Texas

Last week I was in Texas. It was really, really hot there. We went because we wanted to see grandma Jean and we wanted to see Texas. The first day there we got to stay at a hotel in Dallas and then had lunch with Grandma Jean. The next day we went to New Braunfels and we stayed in half of a house. It was big. Eventually Auntie Kristy and Casey and Mason came. We went to 180 feet deep caverns under the ground. You'd think it would be hotter underground but it is actually cooler. It is 70 degrees all the time in the caverns. Later we went to a water park called Schlitterbahn. we had a wonderful time there. We went on a jungle ride with real river water called "the Congo" and some of us went a really big and fast slide. Then some of us went on a really long inner tube ride that went through the whole park. And then there were these kiddie places with smaller slides and shallow water for littler kids. There were giant mushrooms. and frog with a tongue you could slide down and a few pretend stores to play in. There was also a wave pool that had 18 inch waves. We went to the pool every day at the resort. And we rode on a miniature train through the park in town. There were three playground in that park. They were very fun. Some of us went to the train museum and others went to Baskin Robbins. I would like to be in Texas again because it is so warm there. Sometimes too warm. We had a wonderful plane ride back. There was even a dog on the plane because it was a service animal, and I got to sit next to it !  The trip to Texas was a wonderful, amazing, hot, cool, perfect, awesome, fantastic, great, time. And if you don't believe me, you go there!

 

Airplanes

A poem by Ursula McCarthy

Airplanes are quick.
Airplanes are fast.
Airplanes fly over
The ocean vast.

If I was a Pilot,
I'd like to be
Flying straight over
The wide open sea.

Airplanes fly over
The world around.
So if I was a Pilot,
I'd stay off the ground.

Alaska State Fair



Waiting in Line (Last seen wearing...photo)

We went to the fair for buddy days so that we could ride the rides 2 for 1. We rode all the best rides and screamed a lot. We even went in the last car of the roller coaster so it was super fun. We rode the Round Up, the swings, the Ferris wheel, the fun house, the giant slide, the merry-go-round, Sky Glider, Tilt-a-whirl, Himalayan. We ate cotton candy, carmel and candy apples, pizza, corn on the cob, pretzels, cream puff, bratwursts, hot dog. We watched the pirates for hire, the lumberjack show, and played lots of games. We saw the farm animals and went to the petting zoo. We saw the peacock and 3 turkeys and heard them, too. They were really loud. Finally, we bought some honey straws and kettle corn for the ride home. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

 



Candy and Carmel Apples with toppings!

Marshmallow and Spaghetti Structures

Camping and Berry Picking

Lala no likey

Gracious tent hostess

We got to go Blueberry picking and tent camping. We picked gallons of blueberries and ate just as many. We also ate hot dogs, toasted marshmallows with blueberries in them, and toasted Twinkies with blueberries in them. We slept in the tent and had so much fun.

Train to Seward

Grandma and Grandpa took Louisa, Pia, and I on the train to Seward. We had to get up really early. But it was easy because we were so excited to go. We ate in the dining car. We went to the caboose and watched the scenery go by. It was totally amazingly cool!
When we got to Seward, we walked around a little bit and then went to the Sea Life Center. We saw birds flying under water, a 1700 pounds sea lion, lots of jellyfish, and we touched sea urchins. The sea urchins looked squishy but they were really hard and sticky, and it stuck to my finger.
After that we had lunch and we ate a lot. I had raspberry cheesecake for dessert. It was delicious. Louisa and Pia had root beer floats. We walked about 3 miles and then we rode in a taxi to our cabin. It was practically a house! There was a TV, refrigerator, a microwave, even a loft. We went to Mass and then we went to an Italian restaurant called Apollo's. When we got home we watched TV and went to bed.
In the morning, Dad started off on a bike race, we watched some more TV, and headed home in the suburban. We had a wonderful, totally amazing, awesome, cool, perfect time!

License Plate Game Finale

Today is the last day of the license plate game. Please post your final count in the comments! We ended up with 46.

Saint Anthony and the Mule

a poem by Ursula McCarthy

Anthony was in the Market one day,
When he saw a man who would not pray.
He said, "I'll prove to you that there is a God,
Bring your mule in three days, and it will laud."
The man brought the mule, that was part of the plan,
Anthony brought the Eucharist to convert the man.
The man held hay and Anthony held God.
The man yelled, "Eat!" and Anthony cried, "Laud!"
The mule, it looked from God to food,
And it knew which one was really good.
It kneeled before the one true God,
And then, the man, he worshipped God!