Tuesday, November 23rd

Today we went to the pyramids at Tenochtitlan. We've been there tons of time before, but it was still pretty fun. We climbed the Sun pyramid and one of the smaller ones, by then we were all tried so we headed back home.

Monday, November 22nd

Today we got up early to go to Xoxafi, a really cool cave network.

We've gone once before but I forgot to blog about it. First we had to put on a harness and helmet, we thought that the helmets were an unnecessary safety precaution like in most cave we had been to, but this cave was different. We started out by walking down stone stairs into a large cavern. Boring, right? Well then we got to the hard parts. Going down into the Xoxafi caves means an hour or two of squeezing through tight spaces, climbing steep rocks, dropping down through holes, and other exhausting but really fun activities! There is also a zip-line in the dark and repelling down 10 meters. The zip-line was fun, repelling not so much (for me). I'm not a big fan of heights. The rest was really fun though! The hardest part is at the end, there is a place called 'Born Again', it is a space so small that people describe it as like being born again! After Xoxafi we drove to Tolontango, a hot water spring. The water is really nice, like bathtub water, the only problem is getting out. After really warm water, getting out into fairly chilly air feels like freezing to death! We finished up there pretty quickly and went straight home from there.

Sunday, November 21th

Today we went to la Marquesa, a large area filled with zip-lines, four-wheelers, and all sort of cool stuff. The first area we went to had these large, blow-up, plastic balls (think hamster balls for humans) that float on the water. You're supposed to run like a hamster, but it's a lot harder than it looks on water. You spend a lot more time falling than running! The next place had padded, plastic, blow-up balls that went down a hill instead of on water. These were a ton of fun! You climb in, roll it up the hill (someone is always there to help you), then take turns rolling down. You start by running, but after a while it starts going so fast that it's hard to keep your feet. Anyone that falls rolls around in the ball until the bottom of the hill. It was SO much fun!

After that there was a huge zip-line that went across a valley, I was the only one that didn't go. And finally we went to a go-cart track and did that for an hour. I don't like driving go-carts so I just rode with my dad, I was literally hanging on for dear life at every turn!

Saturday, November 20th

Today we went to San Ángel, a large market area that is well-known for selling art and small, traditional Mexican souvineers. Jamie wasn't feeling well today so after that we went back to the house for the rest of the day.

Friday, November 19th

The Joslins arrived yesterday really late at night. For those who don't know, the Joslin family consists of: Mr. Brian, Ms. Sherry, Wes (13), Monica (12) and Jamie (9). Today I had a school field trip to Xochimilco, but I decided I could miss it, so instead I went with everyone else to the Zocalo (city square) and afterwards to Jamaica (the flower market). After we finished there we went back to the house to eat and relax until about 7:00 when we went to see Harry Potter 7! I put on my Hermione costume and wore it to the theater! I LOVED THAT MOVIE!!!!! Who ever hasn't seen it NEEDS to go ASAP!!! :)

Monday, November 15th

Today we got up earlier than normal and packed a bit before going down to the beach. A little while after getting in, all of a sudden I felt a really strong pinch on one of my toes, it really hurt! I pulled my foot out of the water and saw that an inch-long crab was latched on! My mom pulled it off, but I was paranoid for the rest of the day. Whenever I stepped on anything on the beach I jumped, thinking it could be a crab! We also saw stingrays that were riding the waves, it was really amazing! One wave I saw had a group of about five of them all swimming along together. After we had finished at the beach we went back to the room to finish up packing. We managed to get on the road by noon and back to Mexico City by about 9:00 after picking some lunch up at BK.

Sunday, November 14th

We got out to the beach around early afternoon again and stayed there about the same amount of time. Then we went to Costco to get pizza and ice-cream for lunch. When we got back my dad went of to the Princess with Abby again, Nate and I went to the bird swings and my mom and grandma slept for a while. We took it easy from then until bedtime and didn't really do much.

Saturday, November 13th

We slept in a bit before beginning the process of getting ready to go to the beach (which takes a long time!). When we finally got there it was about 10:00, we bogey-boarded, played in the sand, jumped the waves, or whatever else we were doing, until about 1:00 when we all got hungry. We snacked in our rooms and then everyone else went to a saltwater pool at the Princess, a nearby hotel that's owned by the same company. I stayed by myself at our hotel and went down to the park that's right outside our building. It has the awesome bird swings that Chloe, Noelle and I rode last time we went. I spent most of the afternoon on those and had a great time! When everyone else got back we went into the actual city of Acapulco and ate at a nice restaurant before going to see the cliff divers.They are really amazing to see. They climb down the cliff that the crowd is watching from, swim across a small channel of water, then take turns climbing up the other side (which is probably about 100 feet tall). Then they dive off from different heights, steadily getting higher up, until one guy jumps off from the very top.

After the show we went back to the hotel.

