kansas city

Just some scenes from good old K-town, where I was for the past few days, visiting family & such. The first two days we mostly walked around downtown since my cousins had school during the day. Saturday we went to Worlds of Fun and then came back for my aunt's birthday party. It was a quick trip but lots of fun. A good way to wrap up the summer. 

Now, no more traveling for me for several months. I'm a little sad about that, but, you know, it is what it is. Tomorrow...school. eeek. 

Hope you're all enjoying your last days of summer or first days of school. Stay classy, y'all.

a last cabin hurrah

I've been home several days from what was probably my last time at the cabin in Truckee. My grandparents are selling it and the "for sale" sign in front was a strange and foreign sight to my eyes. I've been going there once or twice a year all my life. I've known it in hot summers and snowy Christmases, and it in turn has seen me through all seasons of my life thus far. In fourth grade, I wrote an essay on it for school (prompt: write about a favorite place) and that essay is hanging by the fireplace in the cabin. I'd use different words now, but the sentiment is still the same. It's one of the most beautiful places and it means a lot to me. I hesitate to call it a "second home" but it's full of family and traditions and lots of memories. This time, a last hurrah, was no different. The days were packed with horseback-riding, kayaking, tubing, swimming, and hiking, as well other things, like s'more-making.

When we left, I surprised myself by not getting overly emotional about it. It's bittersweet, yes, but now there are new places to look forward to. And besides, I've come to know the memories were the best things you ever had. (x)

america is gr8

The Fourth of July is probably my fourth favorite holiday. Maybe because it's in the summer and it evokes something wild and carefree or maybe because I am secretly patriotic and sentimental about this old country here. I really do love America. I mean, there are lots of things wrong with it, sure, but it's come a long way and, anyway, there's definitely no place like home. And America will always be home.

We went to the parade in the morning and the little girl I babysit gave me a box of Nerds and I got a free breakfast taco, so I'd say that was a success. Then I came home and made a raspberry cobbler and also watched 8 episodes of Parks & Rec because that is a pretty American show, right?

 My family and some of our neighbors drove to my dad's office building so we could watch the fireworks from the roof there. We weren't the only ones with that idea.

 I have to say, photographing fireworks -- the ones that are kinda far away -- was so frustrating. It's just so dark that the shutter speed has to be slow but then it's so shaky and ahhhh. I think I got better pictures with my point and shoot in Disneyland than last night. Whatever. They still look pretty, and I don't really care. 

Anyway, I'm leaving you again tomorrow for Florida. I'll be at camp until...the 14th, I think. But this time, I do have posts about Spain and something else scheduled. Adios! And Happy Belated Fourth of July!

camping is intense

(And in tents. Okay, sorry, I totally stole Claudia's joke and probably made it less funny.)

This past weekend my family went camping with my sister's Girl Scout troop. I haven't been camping in a while. Overall, I had fun, but there are a few things I would change next time. Namely, I would remember to bring a pillow and I would not go camping in Texas in June when it's about a hundred degrees.

We camped near the lake. The sunset both nights was spectacular. It's just so much prettier with the water.

On Saturday we went ziplining. It was terrifying but also really exhilarating, hanging in the air, a few hundred feet above ground. There were five different segments, I guess, and right before I would always get so nervous but the actual zipping was so fast that I don't really remember thinking much of anything except for admiring the view. It was pretty incredible.

It wasn't all fun and games, though. The bathroom was probably half a mile away and it had this charming quality wherein there would be one stall that was out of order and the other stall would have this freaky spider and then you would be in that stall with the spider and then the lights would turn off. Bugs are probably the worst thing about nature, to be honest. The only thing scarier than noticing a bug on the inside of your closed tent is looking again and not seeing it there. *shudders*

So, that's what I did this weekend. I also read Tina Fey's book in its entirety one afternoon. Only I picked it up in the middle, read until the end, and then started back at the beginning.

I can't begin to explain why I do the things I do.

birthday cake

Today was my youngest sister's eleventh birthday. It was also, on a darker note, the anniversary of MLK's assassination, but that's not why we had cake.

Chocolate peanut butter cake from Sweetish Hill.

Yummm except I couldn't finish mine. I'm so disappointed with myself. When I was younger I could probably have eaten two pieces and now I'm barely completing one? So ashamed. I guess I just had too much freaking vegetable soup. I kept looking for pieces of chicken. There were none. It was pretty sad.

Also my bathroom is being completely obliterated but that's a story for another time. I'm tired and still have an ungodly amount of math homework to do. Luckily, tomorrow is the last day of school for the week. Four day weekends, I love you.

planet earth is a death trap.

I thought I'd start April off right; that is, with a blog post! I'm not going to do to BEDA (maybe in August), but I will I do BALIAALALMTIDIM. That stands for Blog A Lot In April, At Least A Lot More Than I Did In March. (I made it up. Aren't I clever.)

Today my friend Caitlin and I had to venture into a park to collect data for our Planet Earth class. I kind of miss Great Ideas, which we had last semester, because during it we only had to go in the woods ONCE. For this class, we have already been like four times. The last time was during a field trip on Thursday, which was enjoyable because I saw two snakes, some fish, cardinals and other birds, a bajillion daddy long legs, and a raccoon in a dumpster! That part was fun, but my favorite part was probably lunch which my classmates turned into 'let's ask the teacher personal questions' time. I learned lots of interesting tidbits from this, but above all, I learned never be a high school teacher because then your students will film you dancing to DDR and put it on Facebook and even the mom who is the chaperone will have seen it.

Where was I? Oh yeah, today. We had to lay down a 50 meter transect and then record all the plants that had overhang along it. (Twice.) This will be easy, I thought. But easy it was not! It was 85 degrees and sunny, but it felt about 100 degrees. Our park is so jank; it's so uneven and there aren't paths so we have to walk through the brush and also there are probably homeless people who live there. The first transect took forever because there were so many freaking plants, and they all look the same, okay, green and leafy, but then the second one we got smart and went somewhere with only three trees. Pecan trees 4ever.

Conclusion: I like nature. But not analyzing it, just...letting it be.

So...that was my afternoon. Now I'm going to finish homework and then do stuff I actually want to do like watch Doctor Who and write things that rhyme. Okay, bye.

P.S. A random word of advice, garnered from my extensive life experience: WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EAT THE DIRT FLAVORED JELLY BEAN FROM BERNIE BOTT'S EVERY FLAVORED BEANS. JUST...DON'T.

holidays, part ii.

This is the second part of my trip, which takes place in Truckee, California.

Yeah, remember when I said there was no snow? I lied. There was a leeetle bit of snow. Patches here and there. Not enough for proper sledding or snow-shoeing, though.

We went on a walk around the lake one morning.

I also spent a lot of time indoors, reading, playing Scrabble, eating (mmm cookies!)...you know, the usual.

Le fin.

OKAY YAY that's over. It took me way too long to draft this. Now my eyes are going buggy.