The Sixth Floor Museum

We exited the elevator, and pushed a button on the audioguides. The audio-tour had begun. Over the course of several hours, our audioguides talked about John F. Kennedy being elected President, abroad meetings, and the tour went up to visiting Dallas for reelection. Everything was going great that day. People were delighted to see him.

View out of the window from the 6th Floor. The street below is where President Kennedy was shot.

They turned from Main Street to Oak Street. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard, which people thought was a firecracker, and the President hurled over. It took a few seconds for everyone to realize that he had been shot. He was rushed to the hospital and tragically passed away at 1:00 in the afternoon. No time was wasted in capturing the suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, who had many questions to answer. However, during transition, and before he could answer most of the questions, he was shot at point-blank range by Jack Ruby. Oswald was pronounced dead in the hospital, and Ruby was sent to prison for life.

The death of Oswald left a lot of unanswered questions and theories arose. There was a theory about a conspiracy to kill Kennedy that Oswald was part of. A few people heard gunshots from the Grassy Knoll, and some people believe there was indeed another shot from the Knoll that missed. However, the government denied it. When I was hearing about it, it sounded to me that Ruby shot Oswald to stop him from answering too many questions. However, I didn’t give it much thought.

Finally, the legacy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy was discussed. He took the Space Program to another level and continued the work on Civil Rights that past presidents such as Dwight D. Eisenhower had worked on. He also helped to ease the tension in the Cold War. So, we walked out of the building proud, proud of a great president who changed lives, and sad, sad about the brilliant president’s death.

 

The Most Meaningful Walk Ever!

We walked forward, along with the thousands of other dogs and their people. My youngest packmate, 142-month-old James, said that we were doing a fundraiser, Strut Your Mutt, to help end animal cruelty and that this money would go to the SPCA, a non-profit organization that seizes animals that were treated cruelly and let other people adopt them. I didn’t know what this SPCA thing was, but what it was doing sounded good.

All of the scent trails confused me, so I followed the freshest one. I found another dog, slightly smaller than I was, and greeted it (by sniffing its butt). Its name was Kerry. I repeated this many times, with some people but mostly dogs. I remembered Lucy, Adam, Bob, Jerry, Max, and Bella. There were plenty more, but I forgot their names. One of my sweet leather shoes fell off a couple times. Darn that crooked paw! I was offered water once, but it was hard to lap up because the sides of the container were so close together. I was getting really hot and tired when we walked under the thin tunnel thing. However, it wasn’t for about forty-five minutes until we got into a cool car. When we got back home, I was exhausted, but I was happy. Strut Your Mutt was really fun!

We raised nearly $200 to help!

Thank you so much to:

  • Motorcycle Grandma and Grandpa
  • Laura Griest
  • Heather Welch-Westfall
  • Laura Berger
  • And my mom, of course!

My Time at Space Camp

Day 1:
I looked around, oohing and ahhing at every sight. That’s when I knew Space Camp would be awesome. At first, I thought it would be a lame, space-themed camp. However, I was proved wrong. We were all assorted into teams; I got Team Andromeda. All of the teams had a presentation about all of our exciting missions. I was very excited. I made some friends and played Madlibs until bedtime. Even though the other teams in our thirty-bed dormitory wouldn’t stop yelling, I managed to get a decent amount of sleep.

Day 2:
My second day at Space Camp was a bucket full of fun. I admit it, I was grumpy when I woke up in the morning, but that was the day when I learn how delicious Space Camp meals were. I also got a really cool flight suit that I wore. The flight suit made Space Camp feel ten times more real. I learned about where my mission would be and my role on that mission. I was super excited for the following day, and for a good reason, as if I could see the future.

Day 3:
My third day at Space Camp was a blast! (You see what I did there?) I went on a mission, on a stimulated version of the International Space Station (ISS). With a partner, I created two different kinds of slimes: one of them was clear, cold to the touch, and held together really well, while the other was white, warm, and chunky. We also went on some simulators that felt like they could be found in an amusement park. The first one, Skyshot, was scarier than it was fun. It would shoot you up, then drop you, then shoot you up again, with another drop following, repeatedly. Since I have a minor fear of heights, the drops really scared me. I thought I was falling to my death. I had my eyes closed almost the whole time. Once, a friend told me it was okay, and I believed him. I opened up my eyes, saw how high up we were – around fifty feet high – and screamed, “You lied to me!”. Then, I shut my eyes again. The ride I liked was the G-Force Accelerator. I was strapped to a slanted wall in a large building shaped like a teacup.  The building spun around very quickly. It was meant to simulate multiple G’s. Trust me, it did its job well. Once, in the middle of the ride, I lifted my legs up and was surprised to feel how heavy they were. They felt like they were made of magnets, sticking to my wall! Boy, was that day eventful!

