Thanksgiving

Every year, when Thanksgiving comes around, i eat myself silly. I'm always happy when time for dessert comes around. But every family has different traditions. Many families spend the day with the entire family at a house. Others invite friends. Many families spend this day being thankful to God for the blessings in their lives. All of this Thanksgiving fun started way back in the 1600s when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoig Indians shared the first successful harvest the Pilgrims had had since the long and brutal winter. Now,I'll bet the men in your family don't go out to the shooting range, use a turkey as a target, and bring home the main course. I'll also presume that your women folk didn't grow corn in a garden for your Thanksgiving feast. So think about those poor Pilgrims! They couldn't go to Safeway and purchase a turkey!Now, we have it easy. i plan to spend Thanksgiving at my uncle's house eating a bunch of pie. What is your plan? Have a blessed and fun-filled Thanksgiving this year!

Bike ride to Cathedral with Dad

On Sunday, mom had to go to work, so Dad and i went on a bikeride. We didn't have breakfast, instead, we rode looking for a 'greasy spoon' restaurant to eat a little something. We didn't find one before it was time for Mass - so we locked up the bikes and went to Mass in the Cathedral. It was a very nice Mass. At the end they announced tamales were on sale in the basement so we got some and ate tamales on the steps of the Capital. Then we rode back home. It was a very nice day.

Triathlon

Sorry about the hard to read print! here is the account of our latest triathlon: Last triathlon of the year! On this cold morning, Alex and i had our last triathlon of the year and Alex's first triathlon being twelve, as it was my last as a ten year old.That means i will have to swim 150 meters instead of 50 with the little kids. Alex and i both started with a weak swim, but a better bike, and a weak run. It was windy, so even the bike was not that good. Now the triathlon season is over, Alex and i are relived and now get to rest for a while! Fixed the print now. Sorry!

Triathlon_Championship_2010

last triathlon of the year!On this cold morning, Alex and i had our last triathlon of the year, and also Alex's first triathlon being twelve, as was it was my last one as a ten-year old. that means that i will have to swim 150 meters instead of 50 meters with the little kids. Alex started with a weak swim, but had a good bike, and ended in a weak run. I also started with a weak swim, but my bike was great. My run was pretty good, but at the end my nose closed up and i couldn't breathe through it. i got 4th place, and Alex got 2nd, though he and another boy were the only twelve year olds. We both feel relived that the triathlon season is over, and we now get to relax. :)

Three Bridges Ride in Delta

On Saturday, May 22, we went to Walnut Grove for a ride by the delta. We learned about the ride, which was called Three Bridges Ride, riding in Walnut Grove, when Alex had to go to the bathroom, so we stopped by the Sheriff's office to go to the restroom. The sheriffs gave us a flier for the The Three Bridges Ride, and we decided to do it. Dad told our friend Brian Steeci and he decided to do it too. When the day finally came, we got going at around 8:30 and got there at around 9:00, and walked around Walnut Grove. When it was about time to register and get ready,we grouped where the race would start. We registered, and then got something to eat. i got a croissant, a banana nut muffin, watermelon, and strawberries. After the shorter ride began we started off. i rode on the yellow bike, an old racer. We got started, and right away crossed our first bridge. We were not going on the original course, so we didn't ride over three bridges, but it was so pretty! We went up a couple steep uphills, and it was really bumpy on this one road. We saw some geese that were half gray geese and half Canadian geese. They were pretty. On our way, next to a slough, there was a huge mansion. It was historic and it was gigantic! When we got back to the sheriff's office we bought hamburgers and hot dogs and had lunch. We met up with Brian, and then we left. We had a great time!

Riding to School

Dad likes to keep us fit, so he started riding with us to school. It is fun to ride along, early in the morning, feeling a stinging cold wind in your face, but it is nice! We sometimes put bikes on the rack, and take them to school with our helmets, and lock them up on the bike rack in front of the school. We go on Morse Street, and then to American River Drive. We ascend to Watt Avenue, and descend to La Riviera Drive. After that we go on back streets all the way home. It is fun!

Ice Cream Cones in Dixon

On Tuesday, Daddy, took Alex and me to Dixon, a ride that last time was only 80 miles, but this time we took a different route and geocached, so it was 92 miles. Imagine, if we had only gone 8 more miles; our second century! At first, i was really cold, but as the sun came up, it got warmer. We crossed the causeway, and then went underneath it, and down the road on the other side. We went pretty far, and then took a break at a vernal pools place, in the outskirts of Davis. It was interesting, but we didn't stay for long. In Davis, there was a house that had these alien plants. They were weird! After passing through Davis, we were on roads that were boardered by little trenches of water, and then for the rest of the way it was crops, all the way as far as you could see. About half way to Dixon, we stopped at a church/cemetery and looked around. When we made it to Dixon, we stopped at a park next to a library to eat lunch. After a short yummy break, we were on our way to Tasty Freeze, a good place, that we went to our first bikeride to Dixon. Alex and i had ice cream cones, and Dad had a shake. On our way home, in Davis, we stopped at a lemonade stand, and got two cups. It was good! We left the house at about 5:15, and we got home at about 7:30, so we were gone for about 13 hours. To see more pictures, go to http://www.andyjh.net/Dixon_04-06-10

