My Soccer Camp

This week I had a soccer camp at BYU. BYU is my dad's school.

I wanted to go to soccer camp because my dad loves playing soccer. He plays soccer every Saturday. And some days my dad takes me to his soccer games. There are some children there. Some of them went to China.

I made some friends in the soccer camp. My group has four girls and five boys. I don't know how old they are. The youngest is Isaac. He is only five. Most of the kids are six or seven years old. That's why our group is called the Cougar Cubs. I learned many moves, like dribbling the ball, juggling the ball, and kicking the ball. And we had competitions. I scored many goals. And I was very happy. Our coach is Georgia. She came from Georgia and her name is also Georgia. She is a soccer girl and she is very good at soccer. A long time ago, she was a student at BYU. She also played for BYU Women's Soccer Team. They were champions. She likes me because I work hard.

I like kicking soccer, and I want to be a champion too!

Today is Dragon Boat Festival

Today is Dragon Boat Festival in China (端午节). People in China get a day off for the holiday. Here in the United States people don't get a day off. I have a day off, because school is out, but I still have homework to do.

In this traditional Chinese holiday, we are supposed to eat Zong Zi (rice dumpling). But we didn't eat Zong Zi, because my mom ate the only Zong Zi we had a few days ago. So when my dad and I looked for the Zong Zi in the refrigerator, we couldn't find any.

Another thing people do in this holiday is to hold dragon boat races. There was a guy named Qu Yuan. He was a famous poet. He killed himself by jumping into a river because his country was destroyed by the enemy. A lot of people liked him. So they rowed their boats in the river looking for his body. They were afraid that fish might eat the man's body, so they made Zong Zi and threw them into the river to feed the fish, so the fish would leave the man's body alone. That was where the idea of Zong Zi and Dragon Boat Race came from. Nowadays, people just eat Zong Zi themselves and then race Dragon Boats for fun.

Qu Yuan, the Poet

Visiting Animal Ark

Today is Children's Day, so my dad took me and my baby brother to Animal Ark to see the animals.

We first went to pick up my baby brother. Then we stopped by Target to buy some toothpastes. Then we drove to Animal Ark, a pet store. I saw so many different animals. There were two chihuahuas in the store. They were very small because they were babies. They didn't have a mom. The chihuahuas were so cute. I wanted one. But dad said I can only have a pet when I become nine years old.

I also saw three baby kittens. They were all white just like the picture on the right. They were inside a cage, but I put my hands inside the cage and touched the kittens. It felt so soft. The kittens were happy that I was petting them. Isaac, my baby brother, grabbed a kitty's ear and pulled. The poor kitty fell to the next level. My brother is so mean. But he is only 2, so he doesn't understand. And I wanted a cat. But dad said again that I can only have a pet when I become nine years old.


Then we went to look at the mice. There were a lot of mice there, and also rats. There were two rats in this big cage. There was a sign on the cage saying it is okay to pet the sweet rats. So I put my hands into the cage and touched the rat. The rat didn't bite me. It felt very, very soft. And I wanted a mouse. But dad said I can only have a pet when I become nine years old.

There were also lizards, crickets, rabbits, snakes, fish, birds, hamsters, Guinea pigs, turtles, tree frogs, tarantulas, scorpions, pythons.

Although I don't have a pet right now, but I have a Zhu-Zhu pet hamster. His name is Pip Squeak, and I like him very much!

Something about Giraffe

I wanted to know what giraffes eat, so my dad and I looked it up on the Internet. We just went to Google and then typed in "What does giraffe eat?" Then we found the answer.

Giraffes eat leaves, and plants, and twigs of trees. A giraffe can eat 140 lb of leaves and twigs daily. Wow, that's a lot of food. The giraffe must have a big tummy. I can't eat that much!

We also searched where giraffes come from. They come from Africa. My dad told me that Africa doesn't have tigers, but they have lions. They also don't have pandas.

My classmate and good friend Eric is going to South Africa next week. His mom was from South Africa. I want to go to Africa too. But I am not going. I am going to a soccer camp instead.

Giant Panda Bear

At the carnival yesterday I won a baby panda as a prize. I like him so much that I gave him two names. The first one is Lucky. This is his English name. The second name is a Chinese name, and it is Le Le (乐乐), meaning laugh laugh. Because I really like panda, my dad taught me some things about panda.