Friday, November 12th

Today when we got up we went out for breakfast and then went shopping again. Everyone but Nate got something during today's shopping, poor Nate. He didn't care though, he just played his DS outside of every shop we stopped at. In the late afternoon we got in the car and continued on to Acapulco, the beach! We always stay at the same hotel, the Pierre Marques, which is the one I went to with Noelle and Chloe. We arrived in time to enjoy about an hour on the beach before they closed it for the night. We went out to eat and got hamburgers and ice-cream and then headed back to the hotel.

Thursday, November 11th

Yesterday my grandma arrived at about 9:30, I stayed up until about 11:00 with her and my parents but then went to bed because I had school the next day.

Today right after I got home from school, we finished the last bit of packing and then got in the car to go to Tasco, the silver town. We arrived there in the evening, we went out for dinner, shopped in a few stores and then went to bed.

Tuesday, November 2nd

After breakfast today we went to a Bicentennial Exposition. We didnt do any of the educational stuff, just the activities for kids! (Unfortunately it was mostly for kids Nate and Abby's age) First we went to a sky-walk type thing with a zip line. I only did it once, it was okay, but not worth doing again. Nate and Abby loved it along with a climbing tower that was nearby. Then we went to a go-cart type track, but there weren't any go-carts. Instead there were a bunch of the kind of electric scooter/carts that old people ride around in.

The track was complete with street signs, stoplights and arrows. The funny part was that they weren't there mostly for decoration like on the real streets of Mexico, we actually

had to follow the driving laws! *gasp* And there was a "police car" (scooter) that could pull us over if we didn't obey the rules and he actually did his job (unlike most real Mexican policemen)!

Here he is pulling over someone who ran a red light! XD

We had a good laugh about that! After that we went to a maze made out of bushes, it was actually pretty hard to find the way out. And at the end they gave each of us a cheap little diploma for completing it, I threw mine away at the closest trashcan. Abby saw me throwing it away and asked me why I trashed it. A few seconds later she gave hers to my mom to hold on to, my mom tossed Abby's too. At that point we were about done because the sun was pretty hot, so we got some food, took a few last pictures and then headed out. Those pictures were a few minutes of torture. I have an eye infection, so a second of looking towards a bright light is extremely painful and makes my eye water like crazy. Almost all of the pictures were taken with me looking into the sun. Then we spent a while in the car driving to Dolores Hidalgo where my parents shopped for Talavera (not very interesting for the rest of us) and then drove to San Miguel de Allende to shop for pewter. This stop was more interesting. First we had late lunch/early dinner, I ordered sopa de fideos seco, which is literally dry noodle soup. I of course forgot about the "dry" part of the dish when I ordered it so I was a bit surprised when it arrived.

Yep, that is definatly the driest soup I have ever seen! Makes me wonder why they put it under the soup section. After dinner we wandered the streets while my parents shopped for pewter. They found most of what they were looking for and I am satisfied with what I found that was more what I am interested in. When we finished shopping we found an ice-cream store to stop at on the way back to the car. Then we drove the 3 1/2 hours home.

Monday, November 1st

I minded the thin mattress a bit more in the morning. :P We had an okay breakfast and then went to a mummy museum which was a bit creepy but very interesting too. After that we were all pretty hungry but there weren't any restaurants nearby, the only food in sight was a rotisserie chicken place. A few problems with that.
1. They didn't give us plates
2. Nor did they give us utensils of any kind
3. They didn't even have tortillas to use to pull the meat off of the bones
4. There weren't any tables anywhere nearby
5. The chicken was in a plastic bag, the same for the rice
So, we were forced to give a new meaning to the phrase "street-side food" by buying AND eating the food on the side of the street. We sat on the concrete right next to the street to eat. And it gets better. We also got to burn ourselves repeatedly as we tried to eat the fresh-off-of-the-spit chicken with our fingers out of a plastic grocery bag. I can only imagine how we must have looked! Along with the chicken came two bags of rice. We ripped a hole in one of the bags and I tried to discover the best method to eat rice out of a bag. I found that the best way is to push it up to the hole and then eat it as it came out. :) Needless to say, we were pretty messy after our meal. Now for the best part: there were no bathrooms nearby. We had to make-do as well as we could with a stack of napkins. That was an interesting experience, but not one I would be very excited to repeat. After that we went to see a famous mine called Boca de la Mina that happened to be nearby. After the other caves that we've been to, this one wasn't very exciting. We wore helmets that were more annoying than helpful, walked down a bunch of stairs until we hit the end, and then walked back up the stairs. Not exactly what I'd call exhilarating.

We took a taxi back to the hotel to rest for a while and then went to see a performance at Auditorio de las Minas. The show was called Sounds can Dance and it was an hour long, I expected it to be a ballet or something similar. I was really off. It was a French guy who built a bunch of mechanical instruments make music. He would turn on the machines one at a time and each one would make a rhythmical, repetitive sound, when mixed together they made a song. Then there were little cameras that would focus on each instrument in turn and project it onto a screen so that we could see. It may sound kind of boring, but I literally spent almost the whole time with my eyes glued to the screen. The little machines were almost hypnotizing! I really enjoyed it. For anyone who wants to hear some of his music, search Pierre Banstain on iTunes, he has quite a few albums. After the performance we headed to the city square for dinner. I tried French Onion soup for the first time, I now have a new favorite soup! Then we went back to the hotel, passing quite a few trick-or-treaters on the way. Those kids are seriously milking Halloween for all it's worth.

