Day 43 - Leaving America

Today is going to be my last blog. We are leaving on Thursday and we haven't packed.We have bought a few things here, like clothes, shoes, toys, CDs, books, etc so I hope it all fits in the suitcase. We fly to Chicago, then LA, then Auckland, then Christchurch. We leave Thursday but don't get back to Christchurch till Saturday. It was very wet yesterday when thunderstorms came through, so I hope it is not to rainy when we leave.

Day 42 - Movies And Meatballs

Last weekend was 4th of July weekend. it was a public holiday on Friday and we went to the great Dane pub and I had a cheeseburger and a root beer with baseball on TV. on Saturday in the morning we went to the Fitchburg movie theater and watched inside out and that was alright. On Sunday we got up early and went to the Imax 3D to watch Terminator Genisys. The Imax screen was really big we started off at the back of the theater but moved to the middle of the theater because we couldn't see the bottom of the screen because it was so big. The sound was really good too. It was the best 3D movie I've seen. We went out for dinner that night at an Italian restaurant and I had spaghetti and meatballs.

Day 39 - Swimming and spas

Where we are staying at the Countryside Apartments there is a pool - on Wednesday we decided to test the water and it was really warm, so Mum and I decided to go swimming. The water was heated to about 30 degrees and felt really warm. The pool was quite big but not too deep. It was 5 feet deep at the deep end which came to just over my head, so I must be just a little shorter than 5 feet tall. After we had been swimming for a while we went and had a spa bath which we have in our apartment.

Day 38 - Plasma Power

Today we went to the plasma room. Plasma is the fourth state of matter you can heat a solid to a liquid to a gas to a plasma. Plasma is a charged hot gas, An example is the Sun. While we were there the plasma device exploded giving me plasma powers. To get back we mysteriously teleported to our building somehow. Other powers I have are: being able to create magnetic fields and being able to vapourise my enemies.  I have decided to call myself PlasmaMan.

Day 37 - Picnic Point

On Saturday we went to Picnic Point. Picnic Point is a piece of land sticking out into the lake and you get a good view. It was a really hot day and we were boiling, but Mum and Dad still made us go on the walk. While we were walking to the start of the walk we found a mulberry tree and Mum ate them but I though they might be disgusting and poisonous so I didn't try them. We also found a toad along the track. When we saw a sign that said how far away it was we stopped at a swimming part along the track. Since it was so hot we decided to go get ice cream at the university dairy factory store, but by the time we got there it was closed.

Day 36 - Change

On Sunday we went to the airport. We drove 20 minutes to get there because Dad was going to Nashville, Tennessee to go to a meeting. So we dropped him off at the airport and Mum drove us back. He gets back on Wednesday morning. We have had 2 big thunderstorms since he left - one on Sunday with lots of rain and the other on Tuesday with lots of lightning.I have been collecting change since we got here. I now have $23.45 in change. When you buy something at the shop, they always add on tax afterwards, so you can never have the right change and you get lots of pennies (1 cent pieces). I have over 100 pennies, Mum wants me to spend them at the the shop so we can get rid of them.

Day 35 - Marvel vs Dinosaurs

Today I will talk to you about movies I have seen recently. Some of these we have gone to the local movie theatre to see. some have been on TV and some we have got out on DVD because they have a free DVD collection at the Countryside Apartments where we are staying  I have seen Total Recall, Terminator Salvation, The Avengers 2 Age of Ultron, Captain America 1 The First Avenger, Captain America 2 The Winter Soldier, Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park 2 The Lost World, Jurassic Park 3, Jurassic World, Rio, Rio 2, Terminal, Fifth Element, Divergent, Bed Time Stories, Shrek 2, Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2. I liked Jurassic World best because it was exciting and we saw it in 3D and we were the only 4 people in the movie theatre so we got a private viewing. I also liked the Age of Ultron because I really like Marvel movies.

 

Day 32 - Free Fudge

On Monday it was our last day in the Wisconsin Dells. We were woken up by a loud thunderstorm. It was rumbling thunder for a while and then we heard  really loud thunderclap. I wanted to make some measurements of lightning and thunder for my science fair project, so I quickly got up and got a pen and paper and Mum got her cell phone and we measured the time of the lightning an the time delays between the lightning and the thunder to try to track the path of the thunderstorm. We had to checkout by 10:30 so we  left around 9:30 to get breakfast. It was pouring with rain and really windy, so we stayed for a while. After that it was still raining so we went to the outlet shopping mall and I bought a star wars tie fighter and we all bought clothes. I was really happy that I got free fudge samples from the fudgery then we left.

