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

The End of My Sixth Week at Feinberg Fisher

A picture of me and my Mom after school today.

It is finally Friday. Well actually this week we only had 4 days of school so it was a pretty short and easy week. On Thursday we had the day off because it was Rosh Hashanah. Do you know what this is? I didn't know until this week myself.

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Years. It marks the beginning of the year of the Jewish calendar and the words literally mean "head of the year" or "first of the year" in Hebrew. There is no work done on Rosh Hashanah (or school) and one of the customs during this two day holiday is to eat apples dipped in honey to make sure that you have a sweet year ahead.

Because there is a large Jewish population here in Miami Beach they close the schools knowing that many of the kids would not come to school anyway.

The rest of the week was pretty good. I worked on my science fair project, spelling, some math pages and a small essay for my PE class. They also introduced an online reading program called "Ticket to Read". This is a fun reading program where whenever you read a passage and answer some questions about what you read you will get tickets. With these tickets you can customize your online clubhouse. I like it quite a lot.

Today after school they were selling ices (like slushes) and my Dad bought me a watermelon flavoured one. After that my Dad had to go to work and so my Mom and I went to Sushi Samba for our weekly afternoon snack.

After that we went to an art gallery where artists also had their studios. Some of the artists were in their studios working and if the door was open you were allowed to go in. We saw some really great art. Here are a few of my favourite pieces:


On Sunday we are thinking that we might go to see the Everglades. It is about 30 minutes in the car from where we are. I will give you a full report on Monday with my Florida Facts blog section about our trip.

Cheers,

M

Florida Facts #3

Hi, I'm back with my weekly Florida Fact. Today we are going to be learning about Manatees. I had never heard about this mammal before I came to Florida. Then, a couple of weeks ago I saw a Mum and a baby in the water near our apartment.

The Manatee is a fascinating creature. Well, at least I am fascinated by them.

Here are 10 top facts about the Florida Manatees.

1. The Manatee is the state mammal of Florida.

2. Manatees are a large aquatic relative to the elephant.

3. They are herbivores that eat marine and freshwater plants.

4. They are 10 to 12 feet long and weigh 1,500 to 1,800 pounds.

5. Manatees live for 50 to 60 years in the wild.

6. The largest population of Manatees is in Florida where there are about 3000 of them.

7. They are an endangered species.

8. Some of the biggest threats that face them are climate change and boat strikes.

9. They are known for their gentle and slow moving nature.

10. Manatees communicate by squealing underwater to express excitement or fear.

 A couple of weeks ago I was with my Dad and we saw these two manatees in the water and they were adorable. My Dad took a video with his phone. Here is the video:

Hope you enjoyed this Florida Fact post about the amazing Manatee.

See you soon!

M.

The Best Day of School EVER!

This morning I was totally nervous about going to school. I was feeling nervous because we were going on a field trip to the Adrienne Arsht Center to see a musical play called Rock Odyssey. To be truthful I don't really know why I was feeling nervous but I was.

My Mom told me that it was all going to be okay and that I would probably have a really great time.

She was so right. Not only was the play really awesome but so was the whole day.

The play was about a mortal who went to war and on his way back after the war his ship sank and he had a great adventure trying to return to his home. We got to sit and watch the play from the balcony and we had the best view.

When we got back to school we ate our lunch with the other 5th grade class in our classroom instead of the cafeteria and that was really fun. We got to horse around after we had eaten and it was a blast.

After we finished we only had time for 1 class which was music, with Mr. Irwin who can be very strict. Except today there was a SUBSTITUTE! Yah! This substitute not only let us eat the Tootsie Pops that Ms. Llorca (our homeroom teacher) gave us but also let us use the hour to get our weekend homework done and out of the way.

But the best part of the day was yet to come.

Well, you might not know this but, on Wednesday it was International Peace Day. Today was our school's "Give Peace a Chance Dance". It happened after school from 3pm until 5 pm. It was held in our school cafeteria. It was the very first dance that I have ever been to and it was epic! I didn't know exactly what to expect but I had a total blast. I loved the music and it turns out that I really love to dance. I noticed that a lot of the girls in my class were awesome at dancing. Some of the boys were pretty okay dancers but most of them were not. It was interesting that the girls tended to dance in a pack but the boys were like lone wolves.

I danced on my own for a bit but then towards the end a girl from my class who sits beside me, named Andrea, asked me to join the group of girls that she was dancing with. So, I got to dance with the best dancers there.

Then the next thing you know it was 5 pm and the dance was over. I am totally looking forward to Halloween as they have another dance then!

Have a great weekend!

M.