2008 Olympics

This summer I spent the month of august watching the 2008 Olympics. The first Olympic game I watched that got me hooked was volleyball. It was USA against Japan. USA won 25 to 21. The next game that really got me hooked was soccer. Even though USA wasn’t on one of the teams it was so interesting to see that some of the stuff that I usually do they do the same thing. I’ve been watching every single game ever since. There is also gymnastics. Its cool because we do stuff that they do they just do it faster.

--Alyssa

Ice Cream!!!

What happens when you sit 5 Kellys in front of a 4 scoop, 4 topping bowl of ice cream with whipped cream, hot fudge and 4 cherries????? Better send them to the beach to work it off!!!!

road trip

On July 26 we set off for the last trip of the summer. First we went on a two-hour ride to Melbourne, Florida to visit our aunt, uncle, and cousins’ house. When we arrived, they made the house feel like a real hotel! They even had a guest services booklet! We went in the pool and then dried off to eat. We had chicken nuggets, French fries, and lots of other good food to eat.
The next day, Alyssa, my mom, my aunt, and I went to the local craft fair. We walked around and looked at all of the cool crafts. When we left my sister and I ended up getting hair clips, my mom got a coal bucket and a cell phone charm, and my aunt got some things too. After the craft fair, we went to ice cream depot. Alyssa got snickers ice cream in a waffle cone, while I ended up getting a rocky road waffle cone. After Ice Cream Depot, we went to a restaurant called . Then, we went to the beach for a little while. We jumped from the waves and built sand castles. After we were done at the beach, we were so pooped that we went straight home and fell asleep.
On the third day, after going to church, we went back home for one special reason - pancakes. I was going to make my special world-famous pancakes. They were so good that everyone went back for seconds! After pancakes, we went to the zoo. We saw all different kinds of animals, and we went on a train ride. After that, we got some lunch at Mimi’s café and went to snip its. Snip its is a kids hair salon. Some kids were more exited than others, but when they were done, they got to put color in their hair and got a prize!
We were sad to leave the next day, but we were exited about where we were going – Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The drive from our cousin’s house was about an hour long. When we finally got to Universal Studios we had to park. We thought oh no big deal. Then we figured out the real deal. We had to park all the way on the top, which was a killer walk. As soon as we got into the park we headed straight for Jimmy Neutrons blast. We had to wait about one hour for us to get in the attraction. After that we went to Shrek 4-D which was a twenty-minute wait then it started to rain. After that we did a lot of other things. Then we checked into our hotel. There was a Walgreen’s near by so our dad got us ice cream from there. The next day our dad got tickets to go see the Buccaneers practice. So he dropped my two sisters , my mom, and me off at Universal studios. We did a park hopper that day so we went to Islands of Adventure first (TIP: get to Seuss landing early). When our dad picked us up we went to a pizza place called Flippers pizzeria. When we had gotten back to our hotel there was a Friendly’s ice cream shop in walking distance of our hotel. The last day of Universal we decided to do a blowout day. First we went to Islands of Adventure then again to universal. We made it all day long. We were sad to go but we had a fun time while it lasted.

Fourth of July

For Fourth of July we had a total blast! On Friday, we left at 8:45 to go to Jupiter Beach. We played in the freezing-cold water and made sandcastles from a sandcastle-making book. Since it started to rain, we left the beach. When we all got settled at the hotel and took much-needed sandy showers, my dad went to a local sub shop to get some lunch. After lunch, all of the kids watched Mr. Rogers and Cartoon Network while the parents took naps and read their magazines. Since my mom was bored, she took Hannah with her to go house-looking. By accident, she went to Port St. Lucie! By the time she got back, it was time for the minor league baseball game.
The stadium for the game reminded me of high school stadiums in the movies, except it was a lot smaller. When we walked in, the game had already started. While walking to our seats, a ball flew out of nowhere and Alyssa dived for it. It was hit so hard that it had a blue bruise! After the Jupiter Hammerheads and the Palm Beach Cardinals were done playing (Jupiter won 6-2), it was time for the Fireworks Extravaganza. Hannah didn’t like the loud noise, so she had her hands over her ears the whole time. Then, we left the game and found a local Cold Stone to eat at. We were up so late that I almost fell asleep in the car!
On Saturday, it was time to go to Rapids Water Park. While my mom and Hannah went to the kiddie section, my dad, Alyssa, and I went to the Baby Blue Super Bowl ride. I don’t know if you have ever seen the commercials, but the Super Bowl ride is like a huge toilet bowl that you slide around on. I was so excited to go on it. First, you sit down on the mouth of the slide. When you start sliding down really fast, water gets in your eyes and nose because the slide is closed in. Luckily the sun shone through the plastic so it was not so dark. When you close your eyes to stop the water, you cannot see where you are going. Next thing you know, you are shot out of the slide into the toilet bowl part. Since it starts going slow, you get more relaxed. All of the sudden, you drop 3 or 4 feet head, feet, or butt first, depending on how you are positioned, out of the hole at the bottom. Since the pool is six and a half feet deep, you cannot stand up. The lifeguard gives you a stick to hold on to so he can pull you in. It was the scariest ride I have ever been on!!!! Next, we went on a family raft ride called Riptide Raftin. You get onto your multi-person raft and slide into darkness (ps. its NOT as scary as it sounds!). Alyssa and me were kind of scared because we heard a bazillion people screaming. You go through multiple twists, turns, and drops in a pitch black tunnel. After going back into open air for a little bit, you go back in a tunnel that is not as dark as the first one. Then you slide from the slide to the exit. Next, we went to the wave pool and we treaded water for ten minutes while waves were shooting at us. After going on the Lazy River, Obstacle Course and various kiddie slides we decided the day was over.
Even though it was a short trip, it felt like a whole week! After dinner at Bahama Breeze on the way home, we tried to think of something we could have added or subtracted to this trip but we couldn’t think of anything. It was just perfect!

