Camp Quinebarge: The Returner

 YIPPEE! My brother and I were fortunate enough to be able to come back to Camp Q for 4 weeks this year!  This blog is to talk about this year's highlights, as well as changes the camp has made.

 The schedule has not changed since last year. It still has evening activities, General Swim, etc. If you haven't seen my first blog on Camp Q, I would suggest checking it out!

 Okay, so this year I got to try every activity. My favorites were Boating and Nature. In Nature, they removed the chickens from last year because last year they pecked someone's eye. The bunnies were different bunnies, too - James and Poppy! The counselors were all different as well. A Counselor In Training from last year, Sonja, and 2 new counselors, Brittany and AJ, were the people running Nature this year. We got to use solar cooking to bake brownies, catch frogs in the frog pond, and play out a mock trial of the Lorax. We had to either defend the Oneslur or prove why they were guilty of destroying the trees. It was really fun!

 I did Boating for 3 out of 4 weeks. The last week I couldn't get in. Anyway, I got to go tubing every time because not many people wanted to do it and I was friendly with the counselors who ran it. One of the counselors, David, would call me a fake name. His favorite was Penelope. So, I started calling him Jack, the name of the other Boating counselor. It was our little inside joke. All the boating counselors would make my tube ride especially bumpy. I loved Boating!

 Horses this year was unfortunately less fun. At one point in Camp Q's 3rd session (My 1st 2 weeks), a 4-year-old named Isla was left alone on a horse, fell off, and had to get stitches! Now they don't let anyone on without a lead attached to the horse with a counselor leading us. They also don't play game like last year. Reggie, Licorice, Spuds and Rain were all still there though. The counselors completely changed in this activity as well.  Luke, JP, and Ellie, all new counselors, ran Horses this year.

 I got to do Arts & Crafts this year! It was pretty chill, because we got to do whatever we wanted most days. We got to go and sit outside on nice days, which was nice. Most of the time, it was a fairly calm activity.

 In Ceramics, we got to make stuff out of clay. I made a box, decorated the box with snow and ice, and called it my "ice box". I also made a few pots and a monster, but I didn't keep any of my creations because they fell apart.

 Adventure! Woo! Adventure had High Ropes, Low Ropes, and the rock wall. My favorite part was the rock wall. Most of the time you just sit around, though. That rocked!

 THPORTH! Aka, Sports. But calling it thporth is more fun. In Sports there were field activities, tennis, and archery. I always did archery, but I never managed to improve. It was alright, though, because the counselors were awesome. I'm on good terms with all the counselors that were at camp last year, as well as some of the new people.

 DRAMA! That's the level of enthusiasm that ya gotta have for Drama! We played games most of the time, which was highly entertaining and silly. I thought Drama was really goofy in a good way!

 Finally, we have Woodshop. I mean, it was not extremely interesting. You sand the wood, then you paint it. Other people like it, but I thought it was kinda boring.

 Okay, now we can move on from the activities! Well, those activities anyway. We're heading back to Color Wars! 4 teams. 1 winner. Who will claim the victory? Find out in the next paragraph. The teams are Yellow, Blue, Red, and the best team, Green.

 In Color Wars, you do a bunch of tasks to earn points. Then, later in the day, you do a relay race. Whoever has the most points by the end of the day claims bragging rights. Green team came 4th the first session I was there, but the second session we didn't get 4th! We got 3rd! Last year Green got 4th, I guess I'm bad luck to our team! Overall, the winner was Yellow.  GREat job...

 We also did Monkeytown this year, of course. I did it twice because, y'know, 2 sessions. It was the same. We had so much food! I also got my hair done by some expert stylists.

 They still had evening activities this year. One of the best evening activity was on the end of my first session, because we watched a movie and had ice cream sundaes! It was funny, because the counselors were fighting for the kids to choose whatever they were holding. For example, one counselor would push for chocolate syrup while the other would push for caramel. My FAVORITE activity, though, was the dance. We got to dance and sing to well known songs and party with our friends. That was an absolute blast!!!

 I can't think of anything else to say about camp except that it was AMAZING! I am so excited to go back next year! I hope you enjoyed this blog!