Sunday, October 31st

Today we went back to Tlaquepaque briefly before continuing on to a city called Leon which is famous for its leather and shoes. We spent most of the day shoe shopping there and then we got in the car and drove to Guanajuato.

How I pictured spending Halloween night:
Maybe resting in our hotel room in Guanajuato, or going out to buy some candy since we didn't bring costumes to go trick-or-treating. Maybe having a nice dinner, exploring the city, or some other activity that was at least a little entertaining.
How I most definitely did not picture spending Halloween night:
Spending a grand total of about an hour outside the house that we were supposed to be renting, with all of our luggage, waiting for the owner to come back from where ever she had gone so that we could get in. But of course, that's what happened. By the time someone finally came out of the house so that we could get in, I was so tired and cold that I didn't even mind too much that I could feel the wooden slats of the bed-frame right through the mattress. I fell straight to sleep.

Saturday, October 30th

Today we went to Tlaquepaque which is a large outdoor market with a lot of little stands. We spent most of the day there shopping, I think the parents enjoyed it, but I know none of the kids did. After that we went to an amusement park to make the trip a little more enjoyable for Nate and Abby. I wasn't feeling well so I just sat on a bench and read for an hour, though I did go on a few rides near the end. When the park closed at 6:00 we went to get dinner and then went to bed.

Friday, October 29th

Today was half day at school and the Halloween parade. I went as Hermione, and I think the costume was pretty good considering I made most of it myself!

I think by far the funniest costume was one boy in my class who dressed up as Snow White with a short, bright pink wig! As soon as I got home at 1:00 and changed, we all got in the car for the long drive to Guadalajara. We arrived at the hotel around 5:00, I wasn't feeling good so I stayed in the room and tried to sleep while everyone else went out for dinner. They came back around 7:00 with some food for me too. We all went to bed soon after.

Saturday, September 11th

We went to Desierto de Los Leones again today, we ended up getting a little more excitement then we had planned, and not in a good way.
We were going with about 11 other families, most of which we didn't know. We arrived at the meeting place at about 12:00. I found Miah's mom and asked her where Miah was, she said that she had taken a walk into the forest. So I walked straight down into the forest to go look for her, I gave up that idea pretty quickly since the forest was huge. I decided to keep going anyway and explore. Ethan, Tomas and Miah's little brother Noah followed me into the woods, Ethan and Tomas didn't follow for long because they thought that they had seen a spider and went back. Noah kept going with me. We walked for a while, climbing through the underbrush and crossing back and forth across the river that we were following quite a few times. Probably about 30 minutes later we decided to head back because the parents might worry about us, we turned around and headed back the way we had come. We happened across a path and followed it for a while. Then I realized that we were on the wrong side of the river and we wouldn't know when to leave the river and go up through the woods. So we worked our way down off of the path and after a lot of hard work, we found a place where we could cross. We started heading up the hill because we had come down to find the river. We went that way for a LONG time and the brush was just getting thicker, that was when we realized that we were completely lost. We tried to keep going, I knew for a fact that we had to go up, but it never occurred to me that we might be on the wrong bank. XP As we climbed I heard Noah start to sniffle, and before long he was sobbing and panicking. That boy has a wild imagination. "What if they leave without us? What if we die of hunger? What if a bear comes and eats us?" That's all I heard between sobs as he followed me. I asked him if he really thought his parents would leave without him and then told him that it takes weeks to die of starvation and there weren't any bears in these woods. He continued panicking. At this point I started worrying too, we had been gone for a long time and I was sure that the parents had noticed by then, but it was a big forest. Then Noah started yelling for help without listening to see if they called back. He started up a stream of, "MOM! HELP ME! I'M LOST IN THE WOODS! FOLLOW THE RIVER AND THEN GO UP!" and he repeated this every few steps. I had to tell him to be quiet so that we could listen for them calling back. I was terrified and Noah's panicking wasn't helping, I also started to get very upset, but I didn't panic. After a while I heard a faint voice coming from down and to the left, aka, the opposite direction that we were going. By now, Noah didn't trust me and I had to convince him to follow me in going the opposite direction that we had been going, even though he could hear the voice too. "What if it's not them?" "Well we know that it's a person, a person will most likely have a cellphone." "Do you know how to ask that in Spanish?" "Yes." "How will they know where to find us?" This went on and on as we slowly worked our way towards the voice. When we finally got close enough to hear them clearly, I could see that it was my dad and Mr. Marcus. We made our way towards each other and then they lead us back, we meet up with Noah's dad and my mom on the way. I broke down when my dad reached us. I had been trying to hold it in, but I couldn't anymore. We had been gone for a good 2 hours if not 2 1/2. When we got back to everyone else, I washed my filthy hands and many scratches, had some water, ate a bit, and just rested for a while. While we had been in the woods, I wasn't hungry, thirsty, cold, or tired, just scared. When we got back, I suddenly realized that I was all four! I took a break for a while and calmed down while Miah told me what had been going on at her end.
When Ethan and Tomas came back without us, they had told everyone that Noah and I were waiting a little ways down the river. But when we didn't come back after a while, the kids started worrying. They all went and told the parents that they didn't know where we were and made them come down. Then the parents got worried. They split up to look in different directions, calling for us the whole time. It took them a long time to get close enough to where we could hear them! Miah said that a lot of the kids were panicking just like Noah and the adults started getting really worried before they found us. After we got back, everyone calmed down and we had lunch.
A while after, almost everyone went to tour an old monastery, I was still not feeling my best but I was better, so I went too. Miah and I had fun joking about the monastery being "fascinating" and my "excellent" sense of directions. When we finished with the monastery, Miah and I went up the street to look at some little stands that were selling hats and we each got one. My family left right afterwards and we headed home.

