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August
2007 Journal
The
summer is winding down and it sure has been HOT this month,
but overall the summer weather (despite the lack of rain)
has been perfect!
I've spent a lot of time building Lego's and playing in my
pool! Mommy needs to start taking some pictures of
some of the things I have been building. She "says"
that they are quite good....and I believe her. :)
I've also taken a strong liking for Harry Potter stuff and
writing my own stories. I'm working on a few right
now!
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I'm Gonna Be A
Kindergartner!
August 2nd, 2007 |
Well...it's
official, I will begin Kindergarten in the Fall! I'm "okay"
with that, not excited, not upset..."okay". Mommy is hoping
that this attitude changes, like real quick!
We received my letter in the mail from the school telling us my
class, school, teacher and time.
We have an open house to go to at the end of the month so I can see
my school and meet my teacher. Plus, we want to learn how to
pronounce her name!
I hope she is nice and has a special place in her heart for little
boys that are some what shy, a little (*cough*) goofy, loves to draw
and build things, and can be a little stub...I mean strong-willed.
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A Cool
Story My "Uncle" Mark Sent Us!
"Leatherback Nest"
August 8th, 2007 |
My Uncle Mark
(that lives in Florida) volunteers for the Sea Turtle Preservation
Society. We had visited this place when were down to see him
in March. That is when he gathered the information about
volunteering. We are really glad to see that he followed
through on it. Here is a really neat story that he shared with
us and we wanted to keep it.
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I decided to do some volunteering for the Sea Turtle Preservation
Society. This is my first year volunteering for the STPS, so I've
pretty much started at the bottom, but I've learned a ton and have
met some really cool people along the way.
Most of what I've done
this year has been being a guide on the Turtle Walks that we do. I
think I did maybe 8 walks over the past two months, mostly acting as
a "scout" - where you go find a nesting Loggerhead to show the group
when they are done with the presentation. There is a lot more to it
than that, but I'm trying to keep this short and sweet and get to
what I got to do today......
Last night, I got an
email asking me if I'd like to be a part of a Leatherback nest
excavation. Leatherbacks are by far the most rare of all sea
turtles. There are maybe 500 nests in all of Florida per year, to
give you an idea (and each nesting turtle will nest multiple times
in a single season). Brevard County ALONE (that's where I live) has
over 20,000 sea turtle nests each year - more than anywhere else in
the western hemisphere and the number 2 spot for Loggerhead nesting
in the entire world.
Anyway, back to
Leatherbacks. These are the coolest of all sea turtles.
They average 6-8 feet
in size as adults and can actually get to be over 10 feet in length!
I saw one on a night dive off Palm Beach years ago, and it looked
like a VW Bug swimming next to me. Just awesome. Did I mention
that these air breathing creatures can dive to over 3000 feet, and
they eat jellyfish? That is one kick "butt" turtle right there, my
friends.
One of the jobs other
STPS volunteers do is walk a 2-3 mile stretch of beach every
morning, counting all of and marking some of the nests from the
night before. This year, there was exactly one Leatherback nest on
that stretch of beach, and it hatched a few nights ago. That means
it's excavation time (to gather data for researchers), and I was
invited to tag along tonight.
I thought it would be
cool to see, but didn't expect to be very involved, since this was
my first excavation. Well, it turns out these giant turtles can dig
their egg chambers WAY down there, and being 6'5", guess who ended
up doing most of the digging?
Feeling that first egg
with my hand was pretty cool, but the highlight for me - EASILY -
was when I found the first live turtle who was left behind.
When the eggs hatch,
the hatchlings move to the surface as a group, kind of letting the
sand fall down between them as they rise up together, and sometimes
a few stragglers get left behind. Tonight, I found four - three
alive and one dead. The first one I found alive was SO COOL though,
because I wasn't expecting it. And there he was, right under me, way
above where I was digging at the time. I shifted my body a bit and
saw his flipper sticking out of the sand where my chest had been. I
pulled him out, and... wow. Most people will never see a Leatherback
turtle in their lifetime and far fewer will see a baby. To actually
(and unexpectedly) save one and hold it in my hand like that - way
cool.
