Friday, May 28th

I'm going to stop posting every day because not much goes on during the week, I'll just post when we do something interesting. Today is my mom's birthday! We went to Jamaica (ha-my-ca) the flower market today! Cut flowers are SO much cheaper in Mexico! I got a pretty flower arrangement and three mini plants, my mom got 10 HUGE sunflowers and a boquet of another type of flower that I don't know the name for. I put pictures on Picasa if you want to see them! We went with Ms. Paula, Noelle's mom. Afterward we picked up Nate and Abby from school, their friends Noriaki and Megumi came too since it is Friday. A while after we got home, Noelle and her family came over. Noelle has a loose ankle and her doctor told her that she needed to use a stationary bike, they came over because our gym has a lot of stationary bikes. Noelle and I went to the gym while everyone else went to the pool. While we were walking to the gym and the pool, we passed a group of people setting up a party. It was a REALLY cool party!! It was CandyLand themed and the people decorating were obviously professional. I put pictures on Picasa! After Noelle and I finished at the gym and everyone else finished at the pool, Noelle had to leave. Then Noriaki and Megumi's mom came and picked them up. When everyone had left we walked down the street to a taco restaurant for dinner, after that we went to 7eleven and got icecream for dessert.

Tuesday, May 25th

I decided not to go to the homeschool co-op this week, it's their last week anyway and I was kind of getting excluded from the group of girls my age. I liked the girls in the older group, they were really nice, but they mostly do study hall and only go to a few classes. So instead I got to sleep in and when I woke up I played the drums again! Later on, (when I finished the drum book :)) my mom and I played Band Hero until we got tired. Then I got the guinea pigs out, and after that I got on the computer for a while. I went with my mom when it was time to get Nate and Abby because afterward we went to the Dunmire's, but I only got to see Chloe for a couple of minutes. Then we went back to the house and I had dinner, after dinner we went down to the park and played there until some people came down and told us that they had reserved the field. When we got back my dad was home, they put the little kids to bed and then we played Take Two again.

Monday, May 24th

Today we went to visit Eton, most of the girls that I knew at Westhill when we lived here before go there and Ana Paula is going to go there next year. I really liked it! Eton is bilingual (half day English and half day Spanish) and I think that that is enough for me to learn more Spanish, I don't need almost pure Spanish! Also Eton is a small school with small classes, and it has an after-school guitar program that I would really like to take! After that we went to Columbia to get the results of my exam, I got 100% on English, 91% on English grammar, 95% on Spanish math, and 58% on Spanish grammar..... XP. If I go to Columbia I'll have to retake the Spanish grammar exam, I'd rather go to Eton though. When we finished there, we went home for a short lunch and then we went to pick up Nate and Abby so that we could go to an orthodontist appointment. When that was over we finally went home, then all of the kids went down to the park for a while. We played with our ball on the big hill until we got bored and tired, then Tomas, Nate and I went back to the apartment while Abby and David stayed a little longer. When we got back I played Band Hero with my mom until she had to go cook dinner, then I practiced on the real drumset. I loved it! I found this one beat that was so fun! I played the drums until dinner time, then after dinner I practiced some more! Then I got on the computer until my dad got home, after he finished eating dinner my mom, my dad and I played Take Two.

Sunday, May 23rd

We had to wake up pretty early this morning because Ms. Suzzane had to drop me and Wyatt off before they went to church. When I got home Tomas and David were there, they came to church with us. After church we went to Costco to get pizza and then back to the house where Nate, Tomas, Abby, David and my dad went swimming. My mom went down to the pool and read while I stayed at the apartment where I read and used the computer. Later on, when they got back, my mom, my dad and me went down to the park and played frisbee. Tomas and David spent the night because their parents are going on a trip.

Saturday, May 22nd

We played Catan this morning, Abby won. But my dad wasn't playing so we all at least had a fair shot at winning. I was so close! I would have won on my next turn! When we were all ready to go (which took a while), we went to Chapultepec Park. We met the Owenby's at an old playground that we had never been to before. We threw the football and frisbee around for a while and then the dads and the boys started a game of kickball, but they used a football. I didn't want to play and so I got really bored. When they finally finished we went to a fountain that we used to go to all of the time, it is really fun to climb on, but they had drained all of the water out of it :(. Then we found a playground that wasn't there last time we were here, all the kids went and played but I got bored pretty quickly, it was pretty warm outside and I was tired. When everyone was done playing we went and got two rotisserie chickens and a bunch of fresh tortillas. Then we all went back to our apartment to eat, after we finished the kids went swimming while the adults played Catan. After a while the Dunmires and Michaels came (Chloe and Noelle). Noelle's little brothers, Tomas and David, stayed at the pool while Noelle and I went with Chloe. Wyatt came too because he is friends with Chloe's older brother Connor. We went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and then back to Chloe's house, we all spent the night there.

