Another Hike

On Saturday I went hiking to a mountain lake. Holy cow, was it a hard hike! It was, like, 2 miles of uphill climbing. My legs aren't very cooperative this morning! The lake was more like a pond, but still very pretty. We had lunch here. PB&J!

 On the way back we stopped and played at a creek. The water was cold and so refreshing to drink! It was a beautiful day out. Perfect temperature and a nice breeze.

 There was a little cabin just off the trail. I'm pretty sure it was no bigger than 8 x 10 if even that. I can't imagine living in something that small! Right above me right arm you can see part of the roof. An adult wouldn't even be able to stand up in it! I hope a family didn't have to live in the cabin. I can't imagine it being very tolerable for even one person.

Before we headed home we stopped for ice cream. Best ice cream ever! I had mint chocolate chip. They didn't have any peanut butter & chocolate which is, of course, my favorite. I love getting the chance to see Montana. I swear there isn't an ugly place in this state.

Party Time!

I wish it was my birthday, but it wasn't. Yesterday was Mac's 13th B-Day. Why she gets to turn 13 and I don't, I do not know. But I don't want to be a teenager anyway. And I totally don't want to be in 8th grade.

Our cousin Rebecca was here for a visit. She's the one who likes to have tea parties and where frilly dresses and forces her cousins to also wear frilly dresses. Her hair was insanely perfect (I think Mac posted a picture). Mac's cake was to die for even though it wasn't peanut butter. Is there such thing a peanut butter cake? I bet there is. You know what's really good? Cake balls made of chocolate cake and peanut butter! I ate, like, a dozen last week.

Anywhose. Mac's dad made hamburgers on the grill and we had fresh lemonade to drink. It was so hot out! I was glad the party was mostly inside.

 After all the food stuff, our parents made us pose for pictures. I guess they were smart enough to stuff us with food first so we couldn't run away from the camera. I hate when grown-ups get tricky like that.

I wore my Spike shirt, obviously. Flashpoint has been totally awesome the past few weeks. Spike has been getting a bigger role. He's the best (and cutest) character in the show. The show is set (and filmed, I assume) in Toronto, Canada in case my Canadian friends are interested in knowing :)

Tomorrow is math tutoring! I can't believe how excited I am. I think something is wrong with me. You know what Kit thinks? She thinks I have a crush on Aaron. Okay, Kit, just because you have a crush on, like, every guy doesn't mean that I do. Little sisters can be quite the pain.

Hail Storm

We had a nice little hail storm last night. It was so loud in my bedroom! I swear the roof was going to cave in or something! All the Westies hid under the covers. It was quite hard to sleep. Luckily it only lasted a half hour.

I'm sure you are all wondering how karate went. I talked to Mother about taking lessons somewhere else, but she said there wasn't any other good karate places around. But she thought it would be possible to switch to a different class. JJ's dad took me to class early and we talked to my current karate teacher. He said he was sorry that Alex had been bullying me, but because she was considered special needs he couldn't ban her from the class. I didn't know what to say to that. It's wonderful that Alex can be in a regular class, but what about the needs of the students she tortures? JJ's dad spoke up and said even though we were sensitive to Alex's plight, I was in physical danger each class. I'm signed up for the later class now. JJ's dad will still be able to take me since he doesn't work on Friday.

Now about my math tutor. Is it terrible to say I love my math tutoring? Aaron is very patient and doesn't mind when I make the same mistake five times in a row. He just shows me again and tells me I'm catching on. We work for 45 minutes and then we have a snack. Aaron is like the best baker in the world! He always has some home-made goodie to give me. This week is was lemon squares. I could have eaten a dozen and there wasn't even peanut butter involved! Which is a good thing since his friend Shawn is allergic to peanuts and they can't have PB in the house.

Aaron said I'm welcome to come over anytime. Since he doesn't drive nor have a job he's always around. I think I will take him up on that offer.

One last thing. I think I've mentioned Angelica a few times. She has a blog now, too. The link is under my favorite blogs (she bribed me to add it. Just kidding! Maybe...) called "Angelica's Analysis". I know she'd like to meet my blog-y friends!

Karate and Math

I haven't had much to tell about karate in awhile since I missed a few lessons due to vacation and then Alex was gone on vacation for a few weeks, too. I must say I really liked the classes when she wasn't there. Anyway, we were both there Friday and it was right back to square one. Alex nearly gave me a black eye and I was close to tears by the time class was over. I couldn't even try to talk to her. She was mean to everyone. I wonder how she acts at school? I'm pretty close to quitting karate. I was so bummed out Thursday knowing what the next day would be like. Mother says it's up to me if I want to quit or not. I said I would give it two more weeks.

My first math tutoring session was okay. It was on Thursday and the only thing I wanted to do was watch TV. Aaron, the tutor, didn't seem to care that I didn't want to talk much since he doesn't seem to like to talk much himself. My curiosity did get the better of me about a few things that I did have to ask about. Like who rides the motorcycle? Aaron said that is his best friend Shawn. Shawn owns the house and Aaron mooches off of him (Aaron's words not mine!). Shawn also has a beautiful Irish Setter named Remy. That dog made my day a little bit better. She's very sweet, but Aaron says she is very lazy and has a stubborn streak.

