13/3/2002, Wednesday
Today my mum is taking me and my sister shopping. It took us a long time walking to the shopping center, but after about half an hour, we finally made it. When we got there, my sister brought two quarters and got a ring and some pink bubblegum. The ring didn’t come out, so we just went inside to buy some groceries. Mum bought me a huge box of tic tacs and my sister a small packet of jelly beans. When we took everything to the counter, it happened to be a huge amount of food. My sister let me try some jelly beans and the one I hated most was the peanut butter flavor. When we got out of the shop my sister’s ring fell out of the toy dispenser. She had a silver stretchy ring. On the way home, we took a long time deciding what to eat for lunch. It was either at Wendy’s or at McDonald’s. My sister and I both had Happy Meals and we got two crazy bones for toys. It took about another half an hour to get back home. When we actually arrived at home, we started playing with our crazy bones.
27/3/2002, Wednesday
On Wednesday, 27th of March 2002, I was sick so I stayed home from school that day. In the morning, I got to have breakfast in bed. I had a cheese sandwich put in a microwave. I thought that the cheese was so soft, sticky, and slimy. When I finished eating, I sat up to read some books, one of them was called “Selby Spacedog”, and the story that I liked best was called “Daggers of Death”. The story was about a dog called Selby and he was asked to help a magician called Ralpho do his magic trick. The part that he has to help out was being stuck to a big number wheel. This is what looks like: ……. Then Ralpho starts throwing daggers at Selby, but he always misses because Ralpho never actually throws the daggers. When Ralpho gets out a number, the dagger behind the wheel suddenly pops up using levels and things. At the show, everything was a disaster. But the last trick was called, “The-trick-to-end-all-tricks.” That was the Selby trick. It wasn’t much of a success.
13/4/2002, Saturday
Today my mum and dad took my sister and me by the MSU bus to the Wal-Mart shopping canter to do some shopping. When we got to the bus stop, we had to wait for about half an hour because the bus was a bit late. There was already a crowd of passengers on the bus as it has been to other places earlier. We walked up the steps and found some comfortable spots to sit. We rode for half an hour before we got to our destination. We got off the bus and started shopping. First, we went over to the food section and bought a variety of food. Next, we went over to the clothes section and my mum bought me a backpack and a purple Harry Potter with a picture of Hermione on it. My mum didn’t buy my sister bags because she didn’t want them. We paid for all the items and went outside to wait for the bus. A few minutes went by, and the bus finally came. Then we went home with the bus, and got off at Rice Hall, which is about 25 meters away from our house at 45 Morgan Ave.
10/5/2002, Friday
Today is May Day and it is an especially fun day. Mom gave me $5, but I really only spent $4, which is worth 16 tickets. Before May Day activities began, our class did some Mountain Math. Then the teacher asked my friend Dorothy and me to clean out the cupboard. We didn’t get to finish it because May Day activities had started. We all ran over to the playground and started using our tickets wildly. The first game I played was the limbo, but I didn’t get a prize. The next game I played was the balance beam. I did win a prize so I did it over and over again. I won lots of prizes but then I got bored of it, so I decided to go to another game. I went to the monkey bars and won some vampire teeth. The next game I played was mini golf. I didn’t get a prize because I couldn’t get the golf ball into the hole. But I had fun anyway. There was another game I played but I didn’t know the name. You had to drop a penny onto a jar which has a cup in it, and it is hard to drop the penny into the cup because the water kept on shaking the penny. The second time I did it, I almost got the penny into the cup. Another game I thought was fun (but I didn’t get to do it because you need to have a note from your parents) was the Dunkin’ Booth. My friend Cindy got to have a turn and she got all wet and soggy. It was already in the afternoon, so I thought I could go on the train ride with my friend. We sat in the very last carriage. It wasn’t a very long ride but it was okay. After a few minutes, we had to go back in and pack up to go home. I had to wait o long time until bus #48 arrived. Then, finally it did. Today was one of my happiest days at Ward-Stewart Elementary School.
23/5/2002, Thursday
Today is the last day of school and I am so happy that it is nearly over and I will have a three month holiday. In the morning, at about eight thirty, the fifth grade classes had a no demerit party. We got to have ice cream sundaes and some drinks. We got to play the limbo and musical chairs. I only played musical chairs because I didn’t like playing the limbo. At about 10 o’clock, we had to go back into our classrooms because the party was over and it was time for the fourth grade classes to have their party. At lunchtime, our teacher ordered us some pizza from Papa-Johns and we each received two big slices each. I thought the pizza was really nice because it had lots of cheese. When we finished, it was time to go home. I had to wait a long time for the bus. But finally the bus came, and I had my last bus ride home as a fifth grader.