Pandas are bears, but they eat bamboos most of the time. Pandas can climb trees, even baby pandas. All pandas are from China, and panda is a very special animal for China. China gave other countries pandas as presents, and these pandas live in the zoos. Many people would go to the zoo to see the pandas. I have never seen a real panda, but my dad has. One day me and my family will go to China and see the real panda. Right now there are not many pandas in the world, so we need to take good care of them.

Pandas are very cute, especially baby pandas. I really want to have a real panda at home, but I can't have one because pandas are not pets. At least I have my toy panda, Lucky! I will take good care of Lucky!

I watched several panda videos on the Internet. Here I'll show you my favorite one! Enjoy the video!

School Carnival

Today my school had a carnival. This is my first carnival. When we left home, we went first to pick up my baby brother from the daycare. Then my dad drove us to my school. There were a lot of people already when we got there. I saw some classmates of mine. They all looked happy. I was happy too.

There were a lot of games at the carnival. I climbed up a big shark slider together with my friend Tiegan. And we went on another small slide together. I was also on the swing ride. That was very fun. There was also a little baby train. Me and my baby brother went on the baby train and took a ride. It was so short. I didn't like it. We also went on a spinning thing. I was so dizzy after that ride. I took my baby brother to the jumping place and we jumped and jumped and my baby brother didn't want to get out. I had to drag him out. I was taking good care of my baby brother and he had a good time too.


There were also some small games like the game where we had to throw plastic rings onto small bears on the ground. I did so well in that game that I won a baby panda as the prize! I also played a shooting game with a crossbow. My dad helped my baby brother shoot the crossbow and they won a big plastic soccer ball. My dad bought us a snow cone and a cotton candy. It was very delicious.

Before I knew it, it was closing time already. Dad told me that I had played for almost three hours. But it didn't feel like three hours at all. I had a really good day! It was great! I can't wait to go to the next carnival!!

My first gold medal!

About a week ago, I had a figure skating competition. The name of the competition is Reach For the Peaks 2011. It was held at The Peaks Arena in Provo, Utah.

I had been practicing for the competition for a long time. All the moves were choreographed by Rory, my skating coach. The music is called The Kingdom Dance, and was picked by Khristen, my former coach.

On the day of the competition, my whole family came to cheer for me. When I was on the ice, I was scared because so many people were watching. But I didn't make any mistakes. My dad recorded my performance and made a movie. He posted the movie on the Internet so everyone can watch. This is the first competition I had ever done. Later I was told that I had won the gold medal. I was very happy. Khristen gave me some beautiful flowers to congratulate me. I liked the flowers very much.

When I got the gold medal, my mom and dad were very proud of me. My baby brother didn't know what was happening, but he was happy too.

Rory thought that I did a good job. She wants me to participate in another state competition in July. That means I need to practice more.

You can watch the video of my performance below. Enjoy my blog!

Swimming Lessons

I'm going swimming early tomorrow morning, so I need to go to sleep early tonight so I can get enough sleep and wake up on time tomorrow morning.

I love swimming, because it makes me strong and healthy. And if I know how to swim, I won't drown if I fall into the water. And it is just a lot of fun playing in the water.

I have already learned two swimming strokes. They are back stroke and freestyle stroke. I am not good at those two strokes yet, but I will practice more and then I'll be good.

Sometimes my mom and my baby brother come swimming with me. My mom is very good at swimming. My baby brother is very bad at swimming because he always wants my mom to hold him. But he loves playing in the water, especially playing with his water gun.
 
I love jumping into the water. I am not scared. When I first get into the swimming pool, it is always cold. I would then climb out and sit by the edge of the pool and just paddle my feet in the water. Then I would put my whole body in the water again, and it would feel better. I wear my goggles when I swim. My teacher gave me the goggles. I don't wear any life jacket, but sometimes I use a lifebuoy.

I hope one day I can swim in the deeper end of the pool without my lifebuoy.

Visiting Nora at Her House

On Saturday morning, my dad dropped me off at Seven Peaks so I can take my skating group lessons. I am in Free Skate I class. That's bigger than the other classes. When I was done with my skating lessons, I went to my friend Nora's house to play. She lives very close to Seven Peaks. She also came for group lessons.

Nora is six and half. She has a younger sister, Ella who is 3. When I got to their house, their parents first took us to the mall and bought some shoes for Nora. Then we went to a burger place near BYU to have lunch. I ate fries, a corn dog, and a vanilla ice-cream. The ice-cream is very yummy and I finished it all.