So my tutoring session ended on a fairly positive note and I'm actually looking forward to next Thursday. I just wish Friday didn't come after that.

4th of July Picnic

How was everyone's 4th of July? Mine was a blast! Everyone went over to Jess' house for a party. It was such a beautiful day! Not too hot or windy. For lunch we had hamburgers and French fries; watermelon and apples; and cupcakes for dessert. I'm totally obsessed with cupcakes right now. I want to make some with peanut butter filling.

 Ella, Jess, and their new neighbor Angelica

 After we ate, our parents said we needed to burn off energy so we played soccer.

 But then Rex (Mac's puppy) stole the ball! He was too cute to get mad at, though. We let him play with us then.

 JJ and I decided to climb trees after the soccer game. We couldn't get any higher than that. Well, we probably could have, but our parents said "that's high enough, girls". Grown-ups...

 This is Angelica on the left. She just moved here from NYC and now lives next door to Jess. Her dad worked for Mac's mom in NYC so she and Mac know each other well. Right now Angelica is staying with Mac's family while her family gets the rest of their stuff moved and deals with all the house selling hassles.

Later we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Sooooooooooo yummy! I could have eaten a whole bag. I wonder who came up with the idea to hold a marshmallow over a fire? It is quite a bizarre idea if you think about it. Of course, who thought it would be a good idea to milk a cow and drink it? Anyways, it was a fun day and I hope we have more picnics in the future!

A Math Tutor and a New Puppy

Okay, I know, totally weird title, but both are important for this post. I'll try not to ramble on too long, but when have I ever not done that?

Yesterday Mother decided to spring on me that I needed a math tutor for the summer. I'm doing average in math, but I would spend hours with Mother and Elizabeth helping me do homework. So Mother figured a tutor would help me figure out my problem spots so I'll be ready for fall. Perfectly logical, but right now I hate logic. I don't want to spend my summer doing math!

Anyway, Mother apparently enlisted Casey's help in finding someone and he called yesterday and told Mother there was a "math genius" that lives near us who would help me. And it turns out he doesn't just live "near" us, he practically lives next door! How terrible is that?

This all happened in the morning, so after lunch I talked Kit into taking Coconut for a walk with me and figure out where this guy lives. Chances are I've seen him before and with Coconut with us we could "accidentally" "lose" our dog in his yard. Yeah, that was my bright idea for the day. Sometimes I amaze myself with my cleverness.

So we found his house and I recognized the motorcycle in the driveway. I must have waved at him dozens of times! Coconut decided then would be a good time to put our plan into action and he yanked free of Kit's grasp. He started snuffling around in the bushes by the front door. And with my grand luck the door opened. But it wasn't a guy, it was a young woman and another Westie. Coconut and this Westie stared running around like terriers do and neither obeyed (another thing terriers do). Finally I managed to grab Coconut's leash and apologized to the woman. She was very kind and said it was okay, her dog needed the exercise anyway. Her name was Nora and the dog was Kyla.

That's when I noticed a guy standing in the doorway. He didn't look like the guy I usually saw on the motorcycle; he was much younger. But by then I was out of breath and a bit embarrassed at how bad Coconut was to say anything.

By now you are probably wondering where the new puppy comes in. I'll get to that now. Nora asked where we got out dog and I told her we got him from a shelter in Nevada and she asked if we had ever been to the local shelter. The shelter had gotten a one-year-old female Westie that was now ready for adoption. Like we really needed another dog, but when we got home the first thing Kit told Mother was about the Westie. We had to go see it, she said. Amazingly Mother agreed and we stopped at the shelter after picking up Nellie from her art class.

Well, we couldn't leave without the dog. So, here is Knut our newest Westie.

 

 

There you go, a math tutor and a new puppy!

Hiking

I got to go hiking on Saturday! It was so much fun and a perfect day to be outside. I haven't live in Montana long and it's totally awesome to see how beautiful this state is.

 Below me is the Stillwater River. Very ironic name right now because the river was totally raging. That pictures does not show how powerful and crazy the water was. And, honestly, I'm not hanging over the cliff. That's just the awesomeness of photography.

 Again, I'm not going to tumble into the water.

 These first three pictures were taken at a huge rock I got to climb and below was a wider part of the river and where the rapids wouldn't kill you (at least not as fast).

 Here I am at the lake. It was so beautiful, but I was starving and just wanted to get back to the car for lunch. The smart thing to have done would have been to bring our food with us. Right, Mother?

 After lunch (peanut and butter and jelly), I was ready for a few more pictures. This pic shows how fast the river was going. It was so loud! I kind of liked it 'cause it meant I couldn't hear Mother or my sisters!

This is me just being totally awesome. Can't wait until I can hike again! Summer is awesome!