Hey All,
Summer has started and so has the long awaited 3 months of holidays! The last day of my 'junior year' was so much fun but I always imagined that at the final bell of the school year, students would all throw their papers up in the air and break out into song just like the gang in High School Musical. But as if all my wildest dreams hadn't been answered, no one broke out into song and no one threw papers up into the air.
After getting over my initial disappointment of no singing or dancing, the first week of summer began and I got to start it off in an exciting fashion. Amy was the co-director of a day camp called Creative Capers and she asked me to lead an art class for the 1st and 2nd graders. Going with the theme of magic, I helped the small group of 13 create magic wands, magic carpets, magic hats and paper bunnies. I had so much fun watching the kids have fun and make things they were so proud of to show their parents.
That weekend, Marc took Caroline, Jeremiah and I to the New River Gorge to go white water rafting! It was a beyond an amazing experience full of scary but amazing moments including floating down the New River, rafting down huge and dangerous class 5 rapids and seeing a bear for the first time.....EVER! When I first was told about class 5 rapids (the second most dangerous classed rapid) I was so scared that 1. I would fall out of the raft and 2. That I would get caught in the rapid and drown. But, as you can clearly tell by the fact that I am updating my blog, neither of those things happened! Thank god!
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| An example of what white water rafting looks like |
The next week was my first week at a stay away summer camp, Conservation Camp at the beautiful Camp Caesar in Webster County, West Virginia. This week was full of firsts; first summer camp, first time I ate a smore, first time shooting a gun and first time repelling of a cliff. I started off the camp not knowing anyone, any of the camp songs or anything about how a summer camp is conducted, so I was up to learn anything and everything. The camp was split into four groups; the Strip Croppers (the team I was in), the Game Managers (this is game as in deer and rabbits not board games like I first thought), the Forest Rangers and the Conservation Officers. Each group was lead my four junior counsellors for the first two days and then three people were elected by the group to be the leaders. I was fortunate enough to be elected by my group and lead the group in our meetings and at council circle in the nights. Speaking of council circle, that was one of the things I will always remember, not only did we have lots of fun performing skits, songs and yells to the other groups, it was full of sincere moments where I felt connected to the people and environment around me.
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| Conservation Camp Campers '13 |
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| Council Circle and Campfire |
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| Shooting a shotgun |
In the afternoon, we had a few hours to go around and participate in various organised activities including repelling, shooting (a shotgun and .22), arts and crafts, cooking food outdoors, rowing and archery. I participated in as many activities as I could and my favourites included shooting (of course!), foods (again, of course!) and archery. On the final night, there was an awards ceremony where they announced junior counsellors for next year, alternate junior counsellors, and two major awards (one for male and another for females). I was shocked, astonished and blessed to win the major award for the females, giving me the opportunity to come back to the camp next year fully paid for (well everything except a plane ticket!)
The next week was just as exciting as the first two as I made my way to Washington, D.C. to stay with Amy's cousins Beth and Julie and their daughters Annie and Kimi. The first day that I was there, Annie took me to Georgetown where we shopped and went to the world famous shop Georgetown Cupcakes (you can watch the show on TLC).
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| Georgetown Cupcake Store |
Tuesday was an exciting day! Annie took Kimi and I to a theme park in Southern Virginia called Kings Dominion. The day started off well filled with roller coasters, thrill rides and funnel cakes! But as the day went on, the weather turned sour and by the afternoon, a thunder storm rolled in and drenched everyone and everything that was outside! So we decided to cut our losses and leave while we were still having fun and not so wet.
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| Waiting under shelter for the rain to pass |
Thursday I went into DC for the day and spent the whole day visiting things that I didn't get to see the last time I was there. The city was bustling as I walked through the mall taking in all of the magnificent things that DC has to offer. I walked around the Washington Monument which was covered in scaffolding after sustaining damage from the earthquake last year. Next, I went to the Smithsonian Natural History of America museum where I went to the diamonds exhibit. This is where I fell in love with so many diamonds! Countless diamonds, ranging from 2 carats to 1000 carats, lined the walls in small glass cases. Each were treasures from centuries ago that had been owned by royalty and the social elite.
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| Marie Louise Diadem given to Marie Louise by her husband, Napoleon |
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| Hazen Diamond Necklace designed by Harry Winston, Inc. |
I then ventured to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History where I was able to see the original Star Spangled Banner (the American flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write, what is now, the American National Anthem. Seeing this significant piece of American history made me feel so lucky to be in a country dubbed 'home of the brave and land of the free'.