Minnesota & Murrays'

 Once again, we are back in The Land Of Ten Thousand Lakes... and mosquitos. It's been so nice to be able to visit again, and to see our friends and family. Plus, it's finally summer! The snow is gone until October now! But we didn't have great weather down in Texas, either. I mean, it was 58 degrees one time! 

 Getting back to the blog, being here in Minnesota visiting has been so enjoyable! I won't talk about all of Christi's friends, because this blog would turn into a book. However, I got to have a few experiences with some of my friends. 

 The first time I got to see my friends was at a birthday party. There were so many balloons! The first few minutes were total chaos, with people hitting each other with the balloons. *POP* *POP* *POP*  Those were the only noises you could hear for a moment there. Eventually, after everyone arrived, Lasya, the birthday girl and my best friend, decided to tell horror stories. Emily, my other best friend, took out her phone and played a video of a campfire in the center of all of us. It was hard to listen to Lasya, though, because some of the girls she invited were chatting and giggling the whole time. After that was done, we played a round of Uno to see who would go first on the Virtual Reality set that she had set up for us. Emily won, so she played this game called Beat Saber. In Beat Saber, you would hold your lightsabers and hit the notes in the direction that the game called for. For example, let's say your right saber was blue and your left saber was red. Every note had an arrow on it pointing up, down, left, or right. So you would hit a blue note pointing downwards with your right saber, slicing onto the note vertically. Emily did pretty well, but then Lasya had a turn. She played Expert Mode and was going crazy. She was amazing at it! She beat the level with ease, then gave it to another person. We had pizza and soda for dinner. Finally, near the end of the party, we had this huge chocolate cake. Lasya's brother grabbed some frosting and smeared it all across her face. 'Twas a good day!

 My next encounter with my pals was a sleepover at Emily's house. Lasya and Emily are my BFFs, so they were both there waiting for me when I arrived. We started off by talking and catching up for a good hour. Eventually, though, that escalated into a nerf gun war. I was at Emily's house last year, and people got hurt during a nerf war. This year was no different, so that idea ended quickly. We went outside to play with her ball. I was throwing the ball at them as they were on the swings, and they would kick it back to me. When Emily kicked it, however, it landed in their neighbors' yard. Now, their neighbors have a fence between them, with a tiny, black Pomeranian guarding the yard. Emily warned us that the pom pom was kind of vicious, but I went in anyway because, well, it's a Pomeranian. This dog weighed no more than 10 pounds. I went in by the gate and the little thing leapt at me and bit onto my jeans. I grabbed the ball and got out of there as quickly as possible. But, because the dog was barking at us angrily, the neighbors could hear it and came outside to apologize. Who knew Pomeranians were such good guard dogs? We scurried back inside and curled Lasya's hair. Well, Emily curled her hair. I was playing with hair clips the whole time. After we had Lasya model for us, we walked a mile or so to a park (when we could find it) and we played there for a half hour before heading back. We ended up playing video games for most of the sleepover and we stayed up until 3:30 a.m. We also had pizza, soda, and brownie sundaes for dinner. Plus, french toast, bacon, and soda for breakfast. That was an awesome sleepover!!

 I had one more sleepover, and this one was with Ethan. Ethan and I went over to our friend Devan's house. Ethan's friend, Joe, came over for a while, too. We, again, played video games for 3 hours or so before we walked to Scoops for ice cream. We went to another party at night, then had some people come over to their house for a bonfire to burn homework. After the fire, Devan passed out in his bed. Ethan and I watched a movie in the basement until 1 a.m. We were not getting much sleep!

 Since we didn't sleep, we were tired the next day. But the next day was Murrays, which we waited 6 months for! Emily was going with us to Murrays, as we were both allowed to bring 1 friend along. None of Ethan's other friends were able to come, unfortunately, but Ethan seemed quite content with Emily. 

 So we were about to leave to pick her up, when this long, shiny limo pulls up in the driveway. Ethan and I knew nothing about this, so seeing it was pretty surprising! We went inside and it was SO NICE! Plus, we brought sparkling cider and champagne to celebrate with. The whole reason we were going to Murrays in the first place is because Ethan lost 20 pounds. So we roll into Emily's small neighborhood with this limousine. Kids go outside and people are taking pictures. Emily's family steps outside and is in awe.