7/6/2002, Friday
Today mum and dad are taking me and my sister to Wal-Mart to do some shopping. We got there by a borrowed van. When we arrived, we got to the food section, and picked up two bags of cereal, three packs of bread, two packs of sausages and a whole lot of other food. Then we went to the games section and my parents bought me an electronic game called Monopoly. After that, we went to the cash register. When mum and dad paid the money, we went back home. When we got home, I took the game out of the pack and read the instructions. When I’d finished that, I started playing the game. The first time I played it, I was a car. I really like Monopoly because it’s a handheld game and it’s really easy to play. I got Monopoly because I got fifty boats for my Chinese studies. My sister said that she wanted to get fifty boats and receive a handheld game called Whack-a-Mole. I think Monopoly is really, really, really fun.
21/6/2002, Friday
On Friday, 21st of June, my mum and dad took me and my sister shopping by a minivan we purchased the day before. It was already past six o’clock in the afternoon, so we had to go fast because some of the shops were going to close. First we went to Dollar General and my mum bought me a pair of sandals. Then we hurried to Foodmax and bought some fruits and vegetables. Afterwards we rushed to Dollar Tree and my mum bought me two travel games called Snake and Ladders and Parchisi. My mum bought my sister a pen that has a stamp and some bubbles. When we finished paying for the items, we got back into the car and drove home. Once at home, we started playing the games, I won a game with Cathy before we got to sleep.
30/6/2002, Sunday
On Sunday, 30th of June, my mum and dad took me and my sister to Elvis Presley’s house in Tupelo. It was a long drive there but we finally made it after over an hour. When we got there, we went to Save-a-Lot store and bought our lunch and lots of snacks. After that, we drove and parked near Elvis Presley’s house. While we were waiting, we went to Family Dollar and my mum bought me and my sister a tiny backpack. When we got back, the museum opened. We bought the tickets and got inside a small room. There were lots of Elvis’ photos and clothes. Afterwards, we went to the souvenir shop next door. My mum bought a heart shaped keyring for my sister and a book called Elvis Presley’s Graceland for me. When we got back outside, we went to Elvis’ birthplace nearby. The house was so small that it only had a bedroom and a kitchen. After seeing all that, we returned home via Natchez Trace Parkway. We stopped briefly to see the Bynom Moulds, two earth moulds built by Natchez Indians many years ago. It was really fun and I also learned a lot.
20/7/2002, Saturday
Dear Angela,
Life is pretty hard on a school day because I have to get up at 6 o’clock in the morning. But it isn’t so hard on holidays because my sister and I can sleep in. We have been visiting a few places in Mississippi. On the 30th of June, my parents took me and my sister to Tupelo, (where Elvis Presley was born). We went to the Elvis museum. The clothes and pictures were pretty amazing and I didn’t know he was so tall. On another day we went to Columbus, but there wasn’t much to see. On the 5th of July, my parents took us to visit the Jackson zoo. It was good fun because I saw many animals and that I haven’t been to a zoo for about 2 years. After looking at all the animals, we went to the souvenir shop. My mum bought me a lioness and bought my sister a lion. It was really fun. They are all the cities we’ve been to so far but I hope to go to more.
From Brenda
2/8/2002, Friday
Today, when my dad came back from work in the evening, my mum and dad took me and my sister to Foodmax to buy some groceries. It didn’t take much time to find the items we wanted, and then we went to Wal-Mart. While there, my sister Cathy and I persuaded mum and dad to get a T.V set with a video player, so we could watch some movies and videos. It was fun at Wal-Mart because I sat in the trolley until my dad put the T.V in there. We were in Wal-Mart for a long time because we couldn’t make up our mind on which T.V to buy. But finally we selected one. Then we went to the cash register to pay for the items. When we arrived home, Cathy and I helped dad unpack the T.V, and installed it in my room. What a wonderful item to have in one’s room.
