The Caribbean

You know that I went to the Caribbean, right? Well, now I will tell you about it. First of all, it was really fun! We swam and snorkeled a lot. We also hiked, which was pretty fun. Some of the creatures we saw included rays, turtles, regular colorful fish, donkeys, goats and one eel. Probably the coolest thing other than the eel was a tiny fish that followed me everywhere on my first day there. I'm actually serious about this. I could almost touch it and it wouldn't dart away! That was really cool. The whole trip was fun, but those were my highlights.

Soccer Sadness and a Fun Trip

Last Sunday I had a horrible soccer game. We lost 9+ to 4. I scored two goals. One of them was a penalty kick, and the other was just a regular one. We keep on losing because our best goal-scorer broke her leg and can't play, but also because the teams we play are just plain good.

On next Thursday morning my mom and I are going to meet my dad and brother in St. John. The bad part about that is that we have to leave the house at 4:30 in order to get to a 6:30 flight. It's quite sad, but it will be really fun in the Caribbean! I will tell you about it when I get back home.

Hello

Hi. Sorry it's been a while since I posted last. I'm going to sort of fill you in with whats been going on in my life in the past two months. First of all, school started in September. I am in 5th grade. So far my school year has been pretty good. I think it has been good because I like my class and teacher.

I also did outdoor soccer and now indoor soccer. It was really fun. On our first indoor soccer game I scored the winning goal with 2 seconds left, making the score 5-4. I also played goalkeeper in the first half. I let in 2 goals. The second game I scored 3 goals, but we lost 7-4.

I am doing piano for my third year. This year I started doing more jazz and folk (I used to only do classical). Right now I am working on 2 songs, Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho and a song called Peter's Song, and doing some short songs in a workbook. So far piano has been really good!

As you all know, Halloween was on October 31st. I was a fire nymph. I had a very awesome time trick-or-treating and ended up with a little less than 100 pieces of candy.

Now you know what I have been doing for the last two months! Bye.

My Birthday and Dance Camp

Sort of recently(as in in this month)it was my birthday! I had a dinner party. To start we painted picture frames. Mine was a bunch of colors making stripes with blue polka dots on top of them. After we all finished our paintings we had dinner, which was lasagna, salad and homemade pickles. Then I got to open my presents! They were all really cool! I got stuff like a rock candy growing kit, earrings, and a lot more awesome presents. Next, we made a fire. We had s'mores and played games. After that everyone left.


A week after that my mom and I left to go to Dance Camp. It was really fun! I met a new friend and did stuff with old friends. I was also in the 9-12's for the first time, even though I was 10(I wasn't at camp last year). The 9-12's is a childcare thingy that people who are nine to twelve years old go to. I had good counselors and did fun activities. My favorite activities were LARP(Live Action Role Playing), and foosball. LARP...is kind of hard to explain. It's like a fantasy world where you are on a quest and you fight monsters with foam swords and spells, but better than it sounds. In the end of LARP for the year we all got a necklace with a shell pendant on it. Dance Camp was really fun!

North Carolina

I told you I went to North Carolina, right? Well, now I will tell you what we did. First of all, we drove there, which was pretty annoying and long. It was over one hundred and ten degrees in Richmond when we were passing through Virginia! We survived the drive, though, and stayed where my grandma lives, which is kind of like a community where seniors live in little apartments. They had an indoor pool and a indoor hot tub. We didn't only see my grandma. One night we had dinner with my aunt and great aunt, too. Then we left for the beach. The ride was much shorter. At the hotel that we were staying at, there was a beach(of course), an outdoor pool, and a lounge where you could play pool and ping-pong. There we met with my grandma, grandpa and my uncle. While we were there we swam a lot, played lots of ping-pong and pool, and just did stuff in our room. It was really fun! But we weren't staying there for the rest of the summer, so we had to go home. It was a long trip back. We didn't stop, even to sleep(we started going back home at nine am)! Finally we got back and went straight to bed. Going to North Carolina is always really fun!

