Attractions In Texas

One thing about Texas is that it has so many places to visit. One of the places we visited was the Perot Science Museum. My favorite exhibit in the museum was the Sports room. It was very interactive. You could race fast people and animals. We raced a cheetah, which was gone before we put one foot down. It taught you how your body works. Another exhibit was a fossil room, where you could learn about extinct animals. Again, it was very interactive. Ethan and I could create prey or predator and fight each other. The prey had to defend itself against the predator, whatever it might be.

Next, we went to the Melting Pot for my birthday dinner. It was a marvelous fondue restaurant that we went to with my mom's friend, Kerry. It was my first time having fondue. It was fun because you could cook your meat in the fondue. I had s'mores fondue for dessert!

After Dallas, we traveled to Houston. While we were there, we went to the Space Center. We learned about the moon landing with Apollo 11. We saw some real spacecrafts, and we got to go into a cargo plane and a space shuttle. I had 2 favorite parts: a Mars presentation and a science presentation. The Mars presentation talked about the rovers and how we will get a human on Mars by 2040. The science presentation was about air pressure in space and what would happen to different objects without air in space. 

Now, we are in Corpus Christi, and we are enjoying the weather and beach. Stay tuned for more blogs by Erin.

The 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

We went to John F. Kennedy's museum in Dealey Plaza. Here is what I learned.

JFK was born on May 29, 1917. His parents were Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose F. Kennedy. John had 8 other siblings. He was not a very healthy baby. John suffered from diseases as an infant, such as whooping cough, measles, and chicken pox. He was almost 3 years old when he suffered from a life-threatening disease. About a month later, he was better.

September 12th, 1953, John married Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. 7 years later, he became the president of the USA. He was big on civil and equal rights. His blunder was when he tried to invade Cuba. The mission backfired. Cuba attacked back. John prevented a crisis in Cuba. The Soviet Union planted nuclear bombs in Cuba. John sent an army to block the Soviet Union from entering Cuba. After a 13 day standoff, Russia backed down and removed the bombs. John was considered a hero.                                                  
                                         

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.

Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came.

His other famous achievements included the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban and the Space Race.
Russia sent a satellite called Sputnik 1 to orbit the earth on October 4th, 1957. JFK said that we would land someone on the moon in this decade. It didn't happen until 1969.

November 12th, 1963, JFK and his wife arrived in Dallas, Texas. Secret service was there. But, at 12:30 p.m., there was a gunshot. John grabbed at his throat. More gunshots. John fell suddenly. Realization slowly crept in. He was driven to the hospital. John had been shot in the throat and head. The second shot had missed.

The people waiting at the Trade Mart were confused. Finally, the announcement was made 2 priests who were with the President say that he is dead. The official announcement came shortly afterward.

7 witnesses said they had saw a rifle on the 6th floor window. The police closed down the building and went to investigate. They couldn't find the man anywhere. They found a rifle and some food. They scanned the fingerprints and they led to Lee Harvey Oswald. Lee had lived in Russia for 3 years and was a part-time worker at a gun company. The police searched everywhere. Then they got a message saying that a police officer was shot down. They eventually found Oswald in the Texas theater. Lee was shouting, "I didn't shoot no one!" Shortly after Lee was arrested, he was shot. The police found Jack Ruby to be the killer. He was charged for murder.

Overall, I liked the museum. It was very informative. We got to see where Lee camped out. We saw the exact places where JFK was shot. I never knew anything about JFK before this. He died and left his young kids without a father. But, he did have a lot of achievements. I highly recommend that you visit there yourself.

Writing Assignment

I've been doing descriptive writing for one of my homework assignments. Here is my character.

There was once a knight, Sir Finn Ramshorn, who was known for his courage. People also saw that he was kind, helpful, heroic, humorous, and self-effacing. He was pleasant to be around. The townsfolk noticed his long, curly, chestnut hair. His gold-tinted armor shone in the light.Yet, despite his perfect appearance, he was clumsy, and he often tripped. No one ever heard him raise his voice; it was gentle but deep. He was beloved by all.

The Solar Eclipse

We drove 12 hours total, not including stops, to see the total solar eclipse. It was one of the most amazing sights in the world. It was so cool to see the world dim around you! It looked like the moon was eating the sun! It suddenly turned dark in the middle of the day. The cornfields around us turned grey.

We placed ourself in Savanah, Missouri for the eclipse. We thought it would be cloudy, so we drove 4 hours total to Concordia, where, as it turned out, we were right. We managed to see a perfect solar eclipse. Our neighbors at Savanah told us that the clouds had blocked the eclipse.