Monday, August 23rd

Sorry that I didn't post for so long, school has been keeping me busy then the Internet quit and then I kinda got traumatized XP (see Saturday's post).

School started on August 23rd, a lot earlier than most schools in the U.S. My school is called Eton, it's pretty far away from my house and I have a long bus ride, but I get home in the afternoon at a decent hour. The school put me in 2nd grade....just kidding XD. It's called 2nd de secundaria (2nd of secondary) in Mexico the grades go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, etc.... So I'm really in 8th, they just call it second!

The girls in my grade are pretty easy to categorize. There's the huge group of about 20 Mexicans, the two Koreans, and me. I have become good friends with the Koreans, Jany (pronounced Hani) and Lora. They are like me, actually trying to learn in school instead of texting each other from under the desk like a lot of the popular Mexicans. Jany and Lora are Koreans by birth, but Mexicans by culture. The have both lived in Mexico for most of their lives and speak Spanish fluently.

I only have 3 English classes and there aren't any native English-speakers in my grade, so I pretty much speak Spanish all day. I'm not sure that there are any other Americans in the school. My classes in English are Social Studies, Literature, and Composition. My Spanish ones are: Math, Fisics, Civics, Spanish, History, Tutor, Computers, and PE. But not all in one day, obviously, they're spread throughout the week. Mexican middle school isn't like in the States, we only change classes twice, for English and Spanish classes. Instead of us changing classes, the teachers do!

I really like Eton and I'm glad that I chose to come here. I feel like I'm learning a ton of Spanish, but it's not really boring or hard! In other words, life is good right now! :)

Sunday, July 25th

Today we got pulled over for the first time since being back in Mexico. My mom, dad and I were on our way back from the theater (where we had seen Shrek 3) and my dad made an "illegal" U-turn. There was no sign saying that you couldn't U-turn, but there was no sign saying that you could. There was another place to U-turn up ahead and that was where you were supposed to turn. I'm going to explain something before going any farther. The police in Mexico City don't get paid very much, so when they pull people over they ask for a "mordita", in other words, a bribe. They give you two choices, you pay them now and go on your way, or they keep your driver's license, give you a ticket, and you have to come back the next day to fill out paperwork and then pay. As my dad said, you either pay in money, or you pay in time and money. With either option you can be sure that the money you pay isn't going to go to the government, the officers will split it up between them and keep it. So when the police pulled us over, my dad played new-to-Mexico gringo, he pretended to only know a little Spanish. While the police were trying to explain something that we understood perfectly (but pretended not to), I was sitting in the back trying as hard as I could not to burst out laughing! It was very funny watching my dad work to get the perfect balence, knowing enough so that eventually they would make themselves understood, but little enough so that they had to work pretty hard and repeat themselves a lot. My dad was aiming to make them frustrated so that they would let him off easy, it didn't really work. So after quite a while of listening to the officers try to explain, we paid them and they let us leave.

Tuesday, July 18th

We went to the zoo today with the Michaels! It was really fun and we took lots of funny pictures (you can see them on Picasa!). We took the public bus to get there, my family rode it by ourselves because we were going to meet the Michaels there. My mom was a bit nervous because it was only our second time and she was doing it herself, but thankfully we got there okay. We had a great time and we only lost Nate once! When we were done with the animals we had to walk down a long street to leave the zoo, and there were stands selling things down both sides of it. It took us a while to leave, we bought a few things on the way out. When we left that street we headed toward the bus stop, but on the way we stopped to take some pictures of a few statues....Do these look familiar to anyone? If they do it's because they're in our house! The bull is in the yard and the mermaid (yes that's what it is) is in the entrance! The guy who made them is very well known and some of his work is in famous museums. We have famous artwork in our house! :)