Day 31 - The Manticore

The day after we went to the water park we went to the theme park on Sunday. Me and mum went on the go-karts while Leah and Dad went on a wooden roller coaster which was apparently very rocky and not very good, but the go-karts were very fun but I crashed a lot. After that we all except mum went on the Manticore ride which was really fun. It was a ride where you sat in two seat chairs and then the ride lifted up high and swung all the seats around fast in circle up high. It had a great view. Then we all went on some other go-carts. We went out for dinner at a restaurant-pub called Sprechers, and we found out it was Father's Day. I had a burger and cherry-cola and at the end I got a cardboard hat with the restaurants bird mascot on it - the bird is called rooter because they brew their own root beer.

Day 30 - MooseJaw

On Saturday we went to The Wisconsin Dells. We were allowed unlimited access to the Mt Olympus water and theme parks. So we went on a slide at the water park where you had to sit on a two-person blow-up tube. I went with Dad. The ride was fun but the water was very cold.Then we walked to a wave pool called Poseidon's Rage and it was fun but painful (I fell over on every wave and scraped my foot and Mum fell over and scraped her knees). It started raining so we decided to go home and go out for dinner at a steak house called Moosejaw where you got moose antler hats. I ordered pizza which was yummy, and orange soda which they brewed themselves.

Day 29 - We Went To Mt Olympus

On Saturday morning we drove to the Wisconsin Dells. It took 1 hour to drive there. We were staying at the Mt Olympus Resort. They have lots of hotels in Wisconsin Dells and they have a Water Park and Theme Park which is really big. Every single hotel in Wisconsin Dells seems to have a pool and slides and there were theme parks, water parks, go-carts, mini-golf, haunted houses, paintball, fudge shops, adventures games, and restaurants everywhere. Wisconsin Dells is called the Water Park Capital of America.  Wisconsin Dells is actually quite a small town though and it is built on the Wisconsin river. There are some interesting rocks formations and caves along the river, but we didn't get to see those. There are also lots of camping areas around the town and it was quite busy because it was school holidays and also it was a sunny weekend.Our hotel room was quite nice and it had wall paintings of Poseidon on the wall.

Day 25 - Tornadoes and Thunderstorms

Around where we live it is very green with green trees, green grass and green bushes. Its very green because it rains a lot in summer with lots of thunder storms and it is currently tornado season. Tornado season is in May and June and tornadoes happen when hot air from the tropics comes up and meets cold air coming down from up north. Wisconsin gets a few tornadoes but not as many as Tornado Alley. Tornado Alley is the area from Texas, up through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and North Dakota where most of the tornadoes happen. Not many people around here have seen a tornado, but there are lots of thunder storms - we have seen one so far. Also most nights we see fireflys on the lawn outside our apartment.

Day 24 - The Madison Hatter

Here is an update on my hat collection. While we were in Iowa I bought an Iowa State University hat, It is maroon with gold letters. The mascot of ISU is a woodpecker and it is all over Ames. All their sport teams are called "The Cyclones". Other hats in my collection are a black Hollywood hat, a green and black LA hat, a red Wisconsin hat and a yellow Pikachu hat. The colours of Wisconsin are red. black and white. Their mascot is a badger called Bucky Badger, and their football team is called the Badgers. Lots of people wear badger shirts and hats, and there are lots of red Badger flags next to American flags on people's mailboxes.

Day 23 - Ames Adventure

Continuing the last two blogs about Ames and Iowa. While Leah was competing we went to the small town of Ames. So we parked next to a parking meter in the historic town and it was very cheap, only a quarter for over an hours parking. Then we walked around and we saw lots shops like a model shop, a comic shop, a chocolate shop and a shop with a live cat in the window. After that we found a lemonade stand and bought a cup of lemonade from a boy and a girl who were running the stall. Next we drove around and we passed a park, We looked around for things to do then we drove back to the park and watched a baseball game for a while. We also went back to the town again the next day when Leah was doing a scavenger hunt.