After we went back to their house, we played a pretended family game where I pretended to be the mother and Nora and Ella pretended to be my daughters. I made my daughters breakfast then I dressed them up pretty so they could go to school. After school, I wanted Nora to come back with a boyfriend. And she did. Her boyfriend was a toy lion. Then we pretended that we bought some popcorn and went to the cinema to watch a movie. Next, we actually watched a movie at her house. I don't know the title of the movie. It was about a barbie girl who loved the sea.

Then at 6 o'clock, my mom picked me up from Nora's house and we went home.

I really like going to Nora's house to play. I had a great time. Next time I want them to come to my house and play with me.

Singing at school concert

Today my school had a History and Heritage Fair. Part of the Fair is a concert, and my whole class sang in the concert.

In the past week we had been practicing singing every day. Today we went to the auditorium to perform. We stood in a line and went on the stage. When I was on the stage, I didn't like it because I was scared. I don't know if my classmates were scared. I was standing in the front row, and I could see my dad and my baby brother. But I didn't see my mom. We sang two songs. The first one was "find a friend." It was a Chinese song. The next one was an English one and it was "don't you push me down." I don't think we did a good job because one of my classmates kept singing after we were done. The audience seemed to like our performance because they applauded.

My dad recorded our performance and helped me put it in my blog. You can see it below.

After singing, we went into the lunch room and watched movies for a while. Then I went home.

My skating lesson

Today I had a skating lesson from my teacher Rory.

I have been learning figure skating for almost a year now. My mom loves figure skating very much. When she was little, she couldn't learn to skate, so she really wanted me to skate. It's like a way to fulfill her childhood dream.

I love skating myself because it's like dancing on ice. Every week I have three skating lessons, one group lesson and two private lessons. Each lesson is 30 minutes. I would go to Peaks Ice Arena in Provo to take lessons.

In today's lesson I learned many new moves, but I don't know their names. My teacher Rory is a good teacher because she is very kind and patient, and always corrected my moves. Rory is a very famous figure skater. She had won many championships and medals. She can do a back flip on the ice. I've included a video of her performance below, so you can see for yourself.

I will be having a competition on May 14th. It's my first competition ever. I am practicing a lot. I hope my dad would come and see my competition.

I went to the Zoo

Today is Field Trip Day for my class and we went to the Hogle Zoo.

In the morning I woke up very early because I needed to be at school at 8 o'clock so I wouldn't miss the field trip. When I got to school, there were already a lot of kids there waiting.

When the school bus came, we all went on the bus. My mom came with me because she was going to help Miss Le. Miss Le can't handle so many kids all by herself, so she asked some parents to come and help out. We have 25 kids in our class and all went on the trip. It took a long time to get to the zoo.

There were many animals in the zoo. We visited monkeys, kangaroos, rhinos, cheetahs, elephants, tigers, crocodiles, chicken, goats, giraffes, hedgehogs, and many more. I like giraffes because they have very long necks. There was a baby giraffe (I posted the picture on the right). He is so cute! I also like monkeys because I was born in the year of the monkey. I also like rats because my baby brother was born in the year of the rat.

My friends loved the zoo. I didn't, because we were only looking at the animals. I would have more fun if I could, say, ride the cheetah. On the way home I was so tired that I fell asleep in the bus.

Pearl's New Skates

Today I read a book. The title is "Pearl's New Skates." This book is very good and I enjoyed it very much.

The story is about Pearl, a rabbit. On Pearl's birthday, she called her grandma to make her a new skating shirt. She waited and waited till the cold weather came. Then the cold weather did come and water turned into ice. A lot of people went on the ice and skated. Pearl's friend Thistle asked her to come skating with her. But Pearl didn't want to skate with Thistle. She went on the ice by herself. Then Uncle Jack asked Pearl if she wanted a push. But Pearl didn't need any help, so she just skated by herself. She lost her balance, then when she was getting up, she slipped again. Then she took her skates off. Her mom asked, "Do you want to skate more?" She replied, "No." Then she went home. On the next day, there were people skating but she didn't go and just watched from her window. Uncle Jack came to her house and asked, "Why didn't you come skating? Didn't you like skating?" Pearl said, "Not really." The next morning, Uncle Jack came and asked Pearl if she wanted to go skating. She decided to go. It was early and nobody else was there. Pearl was falling down all the time and she was quite mad. When Uncle Jack asked, "Do you need a push?" she said yes. Then Uncle Jack gave her a push, and she was skating good now. "I did it! I did it!" Pearl shouted in excitement. Then they shared hot chocolate, and Pearl was happy.