This was definitely worth the ride. It's a once in a lifetime experience. If you missed it, you can go to Chile on July 2, 2019.

 Stay tuned for more blogs with Erin.

Amish VS Mennonites

This is a report about the similarities and differences of the Amish and the Mennonites.
We were going into our RV campground when we saw people dressed in simple clothes, and they all looked very similar. My dad said, "They look like Mennonites."  My mom and  I were curious about the religion, so my mom decided that I should research it for my homeschool.

Amish and Mennonites are very similar. They both came from the same sect of Christianity called Anabaptists. They both speak Pennsylvania German and/or Dutch. The population of these religions has grown a lot over the years. The reason their population is growing is because they are still having the same number of children as they did in the late 1800s. But the children are now living to adulthood due to better nutrition and healthcare. Both Amish and Mennonite people believe in a peaceful life.  Despite many similarities, they have a few differences.

Let's start with the Amish. Amish are from Switzerland. They have a stricter separation. They believe in no trimmed beards and hooks in eyes instead of buttons. They use horse and buggy transportation, and do not use electricity.

Mennonites are from the Netherlands. They use more modern conveniences, and they have a less strict set of clothing.

Today, I learned about a religion I would have never seen if I hadn't been traveling. We figured out that the people we saw were Mennonites.

Back In Minnesota

We are in Minnesota again! Finally! I am currently at my grandma's house. We have been visiting all of our friends. I got to see Isabelle Castaneda, Abbi Wood, Owen Hogan, Devan Ballantine, Emily Eagen and Allison Eagen. I got to see a lot of my friends at Jessica Ballantine's bonfire party (It was too wet for an actual bonfire).

We went to a ball game with my mom's cousin in the Twins Stadium. But it was so cold we had to go into the Metropolitan club. That's for season ticket holders only!  So it was pretty cool.

We went to a Greek Restaurant called the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe with my Aunt Beth and Uncle Peter that same morning.

My friends were the same to how they always were. They told me about school, plans, and stuff about their lives. I just really enjoyed seeing them, and I will get to see some more soon.

I am at my grandma and grandpa's house right now and it's great to see them again! I missed them so much! We got to see their dog, Missy, again. Missy loses a ball every day! It was also great to see their 4 cats, Sassy, Leo, Twig, and Lizzy!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, stay tuned for more blogs by Erin!

Bees In Need!

Bees are very useful for many things. They are most known for being helpful. They collect nectar from flowers and turn it into honey. Not only is that helpful to the plant, but it is a food for many animals, such as bears and humans. And the pollen from the plant is used to feed larvae (bee eggs).

Bees can come in all sorts of sizes from the tiny stingless bee who's workers are less than 2 millimeters long to the Megachile pluto, the biggest bee of the leafcutter bee, who's females can be up to 39 millimeters long! The most common bees in the Northern Hemisphere are the Halictidae, or the sweat bees. They are commonly mistaken for wasps or flies.

Bees have a complicated social structure. Bees have different ways to communicate. Honey bees do the “waggle dance talk.” It is used to tell worker bees where food is. The location can be up to 500 ft away! The bee jumps and wiggles on its sisters to get everyone's attention. It then buzzes its wings and wiggles its abdomen vigorously. Here's a video link.

Bees are sadly dying out mostly because of CCD, or Colony Collapse Disorder. No one knows quite what it is, if it's disease, mites, neonicotinoid pesticide, or fungal infections. None of these could be deadly by themselves, but combined bees will die out. We want to be part of the solution, not the problem.

One of my ideas to help them is to make pesticide specifically for certain types of bugs, as not to attract bees. Another idea is that you could plant flowers in your yard. Don't use pesticide to kill weeds or pests in your garden: You could be killing a hive of bees.

 Bees are unique creatures, helping many today. I think that we need bees in this world, and I hope that we can help them thrive. I hope you learned something today. I hope you enjoyed this blog! Stay tuned for more blogs by Erin!

My Special Assignment

I had to write an assignment on my RV adventures for Mrs. Walker, a teacher at Eagle Ridge Academy. The plan is to have her tutor me. This is the assignment she wanted me to write.

Erin’s Adventures

In May of 2016, my family and I started traveling around the western half of the United States. This essay will discuss how we spent that time, things we saw, and family and friends we visited. I will discuss traveling to national parks, museums, memorials and other highlights. We traveled roughly half of the United States. This essay concerns the adventures we had. I hope to give the reader a sense of what it’s like to live in an RV. I also want to give the reader suggestions for places to visit.

