Friday, December 19, 2008

Back in the Hospital this time at Walter Reed

Dec 22
These last days haven’t been the best. I was in the hospital for 3 nights. First, a really nice nurse called Lieutenant McNeal came and gave me a shot called an IV, and trust me, you don’t want one. This shot is different because they pull out the needle but a tube stays in until you need to change it. They gave me antibiotics through the IV.
Every once and awhile the Docs and nurses would come and look at me. I would go to the teen room every once and awhile. Plus you can order an all you can eat meal for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. My favorite nurse was Audrey. She was really nice. Ophthalmologists would come and shine bright lights in my eyes too. I’m glad I was able to get there before something really bad happened.

Dec 16
Hi, this time I’m going to tell you about some really fun things. We went to a friend of my Dad’s house. His name is Mr. Pancho, his son is Francis, and his wife, Veronica. They have a really cool dog named Jerry.
We also went back to Mrs. and Mr. Zelnosky. They made us a wonderful dinner and then watched a really funny movie about Christmas vacation.
The only thing we did besides that was school, school, and still more school.

Back in the USA

Dec 5
Hi. In Amsterdam they do gifts for Christmas today. They celebrate Jesus’ birthday on the 25th. We just got back on a plane. My favorite thing was the Eiffel Tower. My favorite food was toast with jam and sprinkles.
The first thing we did when we got back was sleep. The next day we did school, more school, and more school. Then we went to the pool which was closed for free swim. Then we went to the art and crafts center which was closed, and then to the bowling alley which was all filled up. So then we went home and watched a movie. When we woke up, we did more school and then we went to the park and played games.
Tonight my brothers are eating pizza at the teen center. I’ll tell you about it later. We’re at Ft. Meade in Maryland. See ya.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Switzerland Dec 1




Yesterday we went to Mrs. Lisa’s and Mr. Frits’ and Fargo their dog’s house. Mrs. Lisa was in the Army with my Dad but then she left the Army because she wanted to sell wine in California with my Mom.
When we got there we talked and had a wonderful dinner. Then we went to bed. The next day they took us to a market next to a lake called Lago Maggiore. There was a baby swan that we fed, pet, and named him Nipper. Next we went to a dam where James Bond bungee jumped off in one of his movies. Then we went home and watched Wallace and Grommet, Mary Poppins, and The Princess Bride. The next day we ate breakfast and talked. Later I went swimming and trust me, it was just a pinch warmer than the lakes in Alaska. Then we said our goodbyes and left. Tomorrow hopefully we’ll be back in the states.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Chateau Bonnet, France Nov 29


We just left the Perachon’s house. They have 3 girls and 1 boy. When we got there we had a 3-course meal! Then we played French billiards. After that we went to bed. The next morning we went to Chateau Bonnet, their winery. We went in a wine tank!!! Then we had lunch. Then we said good-bye and left.

Paris Nov 28

Yesterday we went to Paris! We took the subway to the Arc de Triumph. It’s a monument to the soldiers that died in World War II and before. We went to the top floor and looked out over the city. Then we took the Metro to the Louvre Art Museum. We had to go quick because we only had an hour and a half. I enjoyed the statue of Hercules battling a dragon.






Then we met one of Robby and Will’s aupairs named Yolanda and her friend, David. Then we went to lunch. We walked to a cathedral where we almost lost Will. Then we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. There were 3 floors and it was HUGE! Every hour lights would go off and do a light show. Then we ate dinner and took the metro back and went to bed. We promised that we would visit Yolanda in Spain.