Friday, May 21st

No co-op today so I got to sleep in, I took advantage of that and slept until 9:30. I started practicing the drums today with the new book we got, I just wish I had my guitar! I got pretty far into the book, but then my mom wanted a turn so I got my clarinet out for a while. The day seemed to pass really fast! At 5:00 I went to Jessica and Brittney Wayda's house to make baby blankets for the hospital across the street, I met the Wayda's at co-op. Almost everyone else from co-op was there too. We ended up making 80 blankets, and they were fun to make! When my mom picked me up we went to the Owenby's where everyone else was already. We watched Spongebob and Star Wars until around 12:30 when we went home, for us that's really early for being at the Owenby's on a Friday!

Thursday, May 20th

I had to wake up early again this morning. Today at co-op it was crazy day, I wore mis-matching long socks and one girl brought a temporary hair dye kit so I put a streak of blue in my hair. After co-op I read until my dad got home, then the two of us went to the park and played frisbee for a while, then we went to the trampoline. While we were on the trampoline we saw spotlights, and when we got back to the apartment we saw that we could them from there too. By then it was late so I went to bed.

Wednesday, May 19th

Today I got up at 6:00 so that I could get to the homeschool group on time. Today was Decade Day, so everyone (or almost everyone) picked a decade and dressed like they did in that decade. I didn't do it because I don't have very many acsessories to work with at the moment, two other girls didn't do it either. I went to the upper level Spanish class today, it was more challenging than the class I went to yesterday which is good because the other class was easy. After co-op and after Nate and Abby got home from school we all went down to the park to play and run Toffee for a while. When we got back I read until bedtime.

Tuesday, May 18th

Today I had to get up really early to take ANOTHER test for Columbia, this one was the entrance exam. After the exam a lady came in to talk with me about what my life was like, I have no idea why because after she finished a psychologist came in and asked me almost the exact same questions! She also had me draw three pictures and write a story, again I have no idea why. Then I called my mom to come pick me up and we walked to our church down the street. There is a homeschool group that meets there every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and my mom says that I am going to start going to it. Today I walked in for the first time and everyone was on the roof in their PJ's! They get to the roof by climbing out the classroom window and they eat their lunch there. Today happened to be pajama day too, tomorrow is decade day and the day after is twin day! I sat in their classes, but I didn't have any books or anything so I just listened. After it finished, we picked up Nate and Abby from school and then went to and ortho appointment where they changed my wires. They managed to make it a lot more painful than it should have been because for a while they couldn't figure out how to get the wire out! They said that I'm almost done with my braces!! :D Then we went back to the apartment and I used our new Internet for a while. Then I discovered Greyson Chance! For those of you who don't know, Greyson is a twelve-year-old singer who is amazing at singing and playing the piano. He has written two songs so far but I've heard he's working on more, hopefully his new songs will be as good as the two he already has!

Monday, May 17th

I took a test today to prove to Columbia that I passed 7th grade, it was REALLY long! I did the test almost all morning with small breaks in between. Later my mom let me go downstairs and use the Wi-fi, and apparently while I was gone someone from Telmex came and installed Internet! I stayed down there for a while so eventually my mom sent Victor down to get me. When I got back, she was in a huge rush because we had to get to Ms. Suzanne's house to print something before we had to go pick up Nate and Abby from school. When we got to Ms. Suzanne's house there was a big pile of books next to the door, when my mom asked, Ms. Suzanne said they were giving them away and I could take as many as I wanted. So I rummaged through the pile of books while my mom used the printer. I ended up with Redwall, Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception, and all of the Percy Jackson series except for the first one (which I already have) for free! Score! Then we went to pick up Nate and Abby before heading home to try out our new Internet. It works this time, thank goodness! After trying out the Internet I read Artemis Fowl until I finished it at about 8:30, then I went to bed.

