My next topic is the St. Louis Fair. They say that it is one of the biggest July 4th celebrations in the country. It starts with a Prophet Parade, followed by the opening of restaurants on the Eads Bridge (for this fair it's called the "Eats" bridge). Then from 1:00-9:00, they have the bands B5, Gentleman Aucion House, Greenwheel, and Jason Mraz playing on the Budweiser stage. JASON MRAZ! I LOVE HIM! "Well I saw fireworks from the freeway, and the high-closed dots, I can't make them go away 'cause you were born on the fourth of July, freedom ring..." I just love that song! It's awfully too bad that we can't go! And then is the fireworks, of course! And then on July fifth Jonathan Cour and Hootie and the Blowfish are to be preforming. Also, throughout the summer, bands are playing at the stadium. Of those, I would have liked to see Sister Hazel, Better than Ezra, Live, & Edwin McCain. I just love music!
Ciao for Now,
-Jess

Okay, so here's how the trip to the Botanical Gardens went. The first thing we did was explore the center plaza. There were glass pieces in the fountain that were different colors and shaped like Hershey's Kisses. There was another piece that had glass carvings in a boat floating in the water. They were both made by a Mexican artist (I can't remember his name, though). After the Plaza, we walked over towards the Chinese Garden. It was circular with a little pond in the middle of it. We stopped to look at the banana tree that had huge leaves. Then we headed to the Japanese Gardens. The thing about the Japanese Gardens that everyone liked best was the pond with Japanese Koi fish. People were feeding the fish, but the ducks kept on eating the food! I liked one of the fish with orange and black speckles the best. I called it Kiva.
On our way to the maze, we got lost several times. I suggested that the path was a maze just to find the maze! Eventually, we found it. Me and Cara were the last ones out of the maze all because we didn't know that the way we were supposed to come out was the way we came in! It was really frustrating! Everyone was waiting on the observatory for us.
My feet were getting extremely sore from walking when we stopped at a picnic table for lunch. I forgot to bring money to buy lunch, as usual. I couldn't stop thinking about pie!
My three favorite flowers were the Butterfly Weed, the Grape Hyacinth, and the Rose of Sharon. The Butterfly Weed was in a small garden called Audrey's Garden and was small and blue violet colored. The Grape Hyacinth was in that very same garden and had red and yellow swirled petals and a black center. The Rose of Sharon was just at the edge of the Chinese Garden and was rounded in shape and was mostly light pink with a magenta center. That one was my absolute favorite because it reminded me of a bush we have in our front yard.
I learned two things from this trip. One: Watching plants is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be, and Two:
ALWAYS (And I mean always, always, always) remember the night before a trip to PACK MONEY!
Ciao for Now,
-Jess

I've returned with more stuff to tell you about! Tomorrow we're going to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, so I'm supposed to blog about the history. The gardens were created by Henry Shaw, a native to England who came to Missouri in 1819. He was such a good businessman that he retired at the age of 40. On a trip back to England, the Chatsworth grounds, the most private residence in Europe, inspired him to make a garden, and that's exactly what he did when he came back to Missouri. He opened his garden to the public in 1859.
The Garden opened its Ridgeway Center (that includes 2 theaters, an exhibition area, a floral center, an education wing, a restaurant and a gift shop) in 1982. Then in 1990, the Climatron opened after a 22-month renovation that gave it a new landscape of cliffs, waterfalls, valleys, winding streams and new vegetation.
Since 1990 is fairly recent, that's all that I found for the history. I'll let you know how the trip goes very soon!
Ciao for Now,
-Jess

