Kiki: Weekly Blog #2

1. Merin is a Dutch rabbit and I know that because she has a white nose and a white stripe over her shoulders like a dutch rabbit.  Her scientific name is oryctolagus cuniculus.

2.  She can get to 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 pounds.

3.  She will live until she is 8, most likely.

4.  Rabbits like to eat hay, green stuff like grass and vegetables.

5.  Let her exercise and hold her so she becomes more tame.

6.  You can teach her words like "no" and her name.  You can also teach her how to push a ball with her nose and to jump hoops and to use a litterbox in your house.

Marney: Weekly Blog #2

1- Her type is a Dutch bunny and her scientific name is Domestic rabbits.
2-  Adult rabbits can weigh 4 to 5 pounds.  Baby rabbits are often 2 pounds.
3-  Rabbits can live up to 5 or 7 years but the oldest dutch rabbit people have heard of is 15 years old.  Our old rabbit we used to have lived up to 11 years. So she most likely going live up to 9 or 10 years.
4-  You should give her treats sometimes but not to often.  Because she is like a normal pet and does not need food to much.  You should feed her rabbit food witch you can get at the store you got her at, or at any other stores.  You should also cut up some vegetables to put them in her food and set it in her cage.  You should give her some well water because rabbits do not drink fresh water.
5- You should clean her cage really good because she does not want to get sick.  What you should do when you clean her cage is you should dump her litter box and then put new stuff in her litter box.  You should give her new food and water.  You should see if she is sick or not.  you should play with her to keep her healthy.  You do stuff with her to keep her playing and not just sitting in her cage because that will keep her healthy.
6- You can train your rabbits but it does take a while.  You can train your rabbits their names to go though hoops to stay in one spot and tons of other things.

Mason: Weekly Blog #2

1. Our pet rabbit Merin is a dutch rabbit.  Her scientific name is oryctolagus cuniculus.
2.  Their average lifespan is 5-8 years long.
3.  When they are adults they can weigh 4 1/2 to 5 pounds.
4.  We should feed Merin fresh vegetables, hay and pellets.
5.  Rabbits need their claws trimmed every 4-6 weeks.  You do not need to wash your rabbit because they clean themselves.
6.  You can teach them to stand up.  What you need to do is hold a treat between your fingers, when they see it raise it up above their head, say their name or "stand".  When they stand up give them the treat.

Connor: Weekly Blog #2

I.  Merin is a dutch rabbit.  I figured this out from checking an online rabbit identification site.  Dutch rabbits have white noses and everything else tends to be colored.
II.  five and a half pounds.
III.  About five to eight years, but some have lived fifteen years.
IV.  Dutch rabbits have the same dietary habits as any other breed of rabbit.
V.  As it turns out we're doing right by the bunny.  As long as we don't give it iceberg lettuce, potatoes, beats, or chocolate or other stuff bunnies can't eat she's fine. 
VI.  Rabbits can play hide and seek, find the food, and obstacle jumping games.  They can also be taught their names and to beg for food.  All of this depends on whether or not said rabbit is social with humans.  Fortunately Merin is social with humans.

Gabe: Weekly Blog #2

#1 Merin is a dutch rabbit.   I figured this out because she has a triangle of white near her nose and a collar of white around her neck.

#2 She should grow to be between 3 1/2-5 1/2 pounds.

#3 She should live 5-8 years.

#4 We should feed her fresh fruits, fresh hay and vegetables.

#5 To take care of Merin we should replace her cardboard, her litter box and give it new chew toys.  It also needs to get time to run around for its exercise.

#6 We can teach Merin to jump though hoops and do obstacle courses. 

Weekly Blog #2

This weekend we added a new member to our family- Merin the bunny!  Today you need to do a little online research to find out more about Merin.  Answer these questions:

