10 Absolute Favorites of the West

1. Tandem Paragliding 

Jumping off a mountain and flying through the air just as a bird would is the best thing I've ever done. Hands down. 

2. Huckleberry EVERYWHERE

I fell in love with huckleberry this trip. This berry tastes like a mix of grape and raspberry and is absolutely delicious.

3. My Mountain Necklace

After jumping off a mountain and seeing how incredible the mountains really were, I wanted something to remember it by. In downtown Jackson Hole, there were cute little shops on every street. One necklace caught my eye. I realized that it was worth the 40 dollars, so after much self contemplation, I went back to the store and bought it. Still have no regrets. 

4. The hike up to Grand Prismatic Springs

Normal people use the hike to look at the view. Me being the weirdo I am enjoyed the hike much more than the actual view. It was straight up the side of a cliff with very little path. The only way to tell if you were going was the right way, was to make sure that you were hiking towards the sky. From there on out, I considered everything with even the slightest clearing to be a trail. If it looked safe, I walked down it to a river, lake, more cliffs, etc. (sorry no picture for this one) 

5. Feet in the Glacier water

In Canada, there were many a glacier. The glaciers pulverized rocks and crushed them into what we found our was "glacial flour." This flour in turn made the water a pretty turquoise water. One stop along the way was a river with rapids. My dad, Katie and I climbed down to the slippery rocks and stuck out feet in the refreshing rapids. I'm proud to call myself a Glacial Mermaid. 

6. View from "the top of the world" 

I paraglided off from the peak called the top of the world. Afterwards I could not stop talking about how stunning it was or how fresh it smelled. I honestly don't know why I chose this as number six, it is so number one worthy. The air was thin, it smelled like mountains. It didn't smell like nature because you can get the nature smell everywhere. This though, this smelt like pine trees, sweet cookies, a little like hot chocolate all wrapped in a blanket. Of course the air was crisp because it was 10,450 feet high and 9:30 in the morning, but it made it all the better. The sun was hot, the air was cold, and I was happy. All I could do was keep taking deep breaths so I could inhale as much of it before I jumped. I convinced my family to take the team back up a few days later, but at 2:00 in the afternoon it wasn't as spectacular as I first saw it. Let's just say that this is tied with paragliding for number one. 

FYI: THE PICTURE DOES IT NO JUSTICE 

7. Schwabucker Landing

This site was gorgeous. Lots of wildlife. A family of ducks was crossing the river and a beaver was making a dam. It was so cool to see the animals doing what they do best. 

8. The mountain radio station 

Unfortunately, the rental car did not come with an aux plug in. We either had to listen to the 15 songs on the cd we brought or find a decent radio station. We were all pleasantly surprised when we came across "The Mountain" Jackson  Hole's only station. 

9. Jenny Lake

The hike around Jenny lake was gorgeous. Mid way through it started sprinkling which made it all the better. It was our first hike of the trip so I was very ready to get out in nature. 

10. Rimrock Resort 

Lastly, the Rimrock was such a great place. Plopped down in the middle of

the woods, the Rimrock was a perfect combination of nature and not-so-nature. It was a great place to relax right before

we made our way home.

WAIT ONE MORE DAY WHAT HAPPENED WHAT

These past few days have gone by like that *snaps fingers*. Whenever we got back from our daily adventure(s) (usually always more than one adventure), we put our tired pies up (pee-es, that means feet in Spanish) , and appreciated the gratis (again, that means free) wifi. Although I was busy, I do remember the general idea. So, take a look into my life for the past few days, and hopefully I'll be better about updates in the future.
Monday-ARRIVE IN BARCELONA YAY
it didn't start off too great. The airline wasn't able to transfer our luggage from flight to flight, so we were without bags for a while. After that we went to the mall for a little while and got some dinner. While Katie and my dad had Spanish Tapas,  my mom and I had pasta. Yep, that's what we do, go to Spain, and get simple pasta.
Tuesday- our first real day out exploring.
We went to the Gothic quarter and la boqueria (a market)
The gothic quarter was amazing. There were lots of incredible buildings that really had me feeling European.

cathedral in background

There was also a great cathedral.