Amsterdam Nov 26

Yesterday I went to Amsterdam. We got on a train to bring us there. While we were walking we saw a guy doing this yoyo thing. Then we went to the Anne Frank House. Anne was a Jew during World War 2. There was a General named Hitler that ordered 11 million Jews to be gassed and burned. Anne wrote a journal and that’s how we know about her. Only six million Jews were killed instead of 11 million.
Then we got hungry and had taco pancakes, and went on a boat tour through the canals. On the boat tour we saw swans and sunken boats. We also saw bikes hanging off chains over the bridge. The only things holding up the boats were the chains and ropes. Later we took a walk and my Dad walked through the red light district. Then we took the train back to the youth hostel and went to bed. See ya in France!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Belgium

Bon Jour! Just now we went to Luxembourg. We went to these huge cliffs with old forts built into them. They are about 300 feet high. (Mom says they’re much higher!) We also went to a huge park that was made out of fake pirate ships. After that we went to three huge cathedrals, and two we went in. They had huge statues, and some are so big they might be 50 feet high! Later we went to a youth hostel and went to a fair where we shot pellet guns and went in a haunted house. Then we went to sleep.
The next day we went to a place called Brussels and went to a flea market where things cost almost nothing. We bought coats, gloves, hats, fruit, chocolate, and candy. Then we went to a fountain that was a peeing boy. He was stolen 2 times. Once he was stolen and smashed, and the man who stole it went to jail for life! The king felt sorry for the statue and gave him clothes for each holiday. Then we went to the third cathedral that had statues almost everywhere on it. Then we went to our third youth hostel and had a snowball fight. The next day we went to the biggest toy museum in Europe. There were huge Lego statues and trust me, they were AWESOME!! There were trains, dolls, puppets, stuffed animals, and lots, lots, lots more. My favorite thing was Darth Vader. He really talked and had a light-up light sabre with a clone that had a jet pack that lit up. I also bought a toy train that winds up. Then we went to a fourth cathedral with wood carvings. Then we went to a pancake hut that was more like an American pizza than an American pancake. Then we went to our fourth youth hostel, which is in Holland and that’s where I am now. Bye.

Germany Nov 21

Two days ago I had the worst plane ride I ever had. But then we landed in Germany, and played XBox. Then we rented an awesome car and went to a hotel. The next day we went to an awesome castle that was finished in MDCLXXXIII and was located in Heidelberg. Guess what we saw…a bat! Then we went to a place where the brave hunters would go down into the moats with the furious caribou and sheep and hunt while the princesses cheered them on above.
After that we had a great lunch and walked around the city. Right now we’re driving to Luxembourg.

River Birch Court - Nov 18

Guess what? Just now I visited some neighbors from Maryland that we lived next to four years ago. Their names are Troy and he’s 2, Julia and she’s 7, Hannah and she’s 8, Kira and she’s 11, Mr. Scott, and our great cook, Ms. Sharon. We also visited Chipper, Scott, Shane, Luke, Nick, and Garrett. I had a great time playing with cars, and playing Wii, and watching TV at Chipper’s house. I also enjoyed playing a huge war of big kids vs little kids. Don’t worry. There were more little kids. Now we’re going to Europe…Auvoir!

Nov 10 Maryland

I’m in Maryland at my Uncle Eric’s house. A couple nights ago we went trick or treating. We only had an hour or two to get our costumes together but I was a pirate and so was my cousin, Duncan. My cousin Lauren was a princess; Logan was a sailor, Erin was Hermonie from Harry Potter, Uncle Eric was the grim reaper with stilts, and my Aunt Terry was a professor. We also played with some of their friends and their names are Jack who is 11 and Alex who is 9. We went to a fun place called Summers Family Farm. There were slides, go-carts, a petting zoo, and more. My favorite was the corn maze. People kept on jumping out of the corn and scaring us. We had a great time but now we’re going to see some old friends. Bye.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Oct 31


Hi. Last time I talked we were in Boston. Well now I have a whole lot more to talk about. First, we were in Rhode Island. There we caught a bunch of crabs and then let them go again. We also went to a Halloween party.
Next, we went to place called Mystic Sea Port. We boarded a big fishing boat, and when I say big I mean enormous!
After that we went to an Army university where my Dad went to college. It’s called West Point. We watched a football game. Then we played in the BIGGEST gym I’d ever seen. Later we had lunch and went to an awesome obstacle course. It had this thing that you army crawl under, a thing you jump over, a climbing rope, a balance beam, and a lot more. We also went to New York City, which I wasn’t too fond of. There we went to the top of the Empire State Building! We went on a water taxi, where we heard about and saw the Statue of Liberty. I’ll see you at my Uncle Eric’s house.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Oct 22