Nicole Learns the Piano

One day Daddy installed a piano lesson on a laptop and I used it. I can play a lot. Two of the songs I can do are O Come All Ye Faithful, and Home on the range. The video is me playing O Come All Ye Faithful, though I do mess up once or twice. I really enjoy my piano lessons and I look forward to them.

Driving the car!!

Last Monday we didn't have school so Dad took us to the delta, by Clarksburg, Freeport, and Walnut Grove. On our way we stopped to look for a State Park. When we couldn't find it on the road we were looking on, and since it was a private road Alex drove the car. It was cool! Then a little while later we found another private road and I drove. He showed us how to start it, and I had a lot a lot of fun!

Bike ride/Birthday Party

Friday was my friend Ava's birthday party. She lives in Davis, CA,and we decided to ride our bikes to her house. At first, i was kind of unhappy that we were riding to her house, but a couple of minutes into the ride, i was having fun. i rode an old yellow racing bike, Alex rode his normal black one, and Dad rode a bike from Uncle Les, that was bluish-green, and we were on our way. Our first stop was right before H Street, and there was a lady petting and feeding a cat, that she called Tiger. He was a very pretty kitty, and he looked exactly like Roberta. Soon we were on our way, passing by a golf course. Daddy had brought cheerios in a water bottle, and he came back next to me to offer me a "drink", of cheerios. Yum! We arrived in Old Sacramento, took a break to eat a bread bar, and then were on our way through West Sac. We stopped for a short break at the place right before the beginning of the Causeway, and Alex and i traded bikes. My back did not like that! i was used to hunching down to reach the handle bars, and i wasn't. It hurt. So we traded back bikes and were on our merry way. When we reached Davis, Dad told us that Ava's house WAS ONLY 2.2 MILES AWAY! We rode over, but they weren't home, so we went to a little park by their house. There was a slide where you grab a little piece of cardboard, and go to the top and slide down. i used a tray the first time, and then used cardboard. It was fun. There were whales in a sand pit that Alex and i pretended to stand on. Then it got cold. We went back to their house, and they were there. Isaak was amazed that we had rode our bikes, and so was Ava. Once everyone got there, we ate dinner, and then Ava and i played around in her room. After a while, we had dessert, and then she opened presents. She got a pretty scarf-looking thing, and a catalog from her dad. We gave her a camel back. She liked it a lot. The adults played some board games while the kids watched The Series of Unfortunate Events. All too soon, it was time to go. We had a lot of fun, and hope to get together with the Mills again soon.

Click for photo slideshow on dad's website

Knitting Club

Mom and i go to a Knitting Group at Arden Dimik Library, on Watt Avenue. We enjoy it very much, and it is on every first Monday of the month. Mom is making a nice pink sweater made out of soft bamboo ribbon. i am making a scarf for daddy that i started in January, 2009. i haven't finished because i finished my first ball of yarn, but the scarf wasn't long enough! i had to start another ball. A woman named Tasha made the shawl, the top picture, and a lady named Linda made the blue short-scarf, the second picture. And i took the video of the entire Knitting Club. There was a new girl, there learning how to knit, and Kyle was there again. We have a great time there and I can't wait until next time, where i can hopefully show off the new scarf i just recently finished!

Bunny and Dean's Wedding

Bunny is a woman that used to work with my mom. She invited us to her wedding, and it was Friday night. Bunny was marrying a guy named Dean Inobe, who had two daughters that Bunny really seemed to like. It was fun! i got to see my friend Hannah, and see two lives intertwined. When we got there i found Hannah right away and we hung out until the Ceremony started. We crammed together in the foyer to watch Judge Borack, a judge from my mom's work, do the happy deed. After the wedding Ceremony, someone started a Conga line around the first floor, and i was in! We ate yummy stuff like pesto pasta, and Cesar salad. I sat with Drea and Rhonda, and learned that Drea and i like the same band a lot, 311. After, we had cake, and then started the dancing. Yikes! Hannah and i retreated to upstairs and watched the scene, and played catch with a little ball. Soon it was time to leave. i had so much fun and love going to weddings. :) I took a bunch of video, including the one here.

