Busch Wildlife!!!!!

I went to a wild animal rescue center called Busch Wildlife, yesterday (Wednesday). I brought the digital camera, expecting to get a couple fairly good shots. But I did not expect anything like this! The first exhibit we went to was the aviary. Inside was a couple songbirds and a blue jay. This jay used to be a pet, as we learned later. When I tried to take a picture of him, he reached through the fence, trying to eat the camera (just like somebody else I know...)!


The next exhibit that we went to, was the Florida Cougar exhibit. At first, the cougars were sleeping under a boardwalk thingy, but soon this one came right up to the fence and posed! So cute!

This fox picture was actually one of the last ones I took at Busch Wildlife, just before the camera died. :( It was hard to take, as the foxes were at the back of their little "house."

The Cockatoo's name is CeCe. All the parrots sit out front of the animal hospital, across from the box turtles. There was another parrot named Budweiser. I got pictures of him, but they were not as good as the ones that I took of CeCe.

The last picture on here is of a blue heron. He was with all the waterbirds. All the other birds were walking around pecking and chirping, while he just sat up in the tree surveying the land.

I thouroughly enjoyed my trip to Busch Wildlife, and hope to come back to take even more pictures!

Wall-e!!!!!!!!

I went to see the new movie out called Wall-e. It is about a small trash compactor in a world full of pollution. His job is to clean up the trash every day, and pile up the small squares of trash that he gathers.

One day a spaceship comes, and drops off a robot that is looking for life on the earth. Wall-e falls in love with her, and gives her his most treasured possession- his plant that he found, held by a dirty shoe.

Once he gives "Eve" the plant, she shuts it in her "stomach," and closes up. Wall-e ties a string of lights around her, and does his job while pulling her around with him. When a thunderstorm comes, he repeatedly gets struck by lightning as he holds an umbrella over Eve to protect her from the rain.

After a while, the spaceship comes back, to take Eve away. Wall-e follows this spaceship, and learns that the people on board the ship cannot come back to Earth, because the "Operation Recolonize" has failed, and the earth is too polluted. He tries to help Eve get the plant into a chamber that will then set the spaceship's course to Earth.

One might think that Wall-e is about pollution, and how we need to stop ruining the Earth. At the beginning of the movie, it really seems like the whole film was going to be centered on that.

But it isn't.

The day after I saw the movie, my dad came up to me and said that Wall-e is really about man and wife, and how God wants men to treat women. He told me this,

"Wall-e is the the Adam figure in this story. He has a job that he does faithfully, but he gets lonely. So a female robot comes down from the sky. Her name in the movie is actually Eve, so there is no doubting that the writer of this film means for this to be the point. Well, Wall-e gives her the plant, and she puts it in her 'stomach' and closes up, while saying, 'Directive.' In reality, making, and taking care of life, is the woman's directive.

"When they get on the spaceship, everyone wants to destroy the plant, the life. Wall-e is ready to kill himself to protect it, and Eve. He valiantly gets himself struck by lightning and smashed repeatedly, as long as the plant and Eve stay safe. This is how a man should act for a woman and her child. Everyone wants to destroy the life, and he protects it with all he has."

In the movie, there is a Satan figure, too. It is a robotic wheel, named Otto, who wants everyone on board this "cruise spaceship" to please himself, no one else. He tries to get rid of the plant, and keep the cruiser in space.

This movie is very complex, although it looks like a movie for little kids. I reccomend it for everybody.

I Was Not the One Who Traveled...

But my brother and dad were. They just got back from a trip to Thailand, quite an adventure if you ask me. I wish I could have gone, but I don't think I could have stood the 37 hour plane trip.

While they were there, my dad called in to the radio station that he works at, to try to get sponsors for these poverty- stricken kids at Compassion International's projects. All of the 300 kids got sponsors in one week! That means, now they can go to school, learn about Jesus, teach their families about Jesus, and have enough food to eat every day! All of this for the kids who had been raised to worship and pray to, their dead ancestors.