Saturday, July 17th

We had an adventure today! :) We left the house at around 8:30 to go to some caves near Taxco (the silver town), the drive took about 2 hours. The caves were called Cacahuamilpa and they were HUGE! We had to go with a tour (I guess they didn't want anyone wandering around by themselves), I didn't like being with the tour because we stopped in every cavern for about 10 minutes so that the guide could point out all of the shapes that the rocks made. But his voice echoed and we couldn't understand anything he was saying. For the first about 30 minutes it was really cool to look at all of the rock formations made by the dripping water, then my foot started to hurt, Abby's stomache hurt, and we were all tired and bored so we turned around and went back. On our way back we passed an open auditorium with a free concert so we sat down and listened to a few songs. It was two people preforming, one with a guitar and one with an accordian. They were really good, but it wasn't exactly my style of music. When we had rested for a few minutes we walked the rest of the way out. It was amazing coming out, after staring at rocks in the darkness of a cave, the plants outside seemed much greener and more brilliantly colored! Then we drove into Taxco, which is a town that is famous for its silver. Abby and I each got a ring and then we headed to lunch. It's funny how much I remember that I thought I had forgotten, we had eaten at this same restaurant a couple of years ago and my mom had eaten something that made her sick, thankfully none of us got sick this time! I also remembered that we have a picture of us next to an Aztec calendar and another next to an old tree, we took another picture next to the same calendar and tree, it's amazing how different we are!!

Then:Now:

(Oh, and we are sticking our tounges out for a reason, it looks like the face on the calendar is doing it, so we didn't do it to be weird or anything. Just clearing that up! :))

Then:

Now:

(I'll post the rest of the pictures on Picasa soon!)

After our brief shopping trip we got in the car again to go see some ruins, but we were to be disappointed, and a bit frustrated. We got there 5 minutes too late to go in! So we got back in the car and went home. I slept most of the way back, which was good because I need to catch up on my sleep after staying up late with Noelle a couple days in a row. When we got back and as soon as the little ones were in bed, my mom, dad and I watched Part 2 of the first Lord of the Rings.

Friday, July 16th

Sorry for not writing, our Internet went out a week ago.

Last Friday I left for a Spanish camp, I stayed there until Sunday afternoon. I really liked it! I went to this same camp last time I lived here, but I didn't like it last time. While I was there it rained almost constantly the whole time, by the end I was tired of being wet! The camp was mostly a lot of phisical, outdoor games. My favorite part was a midnight walk that we took, but we weren't allowed to use flashlights! I arrived home on Sunday and went almost straight to bed.

On Tuesday Noelle came over with her family, we played Wii and then attempted to make fudge. The result looked like mud, tasted like chocolate syrup, and smelled like buttered toast! When she left I went with her to spend the night at her house, then the next day she went back with me to spend the night at my house. We made cookies, built a fort, and watched a part of Lord of the Rings. We slept in our fort that night and it was incredibly comfortable! Then yesterday Noelle's family came over again and we all took a bus to the Museum of Anthropology. The museum was pretty interesting, but we got tired quickly. When we were all ready to leave we went to a restaurant for lunch and then went to Ciudadela. I have no doubt that we would have bought a lot more than we did, but the problem was we didn't bring much money. We used most of it on bus fares, getting into the museum, and eatting, we spent almost all of the rest (which wasn't very much). When we got back to the house, Abby went with David to their house while Tomas and Noelle stayed at ours to spend the night (again!). We played Wii, made pudding, and watched Harry Potter before we went to bed. This morning they left at 11:00 to go back to their house and bring Abby back.

Earlier this afternoon a guy came to fix the Internet, finally! Then Abby started to feel bad, so far she's watched The Garfield Movie and two of the Harry Potter movies.

Tuesday, July 6th

Today Rachel came over and stayed almost all day, we played Wii most of the time. In the time Rachel was here I managed to get hurt quite a bit! When we were preparing lunch I slammed my thumb in a drawer and it started to swell up, while we were playing Wii my toe started to hurt, (I have no idea why) and then right before she had to go she tried out the exercise machines and I jumped over one to get out and managed to bang my knee on it! Ugh. Rachel had to go around 5:00 because after that our driver had to take the car to pick up my dad. She was going to stay longer and then once our driver got back he'd take her home, but it would be pretty late and her parents didn't want her to. It turns out it's a good thing she had to go, because on his way to pick up my dad, Gilberto had a car accident! He's fine thankfully, and the car only has a few dents and scratches, but Rachel would probably be stuck at our house for a LONG time! My dad had to get a ride home from work because the paperwork for the crash took hours to finish. When my dad got home my mom said jokingly, "So much for our brand-new car that we were trying to keep nice. We don't keep new cars new for long!"

Monday, July 5th

I've got my first "only in Mexico" story! Yesterday my mom and I were at Superama, the Mexican grocery store. We were at the checkout line when my mom realized that she forgot to get something that she needed. She told me to wait with the cart while she went to get it. While I was waiting there a lady with her cart came to get in our line, but instead of waiting behind me she pushed her cart up right next to me, trying to get in front of me. Here is proof that I'm already used to being a Mexican again. Instead of letting her get in front and then being upset that she cut, (like I think a lot of Americans would do) I pushed my cart up until it was about an inch away from the next cart and kept it that close until she gave up a few minutes later and went to a different line! When I told my mom happened she thought it was a great Mexico story and told me I should blog about it. You don't see people in the U.S. grocery stores trying to maneuver their carts to get in front of people!

