A Sunny Vacation Spot Everyone Will Enjoy!
10/9/11
Author's note: The reason for choosing this topic to write about was how exciting this trip was was. My goal by the end of the story is to hopefully help you picture how great of a vacation spot St. Maarten is. Enjoy!
Last year I took a gorgeous trip to St. Maarten. My family and I went on the trip with some family friends. My dad’s friend and his girlfriend have a timeshare at the Little Divi Resort in St. Maarten and they invited my family to go. His girlfriend has a daughter from a previous marriage that’s my age and we hung out a lot together! We did many thrilling things together but some that particularly remain in my head are the first night there, snorkeling, and zip lining.
On the first night when we stepped out of the airport it was as hot as a fire-cracker. We signaled for a cab and the driver took us to our hotel. We checked in and headed to explore our rooms for the first time. Once we got settled in my parents, sister, and I head down to the beach-side bar to relax for the rest of the night. Hayley, the daughter, and I went down to the beach, lie in the sand, and let the waves wash us up onto the shore. After that got quite boring we started running along the shore and every time a wave was about to approach we would run away. It seems quite childish, I’m aware, but that’s what kids our age do, act mature half the time, and the other half we act like we’re 2. Once everybody was tired, we headed up to our rooms, which were connected by the living room, dining room, and kitchen, Hayley and I washed out our swim suits, which were just packed with sand, and we took a shower to wash the sand out of our hair, not the most intelligent thing to do, but hey, whatever floats your boat, right!? Once we were all washed up, the rest of the gang hit the hay to start what seemed to be an amazing vacation.
10/9/11
Author's note: The reason for choosing this topic to write about was how exciting this trip was was. My goal by the end of the story is to hopefully help you picture how great of a vacation spot St. Maarten is. Enjoy!
Last year I took a gorgeous trip to St. Maarten. My family and I went on the trip with some family friends. My dad’s friend and his girlfriend have a timeshare at the Little Divi Resort in St. Maarten and they invited my family to go. His girlfriend has a daughter from a previous marriage that’s my age and we hung out a lot together! We did many thrilling things together but some that particularly remain in my head are the first night there, snorkeling, and zip lining.
On the first night when we stepped out of the airport it was as hot as a fire-cracker. We signaled for a cab and the driver took us to our hotel. We checked in and headed to explore our rooms for the first time. Once we got settled in my parents, sister, and I head down to the beach-side bar to relax for the rest of the night. Hayley, the daughter, and I went down to the beach, lie in the sand, and let the waves wash us up onto the shore. After that got quite boring we started running along the shore and every time a wave was about to approach we would run away. It seems quite childish, I’m aware, but that’s what kids our age do, act mature half the time, and the other half we act like we’re 2. Once everybody was tired, we headed up to our rooms, which were connected by the living room, dining room, and kitchen, Hayley and I washed out our swim suits, which were just packed with sand, and we took a shower to wash the sand out of our hair, not the most intelligent thing to do, but hey, whatever floats your boat, right!? Once we were all washed up, the rest of the gang hit the hay to start what seemed to be an amazing vacation.
The rest of our vacation included many tremendous activities, one of them being snorkeling. My mom; sister, Amanda; Kathy, the girlfriend; Hayley; and I all went on a G.D.O (girls’ day out) while the guys went fishing. We got a cab to a marina which is where the snorkeling was taking place. We boarded this pirate ship and once everyone was aboard we set sail off to where the snorkeling occurred. On the bow of the boat was a diving board thing-a-ma-bobber and anyone who dared to try jumping off of it into the water was welcome. I’m up for almost every challenge I’m offered, and this one, well I just couldn’t resist! At first, I admit, I was a little worried, but I built up the courage to jump, and, well, I just went for it and jumped! It was the adventure of a lifetime! I jumped, and got up, and jumped, and got up, and I repeated this process just about a bazillion more times, it was so exciting! I just couldn’t stop!
Okay, snorkeling may have been a thrill but I hadn’t experienced zip lining yet. Man, was that a kick! It wasn’t from one to tree to another, no, noo, nooo, noooo, it was more of an obstacle course. You had to walk across planks, and zip on ropes; it was an event I could never forget! You had the choice to do the adult or kids course. I chose to do the adult and I mean it wasn’t too difficult, but it wasn’t the smartest choice I ever made. When walking across the planks I literally had to do the splits, and once I actually almost fell, but like I always say, I’m always up for a challenge. The fact that it was challenging made it a bit more fun! I was between my dad and his friend, Tom, so in case I did fall they could help me. Hayley didn’t go, so when we were almost done she was taking plenty of pictures. Kathy, Tom, my mom, dad, sister, and I all made it back in once piece, thank God, and we all enjoyed every bit of it.
