My name is Eleora! My dad created this website so that I could share my photos and stories with friends and family. I hope you like it!
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Softball!
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Wow, I just looked at the date of my last post… October of last year! A lot has happened since then, like ALL OF 4TH GRADE! Sheesh! What a slacker! I’ll try to do better.
Anyhow, this post is supposed to be about my first time being on a sports team. I decided to sign up for the 3rd/4th grade softball team at school. It was awesome! I’m hooked!
Most of the girls on my team were just learning how to play, so we were just out there to have fun, but we did manage to win a few games!
Here are a couple of my batting highlights – an RBI single, and a 2-RBI double!
Rock’n’Rollercoasters!
We went up to the Portland area each of the last two weekends for some fun times. First, we got to go to Oaks Amusement Park for Mom’s company fun event. There was free food (including ICE CREAM!) and we got bracelets for unlimited rides!
I did most of the rides with Dad, because Mom and Dott could barely handle the kid rides. Ha ha!
Mom did do the rollercoaster with us – once. It’s a pretty short ride, but it is intense! You start by going straight up and then STRAIGHT DOWN, face first! Just watch!
I also got my first driving experience. Bumper cars! Dad let me drive. Look out!
After we went on lots of other rides, I even talked Dad into going on the AtmosFear ride. Who knew I was such a thrill seeker? This ride is the one which left people stuck upside down, earlier in the year. It swings and rotates, and it goes so high in the air that you feel like you’re in the clouds!
Last weekend, we went to see the concert of a singer I’ve heard on the radio before. His name is Jeremy Camp. The guitars were so hot, they set off the fire alarms!
Okay, so maybe it was the smoke cannons, but still . . .
I sure had a lot of fun. Why do Mom and Dad keep saying I sure am spoiled for a 9-year old? I don’t get it . . .
My First Summer Camp
In June, I got to go to my first overnight summer camp. Was it a camp near our home? Nope! It was in… ALASKA!
Dad’s cousin, Randy, is the director at Echo Ranch Bible Camp, near Juneau. It’s not actually in Juneau, though. You have to drive north, to where the highway ends! At the end of the road, you either have to get on a boat, or, if it’s low tide and you have a 4WD vehicle, you can drive a VERY bumpy road around the point to reach the camp. But when the tide is in, the “road” is underwater!
Boating in is the best. You can’t imagine the view of the mountains when you come out of Echo Cove and are approaching Berner’s Bay. Here’s a video that Dad took on his phone:
I was assigned to “Lupine” cabin. Here’s our group photo.
Camp was so much fun! We got to do archery, shoot BB guns and slingshots, and ride horses! And on the first night, we played a game called “Storm the Castle.” They actually have a castle at the camp! The kids had to run through all the counselors in the field to get a coin from the castle, and then make it back through the counselors to the start, without getting hit! The counselors could hit you with a ball or a pool noodle. If you got hit, you had to go back to the start.
While I was having fun as a camper, Mom and Dad were WORKING! Ha ha! Mom helped in the kitchen, preparing and serving meals. Dad did things like helping at the sawmill, and driving a truck onto a boat! And he didn’t sink either the truck or the boat!
Did I mention that they have horses at the camp that get to roam around at night and early in the morning? How cool is that?
Before going up to the camp, we got to adventure around Juneau a bit. They have SO MANY bald eagles! There’s also a cool whale sculpture in town. If you take your photo just right, it looks like you’re on a boat and the whale is jumping right next to you! We also went to the Mendenhall Glacier, where I earned my Junior Ranger badge from the visitor center. Now I have one from three different states! When we walked out to the waterfall there, we saw a porcupine climbing up a tree. Never seen one of those before!
We had a great time in Alaska, and I hope we get to go back next year!
My Awesome Florida Adventure
Back in January, Mom had a conference to go to in Florida, so Dad and I tagged along to make it a little vacation. It’s good to get some sun in the middle of winter. And was it ever winter! We were lucky to leave just before the big week-long ice storm hit! Being on vacation in Florida is much nicer than being stuck at home, freezing, and bored because you can’t go anywhere!
Being there was fun, but the traveling was not. Our flight out was delayed for 5 HOURS, so we missed our connecting flight in Denver. We had to stay there overnight, where it was -13 degrees! NEGATIVE 13!!! Brrrr!!! And then they wanted to send us to Chicago, which is the opposite direction from Florida! Silly airlines. Anyhow, Dad got us re-booked to Tampa instead of Chicago. That’s still two and a half hours away from where Mom’s conference was, in Fort Meyers, but at least it was in the right state! Unfortunately, our luggage still went to Chicago, so we still had to wait for the original flight to come in. But at least it didn’t get stuck in the blizzard that was expected in Chicago that day! Whew!
It wasn’t sunny or warm while we were in Fort Meyers. It was 58 and rainy! But it still beats snow and ice! We took advantage of the one evening we had and went to the Naples Zoo. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves, but we got SOAKED! Here are some pictures of the animals.