Day 5:
Day 5 of Space Camp was extremely eventful! We watched an IMAX movie about the upcoming Project Orion. It was in a large dome, which was really cool but slightly distorted the images on the screen. The movie was astounding. It followed and was narrated by a former astronaut who worked with the Space Shuttle program. He did talk about the program, but then he talked about the cool knew thing: NASA’s first mission to Mars, coming up in the 2030s. NASA is designing a new rocket, a new probe, and new spacesuits. They are designing the Space Launch System, a combination of the Space Shuttle and the Saturn V. It will have an external fuel tank below the probe, and two solid rocket boosters on each side of the external fuel tank, just like the Space Shuttle. It will also be painted like the Saturn V rocket. Its height and weight will also be similar to that of the Saturn V rocket. On the same day, I did a simulated take-off and landing of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. That was really cool. We also went to a gift shop. I bought a really cool set of the Space Shuttle (containing cargo), three astronauts, one Kennedy Space Center sign, and an American flag. However, as we were about to leave, Ian was searching for a piece of his styrofoam runway. I was helping him, and as he picked it up off of the floor, I turned around and our group of 15 others was gone without anyone noticing our absence. After an hour or two, we were back with our group, but boy, being left behind was hectic!

Day 6: Of course, a glorious week must end with a glorious ceremony. We had a graduation ceremony, along with three other teams, and there were about twenty parents in the audience. We were each given a folder which contained a photo of ourselves, and a freaking diploma! It was a momentous occasion, and as I walked out with my dad, I looked at the Space Shuttle in the middle of it all… and smiled.

Author’s note:

This is indeed a true story. I would not lie to you about my own life story. Also, in case you’re wondering, Day 4 was skipped because I do not remember anything exciting happening on that day.

Theater Thrills

You all know by now that I do things for fun, right? Well, what could be more fun than acting in a sci-fi comedy?! That’s exactly what I did in Wylie with an organization called Wylie Acting Group. Wylie is one of the three ‘Triangle Towns’ as I call them, in the suburbs of Dallas. There were tons of other kids, even at auditions! Not knowing anyone there, I sat by myself, but it got so crowded that there was someone on each side of me! I quickly became friends with a girl named Paige. She is very nice.

The play was called Star Warped, a play that blended together a mix of sci-fis and, in a way, made fun of them. I got the roles of Scooty and Dr. McJoy. Scooty, which were based on Scotty and Dr. McCoy, from Star Trek..  Almost everyone at the auditions got roles. However, some kids didn’t. We practiced throughout late January through most of February. On February 24, we had our first of six performances. It went amazing. I felt so proud and happy to be doing my first play enjoyed by people of all ages.  After that, we had five more performances on February 25, March 3, and March 4. I feel I did very well. The best part about it? I had fun. Lots and lots of fun.

Check out the clip of my scene:

 

Sad News…

with-mita
Cousin Victoria and I with Mita (mi abuelita), 2012.

Sometimes in life, sad things happen. Really sad things happen. You can’t escape them. Sadness, like happiness, is natural, and a part of life. Sometimes, these sad things come unexpectedly.

Like when we found out that my grandma has cancer. It was heartbreaking. Even worse, it is fully developed, and can’t be cured because my grandma is too weak, and because of the kind of cancer. We decided that we had to be with her for as long as possible. So, we are heading back. I am very sad. She’s my closest grandma. This breaks my heart open. However, on the bright side, I’ll be able to play with my cousins. Also, we’ll be able to have Christmas with the family, which is nice.

We will pretty much settle in Dallas for a while. Hopefully, my grandma will get strong enough, and the chemo will work.  Anyway, we have no idea what is to come. I guess I’ll write about that in another post.

Georgia Gaming

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Fun with Guy, Coco, Gavin, and Hadyn!
Fun with Guy, Coco, Gavin, and Hayden!

The taxi stopped, and we got out. The Guven family was at their front door, waiting for us. How nice it was to see old friends again! I had such a fun time with Guy and his little sister, Coco! We played Minecraft and with toy cars. The cars would have tournaments on two different tracks – the stairs and the special track. On the track, two cars would be launched out like complete bosses into a cell of their own. Then, they would spin to a second piece of track. It was very easy to tell the winner because the loser was flung to the side. About once a day, the Horn siblings, Gavin and his little sister, Hayden, would come over. While they were over we stuck to some rules. For the first hour, we would refrain from playing video games. For the next hour, however, we could play video games, and were all over Minecraft. We started building a Minecraft wipeout map. We built a creeper face next to a little bit of parkour. Some blocks on the creeper face were in front of sticky pistons, and if you hit their levers once, the blocks shot out. If you hit them again, they went back to their former positions, waiting to strike. Somehow, we split into boys and girls. Guy was not allowed onto the girls’ world, because they thought he would grief them. So I joined, and did exactly what they feared: blew up their house! Then I joined their other world, and burned down the heart they had built! Later, when Coco joined my world, I disconnected her. Other than that, we had an amazing time.