While they were there, Justice and Dad went to this elephant camp thing. All of the elephants there were specially trained to do something weird. Some even painted better than I can! To see a video of this, go to my dad's blog at http://www.branthansen.typepad.com/. It's crazy! At the elephant camp, my dad says the employees were geniuses for making money.

Along the trail for the elephants and their riders, were little food stands to buy treats for the elephants. If you didn't want to buy the food along the trail, the elephant was trained to reach up, over his head with his trunk looking for food, to make you feel bad and buy food at the next stand.

The pictures the elephants painted were money makers too. So was the elephants' poo even! They use it to make picture frames for the picture of you on your elephant. Those people are geniuses, I tell ya, geniuses.

Dune Dog, the Best Restaurant Ever!!!!

On Monday, Memorial Day, I went snorkeling with friends again. The water was really murky and we couldn't see more than two feet in front of us, but I had a great time anyway. Since we were all hungry after swimming, we went to an outdoor, casual, swimwear on, shoes off restaurant called Dune Dog. It is right by the beach and perfect after a day of crashing and splashing around.

I bet everyone who reads this blog can tell where I am in the picture, but I will tell who is who.

On the far left corner, almost out of the picture, is my brother, Justice. Next to him, quite distracted at the time this picture was taken, is Joel. In front of him, grinning broadly, is Alecea Poole. In the back right almost completely overlapped by Joel's brother, the black haired Matthew, is Kyle Poole, whose sister is Alecea. Next to him is Tiffany Laster, my partner in crime. I am sitting right next to her in my blue swimsuit, unknowingly doing the exact same thing she is. Then, last but not least, is Brittany Adams. She was rather rudely cut out of the picture somehow, but at least we know that the right side of her face is smiling happily.

Yeehaw!!!

My Other Birdie Pictures!!!!!

Me and my friend Hannah were out on our scooters yesterday, and we went by the middle school. We saw a fat pidgeon by the fence, so we walked up to take a couple of pictures of it.

Here they are:

Me, my dogs, and my new house

My Birdie Pictures!!!!!!

When I grow up, since I will, hopefully, have a lot of money, I would really like to buy one of those big, black cameras, the kind that you can adjust shutter speed and all that. That is my "lifelong dream," other than getting and riding a horse, marrying, and raising kids, and doing my best to follow Jesus.

I love to take pictures, so I have started following and learning about a family of Mockingbirds in my neighborood. They are fighting constantly, I wish I knew why, but it is really fun to watch them.

I have also discovered a newly vacant nest (below), and a couple of baby birds, one of which is pictured above. They are so cuuuute!!!

Switchfoot Concert!!!!!!! Eeeeee!!!!!!!!

This picture doesn't make much sense, but it is cool anyway.

So, I went to a concert on Saturday night. A band called Switchfoot was the main event. Switchfoot is a christian band, but they try to get on "non-christian" radio stations.

Their concert was a smash hit. I invited my friend, (whose nickname is Padfoot) and we totally rocked out, if you would call jumping up and down and screaming at random intervals "rocking out." We had fun.

At the concert, Switchfoot had some really cool lighting going on. When the strobe lights were especially crazy, I looked up at the ceiling of the amphitheatre, and saw really cool shadows and things.

The keyboard person for Switchfoot, Gerome, actually smiled and waved at me! I know it was at me, because I was the only person in my section with a glow-stick, and I was screaming and jumping like crazy. I was thrilled, and still am.

I went to the "meet and greet" thing, too! I got every one's autographs on a cool poster. I gave it away to a friend, Kyle. When I gave it to him, he was so happy though, that I didn't really care that I had given my signed Switchfoot poster away.

When I was at the "meet and greet," there was a small pile of Switchfoot posters on a table out in the middle of the tent. I was the first person to get one, then my brother, Justice, went and got one. Padfoot, a.k.a. Tiffany managed to grab one before Justice's friend, Peter, tried to get one. But just then, since this all happened pretty quickly, a mob of people just swarmed in on the table, and engulfed it. Peter later told me that he got a poster, but somebody jerked it out of his hands, so he lost it. Sheesh!