Art Camp Day #5

The fifth day of Art Camp was great! I'm sorry I couldn't post this sooner, But my family and I were in North Carolina, and they didn't have a computer where we were staying. I'll tell you about our trip later. Anyway, on the fifth day we studied Vincent van Gogh(pronounced as Go). My cousin E was there. Van Gogh was an artist who made his art by drawing or painting little lines to form something in a picture. For our project we used crayons to make a sky. Next, we painted over the crayon with either black or blue paint. Then we got a black strip of paper and cut it out to look like, say, a city skyline or a village or something, and then we glued that to the bottom of the page. When we were done we played. It started raining. On the first day we said that if it started raining we would all run to the driveway and lie down so that when we got up the places where we lay would be lighter than the rest of the ground. It worked and was really cool! When that was over we had lunch and acted as human TVs. We ate on a screen porch, so the if you were acting something out, you would go where there was a square of screen stuff lined with wood and act out a bunch of channels with some other people, while the people inside would change the channels. There was no planning, so none of the people channels knew what the other people channels would do, but we just kind of chose one of the scenes to, such as Sesame Street or opera, and acted it out. It was really fun, but then we weren't aloud to go outside so we couldn't do it anymore. After lunch, we started setting up for the end of camp exhibit thing that we do every year. Sadly, it had to be inside because it didn't stop raining. So we had different areas for each of the artists that we did. This year for the first time our parents could do what we did, too! We made watercolor backgrounds for Salvador Dali, got mud from the creek and small cardboard squares for Jean DuBuffet, put out colored paper and scissors for Escher, and put wet dirt in a little dish so that our parents could shape it for Maya Lin. I don't think there was anything set out for van Gogh. After the exhibit we all went home with our artwork and did whatever we did.

Art Camp Day #3 and #4

Day three of Art Camp was really fun! It was Buffet Day(I brought sushi), and guess what? We studied an artist from France named Jean(Jon with a french accent)DuBuffet. To start the day, we looked at some of Jean's artwork. Then we went down to the creek to get mud and dirt, because those were the kind of materials that DuBuffet used in his artwork. After that we went back up to the art tent and we mixed up a cement-like paint with the mud, glue and regular paint. My original paint was sort of like a teal but with more green. When we were done mixing the paints we drew a pattern or a picture and spread the mixture onto it. B's painting and my painting turned out different, because we splatter painted on top of our patterns. Then we had lunch and we told riddles. Lunch was really good! After we had lunch, we did other things that I forget(sorry).

Day four was also fun(but kind of frustrating). We studied M. C. Escher. As our project we each did a simple(though hard)tessellations. My shape was a square with a chunk taken out of it that was a square that I added on on another side of the square. Doesn't that sound really simple? It's not. You wouldn't know how frustrating it was unless you were there. When we finished our tessellations we had lunch. We also told ghost stories. I think I am losing memories of the afternoons, because I forget what we did that afternoon, too. Bye!

Art Camp Day #2 and After That, Too

Today Art Camp was not as good as it was yesterday. The best part was that it was crazy hair day. B came over to our house this morning(she's our neighbor)and we did our hair together, even though I already had my whole head braided. B suggested that we used pipe cleaners in our hair, so we did that, and it ended up looking really cool. Then we went to camp. The artist that we studied today was Salvador Dali. We made pictures made with images from magazines. First, we made a background with watercolors. Next, we let them dry during recess/snack. After that, we got a lot of magazines and cut out pictures and then put them together to make them surreal. Some of the things in my picture were a man walking down an enormous fern, a headless baby, and a giant frog on a regular sized pumpkin. My background was a red, orange and yellow sunset. After we all finished those, we went down to the stream again and did the same art that we were doing yesterday. B and I started on a different tipi, and so we needed to take the one that we did yesterday down. It didn't get finished, but it probably will be finished before camp is over. Soon my mom came to pick us up and she took us to swim. O, E and C went, too. The place that we went to is really awesome, because it has a bridge thing that you can jump off of. After we swam for a while we went and had ice cream, and guess what? C, E and O were there, too! So we ate our ice cream, then went to my house and we made a little fort that is not yet finished. It's pretty cool and complicated, so I can't explain it. That was what I did today.

Art Camp Day #1

Today was my first day of Art Camp. It was really fun! The art camp that I go to is run by my friend O's mom. I know everyone there. We studied an artist called Maya Lin. She started her career by making the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. Then she made land art, which is...like art on land, but not using materials from land like leaves or ice or stones(we looked at a book with that later on). Instead, she made dents or mounds in the ground, then grew grass over it. We did something like that. We got pizza boxes and filled them with dirt, shaped the dirt, then planted grass. In between all that we made a scale for it(such as a mini person, animal or tree), and had lunch and break. During break, I jumped on the trampoline, played in the wading pool, played a bit of freeze tag and just walked around. After that, we looked at the book that I mentioned. It had beautiful sculptures. They were just amazing! That inspired us to make our own sculptures with stuff that we find. I made a sculpture with my friend B. It was by the stream in the yard. First, I went in the water, looking for rocks. Then B made a little circle out of them that piled up a bit less than a half a foot tall. E and C(some other friends of mine)and O came over and showed us their work. While we were where they worked, B and I saw some big sticks that weren't being used, so we grabbed them and took them to our building spot. There, we made them into a tipi sort of thing that went over the circle thing, which was daring, because if it fell it would ruin all our work. When that was done, one of O's sisters, I, who was a helper came and suggested that we could make a winding trail out of rocks, so we did that. It ended up really cool, and we might keep working on it, too. Art Camp is really fun!