Those may have been minor details of trip but overall we all had a fantastic time! Now I bet you wish you had gone with us, don’t ya! When I grow up, and have a family of my own, I’m definitely taking them back there!
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A Dream Come True
10/9/11
Author's Note: The writing for this story was based on my fabulous trip to Hawaii. I chose it because it was just so fun, I had to share it! I hope you enjoy my detailed description of my trip!
When I was five my family and I took a stunning trip to Hawaii. My mom, dad, sister, and I experienced many lovely activities while we visited there. Three in particular help me remember this trip especially. Those three activities are the first night when we arrived, snorkeling, and parasailing.
The first night we arrived we were literally sweating buckets when we stepped out of the airport. I swear it was about 100 degrees there! We had been sitting in the airport for maybe a 2 hour delay and we were in three different airplanes for roughly 16 hours. When we arrived it was around 4 a.m. and all four of us were completely exhausted! We checked into our hotel and hit the hay for the night, gathering enough energy to get through our first day in Hawaii!
One of my favorite activities was parasailing. Parasailing is where you are harnessed into a seat attached to a parachute-type-thing. Our parachute was a big magenta smiley face. Those two pieces of equipment were connected to a boat. The faster the boat would go the higher the parachute would rise up. I believe we reached approximately 180 feet in the air! My mom and dad didn’t prefer this activity as much as my sister and I did. We adored it!
When my family and I tried snorkeling for the first time it was quite an interesting trip! We embarked onto a boat and it set sail out to a reef along the ocean. Since I was only five at this time I had to have gear from a noodle to a life jacket, it was obnoxious! I got to lie on a miniature sized boogie board with built in goggles so I could just rest my face on them and see all the sea creatures lurking below. I believe I remember viewing an eel while snorkeling. While I was searching, my sister was literally swallowing half the water in the Pacific Ocean, why you ask, I honestly do not remember. While both our little activities were continuing to occur my mother, who by the way couldn’t swim, is trying to help my dad, who also could not swim. It was quite an experience for my family and me.
It may not sound like it was a great trip, but it truly was, besides the fact that my dad got bit by a parrot AND a sea urchin and that at one point or another every single one of my family members were sick. Otherwise we had a great time! When I’m older I definitely want to go back and see how fun Hawaii is when you don’t get bit by anything, drink half the ocean, nearly drown, and get sick! Well, anyways, I’m sure you’d like to go to Hawaii now, as long as those dreadful things don’t happen to you!
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A Cruise You Only Think of In Your Dreams
10/9/11
Author's Note: This story was developed off of my trip to the Bahama's because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope this story creates a helpful visual to have you understand this wonderful experience even more!
In 2009 my family took a cruise aboard Disney Cruise Lines which was heading to the Bahamas. We flew to Florida and took a Coach Bus to the docking area and checked-in at the check-in location. We walked to the vast cruise ship and searched for our room. Once we found it we entered and were just amazed by how nice it was! There was Queen-sized bed and a couch where the back flung up and turned into bunk beds. So far I bet the vacation sounds great but wait until you hear about swimming with dolphins, the kids club on the ship, and the family activities we joined.
10/9/11
Author's Note: This story was developed off of my trip to the Bahama's because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope this story creates a helpful visual to have you understand this wonderful experience even more!
In 2009 my family took a cruise aboard Disney Cruise Lines which was heading to the Bahamas. We flew to Florida and took a Coach Bus to the docking area and checked-in at the check-in location. We walked to the vast cruise ship and searched for our room. Once we found it we entered and were just amazed by how nice it was! There was Queen-sized bed and a couch where the back flung up and turned into bunk beds. So far I bet the vacation sounds great but wait until you hear about swimming with dolphins, the kids club on the ship, and the family activities we joined.
Near the Bahamas was a little island just for activity with dolphins. We sailed out to the island on a boat that I thought looked like a mini version of the Titanic. Once we reached the island we had to check-in, once again, and the guides placed us aside and once everyone was there we went into this enclosed area where there swam, and stood, a trainer and an adorable little dolphin! The funniest part was that the dolphin and trainer both had the same name, Shawn! Now, I know I said swimming with dolphins, but we didn’t actually swim, we just did tricks with dolphins, but saying swimming with dolphins was a whole lot easier to say. We all lined up on an underwater platform, but we were still above water, and the trainer would go down line doing each trick. I was a little nervous so I stood towards the end. Some tricks we performed with the dolphin were dancing, hugging, kissing, and feeding him! In the end we each got an individual picture with Shawn and a family shot with him. My individual one was Shawn and I hugging, and in the family one I had the privilege to have Shawn kiss my cheek. This was without a doubt an unforgettable experience.