Saturday, May 15th

This morning Ms. Jen picked us up from the sleepover pretty early. We met my mom at the Hansons so that she could drop off the car we had borrowed from them, then Ms. Jen drove us to the airport, Kaitlyn came with us. When we landed, my dad, Nate and Abby met us with a boquet of flowers for each of us. Before we went home we stopped at Blossoms, a Chinese restaurant, for lunch, the food was really good! After lunch we went to an icecream place. We all ordered what we thought sounded good, but when Nate tasted his vanilla he decided he didn't like it, so my parents let him get another one. My dad was reading all the flavors to him and the list went like this: "There's chocolate, strawberry, coffee, nut, caramalized goat milk....." and at that last one I almost spit out my icecream! The flavor was actually called cajeta which is actually made out of goat's milk! Once we finished our icecream we went back to the apartment, Toffee went nuts when we walked in! Before we did anything else we all had to help unpack, when we finished, Abby and I had to clean the guinea pigs cage. Then I was really tired so I tried to go to sleep early, but I couldn't so I got back up and watched my family play Settlers of Catan. I got bored after a while so I read until bedtime.

Friday, May 14th

My mom left before Kaitlyn and I woke up this morning to meet the movers at the house. Kristen and Karrisa woke us up at 7:00, but we made them get out and then we went back to sleep, then we slept until about 8:30. When we got up we played on the computer for a while, then in the afternoon we went swimming in their pool. It was 80 degrees in the pool and everyone but Kaitlyn thought it was freezing, but Kaitlyn goes swimming in 70 or 60 degree water, so she never thinks the water is cold! After we swam for a while we had to come in because Kaitlyn and I were going to a goodbye party for Kaitlyn with her small group. At the party we went swimming again, again in freezing cold water, and had pizza. Then we saw lightning so we had to go back to the house. There we had cookie cake and icecream and watched the Hannah Montana movie. After the movie it was getting late so I went to sleep, everyone else apparently watched more TV.

Thursday, May 13th

I think I'm starting to wake up later every day, today I didn't wake up until the movers got here at 9:30! After I got ready I went out onto the porch and finished up all of my math tests and my last school book, that took until lunch time. The movers are really moving fast today so they are ahead of schedule, they're loading the truck already when we thought that they wouldn't load until tomorrow! They will still have to come tomorrow to finish up though. I spent most of the day studying for a test that I have to take to prove I passed 7th grade. Around lunchtime one of the movers mentioned that a lot of helicopters had been flying around overhead. Neither me or my mom had noticed, but once he pointed it out we started hearing helicopters almost constantly! I didn't see this, but my mom said there were about 8 cops with two police cars and a motorcycle on our street and 10 cops with guns drawn going down the creek! My mom went out to talk with a police officer and he told her that 4 guys had broken in to a house near our neighborhood and then run into our neighborhood when the police arrived. And people talk about Mexico being dangerous! Later we heard that they had caught them all and the police left. Then my friend Christine came over, she stayed until my mom and I had to go to a party with our old small group where I saw Kiera again. When the party was over, my mom dropped me off at Kaitlyn's house while she went to spend time with her friend Ms. Lee. Ms. Jen had to go to the airport to pick up Kaitlyn's grandma and so Kaitlyn and I baby-sat her two sisters. When Kaitlyn babysits she has to stay up until her parents get home, so she and I stayed up until 1:00 when her mom and grandma got back.

Wednesday, May 12th

Kiera and I woke up at 8:30 this morning and I was still so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. After I managed to make myself get up and get ready, Kiera and I watched a cool new show called Minute to Win It until breakfast was ready. After we ate our pancakes we went to my house, the movers were already there and packing so I started running around the house grabbing everything I wanted to take back in the suitcases. When I finished that, Kiera and I rode up to the park on scooters where I saw my old tennis teacher. When we came back we went out to the backyard and looked at the creek and the bridge that collapsed. Then Kiera said she saw a snake so went to the edge of the creek and she pointed it out to me. Then we ran inside to get Ms. Vicki, Kiera's brother Cameron, and my mom to show them. Ms. Vicki thought it might be poisonous! It was about two feet long, but really skinny and it had brown stripes. Then Ms. Vicki saw some poison oak, which Kiera is REALLY allergic to, so we went back inside. They had to go soon after that so it was just my mom and me alone with the movers. At about 12:30 we had pizza for the movers' lunch, we had some too. Then my mom remembered that I hadn't finished all of my schoolwork, so before we did anything else I had to finish the last two lessons in my math book and do at least one of my tests. The movers left early today so when I finished my schoolwork my mom and I went out shopping. We bought a lot of snacks for tomorrow, a new bedspread for me and a lot of other things we needed. We also rented "The Blind Side" and we watched it when we got home, it was REALLY good! Because of the movie I stayed up until around 10:00 or 11:00 again.