Next, I ventured to the ultimate symbol of America, the White House. Although I had been there previously, it looked like a completely different place due to the warmer weather that is brought with summer. I also was able to get a whole lot closer because the barriers that were put in place after the Boston bombings had been taken down.
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| The Truman Balcony and the South Lawn |
I then went around the White House to the North Lawn and saw the entrance to the White House which I had never seen before.
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| Entrance to the White House and the North Lawn |
To remember this occasion, I went to the White House gift shop where I was able to have photos taken of me with some replica things in the White House including the President's podium and desk as well as a photo of the Oval Office.
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| President's Desk |
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| President's Podium |
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| Oval Office |
Due to my fascination with the Kennedy's, I really wanted to go to Arlington Cemetery and see where JFK, Jackie O and their children were buried as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Changing of the Guard Ceremony. The highlight of the day was being able to see JFK's burial site and being able to experience a little piece of history. A cart took us all around the cemetery and it was so emotional to see row after row after row on rolling hills of the headstones of soldiers who gave their life for the freedom of the United States. I was shocked to learn that it takes up to 8 months to be processed to be buried at Arlington Cemetery and there is a funeral every 30 minutes.
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| View of Downtown from Arlington Cemetery |
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| JFK's Burial Site |
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| JFK, Jackie O and their children |
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| Tomb of the Unknown Soldier |
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| Rows of White Tombstones |
Saturday was my last full day in DC and the Pavlik's took me to the National Zoo where I saw a panda and elephant for the first time! The weather that day was so hot that I thought I was going to melt but being able to see so many cool animals that I had never seen before made it all worthwhile.
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| Sleepy Panda |
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| An Elephant spraying water into its mouth |
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| Meerkat! |
The next week I went to Forensic Science Camp at WVU in Morgantown where I was able to learn so much about forensics and give myself that head start to my university degree. Some of the highlights were learning about trace evidence, learning about different drugs and their effects, doing fingerprinting and being able to put everything that I learnt that week into practice by going through a mock crime scene. The mock crime scene was by far my favorite part of the day because I got to experience what it was like to be a CSI. The crime scene was split into different areas to be inspected by different teams and my team got the upstairs. The house was so hot and the suits made it even worse! I thought my team did well until we discovered that we missed a key piece of evidence - the gun! None of us thought to look the back of the toilet for evidence and by doing so, we missed the most important fact in the story. I will always know now to check the back of the toilet for evidence!
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| Before the mock crime scene all suited up! |
After Forensic Science Camp, Jeremiah, Caroline, and I went to Parkersburg to golf with Amy's Mum and Dad, Margie and Jim for the weekend because they live on a golf course. I had a lesson to learn how to golf in the morning and spent the majority of the day out on the course perfecting golfing and my technique. When we weren't golfing, Caroline and I went driving around the plantation in golf carts. We took turns driving and sitting in the back. Caroline went a little crazy going over speed bumps but we couldn't stop laughing and I had the best time driving around with her being silly! I had a lot of fun and cannot wait to go back!
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| Jeremiah, Caroline, and I on the first hole |
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| Lining up my shot |
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| Swing and.... |
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| HIT! |
That weekend was the family reunion in Canaan Valley where the Weintraub, Hamric and Pavlik families meet up every year for a day filled with fun, games and competition as well as a good catch up. The three sports that we played were corn hole, softball and volleyball. Corn hole was won by team Margie and Jim (Annie and I, or Team Spandex as Marc dubbed us because of our tight shorts, were eliminated in the second round). Volleyball was so much fun but a little scary for someone like me who hasn't played competitively. Our team was called Little Girls and Taylor because Taylor was the only guy on our team! Softball was the last sport that we played and it was by far the most interesting! I played my best here making it home every time that I batted. The game took a turn when Mary Jane was stung by 3 hornets in the face so we had to adjust the field and make sure that we were all safe from being stung! After the games, we got ice cream and went back to Jay and Heidi's for a bon fire and to let off fireworks! I enjoyed letting off the fireworks because it's something that I cannot do in Australia. The next morning we had breakfast and all set off for our next adventure, for me it was another week in DC!
Until next time,
Ellie
xoxo
This sounds amazing Ellie!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you had such a great and very American summer!
Love the blog entry & pictures!
xoxoxo