SeaWorld for free!

Did I get your attention? Ok, it's not actually SeaWorld- it's actually the tide pools at Swami's. But it is a lot better than SeaWorld and it is free. Since the tide dropped to a -1.5' last Saturday, lots of sea critters and tide pools popped up. So me and my family decided to go check it out. When we got there, the tide was super low.

The first thing we saw were of course sea anemones. I like taking mussels and feeding one to the sea anemones. I like how when you put your finger on a tentacle, they try to suck off your finger!

The next thing we saw you can probably see everyday- a seagull. Seagulls like to eat bread and walk around. You can not catch seagulls and my dad calls them rats in the sky. There's this game we play at Moonlight with the seagulls. It is called Seagull Football. You throw a piece of bread in the air and if your seagull catches it, you get a touchdown! If another seagull catches it, it's an interception.



If this looks like it came out of a book, you're wrong. It is a mini waterfall created by the dropping tide. The water on the reef is dripping down into the ocean.







This is Mr. Hermit Crab (the crab- not my brother). He's little and lives in a shell. These little guys hide when you pick them up. They like cleaning sea anemones and they like climbing on the reef.

This is the remains of two lobsters. They are the heads and I eventually found two more. Someone must have had a good meal and just left them on this rock.

It's a mussel farm! This picture must have more than 800 mussels in it. Each one of these is really stuck to this rock. There are TONS of mussels all over the rocks at Swami's.

Here is a shot of the reef where the tide isn't low enough yet to walk on it. I like this picture because it has lots of color.

This shell is called the wavey top shell (or at least that's what I call it). I call it the wavey top shell because it has little waves on it. This might look like it's huge but it's about the size of a muffin. Anybody in there?

This looks like it's on the moon but it's just sand. It looks like the Sahara desert because it has all those little sand hills in it. The little waves and the tide made it.

This is a brittle star. It can move across your hand easily- only if it's in a hurry. You can find them most anywhere in a tide pool- usually under rocks- and they're really cool because they're brittle AND look like stars!

I hope you enjoyed looking at all the tide pool pictures and the critters. Make sure you go down there the next time the tide is low. Happy tide pooling! 

Breaking News! Tree Fort Appears in Backyard!

Breaking News! Tree Fort appears in my backyard this weekend! Actually, it wasn't a surprise, I've been asking my dad to make one for awhile. But he went out of town this weekend and Papa Don (my grandpa) surprised us and said he'd help build it. Let's start from the beginning though.

When we first moved into our house 7 1/2 years ago, we had a lot of old trees and bushes where spiders, rats, and other creepy crawlers lived. So my dad took it all out (with some help) and planted new trees and bushes. But what he didn't know, the old trees didn't want to go away. So we had a lot of rain that first winter, and the eucalyptus on our hill we cut down, started to grow back. 7 1/2 years later, it is over 30' tall!

So I've been looking at that tree for a long time and I've always wanted my dad to build a Tree Fort up there. But he doesn't have the best set of tools. That's where Papa Don could help. Me and my dad last month made a Monkey Trail up on the hill. The Monkey Trail is an old branch that fell off the eucalyptus and my dad made a bridge up to it so we could walk on it.

So we already had a bridge up to the tree that could connect to the Tree Fort we wanted to build. So Papa Don came over last weekend with his drill, chainsaw, saw, and wood cutter (which had humongous blades). First, while I was at school Papa Don went to Home Depot and got the wood. So then after he picked me and Ryan up from school, we saw a bunch of lumber and bricks in our front yard!

Then we had to slip them through the side gate and dropped them in a big pile in the backyard. Next, we got to the action! Papa grabbed his chainsaw and starting hacking away through the bushes on our hill so he had room to work. Ryan and my job was to haul out the old branches Papa chopped down. GP (also known as Grandma Patty) had to break down the branches into little pieces (it filled 6 trash barrels)! So now we had room to build the Tree Fort. We then went and started building the Tree Fort with all the lumber Papa bought. This time we only started with the frame.

Some pieces of wood were too long so Papa had to get his wood cutter and chop it down to the right size. That took a lot of work so we stopped at the end of the day. The next day after school (Friday) I came to the Tree Fort and looked and the floor was already in because when I was at school, GP and Papa put in the floor! I was excited!

Then on Saturday, we put on the railings so nobody would fall off.  Since the Tree Fort is built on a tree on our hill, the back of the fort is only 4' off the ground. But the back of the fort is 7' off the ground! We didn't want anyone to fall off (especially my brother Ryan)!



