I loved Kindergarten by Lila

I lrned a lot in kindergarten. Like how to spell cow . My teechers name was Mrs. W. My frends wer Isabella, Hannah, Addy, Emma, Katlin, and Natalie.
I cant wate for first grade.
THE END

At the pond, I can see pretty pink, red, and purple, blossoms on the tree. At the pond, you can see lots of black, itchy mosquitoes. At the pond, you can see lots of pink little worms. Yuck! The pond is a busy place. ~ Lila, April 2014

Tic Tac Trouble by Zoe

Hilde makes us laugh ALL the time. This story will make you think she's the silliest kid in the whole world. Today, we were all in the car on our way to my mom's friend Julie's house. Our grandpa, "Bumpa", gave us a can of Tic Tacs and my mom gives them out in the car when everyone cooperates.Well anyway, Mom gave us each two Tic Tacs in the car because we were being good this morning. About five minutes later, Hilde said, "I lost my Tic Tac."
My mom asked, "Where is it?"
"In my nose," Hilde answered.
When we finally got to Julie's house we looked at her nose and it was all orange from the Tic Tac. It had been in there for so long that the orange dissolved and mixed in with her snot so that she had orange snot running down her nose!We got a flashlight and looked up her nose, but the Tic Tac was to far up her nose to get with pliers. We also tried having her blow her nose but she didn't know how. The orange snot kept coming out and the Tic Tac got smaller. We got a Q-Tip, cut off the end, put in up her nose, and, Ta-Da! the Tic Tac popped out! Hilde was okay, and everyone learned a very valuable lesson. Don't put Tic Tacs up your nose!

Pooh Sticks by Lila and Zoe

Lila: Pooh Sticks are sticks that you drop in the river from the bridge and whoever's stick gets to the other side of the bridge first wins!

Zoe: Pooh Sticks is a game where you pick out a stick that you think will travel fast and drop it in the river from a bridge. Everyone must drop their stick at exactly the same time. Using the current, the sticks travel downstream and whoever's stick gets to a certain point first wins. 

Heather: Hmmmm.........is Pooh Sticks one word or two?

We're Going on a Shark Hunt by Zoe

     We're going on a shark hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared.  

Uh oh! A long wooden bridge! We can't go under it. We can't go around it. We'll have to go over it! 

Clip, clop, clip, clop, clip clop.

We're going on a shark hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared.

Uh oh! A long endless dune trail! We can't go over it. We can't go under it. We'll have to go across it! 

Swishy swashy, swishy swashy, swishy swashy.  

We're going on a shark hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared.

Uh oh! Tall steep dune hills! We can't go under them. We can't go through them. We have to go over them!

 Mooshy moshy, mooshy moshy, mooshy moshy.

We're going on a shark hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared.

Uh oh! Pricky sharp brushes! We can't go over them. We can't go under them. We'll have to go through them!

 Scrape scratch! Scrape scratch! Scrape scratch!

We're going on a shark hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared. 

Uh oh! A long wooden plank bridge! We can't go through it. We can't go under it. We'll have to go over it! 

        Thump bump! Thump bump! Thump bump!

We're going on a shark hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared. 

Uh oh! Long, thick dune grass! We can't go over it. We can't go under it. We'll have to go through it!

Swishy swashy, swishy swashy, swishy swashy.

*******At the Beach****** 

We feel the cold wet water. We feel a long smooth back. We feel some sharp white teeth.

Aaaaaaaaahh! Its a SHARK......RUN!!!!!

Through the dune grass!

Swishy swashy, swishy swashy.

Back across the plank bridge! 

Thump bump! Thump bump! Thump bump!

Back through the brush! 

 Scrape scratch! Scrape scratch!

Back through the dunes!

 Mooshy moshy! Mooshy moshy!

Oops! It wasn't a shark. It was just Mom. She is very scary with her big, sharp, bitey teeth.

Watch out, she'll get you!

Zoe Traps Herself in Her Room, by Heather

Two-year old Hilde has been coming into Zoe's room and messing with her stuff. Zoe asked me yesterday if we had any more child-proof door handles that she could put on her door. I told her that it was a great idea, but, no.......I had already gotten rid of the extras. This morning, a rattling, crackling noise.......like that of a small rodent.......could be heard emanating from Zoe's corner of the house. And then, a small, confused plea of "help?"

Yes, we have doors and walls in our house painted this color. It is real.

Zoe had wrapped tape around her outside bedroom door knob so that it could not be turned and Hilde would not be able to get into her room.........but when Zoe closed her bedroom door that night she had, in effect, trapped herself inside.......... this knob won't turn from the inside either! It was fun to rescue you this morning Sweetie Pie.

Hilde Helps Feeds The Fish By Zoe Heino

Hilde Jane Heino 'helped' me feed my fish tonight.

So, You know how babies learn to do things, (they watch you and then they try it,) well I have a pet fish that I feed every day, so naturally Hilde watches me do it.

 So tonight, when she was in bed already, I noticed the fish food was all used up. And when I looked into the fish tank, All the fish food was floating on the surface of the water.

 What a little trouble maker. I just hope it dosn't kill my fish. :)

Heidi and the Tube by Heather

It was 1994 and I was attending Lancaster University in England. For the first two weeks of Easter Holiday (spring break), my Mom (Grandma), Eric (Grandpa), and sister Heidi came across to visit. It was the full rainbow spectrum of personalities, with my Mom trying to keep everyone happy, polar opposites Eric and Heidi.........and then me.

Eric was super-focused, speed-walked everywhere we went, the ultimate man on a mission. Heidi was also focused.....on doing her own thing.

Hiding in corners of the Egyptian Artifacts room of the National Museum to do word searches, buying loads of books that had to be carried around in her luggage, crocheting hats out of yarn that she actually brought all the way across the sea ...... and then the Tube Incident.

The Tube is the underground subway system in London and the main form of transportation for getting around the city. We were switching hotels and had all of our luggage with us, needing to board the next train. We knew that we would have to be on the ball because the cars are often crowded, the doors open and close..... and if you don't get on with all of your things, well.......too bad, no one is waiting.

The train arrived, the doors opened, and we all started climbing in with our huge backpacks and luggage. Eric, Mom and I were all on and loaded when the doors closed.........on Heidi. When this story is retold, the highlight is everyone's very different personal reaction. Heidi's look of pure surprise and bewilderment. Mom frantically pulling on the doors, trying to prevent them from closing on her 'baby'. Eric rolling his eyes in extreme annoyance. Then me, laughing and waving goodbye to my sister.

Why was I laughing? I don't know....it was one of those special moments in time that are just so silly. The looks of the native Londoners witnessing the spectacle of the dumb-ass Americans trying to board........the small adrenaline rush of something happening that could be a big deal, the fact that it was Heidi, and watching my Mom try to claw the doors open . All of us bring up this story multiple times during the year because it is something we will all remember forever. I am laughing right now just thinking about it.

So what happened to Heidi? We left her standing on the platform watching our train pulled away. Like other times that would come later (leaving to hike the PCT by herself, backpacking the mountains in the Czech Republic alone), I wondered if this would be the last time I would ever see her. All would turn out OK, for Heidi waited and Eric went back to get her. It's a good thing she stayed put, if she had tried to find us she might to this day still be wandering the streets of London.