The funny thing is,
right after I pulled that first little guy out, the Space Shuttle
launched maybe 10 miles away, if that, and I barely even noticed
(see pic).
We released the three
surviving turtles into the ocean, and after a little bit of
struggling, all three of them made it through the breakers. For the
next 48 hours straight (probably more), they'll be swimming about 20
miles, trying to get out to the safety of the weed beds. Crazy. No
wonder only 1 in 100 sea turtles survive to adulthood.
Oh, in case you were
wondering... There were 110 eggs in the nest. 72 had hatched,
including the 4 little guys that I pulled out of the sand. Of the
remaining 38 eggs, only 1 had a partially developed turtle in it -
the rest were unfertilized eggs.
So that it's. That's
my story.
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"Awesome! I want to go on a Sea Turtle walk the next time we
visit, Uncle Mark! Can we?, can we? , huh?, huh?"
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My First Visit To
The Dentist
August 9th, 2007 |
I have to see a
dentist before school starts, so Daddy made appointments for all of
us to go today. I was REALLY nervous. Daddy got called
back first, so I went back with him to watch. He did a pretty
good job, got a lecture on remembering to floss and had 3 teeth with
problems. However, he was told the problems were not his fault
and really could not have been prevented. He had 2 cavities
under old ones and a cracked filling.
Next, it was my turn. The hygienist was really nice and did a
great job of explaining everything to me and showing me and letting
me touch all of the tools she was using. I had no cavities,
none of my teeth are the least bit loose yet and I had to have this
stuff called fluoride painted on my teeth. It tasted like
bubblegum! The dentist talked with Daddy about me needing
braces to fix my under bite. He said we will address it later,
when I am 8 years old. I guess braces are only worn these days
for 2 years and then a retainer for longer, about 4 years.
I got a new shiny toothbrush for doing a good job! I can't
really say that I enjoyed it, but at least I didn't get a shot!
Mommy had her teeth cleaned too. She got a good report, no
cavities and very little tartar for not being to the dentist in such
a long time! We are going to go back again in 6 months.
Bummer, Daddy forgot to grab the camera to get a picture of me!
Oh well...Mommy took an "after-shot" with me, my cheesy chocolate
milk moustache grin and my new toothbrush!
So, I guess I am "medically" ready for school!
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A Fun
Visit With Friends
August 9th -
12th, 2007 |
Thursday ~
After my visit to the dentist, I practically drove Mommy and Daddy
nuts...."when is Sam going to be here?"....."not until later Cole,
when it's almost dark out!" I was sooo excited when that
doorbell rang, pretty much at the exact time Mommy said it would!
YAY! My best buddy Sam is here! Yes, he brought his
sister and parents along too! I may not admit it, but it was
nice to see them too! We played and played (and fought with
Sarah) and played together. We were up late! None of us
kids wanted to go to bed, but the parents made us do it anyways!
We knew we would be up and ready to play in the morning!
Friday ~ We were all up early today. I was excited to
show Sam all of my Lego's. We had the playroom covered in them
in a matter of minutes! And that is with Mommy taking 2 of my
totes full of them upstairs! Mommy wasn't feeling very good,
so Sam's Mom and Dad took us kids to Chocolate World and out for
lunch. We had a fun time. Mommy rested a little bit and
got the house ready for the rest of all our friends to come over.
Sam, Sarah and I played outside on the play set and in the
sandbox....boy, oh boy, did we make a mess! Sam and I
thought it would be pretty funny to have a sand fight...kind of like
you would with snow! We had it everywhere and were covered in
it! So after a good hose down and jump in the shower, we were
ready for our guest to come. We had 14 people here....6 being
kids! Boy, pretty soon we would out number the grown-ups.
