Y Camp!!!!!!!!

Y Camp!!

By: Ethan V.

7-25-18

     On our first week back from our trip I did a YMCA camp!!!!! It was called explorers and we went places. I did it with my best friend Jack and the places we went were two parks one called Bonita Cove and the other one was Mission Bay. We also went bowling and to Dave and busters and then on Friday we went to a pizza place called Woodstock's Pizza. Also the hours of camp were from 8:30 to 5:30. Here is a description of each place we went:

Monday

     On Monday we went to park called Bonita Cove. I ended up playing soccer the whole time which was like 5 hours. We had to play on sand, also and I still am trying to get it all of out of my shoe. I am not used to playing soccer on sand and it was hard to kick the ball. Anyway I hope I get to  go again.

Tuesday

     On Tuesday we went bowling!!! First we got our bowling shoes and then went to bowl. My lane got to our third round but we ended right as we started the third round. My best score was 107 and that was in the second round. I hope I can go bowling again soon.

Wednesday

    On Wednesday we went to another park. It is called Mission Bay and it is on a bay but we didn't go in the water. Just like the first park we went to I played soccer the whole time. This time it was about 4 hours but this Time we also played on grass!! I would love to get in the water next time!!!!!

Thursday

     On Thursday we went to Dave and Buster's!!! It is a arcade that I love and I always go to the same games. My favorite one was the basketball game where you shoot basketballs and try to make them in the baskets.  There are also records of points scored and I broke one of the records!!!! The record was 50 and I scored 54!!! I wish I were playing games right now!!!!

Friday

     On Friday we went to a place called Woodstock's Pizza. We got to create our own mini pizza!! Mine had no cheese and it had pepperoni and sausage. I hope I can go back there and create another pizza with different toppings if I go again!!!

     I hope I can do another camp this fun and I hope I do it again next year!!!!!

           

The Limarzis!!!!!!!!

The Limarzis!!!!

By:Ethan V .

7-23-18

     On our big trip we stopped at the Limarzis house!!!!! My dad is friends with their dad from college so we go to there house almost every summer. They have three kids and their names are Brigid, Alex and Marco. We stayed with them from a Sunday to Wednesday and this is what we did on all the days:

Sunday

     On Sunday we left Koko and went to the Limarzis.When we got there we had dinner and them we watched the second Jumanji. Also that night we went to sleep at midnight!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday

      On Monday we went to Georgetown!!!!!!! Georgetown is the university that both my mom

and dad went to and I want to also. The places we went were Healy hall, the John Thompson center, the hall of fame and the store. My favorite place was the store because I got a hat and socks that are very cool looking. I hope that I can go to Georgetown again soon!!!!

Tuesday

      On Tuesday we went to National Harbor!!!! We went to see the World Cup game at National Harbor and it was very hot. The game was Belgium vs France and we were rooting for Belgium but they lost 1-0. After the harbor we went to the Aldelphi pool which is a awesome pool 5 minuets away from their house.I wish I were swimming in it right now!!!!

Wednesday 

     On Wednesday we left to go to Ohio. We left at 2:00 P.M. and I was very sad to leave. I am very excited for the next time we go there and I hope it is soon.

Ohio!!—Izzy

Visiting Lola and Lolo in Ohio!!!!

Izzy

7.20.18

      I’m so sorry we haven’t blogged in so long! Ethan and I both had a busy week of camp after just getting back. After visiting the Limarzis in Maryland and also seeing the Johnson-Browns, Dad, Ethan, and I flew to Ohio to visit our other grandparents. We arrived on the 11th of July in the afternoon and Lola and Lolo were there to pick us up. On the drive home from the airport, we stopped to get dinner at Bob Evans. We drove to Lola and Lolo’s house and then relaxed the rest of the night. 

     The next day, Lola, Dad, Ethan, and I drove to the Columbus Zoo/Aquarium that also has a watermark called Zoombezi Bay. I got sick and threw up outside Walgreens while we got some sunscreen and water. We walked around the whole zoo because Ethan and I love animals! My favorite animals were the wombat, otters, and manatees. All of those animals are sooooooo cute!!!!! We think we even saw 2 baby manatees. The wombat was just sitting down because it is nocturnal. After the zoo/aquarium we got changed into our swim suits and went into the lazy river. Ethan, Dad and I rode some pretty amazing slides. One of my favorites was the one where you have a mat and slide down head first. You get to race the other people-but Dad beat me. This water park reminded me a lot of  Aquatica which is back in San Diego. A lot of the rides were the same. (You can go check out our other post about Aquatica too: Aquatica!!!—Ethan)We spent a total of 4 hours at the zoo and 5 hours at the water park. We slept really well that night! That was a very fun day and I hope to go back.