16/8/2002, Friday
Today my sister and I played Brainquest. I was deck one and Cathy was deck two. We only read about 23 questions. There are 3 types of games: 10 point game, 5 minute game, and solitaire. The instructions of the first game are: each player/team gets a deck and takes turns asking questions. Correct answers are worth 1 point (2 points for genius questions). The first player/team to score 10 points wins. The second game works like this: each player/team takes turns firing questions at the opponent for 5 minutes. Whoever scores the highest in 5 minutes period wins the game. The third game goes like this: play each card through and then check your answers against the answer cards. Your quest is to get them all right. Cathy and I played our game sort of like the 10 point game except we kept on going after 10 points. It is an interesting game to play when you have spare time.
30/8/2002, Friday
Today I read a book called ‘Werewolf Skin’ by R.L. Stine. It is about a boy called Alex. He went to visit his aunt and uncle at Wolf Creek. At first he thinks that Wolf Creek is cool but what he doesn’t know is that there are werewolves. One day, he went to school with his friend Hannah, and they learned about the study of werewolves. To destroy a werewolf, you have to burn their werewolf skin. That night, Alex wanted to take some pictures of a werewolf. He learned that his neighbors, the Marlings, were werewolves. So he snuck outside and saw two werewolves and started taking pictures. When the sun was just about to rise, he was finally going to see their human faces. But when he saw their human faces, he was horrified! They were his aunt and uncle! When morning came, he kept thinking that he was eating breakfast with werewolves. Then he had an idea. He and Hannah would hide his aunt and uncle’s skins. Then Hannah had another idea. If they wore the wolfskins, his aunt and uncle would never look at them. She put one on and gave the other one to Alex. When the night came, his aunt and uncle started chasing them because they had the wolfskins. Then the moon came out. His aunt and uncle didn’t turn into werewolves. T6hey were so happy and told Alex about their curse. Then he and Hannah went back into the Marling house to return the skins. But 5then he saw a piece of wolfskin already folded up. He asked Hannah why it was there and Hannah said that she used her own skin and knocked Alex to the floor and sank her teeth into Alex’s chest.
27/9/2002, Friday
Today I read a book called ‘The Girl Who Cried Monster”. It is about a girl called Lucy who likes to scare her brother Randy with make-believe monsters. One day, Lucy had to go to her Reading Rangers meeting at the library. When she got there, Mr. Morton (the librarian) sat at the big desk. Lucy borrowed a book called “Frankenstein” and went home. But then she remembered her rollerskates still at the library. She went back to the library. When she got there, she saw Mr. Morton take a handful of flies out of a jar. At first, she thought that he would feed the flies to his turtles, but she got really frightened after he ate all the flies and one of his turtles. Grabbing her rollerskates, she ran out of the library and back home. When Lucy got home, she told her parents that Mr. Morton was a monster but they didn’t believe her. Then she thought it was an optical illusion. She had an idea to see if it were true. Lucy would take a picture of the monster. So, the next day, she went back to the library after closing time. To find out what happened in the library, please read the book.
11/10/2002, Saturday
Today I read a book called “Night in Terror Tower” by R.L. Stine. It is about a girl called Sue and a boy called Eddy. They go to England to see the Terror Tower. While in their tour group, the tour guide is showing everyone what people used to kill the prisoners. When they get to one of the dungeons in one of the towers, Sue feels a sudden chill that makes her think it is familiar. Eddie and Sue want to look around but the tour group has already gone and they can’t find them. Suddenly, a very big man comes and transports them back into the past about the 1500s. the big man puts them into a dungeon and locks them up. Sue thinks that something makes the big man look familiar too. Then the dungeon door flew open and in came a person with a long white beard and purple robes. His name is Morgred and he tells Sue and Eddy that their real names are Susanna and Edward of York and they belong in the 15th century and that the dungeon and the big man look familiar because they are supposed to be sentenced to death here. Morgred wanted to send them into the 21st century as far as possible from Terror Tower. The big man is the Lord’s High Executioner and somehow he stole the 3 stones and transported himself into the future. When Morgred finished telling the story, everything is in their rightful place. Then Morgred transports Sue, Eddie, and himself into the 21st century.
