School's Out For Summer...
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| Sitting in the Pilot's Seat |
...and boy have we been busy!! There is so much to write about, but I think I'm most excited about flying in a plane tomorrow! Not just any plane, but a Jumbo Jet!! I've only ever been on a jet twice and this will be my Brother's first time! I tried to tell him a few things so he wasn't too worried - like how take-off and landing feels, how your ears get plugged, etc. We watched a little Bill Cosby on youtube about the little boy named Jeffrey. It reminded me of my brother, and he thought it was hilarious to watch!! My Mom & Dad are a little worried because they say we only have 30 minutes in between flights. I don't know what they're so freaked out about, it's not like we've never hurried before! I'm sure we'll be fine!
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| Dad goes in for a kick |
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| Got him!! |
As for Nationals & Jr Olympics, I've been training really hard. Some days are harder than others, especially after 4 miles of marching & 10 rounds of trumpet songs, but those are the days I like to work on the slower moves. These events are so big & I've never been to a tournament this large! I'm hoping to see some of my old friends & know I'll make some new ones. I'll be competing in the advanced division, which includes black belts. I'm nervous, but very very excited! We traveled to meet & train with our coaches a few weeks ago. WOW! What a great opportunity! Sensei Dave has been giving me pointers & is really rooting for me. If I could wear my tournament sweatsuit everyday I would! My Mom & Dad have reminded me that, no matter what, they'll be proud & this will be an great learning experience. Me? I'm "Going for Gold!!"
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| Front Flip! |
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| American Fighter Pilot!!!! |
Furlough Days, Fundraising, Fly Balls, Fighter Jets, & Most Importantly, FREEDOM
“I’m
proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t for the men who died, who gave
that right to me…”
Thank you to the many
men & women who have fought & died to protect our Country & our
freedom! I think what you do is
amazing! We have many friends &
family who have served or are serving in the Armed Forces. They are just some of my Heroes!
The weekend started early thanks to
a furlough day (that means half-day) at school.
I like school, but I’m not going to complain about adding an extra
half-day to a 3-day weekend! I actually
ended up spending some time at a friend’s house after school, which was
fun. There was a baseball tournament at
the fields I normally play at, so we decided to celebrate an old American
pastime by watching a few of my friends games.
It’s interesting how many catchers I know! The games were awesome, but it was freezing
outside! I thought it was May?! Hmm, maybe that’s why Mom said “Grab a coat!”
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| Yep, my shoes & my toe! |
Saturday was filled with fun –
Karate & more baseball games!! Thank
goodness it was a bit warmer! I trained
for almost 3 hours in the morning. We
had increased our training last week, so I was already pretty sore by
Saturday. Luckily, once I got warmed up,
that feeling went away & I felt like I could actually accomplish
something. Sometimes that happens when
we’re skiing/snowboarding too. I just say to myself “Just keep swimming, just
keep swimming” (that’s a quote from Finding Nemo). Speaking of swimming, we also got to pick up
the boat that had been in the shop getting ready for summer! My family loves to be on the water! It really doesn’t matter if it’s just on the
boat or on a tube, but last year even GramMom got on the tube! *sigh – That was
SO fun! After my Dad parked the boat in
the garage (he’s still mastering how to back up a trailer), we went ot the ball
fields. They were packed, but the teams
I was rooting for were playing pretty good!
I got a super close-up view of the action on one of my friend’s
games! Since there was no scoreboard
operator, I took over & ran it for them.
My Dad is impressed I know how to run it, especially because even some
of the adults have a hard time! The
fields on Saturday were ‘Fly-Ball’ central!
I should have given my brother a glove so he could protect his head!! By the time I thought about it though, we had
to go. We were on a fund-raising mission
to find Flamingos. Flamingos? Yep, you heard right! I’ll tell you more about that later…I don’t
want to give away too much yet! :)
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| Ski Goggles? Maybe |
Sunday & Monday were kind of a
blur they went by so fast! No baseball,
but we cleaned almost the entire house & started preparing for one of the
fund-raisers I’ll be doing. One of my
friends came over & helped us get ready.
Okay, so maybe there was a little trampoline water fight mixed in with
all the hard work! :)
My Mom had made fresh jam, so we all decided that would be an amazing
fundraiser as well. I mean, who doesn’t
like fresh, homemade stuff like jam & Apple Butter?! Me, my Dad, & my friend loaded all the
yummy stuff in the wagon & started raising funds! I wore my Gi so people could get a little
glimpse of what I do. I was actually
surprised how quickly our homemade goodies sold! I did most of the talking, but my Dad did
help out. People were so generous & seemed really excited. In fact, my Mom had to make two batches of
Strawberry Jam! She also ended up making
two batches of something called “Hot Pepper Hulk Relish”. All I know is that our house went from
smelling like Strawberreis to smelling like Jalapenos. HOT PEPPERS!
I wonder whose ides it was originally it was to eat those things? I love bell peppers & some spicy stuff,
but Jalapeno are a little too spicy for me.
We had to go to the store to buy new shoes since my toes were popping
out of my other ones. My Mom though the
toe was just ripped, but it was in fact my toe popping out! She also thought a full shoe size would be
enough, but I actually jumped up over 2 shoe sizes! My feet are now officially bigger than hers! After a few board games, we ended the weekend with one of the most awesome shows I’ve ever seen called
“American Fighter Pilots’. It follows
pilots through their training to fly an F-15 Eagle!! No only did it kind of honor Memorial Day,
but it’s also one of my dreams!
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| Warming |
Yesterday
marked the last day my friends and I will perform in a Band Concert at our
school. Next year, we’ll all be in a
different school with a new building, new kids, and a new band teacher. It’s going to take a bit of adjusting, but I have
no plans to stop playing the trumpet anytime soon. In fact, I’ll continue to attend band
practice during the summer in addition to all my other activities and have already signed up for band next year.
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| Yep, that's my brother |
Since the evening’s performance time
overlapped with Baseball practice, I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to be able to
make it to practice. Not only did I make
it, but I practiced in my band outfit…black slacks, white shirt, vest, &
Fedora! My Mom said I couldn’t slide in
to any bases (bummer!), but I could still play catch & hit the ball a few times. It was fun, but I’m really hoping the Coach’s new nickname for
me, “Michael Jackson” doesn’t stick. No worries if it does, I moonwalk really well
& have some pretty awesome dance moves!
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| That's me! |
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