We went on vacation this summer up to Pennsylvania to see our cousins. We took the train up for the first time and from the time we got to the train station till the time we got there, it took about TWENTY-FOUR hours. On our way back, the train trip didn't take nearly as long. The train was only one half-hour delayed. While we were up in Pennsylvania, we took a shorter train to Philadelphia and saw the Liberty Bell and took a tour of Independence Hall. It was really fun.

We went on vacation a couple of days ago for a conference that was at Myrtle Beach. We fed the ducks they had there, and went swimming in the pool. There was a big drake there that always stayed away from the other ducks. He always had a female duck with him and was very protective, while the female duck was very calm and quiet. I played with my brother at the beach a little and on the the day we were going to leave, we found a very big conch, and a sand dollar. When we got home, we looked the conch up. It was a lightning whelk conch. It would go pretty good with some thunder and rain!

My brother spends his summer vacation outside in a big cage with all the egg-eating chickens. He gives them lots of chicken scratch to eat and then gives them water. What a strange bird he is!

There is a new island on our map. It looks like a coffee stain. My brother and I made an idea of what the coffee stain island looks like. We made it look like the dinosaurs migrated there when they were told they were to become extinct. We say that the dinosaurs make the world maps and don't include their island so that nobody can locate it and take it over. Try to keep a secret, but the island is located right next to South America.

We went to the beach a couple days ago. The first time this year! My brother really liked floating in the waves were he could just touch the bottom. I stayed close to shore and surfed on my surfboard and let the waves bring me back. It took awhile to get there so we had to get up very early. It also took awhile to get ready to go.  I tried building a sand castle and a sand mountain but it didn't work. My brother also collected a few shells to take home.

We gave our goat, Sombrita to one of our friends today along with her babies. I couldn't wait for her to go, though. Sombrita always crys very loudly whenever she's hungry. Three less mouths to feed morning and night!

Our goat, Sombrita, had babies awhile ago.A few weeks after they were born, we noticed Sombrita hadn't gotten any smaller then when she first had them. We couldn't understand how she could be so fat. It turns out that my brother had been feeding the goats four extra cups of feed each day. Now, whenever she's hungry she starts crying loudly.

We saw two raccoons climbing up a tree that hangs over the fence into our backyard one day. It looked like they wanted to grab one of the ducks, or were just checking the place out. There was a mother and a baby. The funny thing was it was in the middle of the day and it was mating season. They went away after about thirty minutes of climbing

We started letting the ducks go outside everyday to eat all the bugs. It’s about time anyway. They eat mosquito-larvae when they’re a little older and don't scratch up your yard like chickens. They really like it now. So every morning I let them out of their ark to eat bugs. You can also use them to keep bad bugs out of your garden because they stay together in a pack and herd easily. They don't split up in all different directions like hens when they’re piled on top of each other sleeping.

A few days ago, our broody hen hatched the eggs she was sitting on. Only two hatched.One egg hatched, and I named her Lucy. Two days later another one hatched, and I named her Ethel. They both look the same so it's hard too tell which one is which. The fun part about the second one was that I got to watch it hatch. We had to finish the broody hen's egg inside the house because she got tired of sitting on her eggs and played with her chick instead. When the broody hen first saw she had another chick, she pecked her second chick, then the broody-hen decided that she liked her very much.

My friend told me a few good jokes today. Why did the cow go to someone's house?      To watch moooovies!                       

Why did the whale cross the ocean?     To get to the other tide!                         

Why did the chicken cross the play-ground?           To get to the other slide!

 About 2,000 years ago, the Romans conquered Britain,       and the Britons became part of the Roman Empire. About seventy-five years after the Romans arrived, the Roman Emperor Hadrian came to Britain and ordered his soldiers to build a great wall. The soldiers then had to patrol the wall. It is known as Hadrian's wall, and you can still see parts of it today. It stretches across the north of Britain from east to west, and passes near to Vindolanda.

My brother has been trying to build all his "Bionicles" lately. He wants to build them all, because, that way, he could make a very big army of them. It may be really hard, though. He has his pieces all mixed up. What a battle!

We put the ducklings in a chicken ark yesterday so they could start eating bugs. We also put them in because they were getting too big for their box. They didn't even have trouble sleeping out there at all.

We put one of our hens on a few eggs so she could hatch them, but we could not find her enough eggs. So, it took a few days to find her some more to sit on. We knew she wanted to sit, because before we put her in a nest, she made her own nest under the porch. It took a few hours for her to get use to her nest, but last year another hen had hatched her eggs in the same place. After getting used to her new nest, our broody hen sat on her eggs. She has about twelve days left until some of her eggs hatch.

Since the ducklings are always really dirty, we started putting them in a little tray with warm water. After a few days, we got a wading pool for them at the store. However, no matter how much we put them in their pool, they still got really dirty.

There are many ways to attract Hummingbirds. They like feeders with sugar water, or nectar, and have about sixty-two favorite kinds of plants. The Hummingbird got it's name from the sound it makes when it flies, and its wings beat ninety times per second.

The Hummingbirds favorite plants are: Bleeding heart, Butterfly weed, Bee balm, Bottle brush, Cape fuchsia, Cardinal flower, Columbine, Coral bells, Cosmos, Crocosmia, Day Lily, Dahlia, Delphinium, Foxglove, Fuchsia, Geranium, Hollyhock, Hosta, Lantana, Lupine, Monkyflower, Penstemon, Red hot poker, Sage Salvia, Scarlet sage, Speedwell, Borage Borage, Four-o'-clock,  Flowering tobacco, Impatiens, Jewelweed, Milkweed, Mountain garland, Nasturtium, Petunia, Spider flower, Snapdragons, Verbena, Zinnia, Bougainvillea, Cardinal climber, Honeysuckle, Lantana, a different type, Rosary vine, Trumpet creeper, Trumpet vines, Wild lilac, Weigela, Abelia, Azalea, Beauty bush, Bottlebrush, a different kind, Butterfly bush, Catoneaster, Eucalyptus, Flowering currant, Flowering quince, Fuchsia tree, Hibiscus, Lilac, Mimosa(silk tree), and Strawberry tree.

Hummingbirds are also attracted to red things, and sometimes, if it's just right, you can keep them in your yard from May through October.

My brother earned a new Bionicle by learning how to tie his shoes. To get his Bionicle, he had to tie his shoes ten times. When he got it, he was so happy, he built it right away.

I first saw Stupendous man  right before I went to bed. He had a pair of 3-D glasses on and a super heroes cape. He had a belt and carried lots of gadgets, like pretend bombs and other things. He also was carrying an extra pair of socks. it looked like it took him thirty minutes to get like that and he weighed more than he usualy did. Fifty pounds. It was just a little bit for a super hero.

The fish is a Betta fish and is very calm, but sometimes can be very wild and tries jumping out of her bowl. She always is very hungry and  eats way too much. Other than that, she's pretty good.