My daily schedule is fairly consistent. For my morning routine, I usually get up at around 7:40. I usually play on my tablet until around 8:00-8:30, unless we have to leave early. On normal days, I start homework. I do math, logic puzzles, reading and typing. I use the following programs online to do this work: Khan Academy for math and history, Puzzle Baron for logic puzzles, ReadTheory for reading and vocabulary, FreeRice for vocabulary, DuoLingo for Spanish, and Typing Adventures for typing. Around 10:30, I have an early lunch. By 11:00, I’m usually done with my solo work. I then play until my dad calls me for history and science. We cover these topics with my brother. When we finish that, my mom sometimes has some more work for me, like a book report or essay. On days where we have to leave the campground, we usually just do math, reading, and Spanish. Sometimes we leave early to drive to a museum or historical site. I usually spend the rest of my day playing. I do math occasionally during the day. Between 5:30-6:30, we eat dinner. At 8:00 or 8:30, we go to bed.

There are a few downsides to the RV, and not seeing my friends is one of them. I still talk with them through email and postcards, so I am still in contact. I also see them on Hangouts. Hangouts is a chat application that allows you to see the person face to face and chat with them. We managed to make a few appointments with some of my mom’s friends. Her friends live all over the United States, so it was interesting to see them. It was fun to hear their accents and pronunciations. Also, I have family in California! I saw my grandpa Bill and my grandma Joy. I had never seen their house in California before! They have two Boston Terriers, George and Rosie. We’ve seen my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Even though I don’t get to see my friends in real life, I do get to see family all over the country. Since we've returned to Minnesota, we have seen some of my friends already!

One of the upsides to the RV is that we get to see so many animal and nature encounters. Two of my favorite hikes were to bodies of water. The first was with my cousin, Jake. We hiked one and a half miles to some gorgeous hot springs, with a small cave under a waterfall. The second hike was to Punch Bowl Falls in Oregon. We hiked to a waterfall with a wide but shallow stream. It had a hollow tunnel, and we were able to walk into it. On a different day, my mother and I went to the San Diego Safari Park and Zoo. We bought tickets for the “meet and greet” at the cheetah run. The cheetah run is a program where you watch a cheetah and its dog friend chase after their favorite toy. The meet and greet was where the cheetah comes into the enclosure that we were in with two leashes on. The cheetah was only about a foot away from me! We got to take our picture with the cheetah and the dog. It was looking straight at me! We also saw the ringtail lemurs active, which is apparently pretty rare. They came out on the path very close to us. They dug in the bushes rapidly, with their tiny paws scratching at the dirt. One of them even climbed the wall to look over at the other lemurs in a separate enclosure.

In addition to outdoor activity, we've been visiting many museums and memorials. My top two museums are the mustard museum and the technology museum. The mustard museum talked about the history of mustard and showed all the mustards made by different states and countries. It was silly, because it was more like a shop than a museum. The tech museum is an interactive museum in San Jose. There was an earthquake simulator, a jetpack simulator, spy missions, password testers, and other awesome gadgets. We built a robot that you could customize with lights and hats. That was my favorite museum! My favorite memorial was the Oklahoma Bombing Museum. I hated the actual story of how everyone died, but I liked how willing people were to help. The outside area had the memorial with 901 and 903. 901 represented innocence. 903 represented healing. In the middle, 902 was a lake where the bomb hit.

We've worked pretty hard at some of our activities. We went on an 11 mile hike to the Dungeness Lighthouse in Washington. It took almost 3 hours each way! It was on sand, so that made it worse. We also went on a 12 mile bike ride, 6 miles each way. We hiked up to see the top of Mt. Rainier in Washington. Mt. Rainier is the tallest mountain in the Cascade Mt. Range But it turned out to be really foggy! I drank ice water out of a stream there.

That was my essay on some of the adventures that I had. I hope to have given the reader a sense of what it's like to live in an RV. I hope to have given the reader suggestions for places to visit. I hope to have pleased the reader.

World War One Museum

Today we went to a cool museum about World War I. I hope you enjoy!

A lot of people didn't like the way things were going. Prince Ferdinand of Austria was assinated, so Austria wanted to investigate. Serbia didn't want them spreading bad news, Austria declared war. It then set off a chain reaction. Britain, Germany, Russia, France, and others started declaring war on each other. And so it started. They brought allies into the war as it got harder. 

Here are some things I learned about the war: People dug trenches to hide from gunfire. The trenches were in the mud. The reason mud is bad is because they got diseases from it and they got buried in it.The museum had exhibits to show what different trenches from different countries looked like. They used cannons and tanks. They had rows of all the cannons and a huge old-fashioned tank. It also showed some of the clothes that they would wear. Women started to get included in work such as nursing and farming. They had a field of poppies at the beginning to honor those who died.