Tuesday, May 11th

Today Kaitlyn and I woke up to Karrisa jumping up on the bed and demanding to let her eat cupcakes. I got an app yesterday where you can bake and decorate cupcakes and then "eat" them afterward. Karissa is facinated with eating these cupcakes! After we got up and had breakfast, Kaitlyn had to do some school so I blogged and played on my ITouch. I also did a science expirement with her. When she finished we talked for a while and then Kaitlyn had Kristen had violin lessons so I went with them to CFAF, where I used to have band and choir. When we got back we rode scooters around the neighborhood until dinner. A while after dinner, Ms. Jen took me to Kiera's house where the adults were having an early birthday party for my mom. I talked and played with Kiera until about 10:00 when we went to bed. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open!

Monday, May 10th

Today I woke at 8:45 and so I had to get up and get ready quickly because Ms. Vicki came to pick me up at 9:30. We were going to a park that had a lot of sidewalks so Kiera sent me an email asking me to bring a scooter or skates. I brought a scooter and my overnight bag so could spend the night at Kaitlyn's house. Kiera, Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn's sister Kristen and I had a lot of fun riding around the park on scooters and skates. Later on the adults set up games like tug-of-war and three-legged races, they were really fun too! Except for when we were playing tug-of-war and I fell and scraped my elbow. After the games we had a picnic with BBQ sandwiches, chips, and soda. When we left I went home with Kaitlyn, we checked out emails first and read Mythbusters, later we played Band Hero and Beatles Rock Band. When we finally had to go to bed we stayed up until around 12:00 talking!

Sunday, May 9th

Today, before going to the airport, we went to breakfast and Lincoln park, we used to go to that park all the time. Breakfast was really good and filling, the park was fun but it was really warm outside. Then we headed to the airport at about 1:00. At the airport we did a little shopping before boarding the plane at 3:30, we landed at 7:30. It took us a long time to get through customs and bagage claim to the train, then it took a long time for the train to get to our stop. So by the time we got to our stop it was 10:00, my mom's friend Ms. Candy was waiting to pick us up there. She drove us to her house then let us use the car to get to our house, but we stopped for dinner at Chili's first.

Friday, May 7th

Today I woke up at the same time as Abby again....ugh. Then my mom and dad came in as I was getting up and told me that they had some important news for me, I'm going with my mom back to Atlanta to help pack up the house!!! YAY!!! When I finished my school I went down to the Wi-fi zone (my mornings have become very predictable!). When I finished my mom and I went to a Mother's Day presentation at Westhill that Nate and Abby were in. It was cool going back to Westhill, I saw my old art and Special Spanish teachers! Then we went to the Otero's which is Paulina and Marianna. They had a friend named Angelica over who goes to Columbia with them, it was fun but kind of hard because we spoke in Spanish. We had to leave early to go see a house that we had already seen but my dad hadn't. When we got there he told us that he had looked at that house the first time we came down to Mexico! Apparently they STILL haven't found anyone to rent it. But we all decided that we like our old house better so we will probably wait until the Dunmires leave at the end of June. On our way home the Owenby's called and invited us over, so we stopped at the apartment to let Toffee out and get Settlers of Catan and then headed over. At first I just watched Ethan and Nate play Lego Star Wars and I played it for a while. But then I got bored so I went downstairs where Wyatt was playing Legos with Abby and Lucy and I joined them. A little after I came down we went home.

Thursday, May 6th

This morning I actully woke up at a decent hour for once! Well, I'm not sure it counts because Abby woke me up while she was getting ready for school. After I got ready and did my schoolwork we went down to the Wi-fi zone. When we got back, my mom had to go to Colombia again so that they could tell her what to get when she goes back to the States so that they can enroll me. That took a while! I stayed at the house and read while she was gone. When she got back she had to leave again and go somewhere else, after she finished she picked Nate and Abby up from school and brought them home. Then she had to leave AGAIN to go a funeral that the Owenby's maid invited her to. Nate and Abby and I went to the park and played for a while and when we went back to the house my dad was home. He gave us 200 pesos (about $20) so that we could walk to 7eleven to get icecream while he took Mr. Marcus home (he had offered Mr. Marcus a ride home from work). So Nate, Abby and I walked up the street to 7eleven. I was surprised that the guards let three kids walk out of the gates with no adult! When we got back we took a walk to the park to have time to finish the icecream, then we went back to the apartment and Nate and Abby went to bed. I went to bed a little while after they did.