This story tells us that you need to practice and practice to get better. That's it. Hope you like this story too.

I Went to the Library

Today I went to the Provo City Library with my dad.

After school, I was waiting for someone in my family to pick me up. I waited and waited and no one showed up. So I went to the school office to call my mom. While I was dialing the phone numbers, I saw someone coming. It was my dad. I told him that he came late, but he didn't think so. Then I saw the book and DVD from the library sitting on the seat, so I asked, "Are we going to the library?" He replied, "Yes!" I was very excited.

Soon, we were at the library. The library has many rooms. We went to the section for kids. It is a big place with lots of books. We first got eight DVD movies, including Dora Explore The Earth and The Prince, the Princess and the Bee. I also picked a bunch of books. I made sure the books I picked are easy to read for me. For example, You Read to Me, I'll Read to You, and Terrible Storms. We checked out a total of 12 books. I need to read all of them in three weeks. Dad told me that when he was little, he loved reading books. He would use his parents' library cards to check out books. I have my own library card, and there is a frog on it. I don't actually like reading because it takes a lot of time to read and it makes me tired. But I know reading is good for me.

On our way home, I read a book called Pearl's New Skates. I'll tell you about the book in another blog.

Today is Spring Pictures Day

Today is Spring Pictures day for our entire school and we had our pictures taken.

After Miss Le's class, we went to the school auditorium. We had to wait for the Kindergartners to finish first. After they were done we lined up to get ready for our pictures. Then one after another we went up the stage to have our pictures taken. It was a lady who was taking pictures. When it was my turn, I was scared. Mom had told me to show my teeth because I will look pretty. But I didn't because I am missing my two top teeth. Then we went back to our class and studied some more.

Later, we went outside for more pictures. It was a young man taking pictures this time. He was on the roof and took pictures of all of us at the same time. I was standing at the end of the second row. He took five pictures. I smiled when he took the pictures for us. When we were done taking pictures, we went to sing and then went to lunch.

I know Mrs. Stevens will give us the pictures on a Monday, but I don't know which Monday it is. I hope my pictures will turn out good.

A normal day in my life

Today is just another normal day.

In the morning I woke up late because I was really tired. After I got up, I ate some cereals quickly then I put on my jacket and my backpack and then rushed into my dad's car. Dad drove me to school and I wasn't late for school.

After I got into my class, we first practiced writing some words in Chinese, then we sat around Miss Le, our Chinese teacher, to learn math. We also read two books together. Those will be our homework on Friday. Then it was lunch time.

I had bread and hash-brown for lunch. Then we went out to play at the recess.

In the afternoon we went to Mrs. Stevens' class. Mrs. Stevens is our English teacher. We planted some sunflower seeds in small cups. These are for our moms for Mothers Day. Then we talked about Peter the Rabbit. We also wrote sentences for writing practice.

In Miss Le's class, I got the Orange Grade, which is the best grade one can get at school for that day's performance. I am very proud of myself.

Then after school, mom came and picked me up. We went to Seven Peaks to take skating lessons.

In the evening, I did my homework with my dad. Then I wrote my blog.

That's it! A normal day in my life.

I went swimming in Spring Break

Last week was Spring Break so I didn't have school. Me and my mom and my baby brother went swimming every day. The place we went to is called Orem Fitness Center. There is a big swimming pool at that place.

I know how to swim because I learned from my swimming teacher. She is not a Chinese, but she has a beautiful Chinese name: Xi Shi. I have been studying with her for a month. She is out of town for two weeks, so there is no swimming lessons for me this week and next week.

I like swimming very much, because I don't have to stand up. I am lazy. I can just lay on my lifebuoy and float. Most of the pool is very deep, and one end of the pool isn't. There were a lot of children swimming there, and I had a lot of fun.

I went skiing!!

I went skiing today, and I was very happy!

Because I got 100 percent on my test, my dad promised me to take me skiing. So on Sunday, my whole family, including my baby brother (he is two) and my uncle, went to Snowbird to ski. I had never skied before. But I know what ski means because I watched Goofy skiing on the mountain on TV before. He was funny! I thought skiing was not hard, and it wasn't.