 La Boqueria was a lot of fun, although it was a little disturbing at some points. There were a lot of animals with everything still on them, including rabbits, pigs, and seafood. I found the seafood  the grossest because  the eyes were still intact.
Everything else was very good though! We each got a fruit smoothie for one Euro, they were amazing.

Wednesday- Day Two
The Gaudi House-  all I can say is WOW. It was amazing. Just some background information… Gaudi was a famous architect. We visited a house designed by him. It was great! An audio guide explained what each room was. In my opinion, the best area was the roof. There were lots of columns that were shaped liked crowns. There was also a decorative wall that was supposed to represent a dragon , from a Spanish legend.  Probably my favorite so far.

Thurday -  Let’s just say that it was an interesting day.
We started with the museum of art. It was great! We had lunch at a little deli outside of the museum. I was way too hungry to care about what I was eating, so I found a sandwich that didn’t look incredibly terrible and devoured it.
 After the museum, we wanted to visit the castle at Mont Juic.  Here’s where it gets interesting. We pulled up our GPS and searched for the castle. It wasn’t that far away so we decided to walk there. But, it turns out that the walk was straight. Up. Hill. When we finally got to the castle, it was obvious that it was all worth it.
The castle overlooked the whole city and the Mediterranean sea. Beautiful view.

Luckily there was a lift down the mountain, so we didn’t have to walk the whole way down.
When we finally arrived back at the hotel, after a long day of walking  and  traveling, we ordered room service. I was so hungry, I probably could have ordered one of everything. I decided on a steak with asparagus, and  some weird form of potatoes. Holy cow, easily the best dinner I have ever had. It very well could have been the fact that I was extremely hungry, but it was so, plus fifty more o’s, good.

Friday- today.

We are taking a day off  and resting in the hotel. We took a small trip to the mall, and are hanging out. Hopefully, I’ll be able to actually accomplish some homework, for  I have been way too busy/ tired to do any of it. If all goes well, we will take my mom  to all of our favorite places tomorrow.

One more day in Barcelona! Then heading back to VA, just in time for my birthday on the 22^nd.  :)

counting the days

This is usually the time of the year where most kids hit a slump. It's schoolwork after schoolwork. Folders are all breaking, pencils have magically vanished, and worst of all, the end is in sight. That sounds good right? The end is in sight! yay! not.  It makes it harder to push through the loads of assignments, and you're just ready to quit. Well, when you have a tiny break it makes it just a little bit easier.

No, not spring break (though that is great), a personal vacation. I'm talking about getting out of school when no one else is. A week from now, my family and I will be touring Spain. My mom won an award for teaching and the celebration is in Barcelona, Spain. While she is in conferences, my sister, dad and I will be exploring the dangerous yet exciting streets of Barcelona. Although my mom will not be touring with us most of the time, the last day that we are there, our whole family will go out and visit our favorite places. According to the research that my sister and mom have done, there is an amazing shopping mall right across the street from our hotel. Also, not too far, there are many buildings and amazing architectural achievements. The thing that I am  most excited about is the church that was started centuries ago, but is still not finished.

Stay tuned for more exciting selfies and photos of Barcelona!!

Purpose of Summer

Summer is supposed to be a vacation. Days free of work. Relaxation. Your are supposed to do whatever you want. At least supposed to. But noooooooooooo, you have to do math, and read, and write, just so "your brain cells don't start to die." What if people don't want to do math or write? Then they shouldn't have to, right? Some people just don't understand what summer is. 
"No cellphone until you finish that chapter." 
"40 problems then you can go to Sweetfrog."
"23 sentences! One word does not count as a sentence!" 
No, just no. That is not summer, that is school. It irritates me so much. Summer is summer. Summer is NOT  a continuation of school. School ends for a reason. The reason is not just so kids have to even MORE work. If that was their goal, then we wouldn't have a summer! But we do! Therefore, we should use it as it was meant to be used. AND they send out the school supply list the first week of summer?!?! I mean, What Is This??? I bet they DON'T want us to have a good summer. All they want is for us to dwell on the upcoming school year. "These innocent little children think they are going to have fun over the summer! Psh! Fun? I don't know the meaning of fun! MUAHAHAHAHA!" says every school administrator in the world. Don't you think it's a little early for that? I don't know, it might just be me, but I definitely don't want to think about that yet.