It was horrible as one of your friends died by your side and sprayed blood all over you muddy coat. Bullets fire straight past you. You get knocked out and you wake up on a solid bed with a nurse leaning over you injecting anesthesia into you. In other cases you could be dead. It was hard for the soldiers who were dodging bullets and hiding, not to mention that they also have to shoot back.

We also saw a crater made by a cannon. It was so big you could stand in it. You could probably fit a family of ten there. You could see outfits, trash, and bags all buried in the rubble.

Oh, and we went to the top of a huge tower behind it all. We saw the gorgeous Kansas City, MO. It was pretty with the vast buildings and the faint hills behind them.

Overall, I loved that museum. It was historical but fun at the same time!

If you enjoyed this little blog, then make sure to check out my other blogs. Stay tuned for more!

Oklahoma City Bombing Museum

Today, I am going to be talking about the Oklahoma City Bombing. It was interesting yet horrible.

Someone named Tim McVeigh was the killer of 168 (I think) adults, including 19 children. The bomb hit the Murrah building. Now there were 9 floors on the building. The second floor was a daycare. It was amazing that when the bomb hit, everyone, including citizens, helped to gather injured people. They sent search dogs, bulldozers, helping teams, yet lots of bodies were not found.

Now Tim McVeigh was not the only one to blame. Terry Nichols helped build the bomb. Michael Fortier knew about his friend's plan, but told no one and didn't try to stop him. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and is still alive today.

That's it for this blog so see you next time!

A Short Fable

This is a homework assignment. It was to write a fable.

Once upon a time, there lived a chick named Chip. Chip lived on a small farm with a pig, a cow, and a horse. They all said they were happy, but Chip thought otherwise. He wanted to see what lived beyond the Huntingdale Forest. He grabbed a small seed sack, filled it with food, and went under the fence. He stared at the forest uncertainly. He slowly wandered in, shaking. He saw green eyes staring at him. "PEEP!" He chirped, as he ran hurriedly into a bush. He peeked out, and a wolf lunged at him, missing him narrowly. "What are you doing in my forest?" He growled. "N-nothing...I was just leaving..." Chip squeaked. "No you aren't, you little cutie. My name is Dung. You'll make a perfect snack."  "NO!" Chip shouted as he ran into the forest hurriedly. 'I'm thirsty' He thought. He saw a creek down the hill. 'Yes! Water!' He drank the cool, fresh water. He turned around. "Yip!"
Dung stood towering over him. "You're dead meat, buddy!" He snarled. He grabbed him by the tail and carried him off into the woods. Chip saw another wolf come towards him. "Dung! I told you not to bring live animals to the pups! They get too excited." "Sorry, but this little one is persistent." "Oh, please!" The wolf snorted, "Kip, get off of Tik. Now!" "This chick is different, Marille, believe me." Dung growled. Marille gave him a dirty look. "I'll believe it when I've tried." She slashed at Chip. He squirmed away to narrowly avoid a deadly, sharp claw. "Well, I'll be darned......" "See? Told you!" Dung exclaimed, "This chick might be worth going to Alpha."  Marille nodded. "I have to stay with the pups. You go ahead."
"Alright." Dung walked up the hill. They passed the creek. "This creek was named after our alpha leader, Alpha. It's called Alpha Creek. This hill is Wolf Lodge. We stay here, sheltered by trees in the forest. We talk about what we've hunted, new pups, new wolves, and alpha wolf positions." 
"I had little meetings in my farm, too." "Why did you leave?" "I wanted to explore." "Hmmm." Dung nodded, "I think this is yours." He held out the little bag of seeds. "Yeah, it's mine!" Chip exclaimed, surprised. "My pack moved to this area of the forest because there was more prey and less humans. Last year, over 20 wolves of our pack died because of bullets." Dung sighed. Chip realized they had stopped. Dung slowly trotted back to the den. "Marille." "What?" "I was right. This chick is different. Make a hay bed safe from the pups."  "Er....alright. But why....?" "He needs to stay. Please." "I see." 

Over the years, Chip became friends with the pups and had a great time with Marille and Dung. And they lived happily ever after. The moral of this story is don't judge a book by its cover. 


THE END!

Catching Up!

We have been RVing for 10 months now.We have done a lot! We visited Hearst Castle, Alcatraz, and a tech museum. We also go to the California beaches more and more frequently.

The California beaches are gorgeous. We have been building sand castles/buildings, playing in the cold water, and  admiring the beauty of the sunset.