Wednesday, May 5th

Today is Cinco de Mayo which means the 5th of May, it is a Mexican holiday that celebrates a battle that the Mexicans won when they were fighting for their independence. I woke up late today because I had trouble getting to sleep last night. As soon as my mom and I got ready we went to the Owenby's house so that my mom could bake a cake to take to a BBQ at 4:00. I brought my schoolwork and did it there and then used their Internet afterward. Then Lucy wanted to play with me, so I went to her room and she showed me her stuffed animal collection and then we played with Kody outside. Ethan and Wyatt were both sick so they just played Wii the whole time. When my mom finished baking we went back home. When it was time to go to the BBQ we first went to my friend Rachel's house to pick her up to take her there, then we had to go to Westhill to pick up Nate and Abby. At the BBQ I saw Noelle and Emma and I met a girl named Andrea. It was really fun! Afterward we took Rachel home and then by the time we got back it was late and so I went to bed.

Tuesday, May 4th

Nate and Abby started school today at Westhill. Abby was so excited to see all of her friends again! I'm a little worried about Nate, his Spanish teacher is Ms. May who was my 5th grade Spanish teacher. She is a good teacher but she is pretty strict, and Nate isn't very disciplined. My mom and I went down to the Wi-fi zone this morning and stayed there until lunch. I read for a while and then when my mom went to pick up Nate and Abby from school I took Toffee for a walk. After that I went to the Wi-fi zone again by myself for about an hour. When I got back I had dinner and then read again. A while later I heard my mom yell, so I went to see what happened. For some reason, Abby decided to plug the shower drain and then take a 30 minute shower. She didn't notice the water leaking out of the shower and running across the floor into our room. While I was ran around the apartment grabbing every blanket and towel we had to soak up the water, my mom grabbed a thick blanket and tried to push the water off of the wood floor and into the bathroom. And as if it wasn't enough that the flood covered half of our room, it leaked THROUGH THE WALL into Nate's room next door! The water also managed to get under the wood floor and even under the tile in the bathroom! Now the wood is peeling up around the edges and the tile got darker where the water got through. What a nightmare!

Monday, May 3rd

Today I did more school than I normally do. My mom is leaving for Atlanta a week from tomorrow and she needs to take my school books with her because she is selling them. Ugh, well at least I'll get school done quicker. My mom tried to do the gum wrapper chain this morning but the foil is too delicate. Then she remembered that there used to be paper around the foil and that's what she used, but they don't package gum like that anymore :( . In the afternoon we went out to the park, when we were done we went to the trampoline for a while and then back to the apartment. My mom left to see another couple of houses while Abby and I went down to the Wi-fi zone. Nate stayed in the apartment so that he could play Wii. My parents got home around 7:00, they sent Nate down to get me and Abby. Abby went up, but I stayed to Skype with Kaitlyn again. I went back at 8:30 because my dad sent me an email telling me to come back. When I got back I ate a really late dinner and then tried to go to bed, but I couldn't get to sleep because it was really warm in my room. So I went to lie down on a sofa in our living room that was directly under an air vent and read for a while. When I got sleepy I went back to bed and fell asleep easily.

Link

http://picasaweb.google.com/GwenReader

Here is the link to my pictures!

Sunday, May 2nd

Today we went to church like every Sunday morning. It turns out that last week was just a special service, so we sang the usual kind of hymns today. Afterward we went to Ruben's, which is a hamburger place, with Noelle's family. Nate made friends with Noelle's brother Tomás and Abby made friends with her other brother David. When we finished eating we went to get ice cream because it was really warm outside. After that we all went to Ciudadela which is an outdoor market place with tons of stalls to buy things at. I bought a beaded ring and a necklace with a 'G' charm, I also bought a beaded purse for Abby as a birthday present, Abby bought a wallet to match her purse and Nate didn't buy anything. By the time we finished shopping it was 5:30 so we headed home. At Ciudadela I had seen some purses and wallets that were linked together somehow, my mom told me that she knew how to do that with gum wrappers. So when we got home, my mom and I walked up the street to 7eleven and I bought a pack of gum so that she could teach me how to make it, when we got got back she said that she will teach me tomorrow. :( Then I went down to the Wi-fi zone to check my e-mail, Facebook, etc...., I also did Skype with my friend Kaitlyn. At around 10:00 we had to go to bed.

