End of Summer

Yep, another beach. It feels good to be at the beach. Why you ask. Knowing you have not much to worry about and the relaxation. The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. Ah. Symphony of waves. Though you do have to keep in mind about sunscreen. Well anyways I feel like we live really close to the beach because we have been going there a lot more often. When we got there, we set up our stuff as usual.  Then Adam and I started playing in the water. The water was at low tide so there were barely any waves. Also the area we were at, there were no people at all. Nice! It actually wasn't a bad temperature. The whole day went like a normal family beach trip. We ate lunch, we played in the sand, and well enjoyed ourselves. For dinner we went to a restaurant called Anne Bonnie. For the first time in my life I ordered off of the adult menu. The restaurant was on an older boat and it is in a river so you have to walk across a bridge to get to the restaurant. We went home after that. I mean what else were we going to do. Well it was a fun little get away!

First Day Of...... virtual school. Well at least it's school just a bit different. Okay wait hold up, erase that. It is totally different. The only similarity is that we are learning. Well trying new things is always a win win. I mean I don't want to wear a mask all day to school. That would hurt my ears. The first day of school wasn't bad. I actually really enjoyed it. I had one activity for the day. I had to make a video about me and what I like. 

In my office I have my computer, my schedule, and my school supplies. I try to keep it organized most of the time. It's not fun to work in an unorganized place. I sit next to mom, so that whenever I have questions she is there. She also likes to keep track of what I am doing. Knowing that I have a sidekick is helpful, for me. School is going great and my teachers name is Mrs. West. She is really nice and gives us a good amount of information. It is so crazy that I am already in 5th grade, wow!

 

New Things

Adam wanted to sleep in my bed just to change it up just a bit, so we brought in his pillow and snuggled up. Sadly Adam kept bugging me and moving around. Mom and Dad heard all of the commotion and came in. Adam had to get sent back into his room, so I was in my bed all alone like always. 

Now it is always nice to change up what you do sometimes, so Mom and Dad took us to another hiking place. This one was only 50 minutes away. It actually wasn't that bad of a ride. when we got there we started our journey. We did one big hike. It was fun. There weren't that many people around which made it nice. After I hike we went back home for lunch. For dinner that day we had a rotisserie chicken from a restaurant called Mami Nora's. It was our first time having it so we didn't now what to expect. It turned out really good. It was a fun day that's for sure.

Since there is a sickness going around, Adam and I had to do virtual learning. Sadly, the computer I was going to use was old and broke, so mom and dad decided that Adam and I should get our own computers. We both got the same computers. They were HP ones. Now I had a computer that only I was going to touch and worked good. I am really happy I got a new computer.

Having Fun Nonstop!!!

Well, when you have the chance to take day trip to the beach, well you would probably take that chance. Yep, we went to the beach to take a day trip. Yes there was some chances of rain, but we didn't let that stop our trip. I played in the waves near the deep end and in the shallow end. It was very sunny in the morning and we only got there till 10:00. Lunch was very good. Of course we packed a lunch. I ordered or I choose to eat a ham and cheese sandwich, grapes, and some chips.
Later in the afternoon, around 1:30 it started to rain, thunder, and lightning. We decided that it was best to leave, so we left. We found the  nearest car garage so we could change and stay dry. Once we were in our comfy clothes, we drove home, It was sad to leave early, but at least we had fun.

To stretch our legs, we went for a nice walk at NCMA (North Carolina Museum of Art), and since it is a museum of art, there was pieces of art like sculptures. It was a nice day to get out of the house. Some of the sculptures were really interesting. There were ones of cities, huge rings, and of course the wonderful smell and sight of outdoor nature. So awesome!!!

Lucky for us, dad was nice enough to make us sushi. Yep, I said sushi. It turned out really good. I had the California roll which is crab and avocado in a roll and a new roll ( i'm not quite sure what it was called) that had fried shrimp and cream cheese in it. It was really good. After our delicious meal Adam and I tried rolling sushi. Dad had some leftover seaweed and rice so we could roll up some sushi. Inside, for practice, we wrapped some aluminum foil in the rice and seaweed. For my first time I think I did pretty good, I mean it is always nice to stay positive!

