THE GOLD CROWNED SPARROW

I've been seeing a mysterious bird at our bird-feeder. At first I thought it was a white- crowned sparrow, but it wasn't. Then I thought it was a white-throated sparrow, but it wasn't. I went through the sparrow section of my bird book several times but found notta thing. I went through the sparrow section once more, and then saw what I was looking for.''This must be it.'' I thought.

I was excited to have a different type of bird at the feeder. Every time I saw it I frantically ran to the camera, so that I could take pictures & videos.

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday

What a messssssssssss!!!!

Well Mom is taking more responsability when it comes to crab care. She is feeding the crabs when Thorin eats it all after I go to bed. But this time she went a little too far.

She tried to feed the crabs while Thorin was in the food dish.

While she was reaching down to the food dish[remember that Thorin is in the food dish], Mom scared Thorin, and, because he was in the food dish, scared Mom. When Thorin withdrew, he made a noise that scared Mom, and Mom's hand shook; scattering the food EVERYWHERE.

Guess what? Me and Rachel had to clean all the scattered food.

BOOHOO!

NASA Glenn Research Center

On the 18th of April, I went to the NASA Glenn Research Center with my dad. We got to see 2 rockets[yes, the rockets were real], go inside a segment of the ARES test rocket, watch 2 mini-movies, go on a 45-minute hike, and eat lunch with the Ridgewood YMCA Adventure Guides. Did you now the ARES rocket will replace the space shuttle in future missions to:THE MOON. On the 45-minute hike, one of the dads found a dead baby snake on the sidewalk. We also saw 2 deer in the woods. In the lobby, they had a bunch of model planes, rockets, helicopters, and a model space shuttle.

NASA Glenn Rocks!

Wordless Wednesday

Dennison: One in a million

Last Friday my family and I went to Dreamsville, Oh[a.k.a. Dennison, Oh] on a field trip to a train museum. What's even more amazing is that the museum is housed in 5 train cars! Back in the 1940's 3000 people worked in the train yards!




On the tour we got to watch a mini-movie, sleep in a pullman bunk, try on the hats of 6[I think] different presidents, be the president, and learn some amazing things about world war 2, world war 1, and Dennison in the 1940's. Did you know during WW1 a dog named Bing[I'm not kidding]was trained to detect bombs, and was so good at detecting bombs, that he had a harness of medals. There's a passenger![below]

During World War 2, Dennison would have been very, very, very, very, very busy. Trains would be pulling in and out most all day and night. The Salvation Army had a canteen in Dennison where they always had something for soldiers passing through on trains to eat. The soldiers would have only had 10-15 minutes to eat, so the ladies who worked in the canteen could not dilly-dally. Over the years signals advanced from raising balls to working lights. In the museum they had model trains that resembled Dennison in the 1940s. After work the three thousand people who worked on the railroad needed something to do and thus a Dennison baseball team was formed. The railroad even had a big stadium put up for the team.

We even saw some hobos!

Saturday Surprises

1.Mr. Potato Head ran for the mayor of Boise, Idaho in 1985.
2.Some hummingbirds weigh less than a penny.
3.If you eat too many carrots, your skin can turn orange.
4.Your hair grows faster in warmer weather.
5.Your eyes can see about 10,000,000 different colors.
6.Camels chew in a figure 8 motion.
7.The earth is slightly pear-shaped.
8.The wingspan of a 747 is longer than the Wright Brothers' first flight.
9.A zebra's skin is black, only its fur is striped.
10.If you heat a diamond to 1405 degrees Fahrenheit,it will turn into vapor.

Crab Portraits

This is Hermie.

This is Fluffy.



This is Crabby.

This is Thorin.

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday

An Easter to Remember

As I was trying to keep Emily from going downstairs she slipped out of my hands and managed to get downstairs, so I had to go get her. But as I arrived in the family room I saw a terrible sight: Mom on the couch, fast asleep. You're probably wondering why that's so bad. Here's why: NO EGGS; NO BASKETS. But we did get eggs and baskets, just not in the regular places. The eggs were outside and the baskets were hidden all over the house. That's Sarah's basket in the photo above.

This is Rachel's basket.

This is Emily's basket.

And lo and behold. My basket was in the dryer.

HAPPY EASTER!

Friday Facts

1. Alpacas fur comes in 22 different colors.
2. The longest soap bubble on record is as long as four school buses.
3. More water is in the Pacific Ocean than in all the other seas and oceans combined.
4. There is a town called Popcorn, Indiana.
5. It would take a jumbo jet about 120 billion years to fly across the Milky Way galaxy.
6. Thousands of tiny earthquakes happen every day.
7. A mountain climber carried the Olympic torch to the top of Mt. Everest.
8. Cleopatra became the queen of Egypt when she was only a teenager.
9. Girls have more taste buds than boys do.
10. Vision uses one third of all your brain power.

The Alpaca Farm Field Trip

I went to an alpaca farm today with my Mom and my sister Rachel. We got to see all different kinds of alpaca. We learned about two different species[kinds]of alpaca. In the photograph above is a huacaya[wa-ki'-a]alpaca.

This is me walking a[you guessed it]huacaya alpaca. You can tell it's a huacaya alpaca by its very colorful fleece that is crimpy and gives the alpaca a woolly and round appearance. By now you're probably wondering what the other kind of alpaca is. It's

called the suri. Its fleece appears to be in the form of dreadlocks and is very silky. Alpacas prefer outdoors to being cooped up in a barn so a three sided shed is perfect.

They even had some llamas!

Humpty Dumty

While I was misting the crabs, I arranged 2 of the crab's logs into a ramp. I put it in the corner where Crabby usually sleeps. Guess what he did? He went up the ramp! When he decided to get down,WHOOSH! Crabby sommersaulted all the way to the bottom. Luckily I had beforehand cleared the bottom of the ramp. And, yes, Crabby is still in a shell that is too small. Thorin, Hermie, and Fluffy are also doing great.

My Lovely Crabs

As I said before, I looove hermit crabs. So I want to introduce you to my families' hermit crabs: Thorin, Crabby, Hermie,and Fluffy [Fluffy was named by Emily; my 2-year-old sister].Thorin is a cannibal.He killed my sister's old hermit crab Ariel by ripping of all her legs. I hoped it would take a turn for the best; and it did. We ended up getting the other three hermit crabs. Crabby is crabby. He kinda reminds me of Ariel because he hates being misted. Hermie and Fluffy rarely come out of their hut. But they do come out.Crabby is surprising us all by residing in a shell that is way too small for him. Crabby is very active. Hermit crabs; I love 'em! [Hermit crabs are hypo-allergenic,so if you are allergic to animals or their fur, check out hermit crabs!].

There's a new blogger in town!

Hello Everybody,
I'm new to the blogging business and this is my first post. I hope you enjoy the rest of my blog once we get it up. This is my first blog and I'm really excited.