Cruisin'!

On June 11th, my class, (we're graduating from our school) got to go on a cruise from the pier around the coastal area. All the girls got dressed up (dresses, hair done, new shoes, etc.) while the guys dressed normally (jeans, button downs, skater shoes, the occasional blazer). I had a few friends over before to get ready, and it was really fun!!! We went to school and hung out in the gym for a while as the teachers/chaperones/bus drivers got organized, then we got on buses by last name (luckily I was with my best friend, but the ride was still awful and too long.) We had to wait in line to get on the boat, then we finally got on!! We ate pizza and danced on the DJ floor, sang karaoke on the floor below, and also could go on the bow and on the top floor to talk and sit around. We have a band at our school, so they played (one guy surfed the crowd!) Everyone was pretty much on the dancing floor, jumping up and down and screaming and yelling the lyrics. It got pretty cold outside so EVERYONE was inside (I'm talking 350 people.) The windows were all steamed up because everyone was sweating from dancing. It was SOOOOO much fun getting all dressed up and stuff.

We're moving on! :'-) (that means happy crying)

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!!!!

Hola peoples!!!

I just got back a few hours ago from Idaho, where I stayed in a cabin for a week at a lake. It was a blast. I waterskied, tubed, layed in the sun, played card games, played in the water, read 2 great books, ate great food, shot hoops, went on boat rides, kayaked, took midnight plunges into the water with my awesome cousin Jamie, and-

STOP

There is not enough space or time to describe all the amazing things I did with my amazing cousins. Oh well. Maybe I will put on some pictures later but unfortunately I do not have my camera with me at this time.

My hair is kinda bleached out and I am tan (but not sunburnt! YAY that's a first) but I contracted the common cold while there. Which sucks. Oh well. I also got very dry skin on my face which hurt very badly. I figured out on the 4th day that Lubriderm had minimal effect. Instead, I coated my face in Vaseline 100% petroleum jelly, and that worked wonders.

Adios for now!!!!!

Beach Visit

Yesterday was just HOT. So we went to our friends' house on the local lake. We went down to the dock, set up towels and lawn chairs, and had a lot of fun. The water was SO warm!! But there was quite a lot of seaweed. The younger boy, Jack, and I had biggest/smallest splash contests, diving contests, and had fun impersonating people while jumping in. Some of the people we impersonated were Rachael Ray, the Kool-Aid man, Disney princesses, the Chairman (from Iron Chef America), Michael Jackson, Billie Mays, and others!! We were entertained for about an hour doing that. They also have a slide that goes into the water. The goal was to get down to the bottom of the slide without slipping or going into the water. It took me 6 tries. We took a break and ate animal crackers and Cheez-Its. We fed Cheez-Its to their dog, Woody, and made him do tricks and stuff. Then their friend showed up and threw us footballs as we jumped in. I was pretty good, I have to admit. I got slightly sunburned on my face and shoulders, but it doesn't hurt at all.

California: Day 8: Final Day

Still in San Juan Capistrano....

Woke up and had really good waffles for breakfast with whipped cream and berries. We went in the pool for a little, and put this bright green zinc oxide on my face to prevent sunburn, and look awesome all at the same time!!! After that we left and drove to LA to see the place where my dad grew up. He grew up in Westchester. We saw the house he grew up in, his old high school, junior high, and elementary school, we saw this place called "Randy's Donuts" with this huge donut on top of the building, and we found out that the gas station he used to work at was turned into a Morman church. We went to this AMAZING burger place called "The Shack." There was this one burger called "The Shack Burger" that's a burger with a sausage on top!! (Okay, that's a little overkill.) We also drove by the mountain with the Hollywood sign on it!! You know, this one:I didn't get a picture because it was really hazy, but I saw it!!! I also saw the Warner Bros. water tower and the buildings with all the promotional posters on the sides.

Then we drove to Burbank and saw my great-aunt and uncle. We talked for a while, then drove to the airport, turned in our rental car, and got on a plane, and now we're home!!!!

California: Day 5

Still in Anaheim....

So today we left Disneyland and went to Newport Beach. I played some volleyball with my cousin, then went to play in the water. We body surfed a little and dove into the waves. The really huge ones came in shifts. There would be 5 or 6 HUGE waves, then they would slack off a bit. There was this one HUGE one that hit me and sent me tumbling. I was underwater and everything was completely black and I was under water pressure. It was kinda scary. That's what I thought it would feel like to Apparate. Then we got out of the ocean and dried off and headed to Balboa Island on this ferry-like thing. We were going upstream because there were HOARDS and HOARDS of Junior Lifeguards all going the opposite direction. We had lunch at this place where 7 huge chicken tenders and a huge pile of fries is an appetizer.