On this trip, nothing could beat the dolphins but going to the ‘Kids Klub’ was pretty fun too.When I got bored or my parents were doing some adult stuff I went to this little kids’ area and I would play the Wii, PlayStation, and even do crafts. The Wii only had one game, Wii Sports, so our only option was to play boxing, golf, bowling, tennis, or baseball. I would play against other kids and I actually set the record on that system and my personal record which was 199. I’ve beat that score by now but I was still pretty proud of myself! On the PlayStation I would play DDR, which is Dance Dance Revolution. I don’t remember how good I was at it, but I’m pretty coordinated so I’m assuming I didn’t a pretty good job. One craft we made that I especially remember was flubber. Flubber is a goo from a movie that was popular in 2009. It consisted of, well I honestly don’t remember, but I was so slimy and cold, I felt great! When a kid got dropped off the parent A) Would always have to go with them and B) Would get a buzzer-thing-a-ma-bobber, and when the child was ready to leave the parents buzzer would go off and the parent would have to come pick the kid up. I loved that place so much!
Two absolutely enjoyable activities that we joined in on the fun were Who Wants to be a Mousketeer, which is a game parody of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Each audience member received a slip of paper that contained a number and if your number was chosen you would be the contestant. Guess whose number got chosen, of course, mine! I staggered up there with mixed emotions roaming from excited to a little freaked! I honestly don’t know why I was freaked because I was whipping answers out like Willow Smith does with her hair. I was amazing! On one of the last few questions I got stumped and I still had my two helps left so I called my sister up to help me and we completed the game victorious! My prize was a little magnetic oval which included about 15 Mickey Mouse magnet clips. It was so fun being up there! Another joyous activity we engaged in was a little family karaoke night. There weren’t many people there, surprisingly! But we still had fun my sister and I did everything from solos to duets, well I guess those are the only things you can do, because my parents were to chicken to sing so we couldn’t do a quartet, but honestly how awesome would that have been, I mean seriously! Hello, hello, hello, hello, hel--------lo! Anyways my sister and I rocked the stage along with about 5 other people. At the end of the night the ending song, which was sang by all the participants, was the DJ’s favorite song. I don’t remember what it was but I’m almost positive it was from the Little Mermaid.
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A Great Country
10/25/11
Author's Note: I'm very proud of my country, and that's what inspired me to write about this
topic. You may not have the same view as I did, but I hope this will help you understand how
proud I am of my country!
10/25/11
Author's Note: I'm very proud of my country, and that's what inspired me to write about this
topic. You may not have the same view as I did, but I hope this will help you understand how
proud I am of my country!
Why are you proud of your country? There are so many reasons why the U.S. is such a great
country. I am proud of my country because of its brave and giving citizens and the struggles
it’s overcome.
country. I am proud of my country because of its brave and giving citizens and the struggles
it’s overcome.
So many people think that service men and women are the bravest people in our country, and don’t get me wrong, I think they’re brave, but what about police officers and firefighters? Cops chase drunk drivers, catch criminals, and deal with other dangerous tasks. Firefighters obviously fight fires, but they also help the ambulance out when people are in need, and handle other life-threatening responsibilities. Service men and women go overseas and help to defend our country while risking their lives at the same time! All these tasks include people who put their lives on the line for others, and those are true heroes. Our country is not only full of brave people, but also giving. Charities that have been started to raise money for diseases are donated to everyday, and those are giving people, people who give away their things for people who are in need.
Our country has put up with many struggles and fortunately pulled itself out of the rubble that was left behind. The worst of those days, without a doubt, was September 11, 2011, the day tragedy struck. Our country was attacked, and an immense amount of people helped to protect the country and injured victims. One person that comes to mind is Welles Crowther, otherwise known as “The Man with the Red Bandana.” His story has touched nearly every soul in America because of his astonishing bravery. He risked his life for others and ended up saving about a dozen people. That’s a great example of brave citizens in America. Although Welles passed saving other victims, he will be remembered for his braveness, kindness, and love for his country and its citizens.
The brave citizens, struggles that have been overcome, and great people that live here are what make me proud of my country. This country, no matter what it’s nationally ranked, is on the top of my list for being the best home anyone could ask for.
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The drastic effect it could have on the environment, the economy, and because of the limited help it’ll give the U.S. is why my perspective of this dilemma is that the U.S. shouldn’t drill for oil in Alaska. I honestly do believe there are positives to drill for oil in Alaska, but I disagree that we should drill for oil in the Alaska. Seriously, just think of all the harmful effects that drilling for oil in Alaska could potentially cause.