26/10/2002, Saturday
This week I read a book called ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ by J.K. Rowling. It is about a boy called Harry who lives with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley. One morning, during the summer holidays, the mailman arrived and gave Uncle Vernon a letter covered with stamps. He read it to Harry. It was Ron’s mum asking him to go to the Quidditch World Cup and staying with the Weasleys for the rest of the summer holidays. Uncle Vernon said it was alright. So when Harry got to his bedroom, he wrote a letter to Sirius telling him where he was going. At 5 o’clock pm, Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron arrived at Harry’s house by floo powder. Fred accidentally dropped his candy and left one on the floor. Dudley ate it. Then his tongue grew 4 ft long. Mr. Weasley shrank it. Then they went to Ron’s house by floo powder. The next day Hermione arrived and Mr. Weasley, Fred. George, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry got to the World Cup by a portkey. Bill, Charlie, and Percy didn’t come with them because they can apperate and disapperate. When they got to the campsite man, Mr. Weasley realized that he was a muggle. Harry helped Mr. Weasley pay for some land with muggle money. Then, Cornilius Fudge apparated right in front of the muggle. He put a memory charm on him. When the game started, Ireland was in a good lead, Bulgaria hadn’t scored yet. In the end, irelan won but Viktor Krum got the snitch. When they got back to their campsite, the Dark Mark was conjured in the sky. Mr. Crouch thought Winky did it, so he sacked her. Winky started crying and wailing. To find out what happened later in the story, read the book.
7/12/2002, Saturday
Today I read a book called ‘The boy who lost his face by Louis Sachar. It is about a boy named David who helps Scott, Randy, and Roger steal Mrs. Bayfield’s cane. He thinks mrs. Bayfield has put a curse in him. His friend Larry says it is a boomerang curse common in Australia. He says that people will see his underwear, break a window, flip someone off, and have lemonade poured on him, and it all really happened. The Spanish teacher tells him to zip his fly, flip his mother off, and break a window. His other friend Maureen, or mo, swears a lot. She calls randy a fartface and a bullock. One day he asks Mrs. Bayfield to remove the curse she has put on him. She says she will only remove it if he brings her cane back. The cane is at Roger’s house and they fight for it. David wins and he goes back to Mrs. Bayfield’s house to return the cane. She says that she has not put a curse on him but instead he had been punishing himself. Then they drank lemonade.
23/12/2002, Monday
“Animal Kingdom”
Today my mum and dad took me and my sister to Disneyworld’s Animal Kingdom. First we had to slide our tickets into the ticket machine, and then we were allowed in. the first thing we did was to take pictures under the giant Christmas tree. When it was done, we looked quickly at the Tree of Life, and also around the Mombasa Marketplace. After that, we went to Rafiki’s Planet Watch where we rode the Widlife Express train to Habitat Habit, Conservation Station, and Affection Section. Then we watched a show called ‘Flights of Wonder’. It features several kinds of birds. When the show ended, we got to Discovery Island and watched ‘It’s Tough to be a Bug’ under the Tree of Life. The movie was very funny, with 3-D images coming in and out of the screen. One needs to wear a pair of special glasses to watch it. Afterwards, we went to Dinoland USA. While there, we rode the Primeval Whirl and Triceratops Spin. The Primeval Whirl was a scary ride, in which 4 people sit in a boatlike metal carrier, it goes up and down very quickly, with sharp turns in between. It makes you feel as though the carrier will be spun off the tracks. Cathy and I were screaming from beginning to end. In comparison, Triceratops is a very mild merry – go – round, with 3 people in 1 dinosaur which moves around very slowly. When the rides were over, we went to Camp Minnie-Mickey, and watched a show called ‘Festival of The Lion King’. The festival features some of the characters from the move, The Lion King in a lively display of colors, wits, and more. There was also a parade called ‘Mickey’s Jungle Parade’. When it was finished, the sky was getting dark and we decided to go back to the Rodeway Inn hotel in Kissimmee.
24/12/2002, Tuesday
“EPCOT”
Today my mum and dad took my sister and me to Disneyworld’s EPCOT (standing for environmental protected community of tomorrow). The first thing we did was ride “Spaceship Earth”. It was a ride about communication through the ages and it took place in the EOCOT ball. Then we obtained fastpasses to ride Testrack which can be used later. It is a test car which holds 6 people and goes through various speeds, sudden stops, and crash testing. After that, we went to several countries in the World Showcase. Here are the countries we visited: Germany (the roofs of the buildings of Germany looked really steep), China (the buildings were made to look old fashioned, we also watched a 360 degree show there), Norway (there was a playground that looks like a ship), and Mexico (the building looks really big when you go into the restaurant, it looks almost nighttime). We had to get onto a boat and cross the lake to the other side. When we got there, we looked at Italy, USA, Japan, and Morocco. There was also a parade called ‘Tapestry of Dreams’. Then we went to ride Testrack. There was also a show called “Honey, I shrunk the Audience”. It’s a movie where you have to wear special glasses, and it’s about someone shrinking the audience. After that, we rode the Monorail, it is like a train and it goes around a track. When the ride ended, we decided to go back to the Rodeway Inn in Kissimmee.
