Jamaica Bay with Inky

 

Today I went to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge with Inky. Jamaica Bay is a unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area- a National Park! I had been before, on other visits to see Inky. (You can see a previous entry about it here.)  Today, we wanted to see the West Pond breach.  A few weeks before I came to New York City in the fall, there was a big hurricane- Hurricane Sandy.  In the hurricane, the West Pond was breached and filled with sea water. Inky and I wanted to see the breach.  It was really big! The pond had gotten a lot bigger too. You can see me here looking at a goose- the part of the pond where the goose is used to be dry land.  We really learned a lot about our changing world.  

In this photo, you can see Jamaica Bay behind me.  See the buildings in the background? That is the community of Broad Channel. It suffered a lot of damage during the hurricane, sadly.

There used to be fencing along the bay side of the path, but much of it is gone now. The fences, the explanatory signs, and the benches were all washed away in the hurricane.  It really was an amazing sight, seeing everything that had changed since my last visit.

After we hiked back to the Visitor Center, Inky and I took a picture of ourselves sitting up against the wall.  I had a good time at Jamaica Bay; the power of nature is amazing!

Inky's Birthday Party!

Guess what! It's me, I'm back! I'm in New York City visiting my best friend Inky for the holiday season. Our parents got together and decided that I could visit Inky as a birthday surprise. Here we are just as Inky took off her blindfold and realized I was there!



We hugged and hugged. It was so nice to see Inky again- it had been almost two years since we had last seen each other!"



I am really looking forward to Christmas in New York!

Hi everyone! I'm having a great time at Inky's house. Last weekend, we took another trip to Fire Island National Seashore. That's where Inky took the this photo of me. Unfortunately, there were really strong riptides, so we didn't get to play in the water- hence, no photos.



Yesterday, Inky and I were exploring the new neighborhood when we made a new friend, Sonali! Click on the photo above to go to Inky's photostory about what happened.

Sunset on Fire Island

I love the beach! On Friday, I went with Inky's family to a beautiful sandy beach on Fire Island, a barrier island off of Long Island. To get there, you have to drive across a long causeway across the water. Once you're there, you go around the big traffic circle and head to the lighthouse. Awesome! The water was freezing cold, but Inky and I wore swimsuits just in case.



We had fun playing in the sand, even though we forgot to bring sand toys. It was a hot day, so the sand was nice and warm between our toes.



Inky was brave and ran off to wade in the waves, but I stayed back on the beach blanket- I had just heard that there were sharks sighted here recently! Luckily, we had picked up our Junior Ranger books just before the ranger station closed, so I get a head start on the different activities.



We stayed at the beach watching the sky until the sun set. I loved the beautiful colors in the sky. It was so nice to lean back against the lifeguard chair and smell the sea breeze, listen to the sea gulls, and watch the sun go down. I love the ocean! Inky likes to tell me how envious she is of the mountains in Utah, but I think she is the lucky one- she can go to the ocean any time she likes!

I'm in the Big Apple!

Hi everybody! It was a long trip, but today I arrived at Inky's apartment in the Big Apple- New York City. I sneaked up on Inky while she was playing in her fort. When she saw me, she ran up and give me a big hug. It's so nice to be together again; we haven't seen each other since last summer.



We took the elevator up to Inky's family's new apartment. Wouldn't it be fun to get to ride an elevator every day? Inky says it gets boring after a while, but I still think it's exciting. We grabbed our toys and talked for ages. Inky's new room is really nice.



It was really hot outside, so Inky and I stayed inside in the air conditioning. I really want to explore Inky's new neighborhood, but I had fun playing Connect Four with Inky. She even had purple pieces for me to use.



I'm really glad to be back with Inky. Spending time with friends is the best part of traveling. I can't wait to have a summer full of adventures with Inky.

You'll never guess where I'm going!

Guess where I'm headed???

INKY'S NEW HOUSE IN NEW YORK CITY!

I left today actually. I can't wait to see my best friend in the whole wide world again.

Did you know Inky is a totally awesome ballerina? Like a REAL ballerina, she goes to the School of American Ballet. Isn't that neat? She is going to be famous one day.