Although I gave away my Switchfoot poster, and Peter didn't even get one, the concert was a huge success that I will remember for a long, long time.

Moving 2

This is another post about moving.

I have just found out that my family is DEFINITELY moving!!!!!! Eeeeeee!!!!! The moving date is sometime around April 27, I think. I can't wait!!!!!

As I said before, I can't stand the packing part of moving. That is really awful.

My family is going to have a before-moving garage sale! I think it might be my second one. Not sure. I have to clean my room to find out what the heck I want to sell. At least I will have a little motivation! That is something!

Whenever I think about the house, I just get happier. Maybe that is because I have lived in this old house for about 4 years now. Maybe it is also because, with the layout of this house, not many people can come over at the same time, but that is going to change!!!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Moving

I know that this picture doesn't have anything to do with the post, but whatever, it's pretty.

My family is pretty sure that we are moving. There is a house that we really like, and have signed an application for a lease on it. We will sign the real lease in a couple of weeks. I can't wait!

I wish that once we sign the lease, BOOM! Everything would be packed, in the moving truck, and unloaded. Just like that. And while we are in fantasy land, I would like my tiny future room to grow very large all of a sudden, so I can dance in it. And, maybe, keep my dresser.

The house that we want to move in is very bright and sunny. It has a balcony, porch, patio, big driveway, and grass in the back!!!!! I am really excited about grass because, where I live now doesn't have much at all. Darn. I can't say where it is, because, (obviously), this is on the Internet.

I really hope I can move there, but it is not definent yet. Aaaaugh! I wish it was!

An Update on My Vacation

Ok, so here is what's going on. In my last post, I told y'all that I am in Tennesee on vacation with my family. So, here is an update.

Today, I went out to eat with my cousins. We had a great time. We did that yesterday for lunch and dinner too. I am getting sick of eating out.

My cousins have left. I am pretty bummed about that. Right before they left, the boys were playing some army game on an Xbox 360. I hate it when I am trying to be peaceful, and I hear continuous shooting. Very annoying, very annoying.

I really slept in today. I woke up at around 9:00 am, which would be about 10:00 at home. Some people might think, "Oh, that isn't 'sleeping in', that's nothin'." For me though, that is a huge amount of sleep. I even missed the hotel breakfast, too! I usually wake up at six.

I woke up with a headache this morning. I hope I'm not coming down with something. It is really dry in Tennesee, so my nose is really stuffy and my lips are chapped. Not complaining, or anything. :)

Our flight is leaving tommorow morning (Wednesday). I never like airplane security. Of course I don't want to be blown up by some random bomb, but I still don't have to like it!

My Most Recent Vacation

I am on vacation right now in Tennesse. It is really cool. I am on my dad's laptop in our hotel. Our hotel is really nice with a exersize room, free ice, and things like that. Oh! And they serve breakfast here! Hey hey hey!

My family has a really nice suite paid for by my dad's company. I have my own little bedroom-thingy! I sleep on a couch, though. Whatever.

The reason why we are on vacation, is that Dad's company wants us to check out Tennesee. So we came, and are having a good time.

My cousins are coming down to meet us here, at our hotel. I am a-thinkin' that they should be here by now. They live in Illinois so my dad decided to invite them to come and check into this hotel. I think they are going to have a room accross from ours which should be really fun.

I have started practicing my rubber-band-shooting. The hallway is a really nice place to do this in. I've never really tried to focus on shooting a rubber band. It is pretty fun, believe it or not!

We are going to stay in Tennesee until sometime Wednesday. Boo. I wish we could stay longer, but our days aren't very full already. Also, my family has two dogs who are back at home. They get lonely easily.

I hope I can post updates on my vacation by posting on this blog. C U L8R! Heeheeheeheehee! :)

My IMAX Experience

Today, I went to an IMAX show called U2 3D, and it was pretty cool. Actually, what I mean by that is it was AWESOME!!!!

