses and vessels.



Inner Peristyle (a space surrounded by columns)



Outer Peristyle





Hercules



The docent showed us a famous statue of Hercules holding the lion skin.  The story behind this statue is very interesting. Hercules was a Demigod and very strong.  His father was Zeus, the king of all Gods and his mother was a mortal (human). There was a lion that bothered the people in the town of Nemea and so King Eurystheus decided Hercules' should  kill the Nemean lion and take his skin.  The lion was no ordinary lion.  The lion's skin could never be broken.  When Hercules got to Nemea he tried to shoot the lion with  his arrows but it was useless against the lion.  Hercules also tried his club but it was still useless against the lion.  He soon discovered he had nothing to kill the lion with so he decided to kill the lion with his strong hands.  He wrestled the lion down to ground and chocked him.  With the lions claws, he peeled off the skin and brought it to the king.



 Did you like the story?

Have you ever been to the Getty Villa?

Pink Tree Blossoms

The blossoms from our ornamental pear tree have blown off the tree and fallen to the ground like snow flakes.  For a photo, please see Yollis' 365 Project blog titled  Snowing. 

This afternoon, my dog took my shoe and ran with it into our backyard.  I immediately ran after him, so he wouldn't  rip my shoe. Once I managed to get my shoe out of his mouth, I noticed two beautiful trees with pink blossoms and purple leaves. These two trees were nestled (to lie in a hidden or sheltered manner)  between tall green trees. Up until now, these trees were bare with just grey branches sticking out. 



Pink blossoms and purple leaves



As I was driving home from school, I noticed these pink blossoming trees all over our neighborhood.  The trees are much smaller in size as compared to the ornamental pear trees, but they have similar type of flowering blossoms.



What do you think about these trees?
Does anyone know what type of trees these are?

A Trip to Malibu Creek Park

It was a beautiful sunny day right after a couple of days of rain, and we decided to go hiking at Malibu Creek Park.  Malibu Creek park is part of the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu.  It is also known as the site for movies and TV shows, such as Planet of the Apes and M*A*S*H. 

We were surounded by huge mountains, trees, rushing streams and dirty mud. The park has a lot of wildlife including deer, birds, squirrels and snakes.  That day at the park, we saw some ducks swimming in the stream. 

The park is also a popular rock climbing place.  My sister Sarah is the best amoung us in rock climbing. She looks like spiderman.   When we got home our shoes were covered in mud!



Sarah rock climbing



Do you like to go hiking?

What interesting animals have you seen on your hike?

Tennis Lesson

I have had some wonderful moments playing tennis, and I want to share them with you.  Every weekend, my sister and I play tennis with coach Anthony.  Some of the tennis moves that I have learned are:             

• forehand
• backhand
• volley
• overhead smash
• serve

  Tennis can be played with 2 players (singles) or 4 players (doubles). Below is a diagram of a tennis court. The size of the court changes depending on how many people you have playing.  Tennis was first played in England in the 19th century on the grass.  Today people play tennis on the grass, hard court and clay court.  I play only on hard court.



 Image taken from http://tenniscourtreviews.com/about-tennis-courts 

Here is a video of my sister and I playing tennis. We always enjoy playing tennis with our coach, and we also get some rigourous (harsh, severe) exercise. 



Do you play tennis?

What sports do you like?

Tree Blossoms- UPDATE

It has been in the mid 70s these past two weeks in Southern California.  As we drove up our driveway this afternoon, we noticed two beautiful trees blossoming in front of our home.  There were white blossoms all over the two trees and they looked magnificent.










Fallen leaves



In late September the trees started to become very colorful.  The leaves turned yellow, red, and brown.  The leaves also have uneven edges.  After the leaves turned colorful, they slowly fell off and left the tree bare.  Since the weather has been so warm, the trees started to blossom.



Tree Blossoms



Does anyone know what type of trees these are?

Answer: Mrs Yollis and I contacted a local arborist (tree specialist), named Mr. Mortimer, who works for The Acorn. He kindly let us know that the tree is an ornamental pear tree. Thank you Mrs. Yollis and Mr. Mortimer.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

It was a cold and rainy day and we decided to make chocolate chip cookies.  First, we found a recipe and bought the necessary ingrediants that we didn't have at home. We chose the following recipe:

 
1 cup butter, softened                         

1 cup white sugar                             

1 cup packed brown sugar                

2 eggs                                              

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

First, we creamed together the butter and sugar until smooth.

Then we beat in the eggs one at a time.

Next, we dissolved baking soda in hot water, and added it to the batter together with salt, vanilla, and flour.



Wow! Look at all that chocolate.



Then we added 2 and a half cups of chocolate chips which was everyone's favorite part.  We all tried the chocolate chips just to make sure they were good.  

Finally, we preheated the oven to 350 degrees and baked the cookies until the edges were slightly brown. The whole house smelled wonderful and the cookies were delicious. 

What do you like to do when it rains or snows?

Do you like to bake? 

What kind of special recipes do you have?