Thursday, July 1st

Oh my gosh I am so upset right now! We just realized that the people that packed our stuff didn't empty out the dressers. That wouldn't be a problem except that my dresser went into storage, with some of my stuff in it! Another problem is I'm not sure what all was in it so we won't be able to replace all of it if we can't get it out of storage. I REALLY hope that we can get it out!

Wednesday, June 30th

The basic sum of these last three days is we've been unpacking, putting things away, and organizing. Nate and Abby have Club this week at school, they pick a couple of "classes" to take and then come home at 12:00. Some of these "classes" are: Film (watching movies), Computer Games, Art and Weaving. Of course there are more but those are all I've heard about. Today Abby, Nate and I made obstacle courses in the yard, we used to do that when we lived here before. It would have been fun but Abby threw a fit when she didn't do well. Later in the evening Mrs. Ranee and Mr. Marcus came over to play cards. The kids didn't come because they are staying in Atlanta with their relatives all summer. I played with them for the first half when they played Hearts and I did okay. But my dad sent me to bed when they started playing Spades because it was late and I didn't know how to play.

Sunday, June 27th

I'm at home sick today. :P But I'm SO happy becuase our stuff gets here TOMORROW!!!! :) :) :) :D :D :D

Tuesday, June 22nd

This morning I went with Noelle to get our nails done as her birthday present. When we got to the manicure place my mom told them that we wanted our nails done, so they sat us down and started cutting our nails. Noelle and I both thought this was a little strange, but neither of us had ever had a manicure before so we let tham do it, assuming that they had a good reason. Noelle finished getting hers cut first, first, then they pulled out a box of fake glue-on nails and asked her to pick the ones she wanted. She explained to them that she didn't want fake nails, she just wanted hers painted. They realized what we wanted a little late, our nails were all trimed down REALLY short. Apparently when you say "nails" that means you're asking for fake nails, what we really wanted was a manicure. Arg. We then clarified that we wanted a manicure and let them continue. No one has ever told me that manicures hurt. When I asked my mom afterwards she said they are usually uncomfortable, but they don't hurt. Mine did. When she was scraping my nail clean she punctured the skin in a few places, then whenever she put anything on those spots they stung like crazy. Then when she was stamping designs on my nails she had to redo one of them exactly 4 TIMES! She wouldn't wait long enough for the base coat to dry! One thing is for sure, we won't be going back to that nail place!

Sunday, June 20th

Today we went to the Spanish church again, but this time Nate, Abby and I went into the kids program instead of the service. I liked it a LOT better! It was still really long, but I understood a lot more. I met three girls, Maria Fernanda (Marifer), Gabriela (Gaby) and another girl that I couldn't catch her name. After church they asked me to say something in English, I did, and they said That sounds so cool!. They can't speak English very well, actually, I can speak Spanish better then they can English, but they love the sound of it! After church we went to Costco for a HUGE shopping trip (two full carts!) then we went to our new house to drop some things off that we won't need until we move in. At Costco we had bought Toffee a cute new bed that looks like a mini sofa, and four squeaky stuffed animals, we left the bed and one of the toys at the house. When we got back I got Chloe out and played with her for quite a while! We're trying to get Toffee used to the guinea pigs, because apparently it can be done. But she seems jealous of the time we spend with them, and a little wary of them too! Then I started to teach Toffee to 'take a bow' and she's starting to get the hang of it! It's really cute!

Wednesday, June 16th

Today we went to an appointment at Eton for my mom, I got accepted!! :D Then we went to the mall to eat breakfast and then we went shoe shopping. My mom and I both got a pair of shoes that we liked, and my mom got a pair for my dad. Then, at one store, they had a couple of pairs of shoes that were very different from anything I had ever seen. They are called Tubeflops:They are basically flip-flops with socks attatched! I saw a bunch of articles online that criticized them, most of them said that they are horrible and that no one would wear them in public. But, I happen to like them. Please vote in the comments about whether or not I should get them! There are different colors too, so please don't judge it by the color!

Sunday, June 13th

Today we spent almost all of our time at the beach, when we finally got tired of the ocean we got into the pool instead. We then stayed in the pool until we got hungry and went to eat lunch. After lunch we went shopping for a cover-up for me and Acapulco T-shirts for Noelle and Chloe. I found a lime-green cover-up, but Noelle and Chloe didn't see anything that they liked. Then we hit the road. We watched the second National Treasure on the way back, then we tried to watch Night at the Mueseum, but it wasn't working so we just talked. Chloe's parents picked her up shortly after we got back, but Noelle's family was in Tasco, the silver town, and they didn't pick her up until about 9:00.