Special Guests

 This past weekend, we had some specials guests come visit. Yep, Grammie and Gramps came. Since Adam and I have been getting into magic tricks, we performed a magic show for everyone. Our Magic Show was called Keen Magic. We only showed magic tricks that didn't have a lot of set-up. It turned out pretty good and awesome. After the magic show we had a dessert similar to apple dumplings. Now there was a big reason why Grammie and Gramps came. They came because Adam was having his first Holy Communion. I dressed up in a mint dress with imprints of flowers that went to my knees, and a jean jacket. 

 Yes, I know your thinking why even think about doing Adam's First Holy Communion in the church even though corona virus is around, but we were safe because we wore our masks and when we received the host we took our masks off, but not for to long. After mass, we took pictures by a statue outside of the church. 

A Mountain Day!

 Sometimes it's nice to take a day trip to explore or just take a break from all the commotion back at home. Mom and Dad thought it would be fun to take a day trip to the mountains (still in NC), so we went to the mountains on a beautiful, lovely Saturday. It was a 2 hour and 30 minute ride. but I didn't mind. When we got there, we did our first trail called the Hanging Rock trail. The beginning of the trail was just a sandy trail but later in the trail, we ran into a sign that said Warning. This is where the trail started getting exciting.
 We started climbing up rocks. It was really fun; I enjoyed it. When we got to the top, we got a beautiful view of the mountains surrounding us.

 Along with the trails, there were waterfalls. There was Cascade falls, Hidden falls, and another one that we didn't get to see. We took a nice picnic lunch in the shade that fueled us back up from all that walking. What a fun day trip.

Now I know that I have talked about our cozy corner, but we changed the name. Now its Cora and Adam Reading Den. CARD for short. Its always nice to take a relaxing day in our CARD.

Birthdays, Rockets, and houses!

 Its May, the month of Adam's birthday, and my brother turned eight! We had a fun celebration filled with gifts and cake. Oh, and don't forget the balloons. The cake was lemon marine, one of my favorite cakes. Dad did a good job making, it was very good. You know, I am a kid, so I can't really buy anything for Adam, but I made him a card. Mom told me that she wanted me to make a ticket for Adam for Trolls World Tour. It was a new movie that we could stream. Of coarse, I forgot to say what we had for dinner. Adam decided that he wanted tortellini soup, buttered bread, and a bowl of cherries.  Also something very exciting happened not to long after Adam's birthday. NASA was launching a rocket ship to the International Space Station. Luckily, I got to see it. It was so cool to see. Amazingly, the rocket booster landed perfectly. I didn't know what to expect since I had never seen a rocket launch in my life. It was amazing and interesting at the same time.

 Lately, there hasn't been much going on. Since it was Adam's birthday, he got a lot of toys and stuff to keep him entertained. Grammie and Gramps got him an electric house, so for a couple days we were busy building houses. They were very fun. 

No Place Like a Cozy Corner and the Outdoors

 Forts are always fun to have around, but what about a new type of fort? Well, my brother has a little corner in his room. He called it his reading corner. We decided to make his reading corner into a cozy corner. I absolutely loved it. We had blankets, comfy chairs, tablets, toys, a lamp, and decorations! I loved being all cozy ed up. Playing around is really fun and when we get bored, we watch videos on my tablet. Adam's tablet is our fireplace. He will look up a fireplace and it will have a video of a fireplace. It was perfect because it rained days and days in a row. You know, you can't just sit all day, you got to get out a bit, so we have been going outside a lot especially when the weather improved. Bike rides and walks everyday. When it rains, you can't spend as much time outside. Some rain is fun at least! I like when you can jump in puddles and taste the rain with your tongue. No worries, you can always take a nice warm shower afterwards.

 

 Cleaning windows is not cool at all. Well Mom and Dad had to clean the windows, so I made courses for Adam and me to ride are bikes around. I mean you got to find a way to entertain yourself! I don't know if you knew but I had a wiggly molar. For breakfast I had cereal and I accidentally bit on that tooth and made it really wiggly. Later that night, after dinner, I pulled it out. Now I can say that I have lost 17 teeth.

Wonderful Wetlands Winner and a Fun Fire Pit Dinner

So much has been going on. At the very end of April, I got a package in the mail. I opened it and I found a stunning surprise inside. I had got my certificates from my Wetlands are Wonderful poster, which was amazing, and checks from my poster. For my spectacular success, I had won two hundred dollars and I was three time winner! I had gotten 1st place in the regional poster contest and 2nd place in the whole state. I also got a letter from the Wake Soil And Water Conservation District Now that is quite an accomplishment indeed! 