Saturday, May 1st

Today we went to Desierto de los Leónes and La Marquesa with the Owenby's, the Burks, and Connor Dunmire. The Burks are Ms. Lisa and Mr. Ken, Connor is Chloe's brother and Wyatt's frend. Desierto de los Leónes is kind of like a camp ground, except for you don't camp there. I think it was a nature park. We brought the football and the frisbee and played with those for most of the time. We also had lunch there, the dads grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, and vegetables. After they finished cooking, all of the kids founds sticks and poked them in the fire. We also found dead leaves and pine needles and put them in the fire to make it bigger, it was fun! When we finished with the fire we all went to La Marquesa where we rode 4-wheelers and go-carts. Ms. Ranee, Lucy, Wyatt and I rode 4-wheelers, I didn't like it very much because the road was REALLY bumpy! Mr. Ken, Mr. Marcus, my dad, Connor, Ethan, and Nate rode go-carts, Ms. Lisa, my mom, and Abby just watched us. After that we all went to the Owenby's where the parents played Settlers of Catan. The kids jumped on the trampoline, played with their dog Kody, and watched TV. I stayed with them for a while, but then I got bored so I went to their garden and read my book on my ITouch. Around 9:00 it got too cold outside and I didn't bring a sweater so I went inside. They were all playing a Mario game on the Wii. About 10 minutes after I came in, the adults came in and said it was time to go. I was really tired when we got home so I went straight to bed.

Friday, April 30th

Today was Día de los Niños so I got to stay in bed for a while and read. Well, not really a while, more like half the day.... I would have stayed in bed longer but I had to get up and get ready to go to my friend Ana Paula's house around noon. Ana Paula is Mexican but she speaks English really well, I stayed at her house until around 7:00. We played games on my ITouch and her IPhone, made funny videos on her computer, looked at YouTube videos and talked a lot. When I got home I read some more.

Thursday, April 29

Today I read again :). We had to stay home because people were coming to install the phone and get us Internet, in the end we only got the phone.

Wednesday, April 28th

Today I literally read almost ALL DAY. My mom made me do some schoolwork this morning, but that is the only thing I did besides read. I am reading a series called The Wheel of Time, it was one of my dad's favorite series'. It has 12 books that all have at least 700 pages with tiny words, I finished the 3rd one today. It is one of the best series I've EVER read! :D The problem is we only had the first three books, so when I finished the 3rd I didn't have anything else to read. Luckily my dad found free Wi-fi in the pool area and he found the 4th, 5th, and 6th books in the Kindle E-book store! (For those of you who don't know we have an IPad, that's how he got the books). I stayed there until about 10:00 checking my emails, my dad stayed even longer!

Tuesday, April 27th

Today we had to get up pretty early because we had to go visit two schools, Colombia and Greengates.
We went to Colombia first. I got to see my friend Paulina there, she has a twin sister Marianna but we couldn't find her, and I also saw their friend Lessie. Those three use to go to my old school, Westhill, but they switched to Colombia. Westhill is the school Nate and Abby are probably going to go to. I liked Colombia, the classes ended at 2:00 but there were after-school activities that ended at 3:00. So if i did an after-school class (I would probably do choir) I could still get home at a decent hour. Also they only have English 7 hours a week so I would learn Spanish so much faster! The only problem is before I enroll we need to show them proof that I passed 5th, 6th, and 7th grade. So my mom will have to get papers from Westhill and River Trails, and since I was homeschooled for 7th I will have to take an exam to prove I know enough to pass to 8th grade.
Afterward we went to Greengates, it took a long time to get there because it is pretty far away. First we got a tour of the grounds, it is very big and a nice campus, then we went to see the principle. When we asked about SEP, the Spanish program, she said that it was full! So the only option is the English program, but I know I won't learn Spanish very fast in that, so were thinking probably not Greengates.

Monday, April 26th

It's Abby's birthday today! She is now 8 years old. Thank goodness she's in a better mood than she has been the rest of this week! My mom made crepes this morning, they tasted different because she made them out of pancake batter but they were still really good! When we finished eatting we played with the guinea pigs for a while. We hand-fed them both a carrot, they are so cute when they eat! Later we went to the park and played there most of the day. When we got back it was about 5:00 so my mom started making dinner. We ate as soon as my dad got home and we had brownies and ice cream afterwards. My mom had heard that there is a place in the apartments that is like a private movie theater, you bring your own movie but it is projected onto a wall so that the screen is much bigger. There were even chairs like they have in a movie theater! We watched The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe until the theater closed at 9:00. Then we went up to our apartment and finished watching it there.