After Mom’s conference was over, we drove down to stay on Key Largo for a few days. On the way, we went through part of the Everglades. We stopped at Corey Billie’s Air Boat Rides and went on a fan boat tour through the mangroves. SO MUCH FUN! If you like fast rides, you have to go sometime! Here’s a couple videos to give you an idea:
We didn’t just SEE alligators, we got to hold them, too! The babies are actually really cute and feel kind of rubbery. Just keep your fingers away from the bitey end!
Once we made it to Key Largo (so many bridges and little islands!) we spent some time exploring the grounds at the rental condo. I was excited about the feral cats! Mom and Dad just enjoyed the pool and Caribbean shore and sunsets. Sheesh. Grown-ups.
If you’re ever down in the Keys, you have to go check out Theater of the Sea! It’s kind of like Sea World, but all the animals are rescues from various places. They have a bunch of different animal shows, and you just rotate from one to the next until you’ve seen everything. The presenters tell you all about the animals. We saw sea lions do tricks, saw trained parrots, learned about nurse sharks and rays, saw several really big sea turtles, etc. But the best thing was the dolphin show. They can jump so high!
Since we were already in the Keys, we thought we should drive down to Key West, just to say we’d been there. We saw a travel show about it before our trip, and it looked like fun. It didn’t look very far away on the map, but it was more than 100 miles from where we were staying! And with all the islands in between, the speed limit was only 45 miles per hour most of the way, often with only one lane of traffic in each direction. It was a long drive, but we made it to the end of the road. Literally! You can’t drive any further!
One of the attractions in Key West is the Ernest Hemingway House, where some old guy wrote a bunch of books, a long time ago. Bo-ring! But I really wanted to go there, because they have CATS! Lots of them! And these are no ordinary cats. They have 6 toes! They look like they’re wearing little furry mittens. And since there are lots of people visiting the boring old guy’s house all the time, they are used to people and don’t run away when you try to pet them!
When Mom and Dad finally dragged me away from all the cats, we walked down a few blocks to the Southernmost Point, which (not counting Hawai’i) is as far south as you can get in the United States. In fact, it’s only 90 miles from Cuba. That means we were closer to Cuba than we were to where we were staying on Key Largo!
Before we began the long drive back, Mom and Dad wanted to get a piece of the famous Key Lime Pie. Since I’m not adventurous when it comes to new foods and rarely try anything I don’t already know that I like, I just had an ice cream cone.
When it was time to leave the Keys and head back toward the airport, we had to stop at the Oasis Visitor Center at the Big Cypress National Preserve. I had completed enough activities to earn my Junior Ranger badge! It was very official. They made me put on a ranger hat, raise my right hand, and take an oath to help protect national parks and wildlife. Then they stamped my book, and I was a Junior Ranger!
They have some cool boardwalks in the preserve, and you don’t have to go far to see lots of alligators and birds! Here are some of the things we saw.
The one thing we didn’t get to see in the Everglades was a manatee. Not a good view of one, anyhow. We caught a glimpse of a nose during our air boat ride. As it turns out, that’s about all you really get to see, unless you’re in a place with clear water. We went to a place called Manatee Park, where there are a bunch that like to hang out. But they were hard to see.
The worst thing about vacations is that, eventually, you have to go back to real life. After another cancelled flight, we finally made it back to Oregon. Luckily, the big ice storm was over by that point, and we didn’t have any trouble making it home.
Wow, this turned out to be a really long story! Thanks for reading all the way through! Until next time, this is Junior Ranger Ellie, signing off.
My Summer Vacation
Most kids have to write an essay about what they did that summer as one of their first assignments of the new school year. Well, here’s mine.
I had an awesome summer! I got to see several different groups of cousins, and had a lot of firsts! I’ve already told you about catching my first fish, but I haven’t written about the rest of that trip. It was great!
First, we flew all the way across the country to Washington DC. We could see some of the monuments as the plane was coming in for a landing. We rented a car and drove several hours to Virginia Beach, VA to Hodson’s house. He’s fun to be around because he likes the same things I do, like dinosaurs!
He was doing a learn-to-surf camp while we were there, so we got to hang out at the beach. Even his little brother, Lomond, wanted to try.
After two days at the beach, we drove over some really long bridges over Chesapeake Bay and went through several tunnels under the bay and finally arrived at Chincoteague Island. We were going to see the wild ponies that live on neighboring Assateague Island. The only ones we saw were way off in the distance, though. But that’s okay, because they had ponies right in the parking lot of our motel!
Next, we drove back to the Washington DC area and went to the National Zoo and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History! So many animals in one day!
Before we got back on the plane to come home, Mom’s cousin took us on a crazy hike called The Billy Goat Trail. It was full of big boulders you had to climb over and around. In one part, we even had to climb up a cliff!
