A 7 year old perspective.

11/28/14 – We are still in Cusco.  Avery and Drew left this morning.  I miss them already.  I had so much fun with Avery.  We took a picture with a baby llama.  I will try to put it on my webpage.  We went to a chocolate museum and I got to taste some chocolate.  We took a train to Machu Picchu.  Machu Picchu is an old (about 600 years old) city on top of a mountain.  We bought a deck of cards there because the train ride was over three hours and it was exhausting.  I saw llamas at Machu Picchu.  Machu Picchu was cool because the Incan people didn’t use mortar.  They carved the stones so they would fit in one another.  On Thanksgiving day, we took a tour of The Sacred Valley.  The Sacred Valley is where the Inca built other structures and grew their sacred grain which was corn.  There are more than 150 kinds of corn. We even tried purple corn juice.  We went to an old salt mine that is still used today.  When you dip your hand into the spring water and let it evaporate, you can taste the salt.  We also went to some other old places.  We will still be in Cusco for about a week and we will finish our spanish school. My teachers name is Carla and she is really nice.  I will be home in 39 days.  Bye bye for now.

11/18/14 – In Santiago there were mountains all around the city. We did a whole bunch of homework and walked to the mall a few times. The mall was huge and there was a giant Christmas tree in the middle and a water show near some palm trees. Santiago felt really good because it was the perfect temperature. That was all there was really to talk about in Santiago. Next we went to Lima, Peru which is on a cliff. I felt like it could fall down. We ate on the top floor and one night there was an earthquake. We went to a playground near the mall. We saw some dogs and there was a park with a lot of flower beds with cats lying in them. We also went to Dunkin Doughnuts and I got a pink donut with rainbow sprinkles. Now we are in Cusco, Peru and we are about 11,000 feet high. In 4 days we’re meeting Drew and Avery and we are going with them to Machu Piccu. Cusco is kind of an old city with narrow streets.

11/9/2014 – In Tahiti, we stayed in our hotel a lot so there’s not too much to talk about.  There were a whole bunch of dogs in Tahiti.  It rained a lot.  We had halloween in our hotel room.  Instead of going from house to house to get candy, daddy hid it and we had to search for it.  After Tahiti, we went to Easter Island.  The plane only goes once per week, so I’m glad we didn’t miss it.  It was supposed to leave at 1 o’clock in the morning, but it really left at 5.  I was really tired.  When we landed in Easter Island, there were some really cute security dogs in the airport.  One of them was a yellow lab and the other was a golden retriever.  The yellow lab sniffed all the bags when they were coming through on the luggage belt.  The other one was just laying down.  I saw a lot of rocky beaches and one sand beach.  I saw a lot of moai which are big carved stone statues that look like heads.  I hiked up to two volcanoes.  There was water at the top of the volcano.  I ate a lot of empanadas.  We also saw a very cool polynesian cultural dance.  The girls wore long dresses and had flowers in their hair, and the boys wore black pants.  The had feathers on their heads.  I saw two horses without any owners galloping down the sidewalk.  We saw surfers surfing on the rocky beaches.  We got to play on another playground too.  We saw cute baby horses too.  Now we are in Santiago, Chile.

10/30/2014 – In Queenstown, there was not that many buildings.  We hiked up a “hill” that really was a mountain.  I have no idea why they called it a hill.  It was higher than where the gondolas went and that was really high.  There were a lot of trees, but at the top it was a marvelous view.  We didn’t see a single squirrel on the way up even though it was a huge forest.  After that, we got cookies and cream fudge and it was delicious.  We went on a boat ride and we saw dogs herd sheep and farmers sheer sheep.  We also saw some bulls and deer and baby lambs that were really cute.  I pet one of the lambs.  I went ice skating and it was really cold and made my nose freeze.  There was an awesome playground with a zipline.  I fed the ducks.  They all swarmed around me and it was actually kind of scary.  When we left New Zealand, we travelled back in time because we crossed the international date line.  We used to be ahead of you, but now we’re behind you.  I had two October 29s and two October 30s this year.  I wish I had two holidays  instead.  HAPPY HALLOWEEN 😄

10/23/2014 – We arrived at the South Island and played on a playground. It was probably the first best playground after the one we saw in Cairns.  We saw a whole seal colony.  I saw a really fat one and really small ones.  Then we hiked to the light house and read an article that it was built in 1879.  Then we went to another hotel and played on another playground. I saw a lot of ducks and ducklings.  We hiked to two glaciers. They were really big and there were a lot of rocks and ice.  The water coming out of the glaciers was really gray.  The ice was a pretty blue color.  We hiked around a mirror lake and saw a lot of snowy mountains.  Then we went to Lake Hawea and there was a really cool stone beach. We skipped rocks.  Now we are in Queenstown and we will stay here for a week. There is another cool stone beach here, and so far we played at two more playgrounds.  Here I saw more ducks with ducklings that were a little older than the regular ducklings.