We left at 11 o'clock. It took one hour to get there, and it was a beautiful sunny day in the mountains! We went to a place called Snowbird to meet Tony and Tina, my mom's friends. First I put my new skiing jacket on. Then I put on the skis. We found a skiing school for kids and babies, so we went in there and learned how to ski. My baby brother also learned, but he didn't like it and just wanted my mom to carry him all the time. Then he fell asleep.

I was doing better. So Tony took me onto the lift so I can ski for real. I was afraid that I might fall off the lift. I don't want to die. Luckily, I didn't fall. Then we skied downhill. My dad taught me how to slow down using snowplow, so when I went downhill, I didn't go that fast, so I didn't fall down. After I skied a few more times, I wasn't afraid any more, so I skied faster. I only fell a few times, and it didn't hurt because the snow was thick. My dad was very surprised when he saw me skiing down all by myself. I was very proud of myself.

When we were going home, I was very tired and fell asleep in the car. I had a fun day! I hope I could ski again soon. That means I need to get 100 percent on my test again.

My new bike

Last Christmas, my dad gave me a special Christmas present. It was a big bike. It also came with a helmet and a bunch of protection pads. We kept it inside the house because the outside was always covered by snow and it was very cold outside.

It's spring now and it is not cold outside anymore. So on Sunday, I took my bike to the park. My whole family went there too. I put all the protection pads on and also my helmet on. This way when I fall, it wouldn't hurt too much. At first, the tires were flat, so dad took me and the bike to a gas station and we pumped it up. Then I rode the bike around the park again and again. I did fall a few times, and it still hurts. But I am a tough girl and I didn't cry.

Today I rode my bike at the park again. I didn't fall today. My bike still has training wheels on. I hope I can learn to ride a bike quickly, then my dad can take those training wheels off.

Things I ate today

Today I ate a lot of things.

In the morning I ate eggs and bread at home, and I drank hot chocolate milk too. They were very good.

At lunch, I ate bread and ham and hash-brown at school. I drank cold chocolate milk this time. And I didn't get any fruit. I was full so I went outside to play.

After school, my mom picked me up. Then we went to Wal-Mart. I was so hungry. Mom bought me some frozen fries and also frozen small square-shaped pizzas. Then we went home and Mom baked the fries and pizzas. It took a long time. I was starving. Finally, they were cooked, and I ate so much. I didn't even share with my baby brother. Mom wanted me to share with my baby brother, and I got mad and made silly faces to my brother.

I ate so much that I was very full. So I didn't even eat my dinner. Then I just did my homework.

My favorite food is ice-cream. I also like fries and pizza and hot dogs. I want to eat ice-cream on my birthday. My birthday is on February 5th. My 6th birthday has already passed, so I have to wait for a long time before my next birthday.

I have new shoes!

After school, my mom and I went to Kohl's and bought me a pair of sports shoes. It feels good. I love it.

At school, my teacher asked me to write a story about a pet. I didn't know how to write a story. So my dad taught me how to do it. That's why I am telling you the story on my blog. So here it is:

I want a horse because I can ride on her and I can go fast to school and go back home fast too. I'll name my pet horse Rosy because she likes roses. I'll feed Rosy lots of grass. I'll play with my pet Rosy the game of catching the ball. This is how you play it. I throw a ball and she'll run fast and she'll catch it and then take it back to me. Then I'll throw it again. My pet needs a house, and her house will have a lot of grass. And she needs a drinking bowl. She will sleep in her house bed and I'll give her a blanket to cover so she doesn't get cold.

Now I know how to write a story!! The End!

Adeline's Saint Patrick's Day Dog

Hi, this is my Saint Patrick's Day dog. She is a girl and I hope you guys like her.

And yesterday I didn't do a blog, because I was too tired. And I went to sleep.

Yesterday I went dancing. And I learned some new moves.

Today I went to school and I took classes. I played at recesses. In the afternoon, I went skating. I am a good skater. I can do a jump on the ice. I can do spinning too. I am going to let you watch a video of Rory Flack. She is one of my coaches. She is the best coach! I like her very much.

My first ever blog post

My name is Adeline. I like everybody to call me Addy. I am six years old, and I am a girl.

My dad wants me to practice writing, and he thought writing a blog can help me write better. That's why I have a blog now!! My dad helped me create a blog and we picked a theme that I liked the best.

Starting from today, I'll be writing about interesting things in my life. Hope you like it. That's all for today. See you tomorrow.