     We woke up and had breakfast. I got ready to go to the YMCA near Lola and Lolo’s house. Lola and I went in one car and Ethan, Dad, and Lolo went in the other car. I went into the heated pool for a little bit with Lola because it’s good for her knee. Then we went into the lap pool and I got to swim some laps. Since I had swim camp, I wanted to practice a little bit. We went to The Old Bag of Nails pub for lunch. Ethan, Dad, and I saw Skyscraper later at a movie theater in Columbus. It was a good movie but was very stressful for me. Later, some of Lola and Lolo’s friends came over and we had fondue for dinner. I had lots of shrimp and veggies. We also watched a lot of Wimbledon!

     On our last day, we all drove to Ohio State University to see the stadium. We got to see the marching band practice and they played the fight song. We went to an Asian noodle place and had a good lunch. We went into an Ohio State store and Ethan got a really cool hat. Lola and Lolo took us to the airport and we flew a short flight to Nashville. We ended up getting delayed a few hours and got in later. We actually saw the Vegas at the airport and drove home with them. We had a great trip and are excited to be home!!!

Coming Back to D.C—Izzy

Coming Back to D.C. and our Spanish Test!

Izzy

6.6.18

      Today we left Waynesboro at 7:00 am and had breakfast in the car. We ate the stuff we bought yesterday at Walmart. We finished Hamilton and listened to some other music. About half way into the ride, we listened to a book about robots and technology. It was pretty interesting. Ethan and I both fell asleep at different times. We got back to Koko's house at 9:58 and the World Cup Game started at 10:00. We rushed inside with our stuff and turned on the game. Uruguay was playing France.

     Since we could only get the game in Spanish, Koko's friend, Tali, told us some soccer phrases in Spanish. Koko turned it into a test and said there would be a reward if we got 100%. Ethan and I studied while the game finished. Koko wrote down all of the words on a paper and we had to write the English word. There were 25 words for us to memorize: (see below). Ethan and i both got 100% so I got to pick out a Japan soccer jersey and Ethan got to get the 2018 Fifa World Cup soccer ball. We aced it!

1) mas tiempo--more time
2) mano--hand
3) rojo--red
4) armarillo--yellow
5) bien partido--good game
6) partido--game
7) tarjeta--card
8) izquierda--left
9) derecha--right
10) lamenta blamente--sadly
11) arriba--up
12) limpio--clean
13) derecho--straight
14) cuerpo--body
15) cabeza--head
16) golpe--hit
17) pelota--ball
18) cancha--field
19) pie--foot
20) cuidado--careful
21) ganar--win
22) perder--lose
23) penal--penalty
24) paierna--leg
25)adentro--in

Seeing Ant-Man And The Wasp!!

Seeing Ant-Man And The Wasp!!

By: Ethan V.

7-6-18

     Today we saw Ant-Man And The Wasp!!!! Ant-Man had a first movie and that was really good and now they added the Wasp. Ant Man's powers are he can be very small and now big and he can make ants do anything. The Wasp's powers are she can turn big and small and she had wings like a Wasp so she can fly. My favorite person was Luis and his actor is Micheal Peña. He was very funny and my favorite part was when he made a different car bigger. He made it bigger because they have a thing where you can make anything bigger or smaller and they have hot wheels and make them bigger. I think that it is very cool that they can make anything bigger or smaller and I would make my stuffed animal elephant bigger. I really liked this movie and I recommend you see it.

     

Monticello--Izzy

Going to Monticello!

