outdoors

For the whole month in January, in Fairbanks Alaska, it's been cold.

There was only one day in January that was 0 degrees. All the other days were pretty much -10 all the way through -50 below. The people in the upper U.S think they're having a cold spell. Well, try living in Alaska! Up in the upper U.S they are getting snow, but check this out. Here in Valdez, Alaska, they got up to 27 no, no, no, 27 feet of snow! People literally had to dig their way out of their houses!

People down there are complaining that they're cold at 40 degrees above 0, but up here in Alaska we would be swimming outside!

Ok so a couple of winters ago our power went out. It was scary because we had no light and no heat because our heater broke the day before. I didn't know what to do. My mom said we had to go to our rooms. I went to my room and climbed under my covers hoping for some heat when I found a hand warmer and my DS and suddenly I had heat and light. Even now I don't know how I got the hand warmer.

After a few hours my mom got me out of my room. When I got into the living room I saw this guy. He was huge with peircings and tatoos. He said to my mom "The power should be back on soon, the snow and the wind is making the power line shake like a a humming bird's wings." After he said that, the power came back on and he said, "Well there it is. I'll see you later then." And he left. I thought to myself, Yay the power is back on and that scary guy left. And that's the story of my weather issue.

When cold weather hits, it makes it hard to drive because the road is icy, it might be foggy, and it is more likely to get in a car crash. When it is cold you don't want to go to outside. Another problem is that if you forget to plug your car in, it might not start when you need it to start.

When you are outside and you randomly decide to lick a poll, guess what happens? YOUR TONGUE GETS STUCK ON THE POLL!

One day I was helping my mom with the barn and I was in charge of feeding the horses. It was bitterly cold out! I had fed all of the inside horses. Now it was time to feed the outdoor horses. There is a barn for 4 horses and a barn for 2 horses. I went to the barn for 4 and fed them, then went to the one for 2. I walked up to it and attempted to slide the door open. But, it wouldn't budge so I tried it again; it still wouldn't budge.

I had to get in there or otherwise the horses would not get the food. Without food they could die. I could not set a bad reputation for the farm! Trying to stay calm I walked back to the main barn to tell my mom. She told me that it was probably frozen shut.

We had to get the ice pick and get all of the ice away from it. Whew! That was hard work. We eventually got in, fed the horses, turned them in, went home and slept!

About four years ago me and my friend Kori went camping. We were spending the night at the camp grounds. Then the next morning we were going to go hike Angel Rocks. After driving for about an hour we got to camp, then started to set up the tent. Once the tent was set up we tried to start a fire. This did not work out at all! One reason was because the wood wasn't all the way dry. Two, we left the matches at her house. After asking around for awhile, someone finally let us use their lighter. We put the wood in the fire pit, added some kindling, and tried to light it, but the fire did not want to burn.

Kori and I were both really cold because it was pretty late already, so we made one last attempt at getting a fire. The man in charge of the camp made a thing that should start the fire right up. It was newspaper dipped in some sort of liquid, it did not work. So we just went to bed.

Even though it was a cold camping trip, I still had lots of fun!

Two weeks ago I got home from skating outside at the Big Dipper and there in our driveway were two four stroke Yamaha Ventures. That weekend we were going to go hunting, but the weather was too bad to go. On Wednesday we went hunting, and we were on our way out to the hunting area and we had to drive over overflow. Overflow is where the ice melts and water gets on top of the ice and does not freeze.

Then in the middle of the trip we were driving over some ice and we just dropped like three inches, so my dad hit the gas hard and got us out of the overflow. On our way in to the hunting area our trailer flipped and we did not know it was flipped tell we were getting off the snow machine to get my gun to shoot an animal but it took to long to turn over the trailer and get the gun. The hunting trip was very fun the only thin that would have made it better is if I could have shot something.

It is about 1(F) above zero right now so we aren't freezing ourselves. I think it's weird that the other day it was 40 below, and then 3 or 4 days later, it's 1 above. Well, it shouldn't be that cold. I mean, it's only November and it is that cold?