So after that we dropped my cousin and aunt off at the Orange County airport, and we drove to my aunt's house in San Diego. We went to dinner at this really good Mexican place. I was dead tired after that so I hit the hay after that.

Wild Day at WILD WAVES!

Today was the Honors Society Field Trip to WILD WAVES AND ENCHANTED VILLAGE!!! It was SO MUCH FUN!!! It wasn't the hottest day, but it was nice and sunny for part of the time. We went on all the great rides like the Timber Hawk. But the Ring of Fire was closed, and the Wild Thing's line was WAY WAY WAY too long. We went on a BUNCH of huge water slides and the Wave Pool, and the Activity Pool. Then after that we bought some food, chicken tenders, fries, and a funnel cake. It was REALLY GOOD!!!! The bus ride took FOREVER, though, but on the way back, I slept. We got back to school a little early, but they didn't make us go back to class, we just went and lay down on the sunbaked tennis courts and slept, and watched movies on Ellen's iPhone. I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!

A Pretty Darn Amazin' House

Yesterday after the tournament and the boat party were both over, and we had cleaned up the boat, I went to my friend Brooke's house. She has 20 acres of land, a pool, and a tree house that could pass for a real house. The best part was that she has this little mini-Jeep called a Ranger. I got to drive it! I wasn't very good; I almost tipped us at one part, but I thought I was pretty good. Halle was closer to tipping us than I was!

This is a Ranger

This looks sorta...kinda...a little bit...like Brooke's tree house

Best V-Ball Tourney of the Year: Day 3

DAY 3!!

6:03: Wake up

6:50: Leave for the University

7:30: Arrive at the University

8:30: Well, we were SUPPOSED to play, but there was a bunch of confusion about the time we were playing. We were told 12:30, but then our coach called my mom at midnight and said, "No, 8:30" then when we all got there, the team we were supposed to play wasn't there! We waited...and waited...and waited...and then we started scrimmaging each other. They still didn't show up. So they had to forfeit.

9:00: Rest...shop for spandex with cool print, buy burgers, veg out

10:00: Play (and win) our second match!

11:00: Get our picture taken for winning the Emerald Division

11:30: Get on the boat/yacht AGAIN for a party with our coaches and all the parents and swim, eat, talk, tan...FUN. Even after all the girls jumped in, most of the parents and both our coaches jumped in! It was awesome!

Best V-Ball Tourney of the Year: Day 2

On Sunday, it was the second day of my FAVORITE volleyball tournament of the year.
DAY 2!

6:02: Wake up
6:49: Leave for the University
7:16: Arrive at the University
8:00: Play (and lose) our first match
9:00: Play (and lose) our second match
10:00 Referee a match
11:00: Okay, so my mom and my friend Brooke's mom told me and Brooke that "Oh, we're only going on the boat for about 5 minutes to drop some stuff off." Yeah...about that. We ended up staying on the boat for 8 hours. we swam, we talked, we tanned, we had SO MUCH FUN. We went up to the main gym and hit this cool volleyball on a bungee cord that told you how many miles an hour you hit it, there was a video of it, and there was a coach there telling you what you were doing wrong! It was AWESOME!

Best V-Ball Tourney of the Year: Day 1

So over the 4-Day weekend, I had a volleyball tournament over 3 of the days. It was SO much fun! So...here's day 1!

6:23: Wake up
6:44: Leave for the University
7:17: Get to the University
8:00: Play (and lose) our first match
9:00: Rest for a match, eat, veg out for about an hour
10:00: Referee a match
11:00: Play (and lose) our second match
12:00: Referee another match
1:00: Play (and win!) our third match

Then...from 2:00 - 7:30, we went on my friend's 70 foot boat/yacht!! IT WAS SO COOL! There's this little ledge at the top, where you can jump into the lake! It was really cold, but it felt really good after a day of playing and getting all sweaty. There is also a lounge on the bow where you can rest your towels and get all nice and warm after jumping in the lake. I got sunburned on my shoulders, though, but it doesn't hurt at all!!!

Whew!

Well, today the plumbers came and fixed our water pipe. We now have running water, just like we used to. We had a few big pitchers filled with water just in case, but the plumbers were very prompt. (Unlike this one time when our washing machine broke, and we had to do laundry at other people's houses for like a week and a half!)

Recent Bout of Excitement

Just a few minutes ago, my mom and dad were power washing the porch, and they were trying to bring the hose back in, and the pulled a little hard. The pulled the water pipe off. Now we have no running water. When you try and turn on the faucet, it just makes a strange gurgling sound, and nothing comes out. It's kind of weird. My parents just went to the drugstore to find some sort of stuff to repair the pipe with. This oughta be interesting..............