Hey, readers! I'm back with another topic: Blogs! I found a bunch of blogging websites saying different things about blogging. One website said that making an online diary was difficult until blogger was created because you had to be able to type in a computer language. Then Blogger was created, and the number of bloggers drastically increased. Who knows how many blogs are out there now!
The website also mentioned that a lot of people that had blogs were smart students. They had blogs on several different links and were making lots of new friends in different friend circles. Maybe I can try that strategy sometime. Cool!
Another website was about a magazine writer that had been blogging for a while. She had tried several different sites and got nothing but frustration until she tried Blogger. She also enjoys reading her friends' blogs. I wish I could do that right now!
That particular article talked about the numerous benefits of blogging vs. e-mail, like the fact that you can get it right away instead of waiting. I guess that's a good reason to blog.
That's all I have to tell you today. Stay in touch!
Ciao for Now,
-Jess

Hey, Jess here. I was just looking at a virtual tour of the White House, and it sure was amazing. I looked at the Blue Room first. It looked like a king's royal throne room! There was a lovely vase of flowers in the center. The entire room was decorated with a blue silk-like material and the curtains were the most wonderful shades of blue and gold that have ever met my eyes! There were matching blue chairs that looked extremely comfortable.
Next I saw the China Room. There were black-and white chairs that looked a little like zebra stripes. The curtains were invigorating shades of green and red. I loved the style of the fireplace, which was white with little carvings on the sides of what looked like people.
I looked at the Cross Hall after the China Room. There were awesome chairs that were only fit for a king or queen. The long red carpet could have made anyone look like royalty. There were paintings all over the walls that added an extra little touch to the already fancy hall.
After that I glanced at the Grand Staircase. There wasn't much to say about it except that the banister and stairs were very well decorated, so I quickly moved on to the Diplomatic Reception Room. There was a painting in the background that made everything look like the Bahamas. There was also a rather detailed grandfather clock and fine yellow chairs.
Everything in the East Room was beige. The wall was painted beige. There were lit candles placed throughout the sea of beige. On top of the carpet (which was also beige), there sat a grand piano.
In the Green Room, there were two tables. Each had two chairs that were, well, green and curtains that had blue hems and were green. (Duh!) Candlesticks were placed on every table. There was a fabulous shelf with fancy china in the back.
When I looked at the White House Library, there were cute bookshelves (duh, it's a library) that were pink in the back. There were pink chairs and green lamps on either side of the detailed wooden fireplace and a picture of George Washington.
The first things I noticed when I looked at the Map Room were the red velvety chairs. I wanted to lay down in them, because they were so bright and colorful. There were also red curtains to match the chairs. I also saw beautiful table and a rug that must have taken a long time to create. I loved the bronze-colored fireplace, too.
The red chairs were the things that first caught my eye in the Red Room. They had pretty designs on the back. The wall was red, the fireplace looked like the one in the China Room. Little candles were placed on the tables and the rug was lined with red and purple flowers. There were portraits covering the walls.
In the State Dining Room, there were three windows, each with white curtains. In the middle lay a long brown table with matching chairs. There were flowers on each end of the table and in the middle.
The interior of the Vermeil Room was painted yellow and had candles hung up everywhere. In the middle was a table with flowers and on the end was a long brown sofa with a painting above it. There were fancy black curtains and and glass shelves in the back.
That concludes my description of the virtual tour. I'm going to go to the White house someday. It'll be even cooler up close in person! Till I come again, I've got to fly!
Ciao for Now,
-Jess

Hey, guys! Me again. Yesterday we went to Grant's Farm. It was fine, besides the fact that it was the hottest day of the year! We were seriously steamed by the time we got back to the bus.

As always, we took the Tram (that's the train) first. It was kind of nice to be on the Tram, because who wants to walk in 97-degree weather?! We saw buffalos that frequently crossed the road and slowed our travel time. (The nerve of some animals!) There were also some bright colorful fish and elk of various colors, but all Cara was focused on was the ducklings and goslings. (She's a nut for baby animals, I tell you.) There were pretty looking and extremely long feathers all over the place. I wanted to reach out and grab one, but I didn't want to risk an injury.