When I went sledding down our school hill it was so cool!! I was sliding down one part of the hill and I ran the hill then jumped and I fell and it hurt so much. Then I go all over the place, then I land on my feet!! It was like a miracle!! I fell down the hill and at the very bottom I hit a big jump. I was in the air and landed on my feet.

It is so cold that I feel like all of Fairbanks should live in igloos, but we don't; we live in houses.

At my school we go out to recess until 20 below, if it's colder than 20 below we stay inside for recess and we have options. We can either play in the gym and we play basketball, floor hockey, dodgeball, soccer ball and more. In the Library we can read, play board games, computer games, draw, get a book, or help the librarian put the books back where they belong.

One winter day, my sister and I went outside to build a snowman. My mom had said that she would give me a carrot for it. First, I had gotten the idea to make a snowman by creating a small tiny snowman. I had shown my mom the snowman, and she had said that she wanted us to make a medium sized snowman. My sister was rolling the head, and I was rolling the bottom part. Then we both started to roll the middle part. Iriana and I had made a really heavy and big snowball. We showed our mom and she was amazed. Then my sister and I jumped on it and used that snow to make a snow man.

today I hope it snows enough because I am supposed to go snow-machining with my dad. Over the summer was when he bought his snow-machine so that made me kind of excited about winter.

Every day since snow started falling I've been asking my dad if we can go, and all he says is "just a couple more inches." Every time he said that, I became more and more impatient. I have never rode a snow-machine before, so hopefully today will be the day. No, seriously, I hope today will be the day!!

The time I went trick-or-treating I acted like a British person, and I got a lot of candy. But I was on my 20th house, and out of the blue I turned around and someone took my best bag that had the best stuff in it. I said to myself, I have 8 more bags but I still want my bag back. I was out till 12:12 searching for the person that stole my candy.

But right as I was about to quit searching I heard, "Haha sucker." I looked out and and started glowing with excitement when I saw my bag with its golden color and its mlg stickers. The guy who stole my bag looked at a kid there. I popped out.

The bright lights that were behind me made him squint at me, and with my cold hands, toes, fingers and head, I said give back my candy and he said, "Or what?"

Then I said, "This!" I went behind him like a ninja and I went behind him and took the candy. I went around to all the houses and gave back all the candy, so when I was done I was like, wait, how am I - how am i floating?

So I said, this is just a dream. I pinched myself and I was still in mid-air. So I went home and told my parents, but they did not believe me. So I pulled a camcorder out of nowhere and showed them. And they fainted, and my sister did, too. So I said get up, and they did.

And I was there in the house with everything in it, and it ended up in California and i teleported myself to California, and my life went back to normal. Except on Halloween, I was a hero!!

Recess is so boring. It is really cold in the winter so why bother? I think recess should have an activity schedule so no one would have to go outside in the frigid weather.

Another reason I’m against recess is that it is cold outside. There are people that wear shorts, short-sleeved shirts, and sandals. That just drives me crazy. Recess should be 15 minutes long that is what I think because it is so cold. Brrrrrrrr!

Iceland would not be a great choice for a vacation because of its environment. There's volcanoes that erupt a lot. Volcanoes are even under the icecaps. When they erupt under an icecap it creates a lake that can overflow, and a flood starts. In Iceland the villages are destroyed by lava or floods, and that's not good. That's why Iceland is not a good place for people to go for a vacation.

The past week or so, The weather outside has been very warm. For some people that can be a bad thing or a good thing. It can be bad because some people like the cold and like to go sledding on hills. If it's warm, the snow will melt and you won't be able to sled on hills. Some people aren't used to the cold and like it to be warm. I like the warm. But I don't mind the cold too. So if you like the warm weather you should go outside and go for a walk or take a jog.

On what we did this week we did some work and some more work. We also did homework, not that much though. It was a fun this week (some week). We had indoor recess (also fun (some fun)). I played on computers all 30 minutes (45 min.).

All I did this week at home this very week of all the weeks was sleep, eat, school, eat & sleep. Like all the other weeks this was the most fun of all, a substitute came into our class. He was okay, fine, defined & great. He was a nice guy.