Hi. Yesterday we went to Boston City. First, we went to a restaurant with my Dad’s Cousin Sally and her friend, Jeffrey. Second we saw a movie about the Revolutionary War! The Colonists (the good guys) didn’t like being controlled by the British. That’s why they went to war. Paul Revere sent this message out. The British didn’t like this, so they went to go get their weapons, which were in Concord. But instead they met them in Lexington. The Brits won that part. Then, they met them on a bridge and chased the Brits away and the Colonists shot at them all the way back to Boston.
Next we went to a harbor, and there were some really cool sailboats. Then, we went to a fountain and got completely soaked.
Last, we went to a friend’s house that used to work with my Dad. There we played a board game and watched Lord of the Rings. Then we went to Rhode Island to continue our journey.

Oct 19
Hi, I’m in Albany, NY at my Nana and Poppa’s house. Did I also mention that my cousins live here? We like to scooter, skateboard, play with their chickens, and camp on the top of the hill. I’ll talk about scootering and skate boarding first. I can build at least 5 different jumps.
We also like to play with their chickens. We like to pick them up and pet them, and we like to feed them. They’re funny how they bob their heads.
On the hill we like playing tag in the long grass, and my big brothers like to go hunting for turkeys, and we also like to look at the stars. It’s really fun but tomorrow we are going to Boston…beat you there.

Oct 2
Here we are on my Mom and Dad’s 15th year wedding anniversary. We did four fun events here. We went biking at Saint Andrews. After that we went to a HUGE park, and played a great game of tag. Then, we went to Acadia National Park and climbed Cadillac Mountain, which was an 8 mile hike.
Next, we went to Bryce’s house. There we played his PS2 and skateboarded. The next day we climbed Mount Bromley, and played at an amusement park at the bottom of the mountain. I really liked the alpine slide, which was the biggest alpine slide in the U.S.A.
Then we went to a skateboard park that I really enjoyed. Last, we started going to my Nana and Poppa’s house.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Sept 22

Ben's Journal








Sept 22
Hi. Here’s three special occasions.
#1 is a French fort in Louisburg. It was very fun. My favorite part was the old games they played including Chinese checkers, cards, cribbage, dominoes, and more.
#2 is the Cabot Trail. It is a beautiful drive. We had a great hike too.
#3 is the Bell Museum. Bell invented the telephone. He also invented the flying boat right after Orville and Wilbur Wright. Here is how it works. There are 2 wings under water. It goes super fast till the wings come out of the water and then all that’s touching the water is two four foot long bars.

Sept 17
Hi, a week ago we crossed the 7-mile bridge onto Prince Edward Island. We went to the kite boarding world cup. My favorite kite boarder is Aaron. He’s from England.
Then we went to the Cavendish beach where Will, Sam, and I went swimming and Robby found a sand castle. Then we went to the West Point light house and the West Cape wind mills.
After that we found some starfish and dried them out. Next we ate lobster for dinner and went to sleep in our cozy campground Marco Polo.
The next day we went to Anne of Green Gables, it’s a great book. First we visited the barn, and then we took a walk through Mathews and Marilla’s house. Then we took a stroll down lovers’ lane. This leads into the haunted woods where Anne almost fainted when Marilla sent Anne to get her scarf at night. Then we went home, and ate raw oysters and ribs. See ya next time.

Sept 10
Hi, I was in Rimouski last week. There is a big submarine there. We went to a museum about a boat called the Empress of Ireland. It’s a big cruise ship that sank when another ship accidentally ran in to it. It took 14 minutes to sink.
In Cap-Chat we went to some big wind mills. At Percy, we went to a big rock that you could only get to when the tide was out. There were lots of fossils. It was fun.
Then we went to Carleton. There was a park there with zip lines. Then we went rollerblading into town. It was fun.
Then we went to a friend’s house for dinner. Her name was Ms. Grace. We had a great dinner with her. The next day she gave us a tour of Miscou Island. Then we went to the harbor, then left. And here we are now in Shediac where the biggest lobster in the world awaits us!