We had so much fun eating, visiting and playing. We all got
along together pretty good....about as good as you can expect kids
from the age ranges of 5 months to 6 1/2 years old and girls mixing
with boys...to get along. No one wanted to go home when it was
time...tears were shed, tantrums were thrown....but we all had plans
to see each other in the morning!
Saturday ~ Everyone was at our house by 10:30am. The
girls were all going shopping in Lancaster along with Meghan and
Grey (2 youngest of us kids). While the rest of us got to go
with the "Dads". We were really well behaved for them too! We
went to Chocolate World (you can never get too much of that place, I
mean it's free and they give you chocolate at the end!), Daddy took
us to find 2 geocaches, my friends have never done this before and
they thought it was soo cool going treasure hunting. I was a
little better about it, since my friends were along. Sam got
to use the GPS too! I was a little jealous about that.
Anyway, we found them easy and we all got something cool to take
home. Next, we went to Cocoa Castle to play, it's a big
wooden playground. Next, it was time to head for dinner.
We were meeting the girls at the
Shady Maple restaurant, that was an adventure all in
itself...but it's to be never mentioned again! I don't know,
something about directions not being good, going NORTH...blah, blah,
blah, all I know is that everyone made it in time to eat ourselves
sick! I had TWO fried chicken legs and boy were they good!
Then I had a big bowl of ice cream and then some chocolate pudding!
After we all rolled ourselves out of there we stopped on the steps
and had a nice gentleman, who just so happen to "be a photographer"
took a group photo for us. It came out pretty good for getting
six kids to cooperate....hey, this time no one was crying!
Everyone came to our house again and us kids played and played.
No one really wanted to go home but eventually everyone did.
Meghan and Maysen were not happy about having to leave. They
are just going to have to come back and play. They really like
my play set! Meghan can climb the rock wall all by herself and
she's only a year old!
Sunday ~ came too soon for me. I didn't want to see my
buddy Sam leave. We had a good time playing together. We
played Lego Star Wars for a little bit. I get a bit bossy and
picky about how the game is played so my turn was up and Daddy
played with him. I wasn't happy but I got over it and I still
like to watch. Sam did pretty good learning to use the
controls! I was sad to see my friends leave. I know we
have a holiday party planned in December, but I really hope I get to
see everyone again before that! We'll see.
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Mommy & I Say
Good-Bye
August 17th, 2007 |
Today was the
last day of work for Mommy and "school" for me. We have been
going there for a very long time...5 years to be exact! We
have made a lot of friends and had a fun time along the way.
We will miss everyone very much! Mommy's co-workers and
families were sad to see her go! They bought her some very
nice gifts, wrote beautiful letters and had a special cake for her!
I brought in yummy brownies to share with my friends!
This was a sad day for us but also marks an exciting time (or so I
am told). I will be starting Kindergarten in just a few short
weeks!
So, while we are closing the book on this adventure...we are opening
up a whole new one!
Too be continued.......
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Trip to
Grandparents Wiles
August 17th
- 26th, 2007 |
Daddy had to go
to a convention in Chicago...so Mommy and I decided that we would
take this time to visit my Grammy & Pap-Pap. We had a nice
time, although the weather really kept us from going anyplace.
We really wanted to go to the Pittsburgh Zoo but it literally rained
(and rained hard) every day and the days it didn't, it was really,
really hot outside. So, we visited with Grammy's breakfast
girls every morning. I had yummy pancakes, French toast and
all the bacon I could get and/or sneak off of Grammy's plate! YUMMY!
We did got shopping a couple times and I took Grammy to Chuckee
Cheese! Can you believe that she has never been there before?
I did manage to get my hands on two new Lego sets. I got some
new ExoForce Robots. Pap-Pap was impressed with my abilities
to put them together on my own! I played with them all week.