Sunday, April 25th

Today we went to our old church, it's called Capital City. Their worship time was much different than what we are used to! They sang a bunch of the little kid worship songs like 'Jesus loves me' and 'This little light of mine', and even the adults did the motions! I saw Noelle and met a new girl named Abigail there. Afterward we went looking for a water dispenser again and then headed home. At about 2:30 the Owenbys and the Canales came over, the Canales have a 10 year old son named Andres. The adults played Settlers of Catan while the kids first went box sledding and then we went swimming. Seems like there were a lot of injuries at the pool today, a lot of people got shot in the eye with water guns. When we were done swimming we went back to the apartment and played Band Hero for a little while, then everyone had to go because it was around 6:00. After my parents put Nate and Abby to bed my dad and I went on a walk. We got some ice cream and talked for a while, it was late by the time we got back but the dog needed to go out. I didn't get in bed until about 10:00.

Saturday, April 24th

Today we went to a buffet restaurant called San Ángel for breakfast. I got carsick on the way there and wasn't feeling good but after eating breakfast I felt much better. Near the restaurant is a place where people come and sell pieces of art, we looked around for a while but didn't find anything we wanted. Afterward we walked around where there were a bunch of stalls selling all kinds of things, Abby found a beaded purse she wanted but it was kind of expensive and she didn't have enough money. I found a cool ring but it was expensive too, I could afford it but it wasn't worth it. Then we shopped at Costco and a bunch of other stores looking for a water dispenser because Mexican tap water is horrible to drink. After that we went back to the apartment and my dad taught me about breakers, fuses and how "the clowns downstairs" improvised, and that's why the power went out last night. I was feeling tired so I read for the rest of the day.

Friday, April 23rd

My dad got home really late last night with the guinea pigs so I didn't get to see them until this morning. When Abby and I got up, the first thing we did was go see them. We held and petted them for a while, then we set up a little maze out of boxes for them to play in. We made the maze in a room that was kind of like a study, we didn't need that room and it has doors that slide shut to keep Toffee out. Toffee would just love to have the guinea pigs as a snack, but needless to say Abby and I wouldn't like that very much. Toffee had pretty much gotten ignored all morning so in the afternoon we all took her down to the park to play. When we came back we went to the Owenby's house, last time we lived in Mexico we spent a lot of time with the Owenbys. There is a little girl named Lucy that is one of Abby's best friends, a boy named Ethan that is one of Nate's best friends, and a boy my age named Wyatt. Their mom, Ms. Ranee, is one of my mom's best friends and their dad is Mr. Marcus. While we were there we went box sledding which is exactly what it sounds like, we slide down a hill on pieces of cardboard. The hills at their house were really bumpy so I didn't try it there, but afterwards we all came to our apartment where we have the best hill ever for box sledding! I did it twice there, but I didn't like it very much and neither did Lucy. Everyone else loved it! Then we came back to the apartment and made popcorn, played Band Hero and tried to play hearts. A little while after we got back half the lights in our apartment went out. We spent the rest of the night in semi-darkness.

Thursday, April 22nd

I woke up at 6:30 this morning because Chloe had to get up early to get ready for school. After we were done getting ready we had some extra time so we watched a little TV until Chloe had to leave for the bus stop. I watched TV until my parents sent our driver, Victor, to pick me up. When I got home I did a little schoolwork and went to the park again. Later we got a call that the guinea pigs were ready to be picked up! My dad, his friend Mr. Marcus, and Mr. Marcus' driver Mario went to pick them up. A lot of driving and one ransom later they got the pigs and brought them home. We're all glad that's over!

Wednesday, April 21st

We went to Chloe's house again today to use their Internet, but this time Chloe was home. She had a doctor's apointment and she decided to stay home afterward. We made some funny videos using her webcam, and then we drew for a while. Around 4:00 my mom took Nate and Abby to La Feria which is an amusment park, I didn't feel like going on rides so I stayed with Chloe. Later my mom told me that I should be glad I didn't go, the lines were long, the rides weren't that good and Abby got lost. Chloe and I drew some more and then we watched a movie. Ms. Suzanne told me that I could sleep over if I wanted because it was getting late, we check with my parents and they said it was fine. We went to bed at a decent time since it was a weekday and Chloe had school the next morning.

Tuesday, April 20th

We didn't do much today, mostly we did some school work that we have to get done before my parents go back to pack up the house. After that I went to the park with Nate, Abby and Toffee. We took a frisbee and a ball and played with those, then we ran Toffee for a while and then we went back and read our separate books.
I'm starting to get concerned for the guinea pigs, the people at the airport are demanding a ton of money so that they can bring a vet to inspect them. For being little rodents they are causing a lot of trouble!