10/16/14 – After Bali, we went to Australia.  First we were in Cairns where they have a really really great playground.  Then we took a boat to Green Island.  Green Island is part. of the Great Barrier Reef.  Itis in the Coral Sea.  Green Island was fun.  We walked around the whole island.  the whole island is thirty acres.  I fed fish, looked at the stars and moon and planets through a telescope and tried snorkeling.  I saw lots of fish, sea turtles and sting rays.  We walked around the island two times and on the second time we saw about a thousand fish.  Daddy got a Go Pro of the fish swimming by.  After Australia, we flew to New Zealand.  So far, we have gone into caves and saw glowworms, and we saw Lady Knox geyser.  Yesterday, we saw lots of steam coming out of the ground.  Tomorrow we are taking aferry to the south island.

10/6/14 – We are in Bali now. I just took surf lessons today. It was so so fun. I was up on my board for such a long time. I’ll show you a picture of it at the bottom of this paragraph. After that we went to the pool at the surfing school and hotel and jumped of a very high deck. It was so fun i’m even more excited for the high dive at my pool in Lynchburg.  When we first got to Bali we stayed in a different city/town called Ubud and we rode elephants and got to feed them. They are the biggest living land mammal on earth. I’d like to say have a very nice day!

9/30/14 – We went to Disneyland and it was pretty awesome. I love love love It’s a Small World. I got pretty wet in Grizzly Gulch. That’s because they have a fake geyser that sprays water in the air. I rode the Runaway Minecarts and it has robotic bears and special effects that makes it like dynamite is blowing up. Runaway Minecarts is a roller coaster that goes backwards too. I rode Space Mountain and it makes it look like you’re in space. I went on Autopia and I got to drive my car. When we went to ToyStory Land I went on Toy Soldier Parachute Drop. I got some cotton candy that was bigger than my head.

9/27/14 – I left Bangkok 4 days ago. That was our 4th time there, isn’t that AMAZING!?! We went to China after that. We went to The Great Wall Of China in China. We also went to The Forbidden City. We are in Hong Kong now. We took a train and a boat today.  We saw Victoria Harbor today and got…ICE  CREAM!!! We are going to Hong Kong DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!! It sounds very fun. I might even go on a roller coaster called the runaway mine carts.

9/22/14 – We left Laos two days ago.  We are in Bangkok again.  We are going to China tomorrow and we have to wake up early.  Laos was very pretty.  We had a good big swimming pool.  I got up early one day and gave the monks food.  I am excited for China.

9/17/14 – We left Cambodia two days ago. Now we are in Laos. We went up at least 363 stairs to look and have a really good view of the city of Luang Prabang and then back down the stairs again. We had a giant chocolate chunk cookie. We saw some boats in the Mekong River. There is a big pool at our hotel that is pretty deep if I don’t say so myself. We met a man in the airport who lives in Forest, Virginia.

9/9/14 – It is very hot here. We are done seeing all the old temples and I’m so so happy because we did a lot of walking. We are going to rest at our hotel now. They have really good tomato soup. We played miniature golf one time. We got there in a tuk tuk which is like a big wagon connected to a motorcycle and we sit in the wagon. We went to a butterfly center that has a whole lot of butterflies and you can learn about their life cycle. There are a whole lot of mosquitos there too. I got a fan to help me with the heat. It is pink. I miss everybody. Goodnight.

9/4/14 – Hi everybody.I just left Bangkok.  I got a long flower dress. I wish I could make time go faster so to go to Peru. I went to the arcade in the mall a few times. I went ice skating in a different mall two times. I am in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We just went to Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is a big big temple. After that we went to Angkor Thom and saw a lot of elephants and monkeys. Both temples are really old. Elephants are smaller than I thought.I hope everybody has fun at school.

8/28/14 – I like Thailand.  We are in Bangkok.  We went to Phuket after the first time in Bangkok and now we are back again.  I liked Phuket.  In Phuket, we went to the beach almost every day.  They had big and small waves.  I went fishing for the first time.  I went to the kids club almost every day, and dance class too.  I made friends from Dubai.  After dance class sometimes they had face painting.  Thomas played Mario Kart sometimes.   I saw a baby elephant.  It had a lot of hair, and knew how to wave with its trunk.  It was bigger than a person.  I saw it eat bananas.  We played shuffleboard and pool a lot.  I tried badminton with mommy and daddy.  In Bangkok, we have a swimming pool which is good because it’s hot.  It rains almost every day.  The traffic was really slow.  I ate a lot of sushi. Today is the first day of school at home.  I miss my friends.  Have a great first day!