1. What kind of rabbit is Merin and what is her scientific name?

2.  How big will Merin get?

3.  How long will Merin live?

4.  What should we be feeding Merin?

5.  What else should we do to take care of her?

6.  Can we train Merin to do any tricks?

Connor: The Elven Chronicles: Volume 1: To Slay A Murderer: Chapter 4: Revival

   I was dreary and yet almost fully awake.  "Are you okay?" I heard a voice say.  The voice was indistinguishable for I had never heard such a soft voice.  I murmured, although I have a feeling my response wasn't coherent enough for the voice to tell what I said.  The world looked bright and blurry, an obvious after effect of dying and being revived.  I saw a person in front of me, but I couldn't tell if it was the princess or not.  Suddenly I could see better.
  Princess Amy sat in front of me looking into my eyes.  I smiled a bit when I saw her and then thought is she a cleric?  She looked at me and nodded as though she knew the exact words that came to mind.  She said "That was a brave thing you did, elf.  It may not seem like much, but having the courage to speak the truth to my mum is scary.  Most people don't know how she would react."  I was dumbfounded, my simple act of telling the truth was brave!  Amy continued "Just, don't risk your life again please.  I can only use this spell once every week.  That and I don't want to see you die"  The moment she said that she blushed.
   I said "Princess, you  shouldn't be worrying about me.  Worry about what that racist little jerk and his evil plans.  Besides, you're royalty and I'm a peasant."  I paused thinking maybe I should try convincing her to join my group.  However it is quite un-gentleman-like to put a princess in danger.
  As I kept thinking she said "Well you need someone with you at all times if you want to recover.  I could go get mum, after all she "loves" elves."  I was now in a strange predicament, risk the princess' life or be followed around all day by the witch.  I made a grimace at the mention of the witch, which caused the princess to continue healing me.  After a few days of recovery I went to the castle garden to train my combat skills alone, if I tried my hand against my two companions I would have needed more healing.
  As it turned out Amy had wandered over to me while I was training one day.  I turned to her and offered to let her join the group.  She giggled and then said "I thought that was dangerous for a young noble."  Great she's taken to mocking me now I thought.  She said "Oh relax, I'm just kidding.  After all you aren't completely healed and with you swinging that sword around like an idiot then I should come along to keep you in good health."  I wish she would stop acting like I'm no good in combat situations! I thought again.  She walked away and left me to my training.
    After training I walked back into the castle's throne room.  The queen was sitting on the massive throne and barked at me "My daughter can only follow you if you don't allow her to get injured in anyway, shape, or form!"  I agreed to these rules on Amy's safety and then thought Oh great the other reason I wanted to leave her here.

Connor: Weekly Blog #1

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,
             I enjoyed the vacation we took this summer and everything we did.  I loved to sea all the beautiful animals and hear the sounds of the ocean, as well as spending time with you.  We all saw a list of cool animals together.  It included marine life from the anemone to the seahorse.  We saw photos of dolphins, in one place all arranged on a wall.  We brought a jellyfish up to the beach house to study it and then left it on a dune, where it died.  There were turtles galore, among other interesting aquatic wildlife, like the octopus.  Until this trip I didn't know that octopuses can't hear, which was an interesting fact.  I also was unaware that only one type of turtle, the green sea turtle, can live for a century and a half, I thought all turtles could!
     We went to three wonderful small museums and one large one.  We saw what a nineteenth century general store looked like back in the days when it was open.  We saw artifacts from ill-fated Spanish ships that ended up washing onto South Padre.  We wandered around a not very enlightening  lighthouse museum, I could only imagine what a heavy house museum might have looked like.  We walked through a gargantuan bird center, which I never thought would also be a museum.  We watched a documentary on the birds and fish that can be found in the Laguna Bay, and even a few gators.  We studied the cannons at the shipwreck museum and I learned how it would have been loaded and fired.  You even taught me the Spanish word for pomegranate which is the same as the name of a Spanish city.  In short, I had a lot of fun on this trip, thank you both for being such awesome grandparents.
Signed,
Connor M. Jones

Mason: Weekly Blog #1

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,
     Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for taking us to the beach.  I had a lot of fun with you Grandma and Grandpa.  I liked a lot of things about the beach.   My favorite part of the beach was spending time with Grandma and Grandpa.
     I also liked the bird center because it was a lot of fun seeing the different types of birds that I haven't seen.  Another thing I liked a lot was swimming in the ocean.  My favorite part of swimming in the ocean was when I went out deep with Grandpa, Kiki and Marney.   I liked the turtle center because I learned about different types of turtles and I got to feed one.  I love you Grandma and Grandpa and I will miss you.
Love,
Mason

Marney: Weekly Blog #1

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,
     I loved the beach, thank you for renting the house for us.  There were a lot of things that I liked about our vacation.  My favorite things that we did were swim and go to tourist places.  My favorite tourist place was the sea turtle place because all the turtles were sick or injured and I was surprised that they were still alive.  I loved all the sandcastles we built because they were fun to make and they were awesome.  The walks we went on were fun because the ocean is pretty and we see some cool things.  I wish we could have lived at the beach because there are so many things you can do at a beach.
     I really love when I am with you guys because you are my grandparents and you are both super fun to be around.  I think I would like to go to the beach again with you someday, but not too soon.  Thank you for bringing us to the beach, see you sometime soon.
From,
Marney

Kiki: Weekly Blog #1

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,
     It was a really fun trip to South Padre Island!  My favorite thing we did was go to the Sea Life Center.  We got to hold starfish and we got to watch an octopus eat, but it didn't actually eat.  I got to see lots of cool animals that live in the ocean.
     I liked when we went to the turtle center because it was fun.  I bet you liked them, Grandma.  The turtles at the sea turtle center were cool because I learned that they can swim with only three flippers.  I learned lots of things about them that are cool.
    My favorite thing about the ocean was when we watched the sunrise.  It was fun to watch it because it was like a big red ball coming out of the sky.  It was really cool.
     Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for this awesome trip.  I loved it!
Love,
Kiki

PS- Here is my a picture I made today of the sunrise.