Saturday, June 12th

This morning Chloe, Noelle and I got up at seven to make sure that we got to the beach at a decent hour. We were ready but hungry at 7:30 so we went and knocked on my parents' door. They had both been asleep, but the knocking woke them up. They got up and got ready and we got to the beach at about 8:30. We mostly played in the water but built the occacional sand castle until we decided to go to the pool and afterward to eat lunch back at the hotel room. Later we went to the park and then back to the beach for most of the rest of the day.

Friday, June 11th

We got up early this morning, we always start our trips by getting in the car early! In the car, Chloe, Noelle and I watched National Treasure. When we got to El Rollo, it was almost deserted. Today was the first match in the World Cup for soccer so almost everyone was home watching it. We were happy about that, until they told us that certain rides were only going to be open at certain times. Apparently the life guards stayed home to watch it too! Or at least most of them. We had a good time, but we left earlier than we had planned because we got tired of the few rides that we could go on. When we arrived at Acapulco it was too late to go to the beach, so we went to the park instead. There are these really cool swings at the park that are shaped like birds. (These pictures weren't taken today)There were also two zip-line swings. (These were also not taken today)
We played there while my parents went shopping. When they got back, we went out to eat and then went to bed.

Thursday, June 10th

We were going to go to the beach, then we weren't, and now we are again! My dad came up with a really cool plan. We would leave on Friday and drive to El Rollo, a water park, then that night we would drive to the beach in Acapulco, we would stay there until Sunday afternoon when we would leave. We were all really excited about it, we were also going to see if we could bring Noelle and Chloe with us too. Then my mom realized that we were hosting Chloe's goodbye party on Friday! My dad didn't want the trip to be that short, so he decided that we'd do it another time. Then Chloe came over and I told her about the plan and how it didn't work out. She REALLY wished that it had, then we came up with an idea. We decided to move Chloe's party to Monday and then go ahead with the plan. We figured that it was okay to move it since it was Chloe's party and she wanted so badly to go to the beach for her last weekend in Mexico. My mom then had to call all the girls who were going to the party, call my dad, and call Chloe and Noelle's parents. It all worked out except for Rachel and Emma can't come to the party now. But Rachel is going to come over tonight to spend some time with Chloe. Noelle is coming too, she is spending the night so that we can get an early start in the morning. Chloe and I went to see Letters to Juliet this afternoon while we were waiting for Rachel to arrive. I really liked it! Then we stopped by Chloe's house so that she could pack. When we got back to the house, Rachel was there. We went down to the park for a while and then play Band Hero until Noelle got there, then we went down to the park again and played frisbee until Rachel had to leave.

Tuesday, June 8th

Today I went to Chapultepec park and the zoo with Chloe. First we went to the zoo, my favorite part was the monkeys! One followed us as we walked by and was trying to climb up on the glass, another one walked over, crossed it's arms, put it's head down on them, and stared at us! It felt like he was the one watching us instead of the other way around! When we got to the bird exhibits there is one place where you can go into a giant cage where there are all different types of birds. We went in and walked around on the path, then, at the end there was a bridge with two big birds on it, one was near the beginning and one near the end. They looked almost like they were guarding it! And sure enough, when we tried to edge around them they snapped at us! It was a little freaky! When we got tired of the zoo we went to the lake and walked around it, then we went back to the house. Chloe and I baked and decorated fake cupcakes, cakes and pizzas on my ITouch, we also made icecream cones and sundaes until I had to go. Noelle came over a little while after I got home to exercise. They had to leave sooner than normal today because Noelle has to study. When she left my mom, Abby, Nate and I played Catan. I was tied with Nate, three points away from winning when we had to stop because it was Abby and Nate's bedtime. We're going to finish it tomorrow.

Sunday, June 6th

This week my parents decided to take us to a Spanish church. So we got in the car at about 10:00 and finally got the church about 2 hours later. :P It was a LONG drive! And Nate and I were carsick about half of the time. The service was about 1 and 1/2 hours long, I understood less than half of it. We sat in the balcony and so it was really echoy and the preacher spoke quickly for most of it. I want to go back to Capital City, but first, next week, we are going to try a campus that is closer to us. After church we went to Chili's in one of the malls and then we went shopping. First we went to TodoModa which is the same store that Chloe and I got the shoelaces and nail polish at. This time I got a hat and a headband with a bow on it. Then we went to +kota, the pet store. We got a frisbee for Toffee and then did TocaMascota (petting animals). On our way home from there my mom spotted a bookstore so we stopped there briefly where I got Harry Potter 7 in Spanish. Then we FINALLY went home! First thing we did when we got back was take Toffee down to the park. We tried to teach her to fetch the frisbee, but she seemed to be scared of it when it was on the ground. She'd chase it while it was in the air, but she ignored it once it landed. Back at the apartment Abby and I got the pigs out for a while. We held them until Abby had to go take a shower, everything was fine until she handed me her pig. About a minute after she gave it to me, it had an accedent on the sweater that we use to hold them. They never go on Abby, just me. After I put them back and put the sweater in the laundry I bought a couple off new song and then used the computer until bed.