8/3/14 – When we left Dubrovnik, we went to Istanbul.  Istanbul was fun.  We went to a blue mosque and we had to wear something so your hair does not show if you are a girl.  The Blue Mosque had really pretty carpets and really pretty stained glass.  There were some chandeliers and they were really big.  I got my Hello Kitty necklace in Istanbul.  I saw a sideways and an upside down Medusa head in the Basilica Cistern.  We went to the hotel roof every night and one of those night I got peaches and listened to the call to prayer.  After Istanbul, we went to Dubai and played at Wild Wadi.  We stayed at two hotels.  One of the hotels was right next to the Burg al Arab.  Next we went to the Palm Island in Dubai.  It was really really very very very big.  I went to Aquaventure and rode a dolphin named Lisa.  I went to the aquarium two times in our hotel.  I also got a dolphin pen in Dolphin Bay (that’s where I swam with the Dolphin).  It was really fun.  Now I’m in Kathmandu, staying in a nice hotel and we just ate breakfast.  Thomas and I are playing in the pool and it rains almost every day, but it never thunder or lightnings.  I did art work yesterday without colors.  Next we go to Thailand.

7/16/14 – We are in Dubrovnik now and we are just about to leave to go to Istanbul.  I miss everyone in Lynchburg and I hope you are having a good time.  Mommy and Thomas went on a cable car this morning.  Daddy and I went for a little walk and to watch people play music, but we didn’t see any.  I went on a really fun playground with a seesaw that we don’t have in Lynchburg.  It had two springs beside the middle.  I had fun with Thomas.  I tight rope walked on a rope on the playground.  I threw rocks in the Adriatic Sea and I saw kayaks there.  I am having really fun on this trip except for all of the walking.  We had a really fun boat ride to an island.  We saw a lot of peacocks on the island.  Dubrovnik is really fun and that is all I’m going to say for now.  Goodbye.

7/9/14 – We just left Venice – let me tell you about it! Venice is sinking slowly but surely.  It sinks 5-6 inches every century. It is about 1500 years old. Instead of cars you use boats because there is only water and no roads. I had really fun there and they had really good pizza. You would think the bridges in Venice would have ramps but they actually have stairs. There’s a really really fun playground there too. I played on it every day except the first day when we got there. We did a boat ride and it was really fun but we had to walk the whole way back and it was exhausting.

I forgot to tell you about Athens so let me tell you now. Athens has buildings that are 2500 years old and it has a really big museum and we lived right across from the museum. And the Parthenon is a big old famous building up on a really big hill just a few blocks from us. I went up there and it was really exhausting going up there but it was worth it because you can see almost the whole city. And we saw the Disney Magic that we came across the Atlantic on! They have really good ice cream there. I rode a 2 person bike with my mom and Thomas and Daddy missed out on a lot of fun.

6/26/14 – We’re in Greece right now. We just left Rome. We went to the Colosseum. It is a really big building and has 80 arches around the top, bottom and middle. I went on a really boring tour of the Vatican. In the Sistine chapel you were not allowed to talk. We stayed in Rome for 6 days I think. It is hot as in burning hot today. I hate to walk around in the heat. Rome has 2000 year old buildings and Greece has 2500 year old buildings. Greece has really good food. I love the spaghetti here in Greece! I think that’s all for now. I miss all my friends at home.

6/15/14 – I am in Marrakech now. We arrived three days ago. Soccer in Marrakech is called football. Our next hotel has a pool. The first day we were here it was one hundred and six degrees Fahrenheit. I miss everyone of you in Lynchburg or wherever you are. I saw snakes,donkeys,cats(105),horses,monkeys and a turtle. I saw a mosque it was quite tall if I don’t say so my self

6/10/14 – I loved Paris! My parents made me walk a lot. We got the world’s best chocolate ice cream cone near where we took a lunch cruise and by the Eiffel tower. We had a great picnic by the Eiffel tower too. We got on a big plane yesterday and then got in a taxi for more than two hours to go to Essaouira in Morocco (at the beach). We had Pringles, Oreos and Doritos for dinner last night because it was late and we didn’t know where to eat. You can’t drink the water out of the faucet and you eat with your hands. We saw a really cool bunch of cannons and an old wall by the ocean today. I just finished my school work for today and now we’re going to buy me a head scarf. I miss all my friends at home. Bye!!!!!!!!

P.S. – I got my headscarf

6/4/14 – I miss everybody at home.  Montserrat was awesome. I especially liked seeing a building that looked like a castle.   The train ride was creepy. It was really high and on the side of a mountain. I liked my train ride from Barcelona to Paris today, but the ride in the cab made my tummy hurt and I almost threw up.  I saw the Eiffel Tower today but will see more tomorrow!

6/2/2014 – Hola! I am so happy we’re in Spain!  I have been to the metro station. It was fun. I played shuffle bord on the cruise.   I rode the water slide a lot and played in the pool with my brother. I rode the aqua dunk one time.  We are taking the train to Montserrat this morning.  I

5/24/14 – I am having a beautiful day and I saw a whale blowing air out of its blow hole yesterday. I went on a slide that the floor just suddenly collapses and drops you into the slide, it was fun. Early this morning I watched a meteor shower or at least one meteor. I just watched Frozen for the first time in the theatre on the boat. Have a nice and beautiful day! Hi everyone at JRDS I miss you a lot.

5/18/14 – I am so so HAPPY! This is an once in a lifetime opportunity. But I miss my friends at school a lot. And my neighbors Apollo and Nikko.

My best friend Avery is meeting me in Machu Picchu in November.