I can't wait for the beach!!!

I cannot wait to go to the beach!!!!! I literally can't stop thinking about it! My belly gets all twisted up when i think about it and i get all tingly! I had to write this so i could let all my thoughts out so I wouldn't pass out because of how excited i am. I'm gonna list all the memories so I can get them out of my head. ok, here it goes.

1. waking up at 5:00 and not being able to leave until 6:15
2. stopping for cinnamon melts at McDonalds
3. Stopping at the same wendys every time and thinking we only have about 2 more hours in the car
4. seeing all the mcdonalds with the little playgrounds
5. finally seeing the beach stores like wings
6. driving past the amusement park and  know we are almost there!!!!
7. looking at all the street names like Edna, Howe and Hubert
8. pulling into drive way and seeing the little basketball hoop and grill
9. holding the door open for people when the bring stuff in from the car
10. the little seashell key chain on the house keys
11. going into my room and seeing the old TV and lighthouse lamp
12. the little fish side table
13. going down the boardwalk the first time to put our feet in the water
14. the feeling that are feet feel like they're sinking
15. going to the food lion 
16. going on morning walks in our pajamas
17. running away from the ways
18. spraying our feet off with the hose the sprays water so hard that it hurts
19. breakfast
20. twitching when my mom puts on sunscreen in the wind
21. carrying everything down to the beach and having my boogie board kick up sand
22. monsta wave or fishy wave
23. full house at lunch
24. playing spies with Rocky's walkie talkies
25. sitting out on the deck with Rocky after we take showers
26. watching ev's fireworks 
27. boogie boarding
28. having to buy a new boogie board every year because mine break
29. putt putting
30. pizza day on the beach
31. family game nights with blockus or racko
32. henna tattoos
33. picture night with beach shirts
34. daddy daughter pictures on the board walk
35. seeing all the puppies on walks
36. coffee cake in the morning
37. irrigation system
38. Japanese steak house

I think im good, im not gonna pass out, at least today... :)

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Summer So Far

So far summer has been a lot of fun. This week, I started LYCEUM. It's an arts camp. All arts you could think of. Cooking, dancing, singing, acting, crafts, sculpturing, and a lot more. I'm taking Dramatic Interpretation, Broadway Pop Choir, Ballroom dancing, and Cake Decorating. My favorite is ballroom dancing because we are learning the cha-cha and samba right now. It is really fun.

We got Lily into the Jeep!

Junior and Lily sure love summer too!


Enjoy Summer!!!!!

Merry Summer!

Merry Summer! It's finally summer. After 180 days of brutal and hard work, we are done. It's been summer for about 6 days now, but it took me a while to actually feel like it was summer. I can't wait to go to the beach and Wyoming and Montana and Idaho. Hopefully we are going to get to go to Busch Gardens. I've never been there or Kings Dominion, but I really want to go. I've been to Hawaii and Alaska, but not to Kings Dominion. Wow. :) 


Guess what we are going to do in Wyoming? HOT AIR BALLOON RIDING!  I can't wait. It's gonna be sooooo much fun. We have to wake up like at four thirty so we can see the sun rise. But I'm sure it will be worth it. 


Wow, my house smells like paint. My mom is painting our foyer and some of the walls. The color is called cappuccino. It kind of looks like a cappuccino, I guess that's why they call it that. She calls it "accent walls." She didn't paint the whole room. she painted one wall, then a higher wall, then then one upstairs. Apparently it makes our house look "3D." :) That's another one of our summer projects. If we aren't traveling, then my mom needs like a huge project to do. But they always turn out good, because she wants to accomplish it. :)

Well, this was fun. I'll talk to next time! bu-bye now! :)