U2 3D is an IMAX, as I have already said, and it is in 3D, as you might have guessed. The film is of a couple performances by U2, with them all edited together. So one song you might be watching them in Argentina, the other in Peru.

I think it was really cool because my dad said afterwards that most of the people at the concerts in South America didn't even speak English, but they knew the lyrics by heart! That really impresses me.

The movie is something definentely worth checking out, if you haven't seen it yet. If you aren't a big U2 fan yet, you will be, at least, in love with their music after you watch it.

My brother said that Adam Clayton, (with the 3D affects) the bassist hit him with his guitar several times!!!

My Little Club Involving Free Hotdogs and Cokes

I am signed up for a club called the Knothole Gang. I go every Tuesday evening. It is a bunch of tickets to minor league baseball games with free T-shirts, Cokes, and hot dogs.

There are some small events in between innings, too. One of the popular things that they do is the mascot race where the mascot of the home team races some kid from the audience. It is fun to watch.

Once, I was chosen with my sibling, to go down on the field and race RC Hummers. Mine was programed to go screwy, I think, because it started spinning around the millisecond I started it. It was fun anyway.

Then there is the Infamous Peanut Toss that they do at the stadium. All the kids know when it happens and so they all start swarming around by the Press Box (the place where the announcer sits) at about the 3rd or 4th inning. People throw peanut bags from the windows of the Press Box. Most of the time the peanuts are bad, but I still like to try to catch one.

Once, the mascot of the home team came up to me along with an employee of the stadium. They wanted to give a Coke to somebody and so they signed me up to get it. When the announcer told the crowd that I was getting the free Coke, the mascot danced with me. I did the Disco. It was fun.

HORSE CAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This summer, I am going to a horse camp. I can't wait!!!!!! This is a picture of me on a horse named Sugar. I did a trail ride on her at the riding academy. That is where I am going to horse camp at.

I did an evaluation ride on the last Wednesday of May. It was about showing the employees that you could ride. I had a BLAST!!!!

At the time that I was riding, it was about feeding time for the horses in the paddocks. When a truck drove in their pastures, they all started galloping bucking and running towards it. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Then I saw it again in another pasture! Love stuff like that.

At the camp, I will do things like trail riding, barrel racing, and even swimming, a huge game of color tag, and horse-decorating!

Another Trip I Took

I went boating out on the sea once. It was incredible! I know, I already had a big article on traveling and water and stuff but still...

When I went out for a cruise thing on a small catamaran (That boat in the picture is definentely not my boat) even before we got out of the little river thingy, we saw the Queen Mary and the Queen Mary 2, the the Queen Mary 2 being SUPER famous!

I think the picture is of the Queen Mary 2. I just saw some more pictures of the inside of that cruiser, and it is very fancy. I don't think I would want to sail on that. Too fancy for me.

The little catamaran that I rode on was good and casual. It had a little bar thingy with free drinks. Mabey some chips. I don't think they had any food though. I had a blast. I want to do it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Like Key West (and chickens, kinda)

There are chickens all over the place. As a warning, if you do not like any kind of chicken, even if it is in a very popular vacation spot, do not go here. I am talking about Key West. It is a quirky place.

I stayed in a hotel somewhere near Key West, and there was a black chicken running around near the Hotel pool. It was very odd, I tell you. Very odd. Too odd. Actually, not.

I have heard something like, "once Key West sand gets in your shoes, you just will keep coming back." Something like that. But it is true. I want to go again. (1) Because I like the place, it is my style. (2) Because I want to go snorkeling again on a coral reef, (it was amazing! Tropical fish everywhere! Parrot fish, Barracudas, and the like!) and maybe even scuba diving! That would be awesome!

I saw the southernmost point when I was there, ate some meringue-topped Key Lime Pie, and went to a big nightly sunset festival, almost by accident. I also saw a big cruiser ship board passengers. It was a great vacation. I wish I could do it again right now!!! I just love that place. That is very obvious from the length and way that I am writing... You are probably getting bored...Sorry!!! Gosh, I just love that place!!!! :)