 

 We went to Murrays and Emily was even more awestruck at the quality of the restaurant. We were also there with our Auntie Kerry and our "Gamma" Cherryl. We shared steaks and dessert, and, as always, it was so tasty! The steak was tender, juicy, and well seasoned. The dessert didn't last long. Then, Tim, the owner of Murrays, showed Ethan, Emily, and me the kitchen. It was super cool to see how they make all of their famous steaks and bread. Murrays is one of our favorite restaurants, and it was a treat to go there.

 That's it for this blog! Murrays was so much fun, especially for Ethan. Be sure to check out his blog, too!

Owls, Hawks and Turtles

Let me just start off by saying how lucky we were to have this experience. This was a private tour, and the buildings were not open to the public.

 We were invited to visit our friend's place of work (she's a veterinarian), at a place called A.R.K. They save animals who are injured or unsuitable for the wild, and they nurse them back to full health. If they can't be brought back to full health, they become animal ambassadors. So, you might see them at a zoo or an aquarium. 

 

We got to go into 3 buildings and view 4 rooms in total.

The first building we entered was the kitchen, if you can call it a kitchen. There were birds in cages off to the side, as well as 2 BABY OWLS!!! Their names were Ben & Jerry. I think that they are Great Horned Owls. Oh, right, the kitchen is also where they prepare the food for the birds and the turtles... *Ahem*

Moving swiftly on from that, the next place we visited was the clinic. It's where the creatures get their medication. We got to see our friend and her assistant draw the blood of 2 turtles. One turtle was definitely more calm than the other, though. The annoyed turtle was smacking it's fins on the side of the tub repeatedly! It was very entertaining, but kind of pitiful. The building was also where they stored turtles that were either soon to release or needed surgery. We got to see them splashing water all over us, because it was close to feeding time and they were very excited.

The 3rd place we got to see was the holding area. It was where a bunch of turtles were mostly peaceful in their tanks. It was a lot of fun learning a few facts about the turtles, and seeing their wounds. We were also able to see how much they've healed.

Final area of the morning... the aviary! All the birds hung out in their cages, most not being releasable. Most of the birds or turtles end up at the local aquarium, but some go to other states. We got to see hawks, turkey vultures, pelicans, owls, and a few more breeds as well!

My favorite part was definitely seeing the tiny owls hovering in their cage. The poor things were orphaned when their tree was cut down!

Thanks for reading!

Vegas And An Upgrade!

 Hey! It's been a while, eh? Well, I've been busy! We were getting a new home. We now have a room for me and Ethan plus more living space. I guess we have a bunch of storage now, too. And it's a trailer! No more big mountains in the RV!

 We knew it was time to return to Vegas and see our grandma. We picked her up at the airport after setting up the trailer.  We met her in the Rio Hotel/Casino. We had a great view of the pretty city lights and the pools, which were unfortunately closed for the season. One day, my mom and dad went  off to meet with Penn and his wife. Later, after a lazy day alone with grandma, we got invited, for free, to the Penn & Teller show. We met them backstage after the show, too!

After Vegas, we drove to Amarillo. It was freezing and we were miserable. We did some boring DMV stuff for the RV, too.

Now we are in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It's much nicer here, weather wise.

 We were exhausted! Well, anyway, please be sure to look out for more blogs by Erin and goooooodbye!

Plant-Based Eating & Climate Change

Let me just start this off with saying that my family and I already try to lessen our harmful impact on the environment. We bring our own bags to the grocery store, we use stainless steel straws when we can, and, most importantly, we eat plant-based foods.