 Now that we had the fire pit, we could use it for fires. I mean, whats a fire pit for if your not going to use it. So, we had our first fire in our house. It was a beautiful night for having a fire. For a fun activity, we had dinner and s'mores. Dinner was hot dogs and pasta salad. We cooked the hot dogs over the fire. I tried to get my hot dog some black on it so it was cooked enough. The s'mores were absolutely delicious. The melting warm marshmallow and the creamy chocolate compacted by the gram cracker, is so scrumptious. I had two s'mores. Nothing could be better. I mean nothing can be better. 
 Baking in the kitchen has been a big entertainment. I had called Mimi one day, and she said that she had made soft pretzels, so we decided to make some ourselves. I helped mom make them and when we were finished, we made cheese sauce and mustard to dip the pretzels in. The pretzels turned out really good. My favorite part of making the pretzels was twisting them to make them look like a soft pretzel. I also enjoyed kneeding the bread. I was so proud of mom and me. I guess we will have to make more sometime soon!

Staying Home but Having Fun!

 There's so much that happened in April and it all started with Easter! Adam and I were so eager to start coloring eggs this year! We tried our best to make the eggs colorful and bold. It was so different coloring eggs in a new house, but I still really enjoyed it! The night before Easter I kept thinking about COVID19 and if the Easter Bunny would be on quarantine, but in the morning I found my favorite candies in my Easter basket, which I couldn't wait to dig into. There was also a coloring book with illusions. My Easter had started out very well. Of course we had our Easter dinner, ham and cottage potatoes, and it was very good! After Easter, my family and I were ready to get back to work with the backyard. We figured out that we needed more mulch and we needed gravel for our fire pit, so we got another load, and I was ready to help in an instant. The gravel turned out really nice. The only thing we needed now in the backyard was the fire pit, so we made it. One thing that really helped was that the weather was perfect. The only thing I could do to help with the fire pit was to smooth the concrete. Now I can say that I have helped make two fire pits in my life!

Since I am out of school, I have to work from home now. My family and I have made our little office in the dinning room, so all of are meals are in the breakfast nook. I must say its not bad working at home. There are some pros and cons on it, but I would rather learn then sit around all day being bored. Every day is pretty much the same. I wake up, get breakfast, get dressed and brush my teeth, play for a little bit, do school work, get lunch, and enjoy the rest of my day. I have slowly gotten used to it and luckily my family is still healthy and doing well, so I am not worrying. I think my favorite subject in school on the computer is learning about animal mechanisms and the way animals defend themselves. I especially love when I get to watch videos about what I am learning. I am sorry COVID 19, but you're not stopping me at all!

Well besides all the working from home, April is the month of mom and dad's anniversary! I had planned so many things for their big day. The night before their anniversary I sneaked into their bedroom so I could put a banner in there, but right when I was about to leave their room, dad rolled over and got me really petrified, so I quickly ran out of there so that they wouldn't spot me. In the morning, Adam woke me up and told me that he really wanted to make breakfast in bed for mom and dad, so that is what we did, we made breakfast in bed for them. We made waffles, 4 to be exact, toast, and cereal. After that, Adam and I got our breakfast and talked for a little. Then in the afternoon, mom and dad told us to dress up for our dinner party that we had planned. I got to wear make up. After all of us were done dressing up, we had an appetizer of crackers, salami, and cheese. Mom and dad drank white wine and Adam and I had sparkling grape juice. Then our neighbor took some pictures of us. For a delicious dinner we had roast beef with potatoes, gravy, and cooked carrots. After dinner, as a family, we made apple crisp. It turned out to be really good! At night when mom and dad were tucking me in for bed, I remembered that I had made a card for their anniversary. I quickly ran downstairs to grab it and came upstairs just in time to give it to them. It had been a great day and indeed a day that I would remember!      

The day after mom and dad's anniversary I showed them a google slide about them that I had secretly made. The end of the slide had a scavenger hunt and they really enjoyed it. I had hid in the scavenger hunt their wedding book, pictures of when mom and dad first met and pictures of what I had drawn. I knew they enjoyed it by the look on their faces! It was an amazing month of April! I really enjoyed it!!!

Fast February

Making Granola!