And finally on Sunday, we built the Lobster mailbox! GP bought it for us and we have a home for it now. I really like my Tree Fort because you can see the ocean and the street below. I can't wait to play on it this week!

And before I forget, since it's so high in the tree, I also have a basement underneath. I don't know what I'll do with the extra space, but I'll maybe store some toys down there.



I love my new Tree Fort. Thank you GP and Papa for building it. Maybe we can camp out on it the next time you visit.

Apple Syrup Art Gallery

Me and my dad like to take pictures. Some of these pictures I took and other ones my dad took while I was there. First up is the picture above. We were taking pictures on Gascony Road in Encinitas- next to Capri School. This one looks like a bunch of clouds coming in from a storm front.

This next one is from last year when I took a field trip to Swami's. This looks big but it's really no smaller than a big twig. I like this one because it has lots of colors and almost feels like a 100' tall.

This picture reminds me of the good times in the canyon down the street from my house. I don't remember my dad taking this picture, but I was there. This tree is down by the sandhill which me and my brother throw huge rocks down below.

This picture was taken in the Swami's gardens also. This one was in the Koi Pond, not on the bluff where the cactus was. I like Koi because when you wiggle your finger in the water, they think it's a worm and try to eat it (don't worry- they don't have teeth).

This picture was taken at GP and Papa's house in the desert (near Laughlin, NV). There house is really neat because they have a mini speedboat that floats in the mini lake shown above. The other cool thing about this place is that it is filled with toy dinosaurs that I put them on the walkway leading to the dock.

These are my two good friends, Lucca and Alex (who we sometimes call Beans). My two friends will always make me laugh. Like this picture that was taken in downtown Encinitas. We were on a field trip that taught us all about the history of Encinitas.

I hope you enjoyed my Apple Syrup Art Gallery!





Video Game Review: Mario Kart for WII

My video game review today is Mario Kart for Wii. It is a challenging game that has up to 4 players so the whole family can have fun. With lots of different characters in the game, you can choose to be:
1. Mario
2. Luigi
3. Yoshi (which is personally my favorite)

4. Diddy Kong
5. Donkey Kong
6. Peach
7. Baby Peach
8. Baby Mario
9. Toad
10. Rosalina
11. Wario
12. Waluigi
13. Bowser

There are also a lot of karts you can drive. Medium sized characters can drive karts like the wild wing. Small characters can drive the bullet bike. Big characters can drive the Wario bike. There are 4 races in each 'Cup'. If you play a Cup race, you can win the Cup like the Banana Cup. Confused? So am I.

The different places you can race are Koopa Cape (which is my favorite because you can go down in a pipe which goes to the other side of the race which is an island ruled by the Koopas). You can also race Maple Tree Way in which you are on a tall tree that you get blasted out of a cannon on to another tree. Or you can choose to race on Rainbow Road which is really hard because there are barely any railings (but it's easy for me)! You can race against all the other players which is pretty out of control.

Some of the hazards are: Banana peels, lightening strikes, pows, Omega's cloud (which is pretty much the same as the lightening strike). And the good power ups you can get are mushrooms, king mushrooms, mushrooms left over by a pow, lightening strikes, pows, red shells, and green shells. My favorite- the blue shell which goes to the person in first place and then flips them upside down! And I almost forgot- there's one more power up- called the Bomb Omb. Which is like the blue shell but it doesn't go to first place- you can put it in front of you or behind you. All I have to say about this game is that I give it 10 out of 10 Apples.

It's Go Kart Time!

Last weekend, I drove to Carlsbad to go K1 Go Kart racing. When I walked in, I could see there were hoods from famous race cars hanging from the walls. They have two different races- one for adults adn one for juniors. The junior cars go 25 miles per hour. The cars are electric. I got lucky and there were only 5 kids racing that morning. I had a 2 for 1 ticket so it only cost $20 for two races.

Driving the cars is hard during a race. There are a lot of corners you have to turn at high speeds or else you'll spin out. You are not allowed to bump the other racers. I unfortunately got bumped by my friend and crashed into the sidewall. 

If you really want to win, don't go around the corners fast! But if you really really really want to win, you can go as fast as you want around the corners. I went one of the fastest laps of the month- 34.25 seconds was the time to beat and I had a 34.53 lap.