Yes, you read that correctly. Greenhouse gases are basically one-way heat portals. When the warmth from the sun beams down on Earth, the greenhouse gases trap the heat inside the atmosphere. That ultimately leads to the entire globe heating up, melting icecaps and glaciers, killing animals and forcing them to move, etc. Climate change can also cause a new harshness in natural disasters. Hurricanes, tornados, floods and storms can become far worse than they used to be, causing more damage to our homes and belongings. People could die from the severe weather conditions that are arising. There is so much we can do to make sure that our planet doesn't turn into a puddle of slush. Okay, maybe it won't be THAT bad, but we could slow this process down! One of the best ways is eating healthy.

 www.theguardian.com has an article that states that a vegan or vegetarian diet has about half of the carbon footprint of a meat-loving diet. A plant-based diet will be sure to emit less carbon, a greenhouse gas, far less than meat. When you raise an animal like, say, a cow, they emit about 1/7 of our earth's greenhouse gases. Of course, it's all those gassy animals combined to make up so much of Earth's greenhouse gases. Red meat is especially harmful. I know, it may be hard to give up your favorite sirloin steak, or an afternoon of fried chicken, but ultimately, it will help lower greenhouse gases in the long run.

Of course, eating healthily is not going to put a plug in the greenhouse gases, far from it! Even if almost 8 billion people could afford to make the switch AND choose to go with it, it'd only remove 14.5% of the greenhouse gas effect. It will take more than fruits and veggies to stop climate change.

Thanks for reading this! Comment below on 1 way YOU help the environment!

Career Project

We've been relaxing in Port Aransas, TX, for about 3 months now. My parents got my brother and I a tutor. She has recently decided that she is too busy to come to us anymore, her reason being that she is very busy. She gave us a project a couple of weeks before her departure, however. The objective: Choose a career you are interested in, and write a 7 paragraph paper on it (However, I'm not sure the conclusion counts as a "paragraph"!) So I wrote mine on the topic below!

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I might be interested in becoming an Animal Curator, or a curator that works for a zoo/aquarium. A curator is the brains of the operation, or at least a section of it. They tend to all of the animals' needs, such as food, health, training, breeding, environment, and even emergencies. Most of the time, curators will need at least a 4 year degree in zoology, biology, or a related field. A master's degree is preferable in those fields, however. Curators are typically available at any time in order to care for their creatures' needs. They may control the whole place, or just a part of it. Curator is only 1 level of progress, though. If they work hard enough, they can officially become the director of the entire workplace! These people might ALREADY practically own the building, but that depends on size and location.

The place you choose to work is key. Choosing a bay or an area near water may contribute to the type of building you have. For example, you may study marine biology if your work is near an ocean, or tropical birds in a rainforest environment. Speaking of environments, you have the ability to upgrade your skills based on what kind of animals you have and your workplace. You may learn how to train dolphins to do backflips, or teach macaws to land on a shoulder. There's no shortage of possibilities in this career choice! Curators are also fortunate enough to be able to choose who they work with. They get to hire the staff for their branch of research. Maybe they'll hire some trainers for the birds, or doctors for the medical department. Surprisingly enough, curators only get paid an average of $53,000 per year. That's not a whole lot for running the show!

 Animal curators must have the skills to communicate properly with their coworkers. They have to know how to speak clearly and in a way that their employees will understand. Plus, if they need money, they may need to write a grant. Writing grants takes a lot of effort, and you must make sure that your grammar is proper.

Curators must measure out lots of animals' food daily. They must know how much to feed them, and how much each animal weighs. They must have a medical staff to help them with their animals' dietary needs. For example, a sloth might be 8 pounds over the average weight. The curator must figure out how much to feed that sloth daily to get it back to a healthy weight. Plus, it helps to be able to manage your finances!

Curators will want to be able to help the building grow and succeed, so they will need the skills possible to make good decisions. They may need to decide on a new tank to add in, or something larger like how much money to loan from a bank. Social studies can help people learn about their local landmarks as well. I mean, it doesn't hurt to know your area's history! Curators also need diplomatic skills to make sure their staff is getting along.

 For someone to be an animal curator, they must know a lot about animals. They must know tons of biological knowledge about all of the animals they work with. They must know this because in their job, not only will people be asking questions about them, but they have to understand what foods their animals can eat, their breeding habits, the proper people to hire to work with specific animals, etc. They must be prepared to answer any question and deal with most situations.

 I'm still fascinated by this career. I love animals, and taking care of them would be cool. I'd have to research quite a bit though!

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Thanks for reading my blog! Stay tuned for semi-usual-not-really-often blogs, coming up sometime in the future!