Monday, April 19th

I went to Chloe's house again today, but Chloe wasn't there because we went in the morning and obviously, she was at school. My mom, Nate, Abby and I all went to use their Internet, we don't have any yet but we should get some sometime this week. I hadn't checked my email in 5 days, I had 110 emails! It took me while to sort through all of that!

Sunday, April 18th

Today Noelle and I went with Chloe to her church, Chloe is Catholic, Noelle and I aren't. It was a very different experience! It was a fairly small church, but the ceiling was very high so it was pretty echoy (I have no idea how to spell that!). Afterwards we went to a Sunday school class, and then Chloe's parents took us all back to their house. I called my parents to see if I could invite Chloe and Noelle to our apartment to swim, they said yes and Chloe and Noelle's parents agreed too. So Chloe's mom, Ms. Suzanne, took us to my apartment where we changed into our bathing suits and headed down to the pool. After swimming for a while we got some snacks from the snack bar and went back to the apartment to change because Chloe and Noelle had to go home.
We still haven't heard anything about the guinea pigs, we're hoping for news soon!

Saturday, April 17th

Today we went to Xochimilco (zo-chi-mil-co) with a couple of other families as a kind of 'Welcome Back' party. Xochimilco is a river where you can rent a boat and pay for someone to pole you around. We had a nice lunch while almost freezing to death, of course none of us had bothered to check the weather so we were almost all in t-shirts, it was raining pretty heavily and the wind was blowing hard. Thankfully they had a curtain that they pulled down that blocked most of the wind, but it was still cold! My friend Chloe came too and so it was still pretty fun. Afterward the rain cleared up and we went plant shopping, I got a miniature tree and a little bamboo plant.
When we got home my mom sent Nate out with Toffee, when they didn't come back after about twenty minutes my mom and I went looking for him while my dad stayed in the apartment in case he came back. My dad called the security and they started looking for him too. After about an hour, maybe more, someone found him. The place that we're staying has three towers, we live in tower 1. Apparently Nate went up the wrong elevator and ended up in tower 2. He found our room number and started knocking and knocking until someone came out of the apartment across from the one Nate was at and asked him what he was doing. Nate accedently said "You don't speak Spanish" but the nice man understood what he was trying to say. He took Nate to the front desk and they brought him back to our apartment. After everyone calmed down my parents took me to Chloe's house for a sleepover. The funny thing is Chloe lives in the same house that I lived in last time I was in Mexico. It was so WEIRD to see our house with their stuff in it! Another girl named Noelle spent the night too, she goes to Greengates, the same school as Chloe. They really want me to go to that school with them, I want to go to it too!

Friday, April 16th

We got to explore our temporary home today, it's really big for being an apartment, and the outside is even better! The apartment comes with a heated pool with a free snack bar, tennis courts, raquetball courts, a huge playground, swingsets, a tire swing, a huge hill and a soccer field! When no one is using the field we are allowed to let Toffee loose to run around, I'm sure she loves living here. We would consider living here permanently if it weren't for the dog, we don't really enjoy taking her for a hike every couple of hours so that she can go to the bathroom. Also I have to share a room with Abby here and I really don't like it! My mom spent most of the day hunting for a cellphone, her IPhone would be really expensive to use here.

Thursday, April 15th

Ugh today was exhausting! We woke up and immediately started doing some last minute packing and getting the animals ready to go. We left around 8:30 because we had to get to the airport early so that we could check in the dog and the guinea pigs. We are going to be living without our stuff for probably two and a half months, so we had to pack everything we would need. We were allowed two suitcases and a carry-on each, 15 pieces of luggage all together. We obviously couldn't fit all of this, us, and the animals all in one car, also we needed to get the car back to the house. So my mom asked her friends Ms. Vicky and Ms. Jen to drive the cars back. We packed all of our luggage and the dog and guinea pigs into our car which my dad drove, the rest of us went in Ms. Vicki's car. There was an extra seat in Ms. Vicki's car so my friend Kiera (who is Ms. Vicki's daughter) got to come too! And thank goodness because we live a LONG ways from the airport! After we got off the plane we were all ready to get to our apartment, but we couldn't. We had to stay at the airport for maybe about an hour because the guinea pigs are 'exotics'. They will have to stay in quarintine for a while. Poor piggies! :(