-- by Meaghan and Alyssa, as told by Meaghan

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

On Monday and Tuesday my dad Meaghan and I went to two baseball games. We were sitting in probably one of the best seats in the stadium. We could hear the umpire call a strike. We also had waiters come up to us and ask us what we wanted. We were in the third row. At the first game the Marlins were playing against Washington. The Marlins won that game. We had a net in front of us so we had no chance of catching a ball. Also at that game we were sitting right next to the Washington’s dugout and all throuout that game I was trying to get a foul ball but I couldn’t get one. Then finally at the end of the game I got one from the father of a ball boy. Then in the next game the marlins lost 9 to 6 and during that game Meaghan got a ball since we were sitting right next to the Washington dugout. It was so fun!- Alyssa

wonderful day

Today the Kelly girls decided to venture to our local water park, Paradise Cove. Even though we thought it was going to be over crowded as this has been one of the first rain free days of the summer, we were sufficiently bored enough to give it a go anyway. The crowds weren't that bad and we were able to spend a few hours floating down the lazy river and trying out the various water slides. Hannah had a blast in the "under 5" area and alternated between the green and orange slides all by herself as big kids weren't allowed. (actually one big kid stood watch at the bottom of the slide while mom got her in line at the top) We finally convinced her it was time to go and headed back to the car. While I was strapping her into her car seat she sighed and said to no one in particular: "This was a wonderful day". I would have to say that made all of the getting- pushed- in -line -by -unruly -kids, and all -of- the -getting -splashed -by -the -campers -who -always -seem -to -have -to -have -a pushing -match -right -next -to -you, worth it.

Day on the Deck

Day on the Deck is a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish to raise money for wishes. It is a seven-day cruise that you don’t really go on but you get to see an ice skating show and you get to bid in an auction.
First, we got on the cruise ship and we were so jealous because we couldn’t stay on the ship. You would forget you were on a ship. The ship looked like a mall. When we got on the elevator to get to the ice skating rink (cool right) we were with some people who were staying on the cruise. They said we were so lucky that we didn’t have luggage. I was thinking in my head yah but you actually get to stay on the seven-day mall cruise. When we were in the elevator there was a block bolted into the floor that had the day of the week in case you forgot what day it was.
When we got to the ice-skating rink they were doing a auction for a float out of the new ship called the Oasis. You wouldn’t think you were on a cruise ship, you wouldn’t think you were in a mall, but you would think you were in a town. No kidding. They were also auctioning a kid’s birthday party which two lucky kids ended up with $3000.00 parties on a ship.
After the show we went to the fanciest lunch you would ever see or eat at. There was one floor with about ten tables on it and ten rows on each side. On the second floor there wasn’t middle, just ten tables on each side. It was the same on the third row. We sat on the first floor and where you would go up the fancy stairs to the second and third row, there was a big space where three violinists and a pianist played classical music. The ladies were in really fancy dresses. Then it was time to leave but we couldn’t find the exit. So we asked a worker and he asked our mom if she really wanted to leave. She said she had to not that she really wanted to. We found the exit and left. Meaghan and I still to this day say oh those people are still on that seven day mall cruise and are probably waking up or eating dinner in the three story dining room with the brownie madness which we had with our lunch. The end