Izzy

6.5.18

     Today we left Shepardstown in West Virginia and headed for Monticello in Virginia. When we got to Monticello, we got our tickets and took the shuttle up the little mountain. Our tour was scheduled for 12:00 pm, so we got to look around for a little bit. We walked through the 1000 foot long vegetable garden and went into the blacksmith's shop. We got to the tour area 10 minutes early as we were instructed. One of the staff members told us about the house in general and about how Thomas Jefferson designed it himself. We met up with the other people from our group and our guide talked about Thomas Jefferson's biggest accomplishments and what he is know for. When we started our tour, we got to see the entrance hall where he met his guests. We only got to walk around the first floor of the house but there were still quite a few rooms. My favorite room was Jefferson's bedroom because he copied a french style called Alcove where your bed is in a compartment in the wall to save more space. I also loved the layout and style. There was a really cool 3 paneled window that could turn into a door if you moved all 3 panels up. It would be awesome if I had those windows in my room! There was also a tunnel to the slave's quarters, storage areas, and the kitchen underneath the walkways. Seeing where our third president lived was so cool and I hope to come back again sometime in the future!

This is Thomas Jefferson's bedroom--my favorite room!

Me using the polygraph--one of Jefferson's
inventions!

This is Thomas Jefferson's grave.

This is me and Ethan standing in front of Monticello!

Waynesboro— The Deserted Town!!

Waynesboro— The Deserted Town!!

7-5-18
By: Ethan V.

     Today after Monticello we stayed in a town called Waynesboro. We stayed in a house that was purple and it was a bed and breakfast. They also had two cats!! One was a tortoiseshell longhair and her name was Bell. The other one we don't know the breed but it's name was Mosby and he was named after Dr.Mosby. Dr.Mosby's office was actually our room!!! Our room was very awesome. The first part was a bed and in the middle was a bathroom and then the last room was another bedroom. The last room also had a T.V. The last room was Izzy's room and then Koko and I shared the first room. After we got our stuff in the room we went to the town. The town is SO DEAD and I didn't suspect it. On main street there were about 3 shops open!!! We searched up a CVS and when we got there we only knew it was there because of the stains from the big letters that spelled out CVS. We ended up going to Walmart and got food for the next day.

Harper's Ferry!--Izzy

Ziplining at Harpers Ferry!

Izzy

6.4.18

     Today we drove to Harpers Ferry Adventure Center to go tubing and ziplining. The first thing I did was ziplining. When we got to Harpers Ferry, we bought some sunscreen and drank some water. We also checked in. When it was about 10:00 am, we went over to the ziplining tent and waited because we were the first ones there. We got all of our gear on like the harness, ropes with carabeaners, helmets, and gloves after everyone was there. The staff showed us how to practice stopping and doing a self rescue. After they showed us how, we had to do it ourselves. To break, you had to put your palm on the bottom cable and slowly apply pressure. When doing a self rescue, you stop, turn around, and pull yourself to the platform hand over hand. While we were in line, Ethan got a little scared and didn't want to do it anymore. Koko and I still did the practice but Koko ended up staying behind with Ethan. I went by myself and got to be the first in the group so I could be done faster. My favorite one was the fifth one because it seemed the longest and went over the road. You got to see the cars go by. I also loved the last one because it went down to the ground and it was pretty fast. To find out more about the rest of the trip, go to Ethan's blog post: Craziness In Harpers Ferry!!!!!!!!

Craziness In Harpers Ferry!!!!!!!!

Craziness In Harpers Ferry!!!!!!

By: Ethan V.

7-4-18

     Today was(another) crazy day!!!!! We woke up at 7 A.M. and then got our stuff together for the trip and then got on the road to Harpers Ferry. The car ride is 1 hour and 30 minuets from Koko's house. When we got there we checked in and then got sunscreen and put a lot on.  After sunscreen we went to the ziplining tent and waited for everyone else. I ended up not doing it because I don't like heights and the highest one was about 30 feet and I don't like anything that high. Koko stayed with me because the whole thing was going to be about 1 hour and 15 minuets but we got to go to the TRAMPOLINE!!!! The trampoline was like a pillow and it was SO FUN!!!!!! We stayed on there for about 10 minuets and then we got tired of the bugs and heat so we went to the main shop. First we got       the tubing tickets and then we went and got water shoes for tubing. After the water shoes we went and picked up Izzy from the zip lining place and then we got snacks from the shop. After we finished the snacks we went to the tubing place and we got life jackets on but we didn't go because Izzy was feeling bad so we got in the car and we went to the actuall town of harpers ferry. First we ate lunch and I got  a really good burger and Izzy and Koko both got salads. After that really good lunch we walked around town and then we went in the John Brown wax museum and it was very creepy!!! There were 3 floors and a basement of it and all it is you walk up and down creepy halls and there are different displays of wax figures that tell the life of John Brown. John Brown was a abolitionist that hated slavery and in the mid-1800's he led a rebellion in harpers ferry but he was captured and hung and that was about his life in the museum, too. Another thing is that the museum is haunted. There are 2 ghosts in the museum and we were by our selves which made it creepier. I think that I actually saw a moving shadow, too. After that we did 2 miles of appalachian trail!!! The appalachian trail goes through Georgia to Maine and it takes about 6 months to do it!!!  We only did 2 miles and the real trail is about 5,000 miles!!!! After that we got Ice cream and went to our hotel and it had an Infinity pool!! We played in the pool for a lot of time and then went to sleep and that was craziness in harpers ferry.