September 1, 2008
Hi, I’m still in Quebec. I crossed a river yesterday on a ferry to Old Quebec. And we went to the Plains of Abraham where the British and the French had a war. We also went to a BIG hotel, and a place where they did gymnastics. They did flips and hand stands!! It was cool! Then we ate dinner while watching a connsourt, watched a history movie, and went to bed.

August 30, 2008
Now I’m in Quebec. I was at a Boat Museum and a Biodome. We also went to a friend’s house in Quebec where they speak French. Their names are Isabelle, Mathieu, Juliet, Christian, Maxamillion, and Beatrice. We swam in their pool, jumped on their tramplene, and caught bugs there.
At the boat museum there were sail boats and racing boats and skiffs. There was a guy who made his boat into a tent. My favorite boat was a blue fiber glass boat made by Garr Wood Junior.
At the Biodome there were monkeys, lizerds, frogs, birds, and more. My favorite was the river otters. There were insects too. I liked Ants and Bees. After that we climbed mount royal, and ate dinner. We had a great time. I hope we do it again.

August 26, 2008
Hi, right now I’m in Ontario. Yesterday we left frost point. I’m sad about leaving my friends. We went to Kingston also, and we went to Fort Henry. My favorite part was pretending I was a soldier and sending a drunk man to jail.
Today we went swimming in lake Ontario. We had lots of fun playing in the sand. I had a great time.

August 16, 2008
Hi, I have so much to tell you. Now all my cousins are hear! We have two cottages, one called the big cottage because the adults stayed their. The other is the little cottage because the kids stayed their.
Some activities we’ve done hear are waterscing and wake boarding, but I can’t wake board because I hurt my head doing it. I also went out in a kayak to an iland, it was fun. One more thing we do there is play in our treehouse and make fourts. The old treehouse when my dad was a kid had three levels, but it blew down in a storm. This one has one level but we’re still biulding it. The fourts we made are cool. We like pretending their houses. It’s really fun hear. I’m having a great time.

July 21, 2008:
The last days I’ve been in Canada for a family reunion. The first thing I did when I got there was swimming in the Rideau Ferry. The next day we put a raft in the Rideau. We would jump off it. It was fun. Also we would go fishing. It was easy.
One of the main reasons I’m different from my brothers is that I’m Canadian and their American. My mom and dad named me after this place (“which is called Frost Point”). My middle name is Frost. So it’s like home to me. I haven’t been here in two years so I’m really excited. I’m sure I’ll have a great time, bye!

July 17, 2008
Hi, I’m in Canada. Yesterday I was in Michigan at the Sult Saint Marie Locks. I’m going to tell you how the locks work. First, a ship comes and goes into the first part. Second the water drains out of that body of water into the next one. Then, the lock opens and the boat goes out the other side. After that went swimming in Lake Superior, it was shallow an then there was a drop off. I had a fantastic time.

July 15, 2008 - Sault Ste Marie, MI:
The last three days I’ve been busy. Two of those days I was back at Cousin John’s house. July 12 was my Dad’s birthday. I meet his cousin Steve and we went swimming back in Lake Michigan. Then we all came to our RV for my Dad’s Birthday. We had a great time. The next day I went swimming in the lake again. We went way out past the sand bar. Then we buried treasure and had a fun time digging it up. Then we went to Cousin Steve’s father-in-law’s house and ate dinner with my cousin Georgia. Then we went out in a boat and went swimming and flipped a lot in a kayak. The next day it was swimming and driving. See ya later!

July 11, 2008:
Detroit, Michigane
In Greenfield (but in the Mid 1900’s) I’m going to talk about Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. Thomas Edison made hundreds of inventoines including the telaphone and the light bolb. Henry Ford made a machine that made cars. He had 3,000 employes, and 300,000 cars per year in 1914. On the fiftyith year of the light bolb Henry Ford invited Thomas Edison to Greenfield village and before Thomas left Henry asked Thomas if it was different, and Thomas said, Well it was a lot dirtyer than this. Now we keep going back to cousin Jon’s house.