Golf-Carting with Lexi and Kayli
Golf-Carting with Lexi and Kayli

Our time in Peachtree City was also amazing. Kayli and I played Minecraft, too, where we made an even better wipeout map. We made two creeper faces and added redstone, making them almost automatic. We also added a maze of paintings and a boat race. We added a jumper, ladder parkour, and a dropper. We’re not even done yet! We went on several golf cart rides. On the last one, I spilled melted ice-cream all over myself and the golf cart. Now I know: golf carts and melted ice-cream DO NOT mix. They ruin each other.

Pool time with friends!
Pool time with friends!

Honestly, some of the most fun I had was at my pool party in Atlanta. The Hellengas, Jack and Parker, were there. So were the Guvens and the Horns. James Hester III (aka. Tripp) and his mom were also there. We had pizza for lunch. After we had pizza, we played a game where we had to push everyone else into the pool. A girl that lived in the building was swimming around, and Gavin pushed me in backwards. When I resurfaced, she was crying, and said her earring was missing. My theory is that when I fell in, my foot smacked her face and her earring flew away. Everyone looked for it. Turns out, it was at the edge of the pool. That girl never got back in the pool. Then, we decided to play chicken. It was Jack and I versus Gavin and Guy. Tripp kept interfering. I splashed him in the face and it proved to be too much. He never got back in the pool. Later, Dad and Mr. Horn were throwing all of the kids into the air. Flying was so fun! However, Dad threw Coco a little too hard. She bonked her head on the bottom of the pool. That proved my doubts about the pool being deep enough. She was fine, though. She was back in the pool swimming her heart out in a few minutes. Weren’t we all?

Ice Cream...mmm!
Ice Cream…mmm!

In Savannah, we stayed with our friends, the Parish family. I made a zombie movie with Brownyn and Ivy. Click here to see the trailer for our movie! We also had a tour of the city. We went to Leopold’s Ice-Cream. The line was insane! No wonder! They’d been around since 1919! Also, they are the official inventors of the Tutti-Frutti ice-cream flavor. I ordered a triple chocolate ice-cream. Oh, BOY it was good. It was really chocolatey. There’s nothing more a boy would want.

 

Texas Times

James Splashtown

James and Victoria
Working on a science project with Victoria

“Pawpaw!” I yelled, hugging him.  He greeted me, mom and dad. Then we drove to Aunt Brenda’s house. She’s not actually my aunt. She’s my dad’s aunt. We stayed a little past lunch time. Then we said our farewells, and then drove to Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Keren’s house. We greeted them in the same manner we’d greeted Mita, Aunt Brenda, and Uncle Rick. Of course, I gave Andy, the family puppy (who is now 2), lots of love and attention. When I got tired of that, I played board games with Victoria, my slightly younger cousin. Later, I played Catan with Victoria and Pawpaw, a game which Pawpaw won. Victoria and I also played Dungeon and Munchkin. It was very fun. Also, for once in my life, I felt normal. Stuffed Animal PlayHowever, nothing was better than Stuffed Animal Wars! It was epic. Victoria and I split the stuffed animals with our other cousin, Kirsten. We used pillow pets as shields, and other stuffed animals, preferably round and fat, as swords. Others, which were too oddly shaped or to small to be used as swords, were projectiles, which we threw at each other. Sultan was one of the projectiles, for two reasons. We had tons and tons of fun.

Splashtown Cousins
Splashtown with Kyla and Elia

The tube fell away, and I went flying over the humps on the slide. No, not in midair. At the bottom, I slid past Aunt Colleen and my cousin Elia! I knew I’d won. However, not five seconds later, my other cousin, Kyla, came down next to me and barely got ahead. There went my victory! I later learned that the winner was the one who reached the bottom first. My favorite ride had a long drop. I remember Uncle David yelling a cuss word, and when it was my turn, I screamed, “God, dang it!” three times. Elia had to push us, because we’d stopped. Aunt Colleen and Kyla came down fine. At Splash Town, I had the time of my life.

Houston Birthday
Celebrating birthdays together!

I also played Minecraft and swam with my cousins. During mine and Elia’s joint birthday pool party, I was playing by myself when my dad said that everybody had ganged up on him and he needed my help. As he was saying it, Uncle David, Kyla, Elia, and my other two cousins, Cooper and Lilly, were shooting Dad with water guns. I told him that I was busy and he shouldn’t have been so aggressive towards them. Later, when I was simply minding my own business, he came, picked me up, and used me as a shield against my own will. Now who sounds mean?! I said that if he put me down, I would fight for him. (Spoiler alert: I always win). I found a water gun, and shot at Dad! I joined my cousins instead. We shot him till he got out of the pool. There was still a problem, though. One of the adults was still attacking us, with three two-year-olds as his comrades. On his side were Harper, Carson, and William, the triplets. They are Lilly’s siblings. It was a vicious battle, with water and toys flying all over the pool. We sprayed each other until cake time. After that, the triplets left. Also, Cooper’s little sister, Lexi, joined us. We had so much fun, with custom missions designed by Uncle David. It was enough fun to last a week!