Evanston Reflection- Ethan

Evanston Reflection- Ethan

By: Ethan V.
7-3-18

     Today we left Evanston and this is my reflection on it.  There are our rules for Evanston in Izzy's post and here is the link: Izzy's Reflection. In this post I will tell you the good things and the bad things things about my time in Evanston.

     Bad Things

     The bad things about leaving Evanston were we had to leave our awesome grandparents Momo and Jiji and we also had to leave Koubou their cat. We have facetimed them every single day since we left and Momo says he is very sad but he does get to exercise with Jiji so that is good. I also miss tennis camp a little because it was very fun. But we are actually are doing a tennis camp in San Diego so that is better. So those were some of the bad things about leaving Evanston and now here are the things that I liked in Evanston.

      Good Things

     Here are the good things about my time in Evanston: we got to pick out Koubou the cat and we got to do tennis camp and staying with Momo and Jiji. Picking out Koubou wasn't that hard at all because he came up to us right away and we liked him a lot(plus he is buddhist) and he is very friendly. I liked tennis camp because all the coaches were nice and the games we played were very fun and I want to do it again next summer, also. Staying with Momo and Jiji izzy and I always love because we get Japanese lessons with Jiji and doing Garden work with Momo and MUCH, MUCH more but I can't list all of it. I am looking forward a lot to going back and I can't wait for Christmas!!!

     

Evanston Reflection--Izzy

Reflection:Our Visit to Evanston 2018!

Izzy

7.3.18

     Today we left Evanston to go to Koko's house in D.C. I am going to talk about what I liked, disliked, etc. I am sad to leave Momo and Jiji/Koubou but am happy to go on more adventures with Koko. 

      Our responsibilities were: making our beds/keeping our room neat, exercising with Jiji(daily), posting on the blog at least every other day, doing at least one page in our All About Me books daily, doing at least one book review, writing in our journals, doing a Japanese lesson ever day for at least forty minutes, and practicing Go and calligraphy. Ethan and I each had a star chart to fill in when we accomplished the task. Doing all of these things helped us with time management--we knew what we had to get done and did it. Also, Ethan and I could earn money if we completed everything. 

     Some of my favorite things were the tennis camp, getting Koubou, learning a Japanese song, and playing Go. I also loved going to the Morton Arboretum and hanging out with Sachi. The tennis camp had nice coaches and fun activities. I hope to do it again next year. I also loved learning the Japanese song and I will always remember it. Playing Go was very fun and I hope to get a Go board at home. As for the blogging and journaling, they can be a lot of fun and a lot of work! I am used to doing all of these things and am glad to keep writing even when school is over. The book review are kinda fun, but not really. I know it's good for you because it proves you really were paying attention to the events, but it's just more work. Well there isn't much other work. But by doing an extra review, I earned an extra twenty five incentive points which equals five dollars.  Overall this year was another amazing summer in Evanston and I am happy to always come back!

Puzzle--Izzy

Doing a Puzzle with Koko!!!

Izzy

7.2.18

     Today Koko, Ethan, and I started a puzzle of the world. It's a 600 piece puzzle of all of the different countries and oceans on earth. Some of the pieces are even shaped like the country! We worked on it all day on Monday and completed the outside edge, all of the countries, and some of the water. Ethan did South America and Russia. I did the United States and some other countries, plus parts of the water and Antarctica. I like how this puzzle helps you with your geography of the world--it's a good thing to know. Since Belgium beat Japan in a World Cup Match, we are going to take them out of the puzzle. 😏We will definitely try to finish the puzzle tomorrow before we leave for D.C! To read about Koko's arrival, go to Ethan's post: Koko Coming Home!!!!!