Between school, casts, and oh, by the way moving to our new house, February just flew by in the blink of an eye. We spent lots of time getting things packed up and moved between our storage unit, apartment and new house, but we finally made it. Mom and Dad are so incredible, they were able to paint my bedroom the color I wanted the same day we moved a bunch of stuff! I love my new room, my own bathroom and having the piano back to play. I think I surprised everyone in my ability to pick the piano right back up as if I hadn't played in 8 months!

Parfait with my delicious granola!

Hanging out at Fallon Park

Little did we know though, that as March started, our lives would be turned upside down and we would get the opportunity to spend  A LOT of time at our new house. March started off normal, but just like a flip of a switch something swept across the globe called COVID-19 which cancelled school after the first week of March and we took the next few weeks at home trying to keep busy and figure out what to do. Thankfully we had lots of landscaping we could do outside, and lots of baking to do inside (in between Mom and Dad trying to work). We have gone on countless walks and I've made lots of granola. One cool thing that happened one of the first weeks at home was our teachers did a school parade. Adam and I ate lunch on the porch while we waited for all of our teachers to drive by the house honking their horns and waving. It was fun to watch! One of my favorite days of the year also happened - mulch day! Mom and Dad ordered 20 yards of mulch that needed to be spread, and thanks to help from Adam and me, the huge pile of mulch disappeared really quickly. I just love mulching! So despite our change in routine, we have been able to cope with being at home. Let's just wait until school actually starts!

Waiting for the parade on our new front porch!

The Joyner teacher parade!

I won't forget the evening the tree came crashing down in the backyard!

Cast Free!

The time in my cast, while stinky at times, really flew by. It wasn't too hard having it at school, in fact some of my friends signed my cast for me so I could walk around looking cool! The only downside was not being able to participate in recess or PE, but now my cast is off and I'm ready to roll. The doctor said that my bone healed perfectly and that after a short week wearing a brace just to let the bone heal the last 10%, I can go back to doing anything I want with my wrist! YAY!
At school, I found out that one of my pieces of art was chosen to be displayed at Marbles Museum. Because of that, I got four free tickets to enjoy the museum and show off my art! We had a fun afternoon at the museum and my artwork looked spectacular!

Merry Christmas and a Broken New Year!!

Christmas morning was amazing! Leading up to the big day, we got to partake in all of the fun activities that come with Christmas such as decorating the gingerbread house, listening to Handel's Messiah at our church, and enjoying a relaxing Christmas eve with family exchange gifts and mass.
On Christmas eve, we left 3 Hershey bud cookies, a glass for milk and a carrot for the reindeer for Santa. Thankfully Sant did find us! I got everything I wanted and more. I didn't have a favorite toy because I liked everything, but I will say I at least got everything on my list from Santa! In the morning, the cookies, milk and carrot were gone and Santa had left us a note. It said that he was still able to make it into the apartment and he loved the cookies! One thing that I really liked and didn't expect was a jewelry organizer. It could fit all my necklaces and earrings. Also, he gave me a nerf dart gun which I spent plenty of time using to shoot at a target. It was so warm that we were even able to get out and enjoy a family game of football at the park. For dinner we had roast beef with potatoes, gravy and carrots. It was a great dinner which I enjoyed a lot.
We were able to keep the Christmas spirit going with a performance of the Nutcracker a few days after Christmas. I though that it was good, better than the first time I saw it. Dad picked out great seats for the show. The view was spectacular!
On New Years Eve, we took a short drive to downtown Raleigh to watch them drop the big acorn. Luckily, they drop it at 7PM for kids and those who can't stay up until midnight. It was a fun time walking around downtown. I even spotted my friend Milly in the crowd. As hard as I tried, I only made it until 10:48. It was okay because we had already rung in the new year!
The weather on New Years Day was so nice, we decided to play another family football game. Dad and I were on a team against Adam and Mom. Dad threw the football to me so I could make a touchdown. I caught the ball, but then fell on my butt and managed to smack my wrist on the ground and I knew instantly something was wrong. The next morning, Dad took me to the orthopedist to get X rays and apparently, my bone had shifted ever so slightly and made a hairline fracture. I would have to get a cast for three weeks. They let me choose the color for my cast, and I picked purple because it would match most of my clothes. I think it is pretty. Hopefully in three weeks I'll be able to get a removable brace and be done with the cast. It was an unexpected way to start the new year, but it made it nice because now I'll have a story to tell. Plus, after I was done at the doctor, Dad took me downtown where we met Adam and Mom to enjoy a nice lunch.