one of my favorite places

Colorado. Last summer, I went there with my family for vacation. It was absolutely spectacular. As I was looking back at pictures from our trip to put in this post, I realized how much fun it was. How amazing it was. The following pictures capture my vacation in a nutshell. I hope you enjoy them.


We went to an outdoor "concert" in Estes Park (the town we were staying in) and afterwards got ice cream.


This is my new friend, the moose. He's awesome.


We went off-road horseback riding up a small mountain. Woo hoo! Livin' on the edge!

Again at that "concert." Don't I look awesome with a cowboy hat?!


We went to a park to have lunch and, well, climb a mountain. There we are at the top.



There's the view you've been waiting for. Colorado's beauty.


While walking through the streets of Estes Park, we had a delicious pizza. Tony's statue inspired us to look like him.

While driving to a park, we spotted two elk in the meadow. Meet our friends, Bo and Shelly.
My cousin, Ryan, and I take in the view one afternoon.

After a long hike up a mountain, I relaxed and enjoyed the view.

This stream was our relief after that hike, everyone cooled off and got soaked.

Yeah, Colorado was awesome. It was breath-taking. Life-changing. Beautiful. Absolutely amazing. The worst part about it was having to get on a plane and leave.

my thoughts

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. -Buddha

I have been thinking lately. I have been trying to discover myself in the midst of people that surround me. I'm sure a lot of people have wondered about themselves before, wondered who they are. It helps to do something you love to do every day. For me, that's baking, playing with my friends, running around outside playing kickball, and being the crazy, lovable me.

I have also been thinking about other people. Everyone hides from something, and I can tell. I have been trying to uncover people, take them out of their shell. I have a lot of family and friends, so this is a big task.

I have thought about friendship and loyalty. One of my friend's friends was not loyal and hurt her feelings. I try to be the happy red balloon that keeps her smiling.

Almost every day I run to my friend's house that lives down the road and we play and talk for hours. It's great to know that there is someone that I can share my thoughts with.

It's hard, sometimes, to understand somebody's thoughts. Many times I can't understand my own. I wish, though, that I could go into somebody's head and know and understand what they are thinking. Each thought is not just a string of words, but a hope, a dream, a feeling, and with that we can change the world.

here comes spring!

Spring is nature's way of saying "Let's party!" -Robin Williams

So, spring is here. The snow has melted, mostly; the grass is green, mostly; and my flannel bed sheets have been packed away. Now that spring has started, though, there's no stopping it. Although, who cares? Spring is when the weather is warmer and my birthday is inching closer, only 17 more weeks :)

The most interesting thing is that grown-ups just think "Oh, great. Spring's here. Time to pick up the dog poo, carry an umbrella everywhere, and start the endless task of Spring Cleaning.". While Kids are thinking "Yay! More rain equals more inside recess which equals gym during recess! I might even get away with a sweatshirt instead of a coat!". Trust me, that's what every boy is thinking...

I think we are safe to say that spring has it's ups and it's downs. But, while spring leads us into endless Spring Cleaning, it also leads us into the endless fun of summer.