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!

Hiking at Jamaica Bay

Guess what Inky and I did on Saturday? We went on a hike in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge to learn about estuaries and coastal environments. I made a little photo album of our trip, click on this link to check it out.



Since Inky is already a Jamaica Bay Junior Ranger, she helped me earn my badge. Of course, she had to wear her favorite green t-shirt; Inky thinks it makes her look like an official park ranger. Isn't this picture silly? Inky set the self-timer on the camera, but the camera took the picture before we were ready.

Happy August!

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!

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!

Grand Canyon & Inky

Mama has been talking to Colette a lot lately. Daddy is out of town and so is Jen, so Colette and Mama are so bored they've been talking on the phone a lot! Inky says she is really sorry about my Christmas and birthday presents, but they are coming soon!

Anyway, Mama told Colette that we were going to the Grand Canyon in July, and she invited Inky along! Can you believe that??? I'll have my best friend back in Utah for a visit, and not only that, we'll go on an awesome trip together.

Inky even says she *might* get me a bigger present from her favorite store in NYC, but I don't know what it is, and Mama won't say. I can't wait!

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?

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.

Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site

Inky and I had another adventure last weekend! Since both of us are homeschooled, we often get to read really cool books that other kids might not have the chance to read in school. It turns out both of us are big fans of Edgar Allan Poe. We got the chance to visit one of his homes, in Philadelphia, on Saturday.


Here we are on the front steps of the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. In order to get in, you have to bang the knocker once. Then, a park ranger will let you in. We were a little nervous! The ranger reassured us that when they restored the house, they checked under all the floorboards!


The first thing we did was ask if the Site had a Junior Ranger program- they did! We got our booklets and got to work. We saw a video about Poe's life and looked over the exhibits. One of the rangers asked us if we'd like to go on a ranger tour. Of course we did!


She showed us all over Poe's house. There wasn't any furniture, but we climbed up the narrow staircases and looked out his windows. We learned that Edgar Poe married his cousin, Virginia Clem, when she was only thirteen! Wow! That's not much older than me and Inky. We agreed that we definitely are not ready to get married, even if a famous author asked us.


The last room we saw on our tour was the cellar. It was dark and damp. The ranger told us a scary story called "The Black Cat." Then she revealed the false chimney that inspired the story! Inky and I got shivers up and down our backs. You'll have to read the story yourself to find out why! This picture is of us climbing on the false chimney.


After the tour, the ranger gave us keys to a large trunk. We had to complete several activities with the items in the trunk in order to complete our Junior Ranger booklet. When we finished, we received our badges! One of the rangers took our picture with the ranger who led our tour.

Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site is definitely the creepiest National Park we've been to so far!

The United Nations!

Last Thursday, Inky and I decided to go an adventure to Manhattan. I was nervous, because we decided to go all by ourselves! We are both very independent and travel all the time, but this was my first time into the city without an adult.

We rode the train, then a bus, and finally we walked the last few blocks to the United Nations Headquarters. There were so many flags lined up outside! We had to go through security, just like at an airport. Inky and I had both packed backpacks with water bottles, a subway map, and our cameras. We put them through the scanner. Before we went in, we had to check our bags at a counter for safety. Luckily, we got to keep our cameras.

The first thing we saw was Sputnik! Inky is so proud of her country's achievement in launching the first satellite; I took this photo of her in front of the model. It is dark, because we couldn't use flash in that part of the building. You can still see how excited Inky looks!

After that, we walked through some exhibits of paintings. There was a special exhibit of paintings of the Olympics by children from all over the world. I loved it! Inky and I were very impressed by how well the kids could draw. There was a little station there to draw your own Olympic picture, so Inky and I each made one.


Then, we saw the portraits of the Secretary Generals. We asked another visitor to take a picture of us under Kofi Annan's portrait. He was the Secretary General when I was born, and only stepped down last year. Doesn't he look handsome?

Downstairs, we explored the different gift shops and the UN's post office. We each bought one another a little souvenir. I wanted to send my parents a postcard, but I didn't quite have enough money. Inky said that we might be able to go back again before I go home to Utah.


Finally, we posed for a photo in front of the UN flag. Inky says she thinks the flag is especially awesome because it shows the Arctic North, her favorite part of the world. I agree! We leaned really closely to see if we could see some polar bears!

On the way home, we pretended that we were both polar bears in the Polar Bear United Nations. We have matching polar bear toys and we decided that from now on, they will be diplomats!

Cape Cod II

Inky and I have been so busy that I haven't had time to update my blog! The last two days of our trip to Cape Cod were great.


We tried out a beach on the ocean side of the cape called Head of the Meadow Beach. There was a huge sandbar protecting a little part of the beach, so Inky and I could play safely without being afraid of the undertow. I did some boogie boarding. It was fantastic! I was riding the waves! When the wave came up, I would kick and kick and then I'd go flying on top of the wave as it crested. I can't wait to do it again someday!


We also built a sandcastle. The only flag we had to stick on top was Kazakhstan! Isn't that silly? Inky said she had a Soviet flag at home, but that was it! Inky taught me the Kazakh National Anthem. It goes:

Kazakhstan- greatest country in the world! All the other countries are run by little girls!

Isn't that silly? I thought so too! I decided to write a letter to Kazakhstan telling them their anthem is really funny, but when I went to research it I learned that Inky taught me a made-up song. Isn't she funny?



Before we left the beach, Inky checked her lobster trap- she caught a crab! I steamed it for dinner in a big, blue enamel pot. Yum!

The last thing we did before returning to New York was stop in New Bedford, MA. We visited the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and earned another Junior Ranger badge! Inky forgot the camera in the car, so we don't have any pictures. Stinkbugs! (Inky says that whenever she's frustrated.)