Water Park

Two days ago I went to this awesome water park with my friend. There were three big slides. You only went down on an inner tube for one of them. For the other two slides, you went either on a mat or with nothing at all. I liked the one with the tubes more than I liked the others. One of the only bad things about the water park was that there was usually a very long line before it was your turn, but the ride down made up for it all. After you waited that wait, you would get ready to go and wait until this life guard guy gave you a signal to go. The water slide twisted, turned, went up, went down(well not really up, actually), and then you would land in a small pool. Here's another flaw:you weren't aloud to play in the pool, but that didn't really matter, because riding down on the slide was better. We went on the slide countless times, then had lunch. I had a cheeseburger and some fried dough. Later, they were giving out free cotton candy, so of course I had that, too. We also played mini golf. I got some good shots, but I also got a really bad one too, where it took me something like seven unlucky shots before I got it in, so I tied in last with my friend. That makes it sound like I'm horrible at mini golf, but there were only three people playing. After that, we went down the water slide a few more times, then went back home. That day was so fun!

Provincetown

We ended up not going to Provincetown for the Fourth of July, but we went the next night. We started by going to Bubulas for dinner. I had clam chowder, pasta alfredo and some mussels. Next we went shopping with some of our friends. I got a new turquoise Cape Cod sweatshirt, a bag of saltwater taffy, and a BEWARE OF ATTACK CAT thing. We also looked at a lot of other stuff. After we did all of that we went and got gelato, italian ice cream. I got coconut and chocolate. It was so good! Then we all went back to our campgrounds and slept. Bye!

Cape Cod

We arrived in Cape Cod two days ago. Our friends that are staying with us arrived yesterday. Here's some of the things that we did. First, right before they came, my mom and I biked to a campground where some of our other close friends were staying. Then, after our friends had arrived we went to the beach where we met up with the friends I had visited earlier, swam and built things out of sand. Next, when it was getting dark all of the same families went to the beach and had a fire. My brother even swam! Then we all went back to our campgrounds and slept. Today we went to another beach, but without half of the families, and with one new family. I swam around in the seaweed for a long time. There were tons of it! It piled up on the beach and it was REALLY fun to play in, no matter how dirty you get(which is what happened to me). Tomorrow for the Fourth of July we will go to Provincetown to watch the fireworks and do a lot of different stuff. I will tell you about that soon. Ciao for now!

My Travels

My family and I have gone on a ton of trips so here’s a timeline of some of them.

Practically every year since the 1990s my family goes to the Caribbean. We stay at a camp at St. John and have such a blast!

Every summer we go to Cape Cod. We see lots of our friends and swim almost every day.

We have gone to Maine to go to a family camp for a really long time.

Twice a year we go down to North Carolina to visit my relatives on my dads’ side, once in the winter, once in the summer.

When I was 5 I went with my mom to Switzerland. We met up with my grandpa and great aunt and uncle.

I was in second grade when I went to Ecuador and the Galapagos islands. Wow, that was so fun!

Last summer I went to Switzerland again but this time my cousins came, too.
We stayed at two cities and one town.

Next year my mom is taking her leave, so we get to travel some more! We will go to Ghana, Israel, England and possibly Togo.



Speaking of traveling, in just two days my family will go to Cape Cod(again). We will stay at a campground with a family that we have known for...lets just say a really long time

SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

Today was my last day of school! YAHOO! I will miss my teacher though, because she's awesome. Anyways, to celebrate we went to the nearby lake(it's a tradition). A lot of my friends went, too. We made this huge winding...thing. It was kind of like a river. There was a place where we poured in water and then it rushed into a shallow hole. From there it rushed down some more until it went into a huge hole. The hole was so ginormous that when I stood in it the regular ground was up to my waist! It was SO COOL! We swam a lot. Then an annoying lifeguard asked us to cover up our masterpiece. Isn't that sad? But we ended up wrecking everything, and I must admit, it was kind of fun.