Saturday, June 5th

Today I read until about 2:00, when my mom, Abby and I went to a party for a little girl named Isabella. I hadn't met Isabella until last night but all the moms and daughters in AT&T were invited. The party was really cool, it was at a big hotel in one of the party rooms with flashing colored lights, a disco ball, really loud music, and lots of food. Chloe and I were kind of bored for most of the party because we didn't feel like dancing, but near the end we got up and danced and it was really fun! When we left we went back to the house and I read for the rest of the day.

Friday, June 4th

I had to get up with Nate and Abby today because I had to take a test at Eton. When I took my Columbia test they told us it would take 4 hours, it took 2. At Eton they also told us that it would take 4 hours, this time it actually took 4 hours! I was sick and tired of tests by the end of it! When I got back to the house Chloe came over, my mom had gone to help set up for a party tonight, a goodbye party for Chloe and her family. Chloe and I used my stencil kit for a bit and then we played with Toffee and took lots of pictures of her.

The rest are on Picasa! Then we made a couple of duct tape bracelets, we went through quite a few to get the size right! When my mom got back she picked us up and took us to the party. Chloe and I played catch, had a couple of wars with the little kids (there were a lot of them), had dinner, and played the doughnut game. For those of you who have never played, this is how it is usually played. You tie a string to two things so that it hangs horizontally, then you get smaller strings and tie then to the first string and tie a doughnut on the other end. Then everyone takes turns trying to eat a doughnut ONLY using your mouth! It is really funny to watch! The problem was, Chloe and I didn't have a place to tie the first string, didn't have little strings, and didn't have time because the little kids were all yelling 'DOUGHNUT TIME! DOUGHNUT TIME!' and they didn't want to wait! What we ended up doing was we got the long string, put a doughnut on it, Chloe and I held it between us, and the kids took turns. And obviously we put a new doughnut on every time. By the end there were a lot of crumbs and pieces of doughtnut on the ground! We left at about midnight.

Wednesday, June 2nd

My mom went shopping this morning so I spent the entire morning cleaning and organizing my room. When my mom got back Chloe came with her! Why am I not surprised? :) We ate lunch and then went to the ice skating rink. There were a couple of lessons going on so we didn't skate for long, we weren't comfortable being around a bunch of adults that were skating backwards and twirling and things like that. On our way out we stopped by a store and got some nail polish and cool new shoelaces. When we got back we went down to the theater and watched a movie called Emma. My mom told me that the star actress (Gwyneth Paltrow) gave her the idea for my name! Then we went down to the park for a while, and when we went back to the apartment we played Band Hero and then had dinner. Chloe left right after dinner again. After she left I got on the computer for a while and then when my dad got home we played Take Two.

Tuesday, June 1st

We had to go to an appointment for my mom's feet this morning. Then we went and picked up Ms. Paula and Chloe and we went to Chapultepec park and walked around the lake. The reason I'm doing everything with Chloe is her mom took her out of school because they're moving soon and she doesn't want to stay at her house because the movers are packing everything. When we got tired of walking we dropped Ms. Paula off at her house. Then we went to Blockbuster and rented "Dreamer" to watch at the theater in our apartment. I found a Harry Potter poster there and I bought it.

Then we went to pick up Nate and Abby, and then we went back to the apartment and watched the movie. When it was over, Chloe, Abby and I went down to the park with Toffee until dinner time. Chloe had to leave after she ate. I got on the computer for a while and then played Band Hero.

Monday, May 31st

Chloe and I went to the park again this morning and then later we did Melta-beads and played Band Hero. After lunch we walked to 7eleven and got icecream, then when we got back we played Take Two. Around 2:00 we had to drop Chloe off at her house becausse she had to go to her ballet class. I read until my dad got home, then we played frisbee out at the park and then played Take Two.

Sunday, May 30th

We had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning! Then we talked until the parents started arriving. Emma and I went with Noelle to church since we all go to the same one. After the service there was a goodbye party for 3 families that are going to leave soon. When that was over, Abby and Nate went to the Owenby's house and I went with my parents to Costco and then we picked up Chloe and brought her to the apartment. Chloe and I went to the park, and we went swimming, and later on we watched a movie until around 9:30.

Saturday, May 29th

We all slept in today, when we were all finally up we started a game of Settlers of Catan. Well we actually played Cities and Knights of Catan which is basically just another version. It is really confusing at first, but then once you get used to it it is much more fun than the simpler versions! Not only is Cities and Knights more confusing, it also takes longer. We couldn't finish it because I had to get ready for Noelle's sleepover birthday party that I had been invited to. We got there a little bit late. As soon as everyone got there we had a water balloon fight and we all got drenched! When we went inside to dry off we had dinner and then cake and icecream, then we did the pinata and Noelle opened her presents. After that we watched Hoodwinked, then we set up our sleeping bags and we talked. One girl named Naylin straightened my hair and a couple of other girls' hair as well and we did each other's nails until bedtime.

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! :(