Day 22 - Kiwi Trophy

We went to Leah's FPSPI competition in Ames, Iowa last week. We went to the Opening Ceremony on Thursday night where there was flag procession of all the states and countries that people were from. I liked the New Zealand flag person because they dressed up as a kiwi and everyone in the audience clapped. Leah went up on stage and got a big trophy for getting second in the world in the Junior Section of the Scenario Writing Competition. On Friday morning, Leah competed in the team competition. On Friday afternoon we visited the Physics and Astronomy Department at ISU and Mum and Dad both gave talks about astronomy. We went out for dinner with some Astronomy people at a Japanese restaurant where they cooked the food in front of you,  Then on Saturday night, we watched the FPSPI talent contest which was fun. There was a funny dance to the song "Happy" where everyone in the dance group was dressed up with a big pillowcase head. There was also a funny song called "Malaysian Funk" which everyone liked.

Day 21 - Unlimited Cookies

On Thursday We went to the FPSPI (Future Problem Solving Program International) competition in Iowa. It took about 5 hours to drive to Ames in Iowa, Iowa is the state next to Wisconsin. It was very very rainy and was hard to see where we were driving sometimes. We drove through Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa to get there We also went over the Mississippi river which separates Wisconsin from Iowa.The FPSPI was held at the Iowa State University so we had to go there because Leah was entered in it. Leah and Mum stayed at the students Halls of Residence and Dad and I stayed at the Gateway Hotel close by. We ate at the Iowa State University student cafeteria. We ate at a buffet with unlimited cookies, ice cream, doughnuts, fizzy drink, cereal, pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers, and lots of other things.

Day 16 - A Walk In The Park

On Thursday after we went to the dairy factory we carried on walking to the Allen Centennial Gardens and the Washburn Observatory. First we came out of the dairy factory then we searched for about 30 minutes in the very hot temperatures of Madison. There were some tennis courts and next to that was the gardens. It had an old house, ponds,, a bridge, some statues, paths and lots of labelled plants and trees. Then we walked past the Washburn Observatory which was on a hill and has a nice view over the lake, but I got bored.

Day 15 - Shopping is boring

We have been doing lots of shopping and that is what I am going to talk to you about today. We have been to shops like Super Target (Department store), Barnes And Nobles (book shop), Woodman's (groceries), Copps (groceries) and the West Towne Mall. The mall is a huge bundle of shops that are all boring (clothes and shoes and stuff) and the shops are ones like Sears, H&M, Gap, Hot topic, Lids, and so on. There was a big food court with Subway, Annies pretzels, and others. I was bored because Mum and Leah looked at lots of clothes and shoes for hours and me and Dad got bored. We did go to the movies on Saturday morning though, and that was really good. We saw "The Avengers II: Age of Ultron" and we had great seats because there was hardly anyone there.
    

Day 14 - Capital Capitol

On Saturday we went to the Capitol which is in the center of Madison. The Capitol is the government building in Madison and the rest of the city is built a specific way in a pattern around the Capitol. There were four wings of the building the North, South, East and West. Also there is a room at the end of each wing called the Senate, the Assembly, the Supreme court and the Hearing room. On each corner there was something different words but I can only remember one of them and that one is government. We started on the ground floor and worked our way up to the top floor with a museum on it and a viewing deck that had a great view of two of the big lakes.

Day 11 - Cow Cream

On Thursday we went to the Babcock Hall dairy factory and dairy store. At the university we go to in America, we just found out that it has a dairy factory which is part of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. So we decided to go have a look. On the first floor there was a shop for the products and upstairs is an observation deck for watching the machines make ice cream, milk, cream and cheese. There were lots of metal pipes and cylinders, after we looked up stairs we walked to the store to try some of there ice cream.

Day 10 - Dinosaurs rock

On Wednesday we walked to the Geology Museum which is part of the University Department of Geology. There were lots of colourful crystals, rocks, meteors and skeletons. They had glow-in-the-dark crystals, polished rocks and even fools gold. There was a jar of bacteria, a T-Rex skull, a woolly mammoth skeleton, the skeleton of bird with sharp teeth, the skeleton of a weird elephant with horns on its chin and the skeleton of a short thing with a dome like shell. At the entrance you could buy some example of crystals and they had replica Spinosaurus teeth for US$20. The Spinosaurus was the really big, sailed dinosaur in the movie "Jurassic Park III" which killed the T-Rex. I want to buy one of those teeth, but Mum says I have to save up my money for it.