7.3.18

     Today we finished the puzzle! We took a few pics, some of them with Koubou. And we took out Belgium. Some other countries like Germany were connected to it--no offense Germany! This was a very fun puzzle.

This is the puzzle we did!

Koubou helped too. Kinda...

Koko Coming HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Koko Coming Home!!!!!! 

By: Ethan V.

7-2-18

   Yesterday Koko came home!!! We were expecting her to get here at about 9 P.M., but since she there were thunderstorms she came here at about 10 P.M. I was doing my blog when she snuck up on us and scared us. I was also very happy because Koko is AWESOME!!!!! She ate dinner and then went to sleep because we needed to wake up for the world cup. We thought that Japan was playing early and before we knew that we were already ready for bed so we decided to just go to bed. When we woke up Koko and I went downstairs and watched T.V. We got ready for the Japan game and we started on a puzzle of the world. The puzzle is very big and it's 600 pieces!!!!! Find out a LOT more information in Izzy's blogpost about it. Right now we are very stressed with it because it is very hard because we are doing the seas. I am very happy she is here and I am excited for our next summer adventure with her in D.C.

Cooking With Jiji--Izzy and Ethan

Cooking with Jiji!!

Izzy and Ethan

7.1.18

Izzy's Experience

     Ethan and I have both done some cooking with Jiji. We got to learn from the master how to make some really good Japanese dishes! The first thing I made with Jiji was curry. We all love to have Jiji's famous curry--it's SO good! It usually has meat, potatoes, carrots, celery, and a few more ingredients. Since I am now pescatarian, Jiji said he would make shrimp curry instead. He made it the same as usual but with shrimp. He cut up all of the ingredients and put them into bowls. Ethan and I also learned how to shell the shrimp. I put all of the ingredients in a pot and added the curry sauce. We had it over rice. Another day I helped Jiji cook some shumai. We put the shumai ino  a pan with a little oil and when it was brown, flipped them over. Then we added a little water and covered the pan. We made 2 different kinds of shumai, pork and edamame (mainly for me). Just yesterday I helped Jiji with some gyoza. Since our friends Elizabeth and Gavin were coming over, we had sushi, gyoza, and miso soup for dinner. The process of cooking gyoza was similar to cooking the shumai, putting them in a pan with some oil and letting them cook for a while. Then you flipped them over and added some water. The gyoza had meat so I didn't try any--but the others said they were good. I had lots of fun cooking with Jiji and hope to do it again soon!

Ethan's Experience

     I am lucky to have the chance to cook with Jiji and I am even luckier to have him teach me how to make his awesome steak!!!!! Here is how we made it: First we got the steak out of the package and put it on a tray with foil on it. The foil is there to prevent a mess on the tray and it works!! Anyway, first we put tenderizer on it and it's supposed to make it more tender but it looked more like salt to me. After the tenderizer we added seasoning. Then we flipped it over and did the same on the other side of the steak. After we put all that on both sides of the steak we turned on the broiler and put the steak in. On broil you put the steak in for 7 minutes and I don't know how much time it is for a different mode. When the seven minutes are up you flip it over and do it for another 7 minutes on the other side. Then you take it out and it's complete!! I love cooking with Jiji and I hope I can do it again. And that was Izzy and me cooking with Jiji!!!

This is Izzy cooking the gyoza with Jiji.

This is Ethan helping Jiji cook the steak.

    

Jurassic World!--Izzy

Seeing Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom!!!

Izzy

6.30.18

     Today we saw Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom! Like last time, when we saw Incredibles 2, Momo drove us there and went in with us to buy the tickets. Then Ethan and I got our own snacks and Momo drove home. I bought a medium popcorn for us to share. We brought water and Starburst Gummies from home to snack on. We went into the theater and enjoyed the awesome movie. My favorite character was Owen because he was funny. The actor, Chris Pratt, is very funny in general. I also liked Franklin because he was scared a lot of the time, which made him funny. I think this movie was very good because of the plot. I wasn't expecting some of the things that happened and when they did, it made the movie better.  Also, the dinosaurs look SO real in these films. Overall, the movie was great and I would recommend seeing it!