Anyway, she and her Mommies moved into a new apartment in New York and they wanted ME to be their first guest! I can't wait, especially since things here in Utah have been DUUULLLLLL. I've been working on my homeschooling a lot, and not doing much of anything else. I've been going to swim class and hiking club, but no travels, well until now!!!

I think Colette and Jen have some fun things in mind for Inky and I while I'm there. Colette always does the best stuff to make my stay super fun, and Inky has two of the cutest and funniest cats ever. Can't wait to see them again. And work on my Russian with Inky, since that is her first langauge.

See you soon in NYC!

Some photos of me playing in the backyard before I left today.
Queen of the world!

Zion National Park!

Oh I LOVE National Parks! I've been to so so many! And I've been to all the ones in Utah! Last weekend we went to Zion National Park, which was SO much fun. I love to hike and look for desert toads in the streams. I love to get my passport stamped and work on my Jr. Ranger Badges. I just LOVE National Parks.

One of the neatest things to look for in Zion NP is the carved sandstone. Can you see that the river has carved out the stone and left it looking all striped?
It is so pretty!
I stop to look for desert toads at one of the deeper pools. I don't see any (but I have seen them in Zions before!) but I do see water skeeters.
I love Southern Utah.
And I love Zion Canyon.
Did you remember that I have a National Park album? I've gone to so many parks that I decided to put them all in one big album!

ANOTHER National Park to check off the list!

Mama, Daddy and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend! We flew to Colorado for one of Mama's friend's weddings and were there long enough to see a little bit of Rocky Mountain National Park, but we weren't there long enough for me to get a Jr. Ranger badge, so I'll have to go back!

Guess what we saw? Tons and tons of elk! It was awesome. At one point we even saw a big boy elk chase away another boy. It is easy to tell which ones are boys and girls because the boys have HUGE antlers!

Guess what else? There was already snow on the ground in a lot of places! I was glad to have my hoodie, because it was quite chilly.

Here are my favorite photos, and I've been updating my National Park photo album, so make sure to see it!

Isn't it pretty? It looks a little bit like Banff and Jasper, not not quite.
The sky is blue, for now... It snowed later in the day!
Here is some snow in the shade. Brrr...

I am back from Banff and Jasper

I got back just a few days ago from my family's annual summer vacation! This year we decided to go to the Canadian Rockies, Banff and Jasper National Parks. I had such a good time! The mountains, rivers, lakes and streams were so pretty, but the best part was looking for animals.

Here is a list of what we saw:

• Grizzly Bear (yes, I know, exciting!)
• 6 Big Horn Sheep
• 3 Elk
• Lots of deer
• Pika
• Cute birds
• Coyote
• LOTS of fat squirrels
  

I have been working on an album of all my favorite photos from my trip. Here it is! I hope you like it.

Here are some of my favorite photos, all taken along the Icefields Parkway, which is the highway that connects Banff National Park with Jasper National Park.

Grand Canyon on the North Rim!

Inky and I wrote this together, here it is:

Daddy and Mama booked a cabin on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon this summer. They asked me if I'd like to bring a friend because they knew it is hard being an only child and I said "yes! Inky!" Luckily Inky got to come and I was so excited! She arrived a few days before we left, and she was super excited too.

Both Inky and I are pro Junior Rangers, we've become Jr. Rangers at all the parks we've visited together, and that's a lot of parks!

On Friday we left Utah and and entered Arizona! I hadn't been to Arizona yet, so it was so fun to mark that off the list, plus exploring a new state is totally awesome. Pretty soon we entered the prettiest forests, there were HUGE meadows everywhere and pine trees all around. Then we slowed down to enter the park. Inky and I wanted a sign near the park entrance, like always!
Once we got to the North Rim we checked in. Yea! Mama and Daddy rented a little cabin on the rim! It was so perfect for us because it was close enough to a lot of the trails. We could even hike alone! Plus the Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge was so so pretty. Inky and I loved all the old radios, the sculpture of Brighty the mule and the patios with really neat canyon views.

Over the weekend we went on a lot of really neat hikes. On one hike we even saw mules on the trail! One mule was really funny and had his tongue sticking out like he was really tired. He was so cute!

Don't we look awesome on our hikes? And check out the view.
We are close to the edge, but are being careful.

