Weekend At Oma and Opa's

So my blog isn't going super good. I never use it. Once again, I'm going to try and get better at it (let's see how this attempt works out).

During the summer Alex and I went to visit his Oma and Opa. While we were there we went on a couple hikes where all the pictures come from.


These first two pictures are right before we started out hike at Staircase. We didn't get very far because we kept going off the path to all these cool places. There was a lot to explore.



The first time we went off the path was to look at this gigantic tree that had fallen over. We got to climb inside. Alex was having fun at the tree and we stayed here for a while.


Inside the tree.



Alex wanted me to take a picture of what he was crawling into before he explored.



Chipmunk Alex!


Not only did Alex climb inside the tree, but he climbed all over the outside too.



Another distraction. The river was super pretty, there were a lot of birds flying around too.


Also tree huger Alex.


Stop number three was to this gigantic rock that (if it was warmer) could jump off into crystal clear water.


Also at stop three, if you followedthe gigantic rock down the was this log and you could walk to this other gigantic rock.


I thought the dead tree and the water was cool.



Stop number four! We couldn't go out any farther than this without risking falling in the water, but the mini water falls were cool.


Going back to the trail from stop four.


Stop five! I thought this tree was amazing and so i decided to climb it.


Alex found a frog!


Isn't this just the coolest trail to walk on?


Stop six. Alex wanted to be a jungle man.

With all of our stops and our time limit, we only got about a mile (if even) out. the whole trail was three miles. Even though we didn't finish the whole thing it was fun, and super awesome scenery. Next year we are going to make a longer time limit in order to make sure we get the whole trail in!


After our Staircase hike Opa and Oma took us to see the Dam and to some other local spots. It was fun.

The next day


I've never really shot anything in my life and so this was a super fun experience for me. The first gun Alex let me shot was the 22. It had a small kick back and I loved this gun! I mostly shot this one because it didn't scare me.


The other gun we shot this day was a 45 pistol. I only shot it twice (video below) and I didn't like it. the kick back was way bigger than the 22 and it scared me because I thought I was going to hurt either myself or Alex.



That night we went up to Mount Walker where there is a 360 degree view (from two different view points). On the other view point you can actually see Seattle, but I don't have a picture of it because right after I took the picture below my camera accidentally slipped out of my pocket and the lens broke.


The next morning, Alex and I went on a drive up the mountains. He took the shotgun with us in case we saw any grouse. He didn't. However the drive was super pretty (wish i could have gotten pictures) and even though there was nothing to shot at, Alex let me take a shot with the shotgun. Scary! I knew the kick back was going to be worse than the 45, but after seeing Alex shoot (who is completely use to it and it didn't even move him) I let myself believe it wasn't going to be bad at all....bud mistake! Even though it's awesome I can brag about shooting a shotgun, it scared me super bad and next time I"m going to have to muster up the courage because of how much it scared me the first time.

A History of My family

So for my final in art, our assignment was to build a shrine. That was all the instruction the class was given. So after much thought, I decided to do a shrine to my family history. I grabbed a bunch of old pictures and objects we had around the house and built my project.


This is what the final product ended up looking like.

I used various pictures, and i have no idea who most of them are. But they are all family.

Zola Cline

Zola Cline is one of the people (they are sitting on a car, sorry i know it's blurry)







The colored picture is Grandma Smout with my dad and John Paul.











The women holding the baby in the back left...the baby is my great grandma Macklin.


Grandma Smout



The colored picture is my dad


...i think this is also Zola Cline...not positive



The picture of the two little kids holding hands was taken around 1899, but i don't know who they are. Same with the other picture.

Other than pictures, I also put in various objects.


The hat belonged to my Grandpa Taylor
These glasses belonged to Genevieve Lipsey I believe. I know they were here first pair in 1925.



The books, skateboard, and letter-mens jacket all belonged to my Grandpa Taylor.


The school was my great-grandma Macklins, and the dishes were a wedding gift to....i can't remember...but i do know they were some of the only dishes to survive the cyclone in....19..something. Can't remember the exact date. 1918 maybe? The heart braclet belonged to Zola Cline. Don't know for the camera.


The Elsie book belonged to Emma Macklin, and I don't know who owned the bible.

I don't know about the latern, but the baseball glove was my Grandpa Taylor's and my Grandma Taylor gave me the typewriter a few years ago.

I didn't take close of pictures of these, but I added my parents graduation tassels, and one of my Grandpa Taylor's horse blankets.

I had a lot of fun with this project, and I still don't know everything about my history, obviously, but it's always fun to look at old things and know somebody used it at one point or look at an old picture and know that moment happened a long time ago.