July 9, 2008:
In Ohio we went to a friend’s house. Her name is Bea. We went swimming and had a barbeque there. It was fun!
The next day we went to the zoo! At the zoo my favorite animals were Frogs, Otters, and Monkeys. The Frogs were awsome! There was a Milk Frog, my favorite a scary green Frog, a Poison dart Frog, a giant Bull Frog, and lots others.
The otters were great. They would swim around in circles and go upside down. They looked so cool when they walked. The Monkeys would run around and climb and swing. I forgot to tell you about the Orangutan. He walked right up to the glass. He looked so cool. We had a great time.

July 7, 2008:
Here, at my dad’s cousin Jon’s house in Michigain. We stayed in Lake Michigan for a day, went to giant sand doons, and got knocked over by killer waves! In the lake it got really cold and deep and I had to swim, but then it got shallow and warm again. We would dig huge holes also we even hit water.
At the sand doons we would run and then jump into the water. They were huge. Then we went out far, we couldn’t touch the bottom if we tried! When we went to the killer waves we had so much fun. They would knock you over and push you all around. We also found a little creek that we damed up. We had a great time.

July 4, 2008:
Today we went to an EAA. Their were hundreds of airplanes! At kids gallery I flew a toy airplane, sat in a real one, flew a toy hanglidder, and flew a air combat simulater! The toy was hard, but I still had fun. The real air plane was so cool! I got to push a lot of buttons! It was awsome! The hang glider was fun! You had to follow a paingwen. The simulator was my favorite. You had to shute down other plaines, you could go upside down! I had a great time, but we continued are journey to my dad’s cousin Jon’s house.
July 2:
Today we went to Cannon Falls. Here there’s a river, pond, and a lake. At the pond we caught hundreds of tadpoles, and frogs. At the lake we went swimming. We had lots of fun!
Last night we went to a Fair, and wachted a Demaltion Derby people were crashing all over! Pickup’s were my favorite. It was awesome! I had a great time.

July 1:
Hi I’m in Minisota. Today I went to the Mayo Clinic! They gave me an eye test and I did really good and I can go swimming. So I did! At the Mayo Clinic there was a piano and a singer I didn’t like it but my mom did. And boy, the Mayo Clinics huge. My docters name is Dr. Garrity. He was very funny. It’s a big place.

June 30, 2008
Today I saw some of my friends again. Their names are Jadie, Jake, Alley, and Luke DeLang. They grew up there with their Mom (Marchell) and their grandma Cindy. We went swimming with them, again I couldn’t go deep. Then I went on a bike ride with my dad. Then Jadie and I went to the park, it was fun. Then at the end of the day we all had a bike ride, when we were riding a baby bird fell out of a tree! We went around in a circle, we saw 3 bunnys! We went back to the bird and put him in a bowl. The next morning he was gone!
Then we went to a dairy farm, guess what? I rode a horse! After that we played with some kittens they were very cute. Then we milked some cows. It felt wierd! I had a great time!
(Just a note from Joan: Ben’s writing these thoughts in his journal, and I’m typing exactly as it’s written. He’ll work on typing skills this year, but isn’t ready to enter all this just yet!)

June 28, 2008:
Here in South Dakota there’s farm land all over here. We went through Alberta, Montana, and North Dakota to get here.
We went to the North Dakota Museum. I learned about a dinosaur, and an Indian named sitting bull. I’ll talk about the dinosaur first. Well there was a 16 year old boy that was running around on the hills and discovered a dinosaur that still had it’s skin on it. Now I’ll talk about sitting bull. The white men shot all the buffalo so sitting bull gathered people and tried to stop them but the white man arrested him and killed him. I learned a lot at the North Dakota Museum, you should go there. I’m finally noticing that this trip is to show how much love is passed around this family.

6/24/08
We left Alaska five days ago, and a lot happened since then. First, we went to the Canadian border on the Alaska Highway. Second, we went to White Horse. There we went to the Canadian Game Center. We played soccer, basketball, and we went swimming, but I wasn’t allowed to get my eye wet because the water might go into my sinuses (I had emergency eye surgery four weeks ago, so I can’t go underwater).