Open House

Sunday was not going to be very interesting, except Open House. Open House is when the teachers fix up the classrooms and everything, and the parents get to look at their child's work, and people who are thinking of enrolling their child get to look at the classrooms to see what their children are gooing to do over the process of the year. After church we went to Alex's classroom to drop something off, and then we went to my classroom. After checking out both classrooms,first we went to the science room, and then we went over to TK, Transitional Kindergarten, sort of like preschool but not quite, and saw Ms. O, who is not Ms. O, but is another last name because she got married, and saw Mrs. O'hara, her mom. We moved on to the Art room, and then we checked out the Spanish room, where dad struck up a conversation with the Spanish teacher, Mrs. Damian. But boy were we wrong about that being the only fun thing about Sunday! We drove across the Causeway to the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Refuge, where we had been on a bike ride before and hiked about 6 miles. I'll post stuff about that later on Monday, because Dad has some videos for me. Stay tuned!
Sent via Dr01dBerry by Andy

Morning Meanderings; The Exiting Escapades of Mom and i

This morning Drea, a lady that works at my mom's work, came over to our house for breakfast. We had waffles, eggs, sausage, and OJ. (orange juice) Afterwards, Mom and i went with Drea to Mom's work because Drea forgot something at her office, and had to get it to do some errands she wanted to do. We got there, grabbed the stuff, and headed out. We told Drea that we didn't need a ride home, because we were going to take the light rail. We took the light rail all the way to Downtown, looking for a place called Rumpelstiltskin, a yarn shop. After asking two people and walking at least a mile and a half, we finally found it. We checked it out and then looked inside a teashop. After looking at that, we investigated some sleeping trains, and then went down the road to the Capitol.After meeting up with Dad and Alex, over to the Cathedral, but it was closed, so we said farewell to Dad and Alex, and then went back to the Capitol. We checked it out for like an hour or two, and then left for home. We caught the train and took it to Tiber, where we walked home. I spent some quality time with mom, and we had fun,too!

The Pros and Cons of Staying Home Sick

Sunday i guess my tummy didn't like me because it tossed it's cookies, and on Monday i couldn't go to school, also because i had a small fever.

Pros: i got to watch TV, i got some beauty sleep in, and missed my science test!

Cons: On Monday, we were going to make waffles in class and apple award shopping, and i missed out. i also had to take this disgusting orange medicine stuff. And i still have to take that dumb science test! (Apple awards are awards that are shaped like apples, and you get them when you behave. Apple award shopping is when you turn in apple awards for a little ticket that says, 'two apple awards for one spelling test' which means if you buy that ticket you turn over two apple awards for the ticket and if you turn in the ticket, you don't have to do the spelling test.) i don't mind if i missed out, though!

Picture up top is me, sick.

Uglydoll Problems:

1. If i have a lot of Uglydolls and i get two more, and now have 8, how many did i have before?

2. If my sister has a lot uglydolls, gets three more, and i have eight, and toghether we both have
23, how many does she have?

3. Say i have two uglydolls, my dad has one, and then i get three more, and then another one, and then another one, how many do i have if he gives me his uglydoll?

Ps: My uglydoll's names are wage, ox, uglydog, moxy, black icebat, icebat, tray, and trunko.



answers: 6, 15, 8.

Yolo Bypass Wildlife Refuge

We are past the Causeway! We usually just turn and go down the Levee to a road and go on that to Davis. But today we went down the levee and turned on to the road going the other way. We found out that this side is the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Refuge. It has a really long levee going out for miles away from the Causeway. It is Super cool!

Yolo Causeway flooded

This is how flooded the Causeway is! Usually there is only a tiny amount of water, but WOW! Awesome!

A Big Tree in Discovery Park!

On our bike ride so far, as you can see, we are in Discovery Park, and have seen many amazing birds! We have seen flickers, cormorants, a Great Blue Heron, a turtle, egrets, two light colored hawks, and countless normal colored hawks. Stay tuned for more about our ride!

Mushrooms on the trail

Saturday must be International mushroom day! This is the first bike ride of 2010 from home, and right after the Watt Bridge, we saw these gigantic mushrooms by the side of the road, and the pretty one!
Sent via Dr01dBerry by Andy

Alex eating beans

For dinner tonight, we had beans and quesodillas. Daddy makes to best beans ever and we all love them.
Sent via Dr01dBerry by Andy

Welcome to Nicole's Awesome new blog!

In 2010 i am going to blog all of the stuff we are doing, and constant updates on my Uglydolls, plush creatures i love so much. They are big stuffed animals, and i have eight, four big ones, and four little ones. If you have any uglydolls, please tell me whitch ones you have. i love them! In school we are doing easy fun math, and a lot of book reports. We just finished a book report we broke down into chapters(two at a time) and did the test, so next mon., we get to make waffles, for the theme of the book Everything on a Waffle. It's going to be so fun!