When Daddy and Mama wanted to relax at the cabin Inky and I worked on our Jr. Ranger booklet. This was a fun booklet because in once activity we had to be animal detectives. We saw lots of animals down there, mostly fat squirrels hanging around our cabin.

On the last day we said goodbye to our little cabin on the rim and said goodbye to the lodge. Before leaving though, we got our Jr. Ranger badges!

Isn't our cabin neat? Can you see Daddy on the porch?
We got our badges!
We have lots more photos from our trip that we'll upload into an album soon! Until then, you'll have to wait!

Inky and I are back!

Inky and I just walked in from the Grand Canyon - it was so fun! We want to do a full joint post, but it will have to wait, I'm tired. Until then, here we are-

I'm a Jr. Ranger again!

Inky and I are pros. We really are. We each have more than ten badges, and yesterday we added another one to our collection! Mama and Daddy drove us up to Northern Utah (it was such a long drive...), and we got our Jr. Ranger Badges at Golden Spike National Historic Site. This is the place where the railroads finally met each other in 1869. That meant that now people could travel all the way across the country on the train if they wanted to! And mail and packages now could be delivered in days, rather than weeks or months on horseback.

Inky and I had such a great time. We answered all the questions in our Jr. Rangers booklet and we even talked to a real train engineer. Plus, we saw some really neat birds, and some Nasa Rockets, but Inky says we need to do an entire post just devoted to rockets.

Here we are where the railroad met!
Here is the original photograph from that day, neat huh?

I am in Maine!

Mama teases me that I never stop traveling, and I guess she is right.

Two days after I got back from Japan I hopped on another airplane and headed to Maine! It is so fun here! I've made friends with some really nice girls that are just my age. There is a girl named Abigail and she is so funny! We have had such a blast exploring the woods near her house.

Any you know the best part about Main this time of year? The LEAVES!!!

Goodbye Inky... until next time.

First let me say, I miss Inky SO SO SO much. She is the best friend any girl can have. Plus, I learn so much when I'm with her. My Russian is awesome, since Inky teaches me so much when I'm with her. It is so funny, because we always try to insult each other in Russian, but she knows more insults than I do.

And guess what we did on one of my last days there? Since we're homeschooled, we don't have school photos taken. Instead, we went to American Girl Place and had our portrait done with our dolls! It was so much fun. We both wore our AGP hoodies and carried an American Girl doll. I miss Inky so much.
Inky and her Mamas got me the most wonderful presents while I was there. Not only did I get my ears pierced, and my photo taken and AGPNY, I also got my very own Ugly doll!!! He is so cute! His name is Abima and he's a little crazy. I love him.

Here is the album Colette and Inky made before I left. We had such fun.

Castle Clinton

Inky and I have been having such fun that I keep forgetting to update my blog! Yesterday, Inky and I went to Castle Clinton. It's an old fort in Battery Park that's been tons of different things, like a fort, an opera house, an aquarium, an immigration processing center, and now, the ticket office for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Inky and I had to do a really, really hard crossword to earn our badges. We had to ask the ranger for help- and even he didn't know the answers!

My visit to New York is coming to an end very soon. Inky and I have such a great time together, I'm going to miss her so much when I leave. I'm going to ask my parents if Inky can come visit again soon. Inky says she thinks our families should meet at a National Park between New Mexico and Utah. I'm crossing my fingers!

More NYC visits: Teddy Roosevelt NHS and Tibet House

Inky and I did another Junior Ranger program yesterday! Now we are officially Junior Rangers at the Theodore Roosevelt National Historic Site. President Roosevelt lived ages and ages ago. He did some cool stuff like advocate for Universal Health Care, clean up the NYPD, and named his son Kermit.

Inky and I have earned FIVE Junior Ranger badges together. They are:

1. Canyonlands National Park
2. Cape Cod National Seashore
3. New Bedford Whale National Historical Park
4. Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
5. Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site

One of the best parts of being homeschooled is getting to do awesome stuff like earn Junior Ranger badges all the time! Inky's even luckier than me- she's unschooled, so she doesn't even have to do math homework (ew!).


We also visited the Tibet House, a museum and gallery about Tibet. This is me and Inky in front of a statue of His Holiness, Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama. He is one of my heroes because of his support for peace.

Who are your heroes?

P.S. You can see all our pictures from our trip here.