A Fun-filled Florida Party with My Friends

This past weekend was great. Here are two reasons why:

1. On Sunday I went to a Miami Dolphins football game with my Dad. We had a great afternoon eating pizza, chicken fingers and drinking soda while we cheered on the home team. The Dolphins were winning 15 to 0 (two touchdowns and one field goal) almost the whole game until the last three minutes when bam, bam, bam we were tied 15 to 15. The game went into overtime and then the other team scored a 3 point field goal and won the game. It was a bit sad but we still had a really great time. Go Dolphins go!

2. On Saturday was the very best part of my weekend. I invited three of my friends from school over to our apartment for a pool party. We met here at 1 pm and headed into my room to play some video games. One of my friends brought over his controllers so we could all play at the same time. We had a blast!

After that we went down to the pool to swim and have jumping contests. My Dad captured one of our contests which you can see above. We were seeing who could jump the farthest. After we played some football and then we ordered pizza. I really like these three guys and I was so glad that they could come over. We had an epic time together.

I only have three more days of school left and on Thursday we are having a Halloween party and dance. I am really looking forward to it..

I should be back before with a Florida fact before then!

M

Florida Facts #7

Okay so I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is I am coming home. The bad news is I am coming home. I have totally missed everyone at home and so that is why it is good news that we are coming home but now I have really started to settle in here and will be sad to leave.

My Dad's show, Charlie's Angels, was cancelled and so we should be back in Vancouver by the middle of November. Before we come home we are going on a bit of an adventure. We are going to the Bahamas, then to Orlando then to Washington DC and then to New York City. It will be very fun and interesting and I will report my adventures along the way.

But now onto this week's Florida Facts! Facts about the Florida Keys!

Last weekend I went to visit Key West in the Florida Keys. My Grandma and Grandpa (who I call Boss and Pa) came to visit us in Miami and we so we thought it was the perfect time to explore this area for a couple of days.  It is a three hour drive to reach Key West and so half way there we stopped to get some lunch. During the drive it was pouring rain and then when we got there it was pouring rain and so we were trapped inside. It rained the entire time we were there but we did get to see a few cool things. We went to the pool in the rain which was fun. We drove around and looked at the town of Key West which would have been really great to walk around if it was sunny. We took a picture at the southernmost point in the continental USA.We visited the Ernest Hemingway House and went on a tour and we learned about how Hemingway brought six-toed cats to Key West and now there are currently 42 of these special cats that live his house/museum.

Here are some other cool facts about the Florida Keys:

1.The Florida Keys are located about 24 km south of Miami and extend out toward the southwest and then west toward the Gulf of Mexico.

2. The most populated city in the Keys is Key West.

3. The first inhabitants of the Florida Keys were the Native American tribes Caruso and Tequesta.

4. Through much the their modern history the Florida Keys have been an important area for drug smuggling and illegal immigration.

5. Geologically the Florida Keys are mainly exposed parts of coral reefs.

6. The total land area of the Florida Keys is 356 km2.

7. The climate of the Florida Keys is tropical as in the southern part of the state of Florida.

8. There is a total of 42 bridges connecting the keys.

9. In 1935 the Florida Keys were struck by one of the worst hurricanes in US history.

10. One of the most famous American authors, Ernest Hemmingway, lived in Key West for 9 years. (I visited his house!).

Okay, so those are some Florida Keys facts. I will check in again soon!

M

Florida Facts #6

Hey, hi, ho! Here is the next instalment of the Florida Facts series.

Here are some facts about Florida's climate. I have been thinking about how different the climate is here than at home. A couple of weeks ago I experienced some of Florida's hard core climate. I was at Flamingo Park playing soccer with some friends when we saw some dark clouds forming. The next thing you know everyone was grabbing the nets and their bags and running in every direction for cover.  It started to rain and then pour and then we heard thunder and then we saw lightening. My Mom and I ran under a tree but then some people yelled at us to get out from under the tree because the lightening could hit it.

We ran to a covered area nearby and in the distance we saw a lightening bolt that almost looked like it hit our apartment building. I was so scared as I have never been in such a enormous storm in my life. I was super worried that we were going to be hit by lightening and thunder was so loud it made me jump.

Not long after the rain had started the ground around us began to flood. After about 45 minutes it finally stopped and we walked back to our apartment through the flooded streets. It was good to get home.

Now here are some facts about the climate here:
1. Florida's official nickname is the "sunshine state".
2. Florida is the lightening capital of the country and has injured more than 2000 people since 1959.
3. Tropical cyclones have been reported in every month in Florida except for January and March.
4. The average temperature in Florida range from 18 - 21 degrees C (65-70 ºF) in the north and in the south 23 - 25 degrees C (73-77 ºF).
5. The earliest recorded of snow or sleet was in 1774.
6. Summers in Florida tend to be long, warm and pretty humid.
7. The warmest month in Florida is July and the coldest month is January.
8. There are more tornados per square mile in Florida than in any other state.
9. The rainy season is from June through September.
10. The climate in south Florida in considered to be tropical.

Just wanted to say thanks to Theo and Beckett for the note and the drawing and to Curtis for the cool action figure that you sent me and to Sara, Griffin, Molly, Leslie for the emails and to my new teacher back in Vancouver Mr. Lundell for the math book he sent to me.

Has anyone ever been in a thunderstorm before? Were you scared?

See you soon!

M

Florida Facts #5

Sorry that we are so delayed this week, but it has been a bit exciting around here. On Tuesday, our good friend Sarolta came to visit and is staying with until Saturday. My Mom is very happy!

So, here are our 10 Florida facts, this time about the FLORIDA EVERGLADES!

We went there to visit on Sunday and we really enjoyed it. We didn't know at all what to expect but in the end it was one of the most amazing and enjoyable days that we have had in Florida. We all loved it!

Some of the highlights for me included:
-holding a real live baby alligator
-holding a live boa constrictor snake
-standing up to my knees in the Everglades
-going an island to see a small cabin where one of the presidents of the United States used to go and play poker
-getting to sit up front with the skipper, named Keith, of the airboat

Okay, now on to the Everglade facts:
1. The Everglades are made up of 10,000 different islands.
2. The Everglades are the largest area of wetlands in USA.
3. This area is home to 67 different threatened and endangered species.
4 .The Everglades have 7 different species of ferns.
5. Native Americans living in and around the river called it Pahayokee, the "grassy waters".
6. The Everglades is the only place in the world where the American alligator and crocodile co-exist in the wild.
7. The Everglades is a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
8. The grassy plants that are everywhere are known as sawgrass and have serrated razor edge blades that are so sharp they can cut through clothing.
9. Many animals live in the Everglades including the racoon, skunk, opossum, bobcat and white tailed deer.
10. While the Everglades is often described as a swamp or forest wetland it is actually a very slow moving freshwater river.

Just wanted to say a big thanks to Curtis, Griffin, Sara and Molly from Queen Victoria school for writing to me.

Here are some more photos of our time in the Everglades. I will post again soon!

M