The fun didn’t stop when we got home, either. Before school started, we still had time for my first concert! And not just one, but two in the same week! But since this post is mostly about our trip to the east coast, I’ll save those stories for the next one!
My First Fish!
Last week we got back from a trip to the east coast to visit cousins. While we were there, I got to go fishing for the first time and I caught my first fish! Actually, I caught SEVEN fish! They all have noisy sounding names – black drum, hog fish (or “piggy perch”) and Atlantic croaker! The hog fish actually grunt like a pig. It’s so funny! I like fishing!
Into The Woods
Last weekend was Mom’s birthday and Mother’s Day. She decided she wanted to go hike to Drift Creek Falls and then continue on to the coast. We had to drive a long way before even starting on our hike! The start of the trail is several miles up a winding Forest Service road.
To get to the falls, you have to hike down for a mile and a half! It’s a long way, but easy walking on the trail. Unless there are fallen trees in the way! Then you have to climb over!
When you get down to the falls, you have to cross a suspension bridge. It is really high! Mom was scared, but she made it!
It was really hot out, so we enjoyed splashing ourselves with the cool water from the pool below the falls.
The only bad thing about going to the falls is that, after you’ve enjoyed it for a bit, you have to hike a mile and a half uphill to get back to your car! But it was fun. I would do it again!
Field Trip!
Last week, on the last day of school before Spring Break, all the second grade kids and a bunch of parents loaded up in a school bus and drove over to Newport for a class field trip! We went to the Mark O. Hatfield Marine Science Center!
My class (Mrs. Van Beek and Mrs. Hoopes) started off in one of the classrooms, while Mr. Meisenhelder’s class toured the exhibit area. We learned about what makes good animal habitats (water, food, oxygen, and shelter) and then we got to make our own little marine ecosystems! We started with a container of water from the Yaquina Bay. Then we got to add some rocks and shells, and then some real animals! First we added mussels and barnacles, then brine shrimp and a turban snail. We also got a tidepool sculpin, but he stayed in his own little container. We named him Bob. We also got to hold a hermit crab! It tickled when he walked on our hands. We named him Kevin.
After an hour in the classroom, we traded with the other class and went to tour the exhibits. They had a touch pool where you could feel anemones, sea stars, sea cucumbers, and spiny urchins! The animals would hug your finger to see if you taste good or not!
They also had other cool exhibits, like a tsunami wave simulator and a sand table that would project terrain lines and weather, depending on how you built up your mountains and valleys. Very cool!
Jurassic Quest!
When Mom was on her trip to Washington DC, Dad found something fun for us to do. He said it was a surprise and wouldn’t tell me anything about it, but told me I should wear my explorer’s vest! Hmm… where could we be going?
We drove up to the State Fairgrounds in Salem. We had to park a couple blocks away. We could see a lot of people in line to get in. When we got close, I could see the sign. It was Jurassic Quest, a touring dinosaur exhibit! How exciting!
What wasn’t exciting was the wait to get in. Dad thought that buying tickets online would save time to get in, but . . . Dad has bad luck! We went to find the end of the line. It turned around the corner of the building, going past the food truck area. It kept going. And going. And going! We turned another corner of the building, wrapped around the back side, and almost all the way to the other side of the fairgrounds! The line was literally a mile long! Probably more! It took us over an hour and a half to get in to see the dinosaurs! But, at least it wasn’t raining!
Finally, we made it inside. The dinosaurs were huge! I’m glad they aren’t around today! Just Dad… ha ha ha! Anyway, here are some photos!
STEM Like a Girl
This weekend we went to Portland to go to the STEM Like a Girl workshop at Portland State University. If you don’t know, STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Important stuff that girls should get interested in at an early age, like me!
There were lots of fun activity tables. Mom ran a table where you could make your own marble maze on a paper plate, using bendy straws to make the maze walls. She had lots of girls at her table!
I learned about physics at the “egg drop” table. You’ve seen the trick where a magician pulls a tablecloth out from under a bunch of plates, right? Watch this!
I also got to make a tiny robot from a toothbrush head, a coin battery, and a little motor!
After the icebreaker activities, we took a tour of some engineering labs. They’re building robots and rockets here! So cool! Can you guess what kind of robot this is?
They’re also building real rockets and satellites! The little cube that the man is holding in the photo is the first satellite they built. They have another one just like it in space right now!
The TV screen was showing a live tracker of the satellite. We saw it fly over Australia and head toward Antarctica. It flies over Oregon twice a day.
After the tours, we got to engineer our own “air drop” solution. We were pretending to build a box to air drop supplies to people who needed them. The ball had to stay in the cup when dropped from a height. Mine worked on the first try! Then we had to see if it would work on a windy or stormy day by dropping it in front of a fan. It still worked! It wasn’t until I started adding lots of washers for weight that the ball bounced out of the cup.
Even Mom and Auntie Dott got in on the fun.
I had a lot of fun and can’t wait until the next workshop!