25/12/2002, Wednesday
“Magic Kingdom”
Today my mum and dad took my sister and me to Disneyworld’s Magic Kingdom. We went to Main Street USA first, because it was the only way to get to the fun rides. From there we got to Tomorrowland. The first ride we rode was called “Space Mountain”. It is a ride in the dark with high speed, sharp turns, sudden stops, and more high speed. I thought that “Space Mountain” was the scariest ride and my sister said it was her favorite. After that, we watched “The Carousel of Progress” in which we followed a family through 100 years of progress. Afterwards, we went on a ride called “Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin”. It is a ride for 4 people and each person has a gun to shoot the Z’s on the picture of Toy Story characters. In the end, I got 14,400 points, Cathy had 1,600 points, mum shot 3,000 points, and dad scored 5,000. then dad took me to ride the “Indy Speedway”. It is a car ride that you drive the car on a track. We had to wait in line for a really long time, but our turn came at last. The ride was really short and I thought that it wasn’t worth waiting for. Then we went to Mickey’s Toontown Fair and rode a rollercoaster ride called “The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm”. It is a very short ride that features high speed and sharp turns. When it was over, mum bought me a hot dog for lunch. While there, Cathy and I spent $0.51 each to get a Mickey souvenir. Then we went to Minnie’s Country House. It is the house where Minnie Mouse lives. Afterwards, we went on a ride called “Snow White’s Scary Adventure”. It is a ride about the story of Snow White. When the ride was finished, we got fastpasses for a ride called “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”. Then we watched a parade called “Share a Dream Come True”. Then we went to Liberty Square to ride “The Haunted Mansion”. We waited a really long time in the line. But finally we were allowed to get into the cars. “The Haunted Mansion” is a tour ride in a haunted mansion. There are lot’s of ghosts, gravestones, and dead people. My favorite part of the ride was when the ghosts were in the cars with us. After that, we went to Frontierland to ride “The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad”. We had to wait in line for almost 1 hour because we didn’t have fastpass tickets. When our turn came, I was really excited. The rollercoaster features high speed, and sharp turns. I told my sister that it wasn’t really scary. The last ride we went to was “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”. It is a 4 person ride that tells a story about Pooh and his friends. When the ride ended, the sky was getting dark, and we were getting tired so we decided to go back to the Rodeway Inn in Kissimmee.
27/12/2002, Friday
“MGM Studios”
Today my mum and dad took my sister and me to Disneyworld’s MGM Studios. The first thing we did was to get fastpass tickets to ride “The Tower of Terror”. After that, we looked around, and then we went into the fastpass line and waited. We didn’t have to wait too long in line until our turn came. When we got into the elevator, we had to sit in seats with safety belts. The elevator moved forwards. Then suddenly it went up and then down. Some of the windows were open to make you really scared, but my sister just laughed. When the ride was over, we went into a gift shop and saw our picture in the elevator. Afterwards, we went on a ride called “The Great Movie Ride”. It is a ride that takes you into different movies. The ride lasted for 22 minutes. After that we watched a show called “Voyage of The Little Mermaid”. It is a show that features characters from The Little Mermaid and they sing songs. The show lasted for about 17 minutes. When it was over, dad rode “The Rockin’ Roller Coaster”. Mum bought my sister and me each a giant pretzel. After lunch, mum took my sister and me to see a show called “Jim Henson’s Muppet (3-D vision)”, we had to wait a long time in line, but finally got into a small room where we put on special 3-D glasses. The doors opened and we sat in 3 of the seats. The movie was about Miss Piggy and it was really funny. Then. We watched a parade called “Disney Stars and Motor Cars”. It is a parade with Disney characters in special cars. When the parade ended, we went on a ride called “Star Tours”. We got into a spaceship-like car. There was a big T.V. screen in front of us. We buckled our seat belts and then the ride started. The screen showed us that we were in space. The ride didn’t last very long. The sky was getting dark so we decided to go back to the Rodeway Inn in Kissimmee.