Today was a great day. It was also kind of short today. I got my work done which is great. To end this short paragraph I will say today is over bye.

I love the beauty of Winter. I like it when it is around January and we are getting more sunlight. Me and my friend Bridget like to hang out after school and a couple days ago, we went to the BIG, SCARY, university sledding hill. I've only been there once before and that was with my dad...in the dark. That was a couple weeks earlier. But when I got there with Bridget, we had to climb all the way to the top and that hill is very steep.

The first time we went on it, we went on the same sled. (That was a huge mistake) The first 5 seconds were fun but then we slid and started to sled down the hill backwards. That was really scary. Then when we got closer to the bottom, we flipped and fell off the sled. It was not that fun, so we never went on the same sled again. But then we went on different sleds and it was a lot more fun. That was on a Friday, and the next Monday we went on the hill again, but this time we got dropped off at the top of the hill. We had to find our way through some woods but we did it!

We almost got really lost.

The hill is the most fun ever. Sometimes me and my friends play on the hill. We have wars all the time.

The four seasons are Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

Spring: Comes after winter and begins March 20th. Spring is a popular season because the snow thaws and the grass comes out and the flowers bloom. Spring is a good season to play outdoors and tend to your garden full of beautiful, colorful flowers. Some think Spring is a rather beautiful season and that is very true.

Summer: When the tourists come to town to stay in our best hotels and resorts. Summer starts June 21st. Summer is when kids have no school so it is really fun to go outdoors or get into a new sport. Summer is a good season to grow vegetables and fruit. Some trees that grow flowers on them, bloom their flowers in the summer. They are very beautiful!

Fall: Begins on September 23rd. Fall is when the leaves begin to change color to red, yellow, and orange. It is a good time to go on a ride around to see the flowers change their color. Fall is when the woodland animals gather up their food to store for the Winter. Fall is when your new chore is raking the leaves. Fall is when the coldness starts to kick in and you are on your way to getting a parka.

I am going to California over Christmas break! I am so excited. I am going to visit my family in Palm Springs (my grandparents live there) and go to Mammoth Mountain. I might even to go a theme park.

We are first going to Palm Springs. We might celebrate an early Christmas because we will be snowboarding on Christmas day.
We are probably going to go to some nice restaurants because we don't have much of those at Alaska. I'm so excited to see my family.

We might go to a theme park called Six Flags Magic Mountain. I went there last time I went to California. There is a really fun ride where you face the ground when you ride it. It's called Tatsu. I really hope we get to go to Six Flags when we go to California.

We are going to Mammoth Mountain. It is one of the biggest Ski/Snowboard resorts in the U.S.A. We have been to Mammoth twice before. It is a good place for beginners or pros. It is a very fun place, and I'm really excited to go.

I can't wait to go to California and see my family and have fun.

Today,November 20th 2009, we read about avalanches. What I learned was that a man named Ed Adams is studying avalanches with computers. What he studied was a avalanche can start with the slope being steeper than 25 degrees! When the snow slides it can speed up to 60-80 mph. Plus, it can weigh up to 100,000 tons!

Ed studies the weight, speed, temperature, & angle of an avalanche. They place sensors on the outside of their cabin to test the avalanches. You don't want to be caught in one!

I think Ed Adams is trying to explain to snowboarders & skiers that it's dangerous & risky to be on mountains with snow. I heard before that a dog sniffed out two people underneath a avalanche!

It's dangerous to hang out on snow mountains! So, be cautious!

Last Monday, the principal let us go on the sledding hill. I was so excited because I love to fall off the sled on my way down the hill for some reason. When the bell rang I ran like the wind to the hill as fast as I could. I grabbed a sled and went down the hill. A lot of snow got in my face but it was fun otherwise. A lot of people wanted to sled, I guess, so I went on the other side of the hill and ran down and slid on my knees. It was so fun. I pushed my friend down the hill and she pushed me back. But at least no one got hurt. I enjoy the hill and I am grateful that our school has such a big and awesome hill to sled on!

Ever heard of a bacon clock? Well I have. Haven't you? Click this link - http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Stories/MoreStories/New-alarm-clock.

