The Holocaust Museum

While we were on the Washington D.C. trip, some of went to a Holocaust Museum. The museum was incredible. They had lots of artifacts and great things.

The museum was huge and I think had 3 floors. If you read every sign and watched every video it would take ten hours to get through the whole thing.

I learned a lot while I was there. But what still wasn't clear at the end was why it happened. I understood a little bit but not much. I think the worst part was when doctors used some of the Jews for medical experiments. They put some in freezing water to see how their body reacts. One man had to go in a chamber with different pressures and his head exploded. It was horrible.

Many were killed in gas chambers and ovens. it is especially horrible because the Jews did nothing wrong. I also learned that lots of Gypsies were killed too but not as many as the Jews. I am glad that it is over and hopefully something like the Holocaust won't happen again.

Three Cups of Tea

I finished reading the book Three Cups of Tea, the kid version, while I was in Washington D.C. In the car ride from D.C. to NYC (yeah, we went there to).

The book was about a mountain climber who got lost coming down from K2, a mountain in the Himalayas. On the way he got lost twice and ended up in a small village. While he was there he saw little kids scribbling on rocks with sticks dipped in mud. The teacher could only come twice a month and shared the teaching with another school. Even without a teacher the boys and girls sat in the freezing weather and wrote multiplication tables in an open field.

Here, if the teacher even leaves the room, most of the kids start going crazy. Later in the book Greg, the mountain climber saved up lots of money by sleeping in his car and keeping all his stuff in a storage room. He also was kidnapped but luckily was set free. I would never be able to do anything like that. His rich friend later makes a new organization and makes Mark head of the organization and starts to build schools over Pakistan and Afghanistan. With all his hard works he helps many kids get an education and makes girls schools too when girls were banned from other schools.

After reading the book I realize how lucky we are to get free education and don't have to worry about not being able to read. We also don't need to worry about girls not going to school either. But many of kids in America aren't exited to go to school.

I learned I should be happy that I get to live in America and get free education.

D.C.

Yesterday my family just got back from Washington D.C. I think it was one of the best vacations I've had. We took total advantage of all the stuff there.

We went in the Washington Monument, went to a Holocaust museum, three Smithsonian museums, one about natural history, one about American history, and one about flight, cuch as airplanes, rockets, and space shuttles. We took the Metro train almost everywhere. It wasn't that great though. It cost a lot of money, it was crowded a lot, it didn't go very fast with frequent stops, there was even poop in one of them. But my friend shared his iPod touch so we played on it a lot.

From the Washington Monument we could see the Lincoln memorial, the Jefferson memorial, the White House, and the Capitol. It's 500 feet tall and has 800 something steps. But the steps had been closed a few years ago years.

We didn't however go inside the White house, they canceled our reservation. But we saw it from the Washington Monument and we saw it up close from the street. There were security guards on the roof and police on the street behind us. We didn't see President Obama either, or any of his family.

We did however go in the Lincoln memorial and the Jefferson memorial. Because the Jefferson memorial didn't really have any walls, there were spider webs all over the place, but it was still really cool. The statue inside was standing up, unlike the Lincoln memorial where Abraham Lincoln is sitting down.

At the rental house in Rockville, Maryland, there were a whole bunch of bikes and we used them all. There was a trail right behind the house for biking, walking, and running. It was very nice and was in the forest but it was paved. And at night there was fireflies. The trail could go all the way to Washington D.C. and to lake Needwood, a not so clean lake with paddle boats, canoes, and kayaks.

We went on the trip and a week after we got there our family friends got there and we hung out with them the whole next week. We also we saw all the monuments and memorials with them.

Next time we go I want to try to go in the White House and maybe see the president, whoever it is the next time I go.

Vancouver Trip

Last week my family and I went to Canada again. This time to Vancouver BC, not WA.

The first night we got to one of our relatives house in Abotsford at midnight. The next day, Friday, we swam in their inflatable Costco pool. Later in the day we went to my Grandparents'/aunt's house in Vancouver and my cousin Petra came with us. We went to an outdoor public pool. It was pretty crowded becasue it was hot that day just like it was all week. It was only ten bucks for seven people. On weekends it was free but we didn't go becasue we suspected it would be even more crowded. My brother and I went on the diving board most of the time while my cousins and sister stayed in the pool and swam.

A few days later my aunt took my siblings, my cousin, and I for a walk around town. We first ate at Mcdonalds and started walking to a playground. On the way we spotted tents and my aunt wanted to check it out even though no one else wanted to. It turned out to be a good idea though because they were giving out free goodies like otter pops and popcorn, which felt really good on the hot summer day.

When we finally got to the park I noticed that it was very large. I mean huge. But what was weird was that is was in the middle of nowhere. There was a snack shack, a water park, a smelly gross bathroom, and a bunch of playgrounds. I don't know how there was so many people there since it was in the middle of nowhere. But after we were done playing we walked back to the house and got some slurpees on the way. In Canada, there are slurpee's at every gas station. In America, they only have them at 7 eleven (not including ICEE's, they're not that good and the only got two flavors) and they still are a little bit to watery.