It was the Little League World Series week and I would have to say
that we watched a lot of baseball on TV. I decided that I
wanted to take the ball and bat outside too. Mommy and I did
that a couple times when we would get a break in the weather, which
unfortunately wasn't very often. I did hit the ball around
pretty good. Mommy was reminded of her days as a kid playing
ball in the front yard with the neighborhood kids...and chasing the
ball down the hill!
I talked to Daddy a couple times and by Friday, I was really missing
him. He had a nice time at his conference but didn't have fun
traveling home from it. He was stuck in the bad storms and
flooding that were hitting the mid-states. His flights were
cancelled due to tornado warnings and bad storms. He then,
along with his boss and co-worker, caught a bus to Milwaukee and
managed to get a flight out of there at 6 o'clock AM the next
morning! He got home safely on Friday morning but said he was
very tired because oddly enough, sleeping all night in an airport
isn't very comfortable.
Sunday came and it was time to meet Daddy in Bedford. Grammy,
Pap, Mommy and me all ate at Denny's. I was soo happy when I
saw Daddy walk in the door.
I had a nice visit and thanked Grammy and Pap for all the stuff they
did for me...but boy, does it feel good to be home.
Thanks for everything....now, when are you coming to see me?
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Open
House
August 30th, 2007 |
Today I got to
go to my school and see my room and meet my teacher. She was
very nice and pretty. She was busy meeting a lot of people so
I didn't get to talk to her much. She asked me something fun I
did over the summer but I was still a bit nervous and said, "I don't
know". Mommy reminded me of a few things that I will tell her
next week! I kind of stuck to Mommy's hip and wouldn't let go
of her fingers. Finally, I went over to some kids and
introduced myself and asked them if I could play with them...they
said YES! We had fun, but soon it was time to walk around and
look at some more of the school. We found the computer room,
the library, cafeteria/gymnasium. There was probably more to
see but it was a very busy place. From what we could see in my
room...I will have a desk to sit at, be learning math, reading and
writing. I will be going to art, music, library and gym class
too! Gee...all of that in half a day! WOW!
I'm a little more excited now and less nervous about my first day.
I think Mommy and Daddy are too! |
Grandma &
Pa-Pa Proper went on an Alaskan Cruise!
August 224th
- 31st, 2007 |
Grandma & Pa -
Pa went on a LONG OVERDUE vacation! They cruised with Royal
Caribbean's Radiance of the Sea from Vancouver, British Columbia to
Seward, Alaska!
We talked to them when they got back home....they had such a great
time and really would love to go back there again! Pa-Pa said
there was so much food to eat, he couldn't believe it and Grandma
thought it would take her a few days to recover from that!
They were both impressed with the natural untouched beauty of the
state. They enjoyed all that their cruise had to offer,
meeting locals, shopping in the towns, seeing wildlife. They
saw a Bald Eagle, a moose, just missed a bear and her cub, lots of whales
(even an Orca),
and were able to witness the Salmon running and spawning!
Grandma
and Pa did some geocaching in the town of Ketchikan. They
especially liked that they were able to do a few, as both caches
they did took them away from the touristy areas.
The weather was really nice while they were there because I
guess it is c'mon for it to rain a lot in Alaska. They
classify Alaska as being a "temperate rainforest". Some locals
thanked them for bringing nice weather!
I enjoyed looking at and reading my postcards that they sent.
We also got a package of Salmon Jerky from them! We all tried
it and thought they should just leave salmon...well, as salmon!
HA! I guess they have so much of it up there...they had to be
inventive. It wasn't awful...just a little too "fishy" for us!
Thanks though!
Grandma was excited to visit an authentic Totem Pole shop. She
bought a 2-footer that she said WILL NOT be going outside!
We are hoping that Grandma & Pa-Pa send us some pics of their trip
and we will share some of them here! (hint-hint).
We are so glad that you had a wonderful time together but glad to
see you back home and safe in the "lower 48" !
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