My class loved it, all they were all asking questions (some i couldn't answer). My teacher told me he could see it in a museum. That made me feel good cause that meant I did good on the project.

Drive-in

So i don't have any pictures for this one cause I was a loser and forgot my camera at home, but Alex and I went to the drive in last night.

Beforehand we loaded Alex's truck up with anything we could think of the make the bed of it comfortable, plus plenty of blankets for both of us so we could stay warm. Then, of course, we went to Fred Meyers and bought junk food/pop. We were wearing our PJ's so we got a bunch of looks from random people, but whatever. We didn't care.

The two movies we saw were Iron Man 2 and How to Train Your Dragon. Iron Man, for me, wasn't very good. There were really only two major action scenes and neither of them were spectacular. The rest of the movie was boring and there wasn't really a plot to follow. Not one I would buy.

How to Train you Dragon on the other hand, I love. It was my second time seeing it because my family saw it for mothers day, but it is just as good the second time around. For sure that is one i want to own.

It was a lot of fun and we are planning on going a couple more times this summer...assuming the movies are good.

Mizu

Alex surprised me the other day by taking me out to a new restaurant. Before hand all he told me was dress semi nice. So i had no idea what to expect. The restaurant he took me to was Mizu.


Us outside the restaurant.


I wanted to take a picture of out table cause I thought it looked cool, and of course, Alex jumped in at the last second. He's so cute.


They cooked our food right in front of us and this is the chief lighting up the grill. It was super warm. That was nice cause I was cold almost the whole time.


The first thing he did was spin and egg on the grill and got it moving super fast then he flicked it up in the air. Then he used his spatula and was almost juggling the egg in the air. When he finally let it drop, it hit the grill and slit perfectly down the center. It was way cool.


He also made what he called a "onion volcano". He un-layered a slice on onion and made a volcano out of it, then poured whatever he used to make the fires...cause i highly doubt it was gasoline.. and poured that inside the top of the onion and lite it.

This was the initial fire, but i wanted this picture at the end cause I think it looks the coolest.

The image and service at the restaurant was really amazing. Having them cook in front of us was super cool too. The price was up there though, and the food was a little too salty for me. It still tasted good, but every couple bites I had to swallow it with a mouth full of pop so I could get past the saltiness.

Another minor cool thing, they had the coolest ice cubes!!!

Cow Tipping

So I wrote an article in my journalism class that I really like so I'm going to post it so you can read it if you would like. I write for the satire section, so keep that in mind.



Enumclaw campus to offer Cow Tipping&101 for Fall Quarter

By: Jessi Cheney

Starting Fall Quarter, the Green River Enumclaw campus is offering new classes for their students, one of them being Cow Tipping-&101.

Cow Tipping&101 is designed specifically for the Enumclaw campus. 98% of Enumclaw families own cattle farms so the school board thought it would be beneficial to offer the students the chance to learn all about tipping cows.

There is more to this class than just tipping cows, however. Over the course of the quarter, students will learn how to tip cows, protect their families cows from cow tipping, and debate all the controversial topics related to cow tipping. The class also provides students with veterinary experience to correctly help bovine back up and repair potential injuries received during the tipping.

“Because cows cannot get up themselves, we have to do it.” Says Holly May, one of the instructors for the class. “It’s a massive amount of work and usually takes all day and sometimes well into the next day because some of the cows get injured.”
Originally, there was debate on whether the course should be transferable. Advocates pushed for the class to be transferable, and as of right now, they have won their case.

Cow tipping isn’t the only new subject that might be added to the class listings. Safe Bestiality 101 is also being considered.

Students attending Green River’s main are intrigued and interested as in why the Enumclaw campus gets an easy class, while the main campus just has regular courses.

“I think if the school board is going to put a cow tipping class over in Enumclaw, they need to put an easy class for us here too,” Commented student Victor Kurnk. “Like maybe Squirrel hunting.”

The new course in Enumclaw has raised suspicion in a lot of people. They feel that the only reason the school is offering the class is so the students will have a higher grade point average , which will in turn raise the school’s reputation.
The School Board, however, says they are only offering the classes for the benefit of the students. Humphry stated there is no motive behind the class other than to inform the students about the controversial topics of cow tipping and the safe practices of bestiality; the new courses will be taken no different than any other course they already offer.

Though the school board is pleased with the idea of this new class, some staff members, and even some students at the Enumclaw Campus, have their own opinions behind the new class.

“I think this class is a great idea,” stated English Profesor Charles MaCoy. “In my personal opinion I think the school board needs to come up with corky classes like that for every campus. It’s a great way for the students to get an education, but have fun at the same time.”

The class, will in the Enumclaw’s 2010-2011 Course Catalogue. Enumclaw residents believe the class will be a huge hit.