Avery- Weekly Blog #1

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,
     How are you guys?  I am doing amazing.  I loved being at the beach these past two weeks!  What was your favorite thing we did there?  Mine was semi-surfing waves on my boogie board down in the deep parts, when they had the red flag up.  It was lots of fun because the waves were big.  I liked it because it would take me all the way up to the shore to Grandma's feet.  
     The sunrises were beautiful!  Even though I only saw one sunrise the whole time, it was so pretty.  It was coming out of the clouds and it made the entire sky super orange.  Grandpa, how many sunrises did you see in the past two weeks?
     The turtles were extremely adorable.  It made me very sad when I saw ones with missing and/or broken fins.  It sucks we couldn't see the turtle release, but we did get to see plenty of other beautiful turtles.  I liked Krush the most.  He was nice (well, he looked nice).  He is named after the turtle from Finding Nemo... that is what made him my favorite. 
     The Nature and Sea Life Center was awesome.  The bunnies were super scared, but cute.  The seahorses were very cute and super, super tiny.  I thought they would be bigger than that.  My favorite thing at the Nature and Sea Life Center was being able to see a starfish eat.  It was really cool.  I thought it was a little funny when the starfish had to look at the food pellet for a couple minutes to make sure it was real food.  What was your favorite animal there?


Love you lots,

Avery

Gabe: Weekly Blog #1

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

     I had lots of fun with you at the beach on South Padre Island.  My favorite part of the vacation was seeing the big sea turtles at Sea Turtle Inc.  I liked feeding the big green sea turtle lettuce.  I also thought it was cool that there are sea turtles that are ten feet around, they were called the Leatherbacks.  I also thought it was cool that big sea turtles could survive without one of their fins.  I wish we could have seen the babies run quickly to the water.
    There were a lot of other things we did that I liked.  I really liked going to the Sea Life Center and seeing the rabbits and starfish.  I also liked going out really far and jumping the waves and then riding them back in to the shore.  I loved going to the lighthouse museum and learning about the bridge and the island.  It was really scary going up the stairs in the lighthouse, but I liked it.  It was really fun.  Thank you for taking us on this trip, we miss you already.

Love,
Gabe 

Weekly Blog #1

Toes, we just had a really amazing two-week vacation in South Padre and none of it would have been possible without Grandma and Grandpa- we owe them a BIG thanks!  Today each of you needs to write a thank you letter to them.  It should be in letter format (have a greeting, body, closing, etc.),  be at least two paragraphs long and tell them about some of your favorite parts of the trip.

Happy Birthday, Kennedy!

Mommio: SPI Day 13

Enjoying our last few moments on the beach.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for an amazing vacation!

Connor: SPI: Day 12

Today we went to the Sealife Center on the mainland.  We saw a cephalopod, some aquatic reptiles, some non-aquatic reptiles, a few crustaceans, some birds, lots of fish, some seahorses, and a few abandoned animals.  The kids enjoyed holding the crabs and starfish.  Gabe loved looking at the abandoned bunnies, which stole the spotlight from the actual marine animals.  We watched an octopus attempt to eat a crab, unfortunately the crab was taken out of the tank before the octopus got to eat it.  It was fun to see each of the interesting animals.  Here is a picture mommio took outside of the kids sitting with a fake pirate.

                        Here is a picture of me holding a star fish.

The rabbit's were real attention hogs, or rather attention bunnies.

Mommio: Sand Castle Contest Entries

Since Daddio could not make it on our trip with us he asked the kids to each build him something special on the beach and send in photo entries for his super-special sand castle contest.  Here's what the kids built over the last two weeks...

Mommio: SPI Day 11

Yesterday was our last full beach day and we took advantage of the great weather and calm ocean.  We flew our dragon kite, and then lost it- but that was pretty exciting too!

Max finally perfected his hot tub time machine and all the kids hopped in.

Grandma found a completely intact, large crab (dead) on the beach for us to check out.

Connor finally really enjoyed himself at the beach for the day and even got to jump some waves since the water was a lot more calm.

Kiki and Max spent a long time burying Mason in the sand.  He didn't want to come out.

And a good time was had by all!

Mommio: SPI Day 10

Yesterday we took a little break from the beach and headed over to the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center.

It was a really nice place and they had a great photo scavenger hunt for the kids to do on the mile long boardwalk through the marsh area.

We found all but one of the birds on our list and we even found the alligator- look right below the kids on the boardwalk!

And, we went up to the top of their observation tower- which included a bonus view of the neighboring water treatment plant (not so pretty- but very educational, they even had a sign up that explained how it all works).

In the afternoon we spent several hours playing in the pool.

Followed by lots of laying around, we really did need a break from the waves!

And last night some of the older kids and I walked  (one easy block) to the little island theater and saw 

MIB 3.  So much fun!