When we got back, everyone's feet were aching except my aunt's. She wore us out.

A few days after that we went to our other relatives house for a barbecue with Chinese food and lots of dumplings. But we had to move all the tables and chairs because there was a bee's nest on the tree that everything was under.

When it was time to go home we got to the border, and the big neon sign said the border had a one and a half an hour wait. But we had to go to the bathroom so we went to the duty free shop and got a little bit ahead in the line. Finally we got through and went back home.

Summer Hummer Pictures

The end of Summer Hummer 09

Summer Hummer this year was of course different. Mostly because I'm a counselor now instead of a camper. It seems 13 years has gone by so fast. After 5 days at Summer Hummer, it makes me appreciate how hard the counselors work every day. It's so much easier being a camper and not having to worry about anything, but, it's about the kids.

The first day we had a delicious pancake breakfast at the church with little smokies. After wandering around for a while, I was told to go to the lower field. Jason was already there. Jason and I signed up for poison ball and dodge ball. That happened every day up till Friday, except on Wednesday when we played capture the flag.

In the afternoon I was assigned to the inflatables. At first it was a boring job, but on the second day it became more fun. Out of the three positions on the inflatable, the job of saying "go!" was the hardest.

The lads were at Summer Hummer the whole week. I like them and their music. But they should play more songs. But I got a poster and my shirt signed.

Next year, if I'm not busy, I'll try to be a counselor again.

Summer Hummer 09

Today is the day before Summer Hummer 2009. Tomorrow will be Monday, the first day of the five day camp. This year, the theme is Son Rock kids camp. Basically, a camping theme. 

The big difference is that I'm a helper now instead of a camper. Last year most of my friends from  church became counselors but since I'm born in November, I'm younger than everyone else in the grade so I tried to stay a kid as long as I could. I'm sort of nervous because I don't really know where to go. But my friend Jason might be doing the same activities together so at least I won't be the only one lost. Even though I know it's not a good idea to stick with him because we might goof off a little bit, but I'll try hard not to, and stay focused on the campers.

Because I've only been doing Summer Hummer Since 2006, I don't know everything that happens. For some reason, I can remember the last two Summer Hummers but not the one in 2006. I can barley remember anything that happened.

Something I'm looking forward to is the Lads band. I have some of their songs on my iPod. They came to our church sometime last year and I didn't get their autographs or anything. But I did get a Lads t shirt, except it's getting a bit small. Anyway, I want to get a poster and get it signed. My chances may be a bit smaller because the crowd's going to be a lot bigger. 892 kids and 410 counselors!

I hope I can get through the week having a good time and learning a lot.

Phineas and Ferb

I know I am a little bit old to be watching cartoons on Disney Channel but I cannot go a month without watching a few Phineas and Ferb episodes or talking about them with my brother. I think I like Phineas and Ferb even more than Spongebob. Even though 80% of the episodes always have the same plot, it's still cracks me up every time. When there's no episodes on live TV, I usually just go on demand and watch the episodes. They're still funny even if you watch them a million times.

The show is about two step brothers named Phineas and Ferb (duh) that build something different every day. Their sister Candace tries to somehow show mom what they built and get them in trouble. Meanwhile, their pet Perry the platypus sneaks off into his secret agent hideout to get his mission to stop Evil Dr. Doofinsmirtz.

In the end right when the kids' mom is about to show up, Doofensmirtz's evil invention blows it up, or turns it invisible, or disintegrates it, or, you get the idea. Somehow though, it's still hilarious.

The show is fun for all ages even some adults. I think I learn from it. Especially how to not fight with my siblings. If you only watch one or maybe two episodes it would seem dumb. But once you see three or four you start to get it. If it's still not funny by then, then something most be wrong.

Edmonton

This is my first blog of the summer of 2009. I haven't written since the beginning of last school year because I didn't have much time and I sort of forgot. Just to let you know, I did not end up doing track at school (it's in the last blog).

Anyway, my family and I flew up to Edmonton Alberta to visit some more family. I thought Edmonton was a lot bigger because of the West Edmonton mall and stuff. But when we got to the tiny airport, my dad told me Edmonton wasn't even as big a Seattle, Plus, Edmonton is in the middle of nowhere, that's why the airport was so small.

One thing I like about Canada is that there are great recreation centers wherever you go. The swimming pools are always outstanding. They always have the coolest stuff and there are ice rinks everywhere you go. The closest one here is a half and hour drive away.

While at my grandparents house, my brother and I were banished from the house into a tent in the backyard. You should know that Edmonton is very far north and gets extremelly cold. While my brother and I were freezing to death in the pouring rain, my aunt and uncle, my grandparents, my parents, my four cousins (all girls) and sister were all sleeping peacefully in the warm house. But I'm still glad we had a place to sleep. And we had sleeping bags.

I hope I can go back to Edmonton sometime soon. Next time I want to try to go to the West Edmonton Mall. I've only been there once and it wasn't very long.