Read this story about a kid that designed a clock without a alarm; instead he used the aroma of bacon.

According to "Frightful Animals" in National Geographic, the Gila Monster is very dangerous and aggressive. One of the things about this lizard is that when it bites, it does not let go, and shoots a painful injection of venom into your body. Another thing about this lizard is that it moves very slowly but when needed can sprint 15 meters [49 feet] in 1 minute!!! Last, the Gila Monster likes to feed off of small rodents, reptiles, eggs, and quail eggs.

This animal is very good at defending itself. It will rarely even attack humans, but if it ever has to, it will. What makes this surprising is that you would think that it attacks anything because it looks different and we usually like to mess with stuff and see what it reacts to. But remember that if it needs to defend itself, it will.

Well that's mostly the information I have about this animal!!! But if you ever see this animal you should probably not mess with it, and tell someone!!!

According to "Frightful Animals" in the National Geographic the European Eagle Owl is very big. I think the European Owl has a small body for its "two meter wings." There are lots of things about this Owl, but I will only tell you about three. One, this owl has a six foot wingspan. That's a pretty cool fact. Two, it flies very silent so it can sneak up on its prey. Three, the European Owl has its usual "ho-hoo," but it can also growl and bark.

I was so surprised when I heard that this Owl can growl and bark like a dog. But this owl also can sound normal. The European Owl only barks and growls when it's scared. I didn't know that a bird could bark or growl.

That European eagle owl is pretty amazing, I thought. I really like this story. There was also a part about the female owl, which is larger than the male owl. That was exciting to me. I would read about this owl again, too.

Winter is on its way! I am so excited for winter. I like winter 100% more than summer. Sorry, summer people. I like winter because I can make snowmen, have snowball fights, go snowboarding, and ride snowmachines at our cabin.

I think winter is very beautiful, how the snow shines in the sun. I also think the trees look cool.

My first pet is a dog named Bingo. I was about six when I got him, and I didn't name him!!! My dog is a male miniature schnauzer.

My dog ran away about twenty times. One time I thought he ran away on the last day before I went to my vacation, but he was in the house.

He is a nice dog, but he is not nice to kids. I taught my dog to sit and come. My dog is my favorite and my first pet. I had other pets ahead of him, but he is the best. I've had him for about nine years now; I wonder how much is that for dog years?

Yesterday we went to the park at 10:30 with our buddies because it was their day with us. So we played at a park and ate lunch there, too; but first we walked there and started to play at the park. Me and my friends were playing kickball and it was fun because we got to play with our buddies and friends. We walked through the woods and into the park. After we were playing for a while we started to eat lunch. Then we started to play again. Kirsten's mom brought some popsicles and we ate them. After that we walked back to school around 12:30 pm and we said good-bye to them. It was really fun and awesome.

At our school we like to play basketball outside for recess. The good players are me, Chickenleg, Cole, Tucker, Garrius, Glen, and Trey. I like to shoot long; I miss it sometimes and I make it sometimes. Playing basketball outside is fun because it has a nice breeze. On a windy day, when I sweat the wind feels good, and it is nice and sunny outside. 2 days ago it was really windy and I was not wearing any jacket or sweater. I wasn't cold. Basketball outside is kind of bad because if you shoot the balls, the wind carries it away and it messes it up.

For the last few weeks it has been freezing in Fairbanks. From 20-30 below. But all the real cold started the day after Christmas. Then it dropped down to about 50 below. But it got warmer in January. But now !I CANT WAIT TILL SUMMER! When I can run in the sun climb some trees, roll down some grassy hills, run through some sprinklers, and go swimming in some lakes.

Summer, I think, is a time for warm fun tanning, getting bitten by mosquitoes, and rolling in mud (wait that is what dogs do). One of my personal favorites is going to my uncle's house and swimming in his lake or tanning on his roof with my cousin Jasmine. Another favorite of mine is on the 4th of July. My aunt has a big party. Then at 12:00 my cousins put together a big firework show. It's !AWESOME!. And after it's all over, we all say goodbye.

So as you see I desperately want it to be summer. I hope your summer is nice and hot.