Later, our group headed for Animal Encounters, an amazing show about performing animals. The first was a red parrot who could talk. The second could do math, if the answer was a number from one to ten. Then the third parrot did a simple fruit puzzle and roller skated on a table around some traffic cones. That was sooo cute! Then there was a blue parrot who could pitch a ball from a machine by pulling up a pin. After the parrots were done, they had a rat race. After picking 4 volunteers, 2 boys and 2 girls, they linked the boys together and the girls together and had a rat race across each line. Taru was one of the girls, and she was freaking out! After the race, a bald eagle came out with her trainer. Then the roller skating parrot came back on stage to make the Busch beer symbol to end the show.

The other thing everyone seemed to enjoy was the elephant show. The star was a female elephant named Mickey. While the lady was informing us about elephants, Mickey would pose. Then the lady told us that Asian elephants were used for logging and Mickey lifted up a log for us. Then someone dropped a dime and she picked it up and handed it back to the man. When the lady told us about how elephants bathe, Mickey sprayed us with water. And then we saw how fast elephants can blow up a balloon. That was really cool!

Then most of us went back to the bus. The walk seemed like it took hours because our bus was the farthest one. We had to wait in the hot bus for the others to get back from Clydesdale stables. We certainly were glad when they returned so we could head back for the school. It was a relief to feel air conditioning on my face again.


That's all for this time. You'll hear from me again soon!




Ciao for Now,
-Jess

What's up, everybody? Jess is back! Tomorrow we will be going to Grant's Farm, so we're supposed to blog about the history. (Those people who hate history may want to consider not reading this; you might be bored to sleep.)

It all started when Ulysses S. Grant owned that land a looong time ago, in the 1800's. (All this time I thought Grant's farm in the middle of nowhere.) Then a man named Shepard Allenberg (hmmm, never heard of him) divided the area where Grant visited his horses into eight different lots. (What exactly was the point of that anyway, besides making more money?) People started buying land at a minimum of 4 acres. Carl Trop, the real estate owner, said that they should buy more space to preserve the land. (If that isn't good real estate then I don't know what is.) And then we come to the present.

Well, that's it for now! Till next time.

Ciao for Now,
Jess

Hi! It's Jess again! You know, the "writing/math nut". Yesterday, I went to the Zoo. It was generally a great trip. Now, I don't want to bore you with details, but I have so much to say...

At first, I didn't want to go to the Zoo because I felt ever since last year that a curse lingered around it. (I'll tell you about what happened there some other time.) It turned out to be a generally fun trip. There were two slight setbacks, though. See, the first was that one of the volunteers arrived late, and we had to search the entire park to find her.

Then we visited the Reptile House. I loved watching the green striped snakes. (I love anything that's colorful.) Mrs. Farooqui is terrified of snakes, so she stayed behind. Later, we took a visit to the bird house, and that's when I finally decided to cheer up. Mrs. Farooqui went with me and we insisted on looking at every single bird there. Since my favorite one is the Victoria Crowned Pigeon, we admired it for what seemed like forever. We loved the perriwinkle spikes on the top of his head.

Later, at Red Rocks, we looked for what seemed like an eternity at the giraffes. Then we went to everyone's favorite place, the penguin and Puffin house. The penguins were so close that we could almost touch them! One of them was posing for us!!! The one thing we couldn't understand was the fact that there was a duck in with the puffins! It was sooo funny!

On the way back to the bus, we passed the prarie dogs. There was that same peacock on the rock that we had seen three times. Each time we had passed it, it had posed for us as if to say, "Don't pay attention to the prarie dogs, pay attention to me!"
We called it a total show-off.

The second setback was that the bus arrived late to pick us up, so we had to sit out in the 90-degree weather for another 10 minutes!

Well, I guess I learned two things from this experience. One: Peacocks really are as proud as people say they are, and Two: Just because there was a minor setback at the very beginning of your trip, that doesn't mean the whole thing will be a disaster. All's well that ends well!!!!!!

Ciao for now(one of my favorite book characters says that),
-Jess