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Should We Drill for Oil in Alaska?
3/21/12
Author’s Note: There has been a huge dispute going on for the past 22 years about a huge topic: whether or not the U.S. should drill for oil. In social studies we have been working on our DBQ, which stands for Document Based Questioning, and I wanted to turn that into an essay to get a grade for it in Language Arts. I spent hours of researching and I finally finished with a strong statement of why I don’t think we should drill for oil, and here’s why...
“If all 50 states governments introduced a law to establish ethanol producing plants, and then mandated blended fuel, would this eventually stabilize the cost of energy and reduce our dependence on overseas oil?” These were few questions asked by R.L., -- Springfield, MA, which connects to the issue of whether or not the US should drill for oil in Alaska. There have been many years of debates concerning whether or not drilling for Alaskan oil is a good idea or bad. A ban had been started and it has lasted 22 years; the most recent debate about it lasted two days. My perspective on this dilemma is that the U.S. shouldn’t drill for oil in Alaska because it could drastically affect the environment, the economy, and because of the limited amount of help it’ll give the U.S.
First off, drilling for oil in the ANWR will disturb the environment because it potentially could ruin the fresh air animals habitat, and clean environment. While drilling for oil all the fumes and waste from the machines would send pollutants into the air. This not only affects the citizens of Alaska, but also the animals, which begins my next point. The animals wouldn’t just be affected by the obnoxious fumes let off by the machinery, but also their shelter would be destroyed when drilling underground. Additionally, the area they are planning on drilling in, according to ANWR’s research about “Arctic Power - Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” is one of the only designated areas left for the wildlife to roam free in. If the government decides to allow drilling in this specific area, many Alaskans’ food source would be destroyed, and as a result they could possibly starve to death. While the fumes and the animal’s shelter being demolished would possibly send the innocent critters into extinction, the effects on the plants, the animals highest food source, would be a major component to the many species possibly dying off. The most frequent way in which the plants can be killed is through the unsanitary environment. With that said, if the environment is ruined it won’t just affect the air, but also living, breathing creatures.
Secondly, if such simple things as plants were affected imagine how intensely the economy would be changed. According to MSNBC’s article "Would Drilling More Alaskan Oil Cut Prices?" the volume of so-called recoverable oil in Alaska that is left comes to about 10.4 billion barrels. In order to receive even the littlest bit of that, we would have to pay at least some money. The U.S. is in so much debt-- why would we need to be even deeper? Deciding to drill for oil in Alaska would just add to the money we owe. Besides, by the time we would decide to begin producing oil, there would be yet another 7- 12, years to wait for the oil to produce. This point was stated by, once again, MSNBC’s article, "Would Drilling More Alaskan Oil Cut Prices?" By the time the production would be done and over with, we could have found another cheaper source and possibly do less damage than what could potentially happen in Alaska. Although there are some positives to using oil from the ANWR, such as expanding the market for gas sales, we could possibly send the takers of our oil into debt because of transportation costs. According to Document C, the amount of oil that would be supplied for us would last about 6 months, and although the use of that oil could lower our gas prices-- they’d shoot right back up once we ran out of Alaskan Oil. Bottom line, the economy would more than likely be affected if we finalized the agreement for lifting the ban.
Lastly, the last point for my disagreement to search for oil in Alaska is how useless it would be for the U.S. I mean, we are so in debt of oil, there’s no point in trying to increase production. The demand for oil is so high, and the chances of actually finding recoverable oil are slim to none. Plus, It will only reduce US oil imports by 4%. Yet another point from MSNBC’s article "Would Drilling More Alaskan Oil Cut Prices?" states that there’s only a 95% chance that 9.5 billion barrels are recoverable and a 5% chance there might be 16 billion barrels recoverable with a span of land and 3 mile limit off shore. Like I said before, this limited supply would last for only about 6 months. I personally believe that the only reason we are considering doing this is to try to make up for all the lost oil, which, quite frankly, won’t happen because we are so far behind on keeping up with equaling out the difference between productions, there’s no way in any one's right mind who thinks that we will ever be able to make up for our lost productions.
The drastic effect it could have on the environment, the economy, and because of the limited help it’ll give the U.S. is why my perspective of this dilemma is that the U.S. shouldn’t drill for oil in Alaska. I honestly do believe there are positives to drill for oil in Alaska, but I disagree that we should drill for oil in the Alaska. Seriously, just think of all the harmful effects that drilling for oil in Alaska could potentially cause.