Rockin' Cycz

I couldn't get myself singing onto here(sorry everyone), but I can write the lyrics to a song that me and five others wrote. It was a surprise for my music teacher that the chorus sang at the chorus show. Here it is.

(To the tune of Rockin' Robin)

She rocks in the hallways all day long,
Strummin' her guitar and singin' her songs.
All the little children on Petticoat Hill
Come to hear her sing and learn her skills.

Chorus
Mrs. Cycz, 1,2,3,
Mrs. Cycz, don't leave me.
Go Mrs. Cycz, but we're really gonna miss you now.

Every little song, every lyric, too.
Now we have to say goodbye to you.
All the little kids and the big kids, too,
Wavin' our hands, saying see you soon!

Chorus

All of the teachers and the school children,
Hoping that we will see you again.
Now we have to end this song
But we really don't want to send you along!

She rocks in the hallways all day long,
Strummin' her guitar and singin' her songs.
All the little children on Petticoat Hill
Come to hear her sing and learn her skills.

Chorus

Field Day

Last Wednesday was Field Day. We got really wet. Some of the things that we played were scooter races, a relay race, a sort of water fight, (almost) no-rules volleyball, tug o' war and a water balloon toss thing. The scooter race was pretty simple. There were two cars(a mat with two small plastic scooters each). Two people rode a car each, one on the back that pushes and one on the front that pulls. The people rode the cars around a big circle made out of cones two times, and the first pair to do that won the race. The relay race was very fun. Your group got split into three groups and the groups had a bucket and a sponge. The goal was to get your bucket full of water first by running to a bigger bucket and soaking up water in your sponge, then wringing out the the sponge so that the water gets into the bucket. The water fight was really fun, too. It was one of the things that got you really soaked. It is also kind of hard to explain, but I'll try. There were two teams that went on the ends of a zip line thing with a ball attached. Your team tried to push the ball so that it crossed a line into the other teams area place. You weren't allowed to push it with your hands, so you had to push it by squirting water onto it with something that I can't describe. I'm guessing that you know what no-rule volleyball, tug o' war and a water balloon toss is, so I don't need to tell you about it. Field Day was and is really awesome!

The Mad Hatters Tea Party

Yesterday was the Mad Hatters Tea Party. The Mad Hatters Tea Party is not really a tea party. Instead it is a party that the fourth graders have every year after they finish reading the short version of the book Alice in Wonderland. At the party we started by having our pictures taken by the teacher. The things that we had on were something like this: one of the main things about the Mad Hatters Tea Party is the homemade hat that you make. The hats are very crazy and you are supposed to wear them all of the time except for at recess. You also have to wear your fanciest outfit that you have(but some girls didn't wear their fanciest dress-they would be way too fancy for school). After the pictures were taken the whole class paraded around the whole school and went in all the classrooms. And we weren't quiet at all. Instead, we were handed instruments and were told to be as loud as we could be. After that, we had snack. That was brought by two people, including me. I brought watermelon slices and one of my friends brought peaches. After snack we played croquet. I won 1st place in my group, which surprised me because I don't even remember playing it once! When we were all finished with our games, we went back into the classroom, where we had to recite Twinkle, Twinkle parodies. Mine went like this:

Twinkle, twinkle little worm
How I wonder why you squirm.
Up above the world you fly,
Like a toothbrush in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle little worm,
How I wonder why you squirm.

Next, we got to have lunch. There were many different things, including three different kinds of salads, macaroni and cheese, pizza, pasta with pesto and a lot of other things, too. Then it was recess time, but a girl and I gave it up because we were in a small group that was writing a song for the retiring music teacher. After that we had dessert, one of the best parts of the day. There were chocolate and vanilla pirouettes, cookies, strawberry shortcake, chocolate cupcakes, and either fudgesicles or popsicles. Last but not least, we watched the cartoon version of the movie Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatters Tea Party was really fun!

Singing Solo

In my tiny school there is a chorus that 4th-6th graders sing in. Each year the music teacher organizes a chorus show in June. This is my first time doing the chorus show, and my last with my music teacher(she is retiring), so I wanted to do something special in it because, I don't mean to brag, lots of people had said I was a good singer. So I tried out for a solo in a song called Woke Up This Morning. The next Thursday everyone was supposed to go to the gym where we would find out if we got the solo we tried out for, and guess what! I didn't get it. No, just kidding, I actually did get it! The chorus show is on the 11th of June, so I just might be able to get a recording of my voice. I hope I can, and if you hear it, I hope you like it!