In one of my best races, I was ranked 35,976 out of 1,263,331 for all the junior races at K1. That is the top 97%. Basically if there were 100 people doing the race, I would have gotten 3rd. After races, you get a scorecard that tells you your lap times and what place you got. They also have a snack bar which has Gatorade, ice cream, chips, cookies, Oggi's pizza, and Corn Nuts- my favorite.  And as you wait between races, you can play air hockey, video games, and shoot hoops. There's even a winner's podium for the champions. All I have to say is that K1 is the best place to go Go Kart racing. It's fun!

Wave and Weather Wizard!

I thought it would be a cool idea to tell people when it would be a good time to go surf or play at the beach. My dad studied waves and weather at San Diego State University so he said he'd help me do the forecast. I'll be talking about 3 things: Waves, Weather, and the best day for both. So here is my forecast for the next few days. I'll be doing this every Thursday so you can have a good weekend.

WAVES:

As you can see in the picture above, the waves are tiny. The waves from the North Pacific are only about 4' and the South Pacific is only sending us waves about 2'. The good news is that it looks like we should have windswell north of us arriving on Saturday. Which will create 4' waves in San Diego. Also out in the Pacific is Hurricane Dora. It had winds of 155mph earlier today but is only 115mph now. It is under Baja so it's hiding from us. When it comes out, it may only be a tropical storm without any real waves. Bummer.

WEATHER:

We have fog in the morning and sun in the afternoon for the next few days. Then tropical moisture comes our way next week with more sun and thunderstorms out in the deserts and mountains. Nothing too exciting here at the beach. Pretty typical summer.

BEST DAY:
There is good and bad news. We have waves on Saturday but it will be cool and foggy in the mornings. And next week it will be perfect weather but no waves. My prognosis (my dad helped me with this word) is Saturday. Since we are supposed to have sun in the afternoons that would be the best time to go since we'll have waves too.

So that's the forecast for the week. Banzai baby Alex!

Very Happy for Berry Happy

Berry Happy is a frozen yogurt place in downtown Encinitas, CA (next to the world famous Encinitas sign). There are lots of interesting flavors like Green Apple, Cinnamon Buns, and Watermelon as well as the usual Chocolate and Vanilla.

My favorite creation is chocolate and vanilla swirled together with chocolate sprinkles and Oreo crumbs and brownies.

They have lots of toppings to choose from. Like gummy worms (my brother's favorite topping), coconut shavings, strawberries, strawberry puree, rainbow sprinkles, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, brownies, and my dad loves the caramel sauce with blackberries.

And it's cool how you pay for it- you put your creation on a scale and the more it weighs, the more you pay. And the less it weighs, the less you pay. (PS- don't go too crazy on the toppings or you will pay a lot!)

If you want a fun place that the whole family can enjoy, look no further, Berry Happy is the place to be!

Knights Vs. Dragon

One evening my dad, brother, and I were messing around with my castle and knights. After setting up the knights around the castle, my brother thought it would be cool if a dragon attacked them. My dad then suggested we draw a backdrop for the scene and I said we should make a movie! The story goes like this:

-The knights were guarding gold and jewels inside the castle.

-Then a big a dragon came to steal it.

-The dragon blew fire on the knights and knocked down the castle to steal the jewels and gold.

-What we didn't realize though, was that the dragon didn't like us either!

-So the dragon turned towards the camera and ate us!

-Only the film survived and you can see the exculsive movie here!

Hope you enjoy it.





Video Game Review! Angry Birds!

This is Angry Birds for pretty much all the iPods and iPads and everything Apple (except the computers). Angry Birds is a challenging game where you try and launch birds to knock pigs out of the game. If you're wondering why the birds are angry it's because the pigs stole their eggs. You're trying to get the eggs back from the pigs and when you hit the pigs with the birds, the pigs will go 'Poof!' and disappear.

Here are the birds in the game:
-There is a regular red bird
-The blue bird is where you tap on the screen and it will split apart into 3
-There is a 'pooping' bird (that's what my little brother calls it) which pretty much plops out an exploding egg
-There is a bomb bird and his specialty is when he hits something, he turns red then explodes (if you just tap it when he's flying, he'll explode mid-air)

If you really love Angry Birds, then you have to go to Urban Outfitters and you'll probably see Angry Bird plush toys for $14.99 (which I have the blue bird that makes the launching noise and the 'winning' noise. And my brother got a pig which if you play Angry Birds, you'll hear the 'losing' sound). I really like this game, so I'm giving it 10 out of 10 Apples for my game rating.