And I haven't forgotten about Modesto! We visited our Grandpa Bill, Grandma Joy, their two dogs, George and Rose, and Oma (Joy's mom). We were only there for three days though. :(

The tech museum was awesome. They had robots, earthquakes, missions, password guessers, and so many cool electronics!

Alcatraz was a very high-security prison. They sent the worst of the worst into its supposedly inescapable walls. The Great Escape proved them wrong. Sorta. No one knows if they made it past the frigid waters of the San Fransisco Bay.

We hiked at Point Lobos, which is an overlook. A pleasant hiking trail.

We also went to an awesome aquarium.

The other things need another blog to explain how mind-blowing they are.

Well, now that we're caught up on what I've done, check out my other blogs if you haven't already. That's it for today for Blogs With Erin!

The Safari Park And Hearst Castle!

First of all, we went to Hearst Castle. Now, it all started with William Randolph Hearst, and his parents, George and Phoebe Hearst. One day,  William and his mother traveled to Europe to look at the ancient European culture. William was greatly inspired by the artwork, but it all really started with the ruins of an old European castle. His parents bought some land on a mountain, where, when William's parents died, William owned the land. His father had found pounds of silver, and he was rich. When Will inherited the money, he got straight to building. An archeologist named Julia Morgan helped him in the building of Hearst Castle, or Casa Grande. He started in 1919 and ended in 1947. With 165 rooms and 127 acres of land, Hearst Castle was complete.

It was phenomenal and gorgeous. I loved it with it's tour of the five grand rooms. The main hall, the dining room, the tea room, the game room, and the theater. Grand. I'd get lost so easily...

Long after Hearst Castle, me and mom had a day out.  We went to the San Diego Safari Park. We saw lemurs, gorillas, lions, and the Cheetah Run. The Cheetah Run was awesome. We bought V.I.P. tickets and got to meet the cheetah, Ruuxa, and the dog companion, Raina. It got this close!


 Well, that's all for this blog so I hope you enjoyed! Erin out!

The Hobbit

I am doing this for homeschool homework. I read The Hobbit.

WARNING: This poem contains spoilers for The Hobbit.

The cozy, old hill sat there, all alone
But twas a very comfy hobbit's hole.
He sat by the fire, with a good morning start,
His name was Bilbo, full of good heart

He then heard a knock at his oddly-shaped door,
He got up from his chair and walked 'cross the clean floor.
When he opened it up, what did he see?
The friendly, old Gandalf, looking quite glee!

They sat and talked for a short time,
When Gandalf left, Bilbo began to dine.
The next day, he had opened his door,
To find 13 dwarves, they walked onto his floor.
To take advantage of the food galore,
They sat and ate while Bilbo was bore.

They needed him for a special mission,
That meant Bilbo had no time for decision.
They needed to kill Smaug, the o'mighty dragon.
To reclaim the treasure, they needed Mr. Baggins.
A forest, a river, a high mountain trail,
They passed through all with no snow or hail. 
The spiders webs, the Elvish land,
The men who gave them all a hand.

Bard, the worthy hero of men, 
Slayed Smaug outside his treasure-filled den.
The dwarves would not give any gold,
It was all theirs, not needing to be told.
The men wanted their small share,
After all, wasn't it fair?
Bard killed the dragon, no reward was given,
War broke out, and only few were livin'.
The goblins, the wolves, the elves and the men 
The dwarves kept the gold in the dragon den.
The leader of the dwarves,  name was Thorin,
Died after war, his burial within.
It was a sad but happy time,
War had stopped, and all was fine.

Safari Park Adventure With Erin

We are currently in San Diego, California, also known to us as the most amazing, most beautiful place in the world. There's a San Diego Safari Park/Zoo that we went to once. We decided that the first time we didn't get to do everything we wanted. So they sent me and mom together to go wherever I wanted. Ethan and dad did their thing by theirselves. We spent almost 2 hours at a village playground and we built two beautiful houses. ;)  We saw lemurs and gorillas.

 My mom wanted me to talk about my career. Now it may change after time, but I would love to do something for the animals. One of the best would be a zoo vet. Here's why: 1. I don't have to clean up waste 2. I get to take care of animals like baby cheetahs, tigers, eagles, maned "wolves", etc.

3. I get to do good for poor animals in need of treatment and I will be doing good for the world.

An Update For The Trailer

There's good news and bad news! Good news: I live in Texas now so we can get mail properly.
Bad news: That means we don't live in or close to Minnesota. Which sucks because all my friends are   even further away now. BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Me and Ethan fight, we go hiking and biking, and we are usually sitting at home. I know this is short, but it's an update. We are currently in California, and thanks for spending the time to read my blog. Erin out!