Hey Everyone!

Alex here. I am packing up my house again because we are going to be going back to Colombia! I recently had my birthday and I got a lot of birthday money! I was able to buy myself a Nintendo DSi! I am having a great summer so far and I hope you have one too!

~Alex

Día del Idioma means Language Day where the Spanish language is celebrated by every class in the school.

Maggie ~ At the festival we did something like Alice in Wonderland, but it was like Alice and Colombia, learning different cultures. On my line I kind of got nervous, so then I kind of forgot my line...but everyone says I did fine. Alice went all over Colombia. I represented Orinoquia and talked about tropical stuff.

Here's a glimpse at Maggie's part...


Alex ~ My class did a dance. The song talked about how Colombia was a place of peace. It talked about how God took a rest in the seas when he was done with creation. Its main point was that Colombia is a good place to be and that their citizens love it. It was a tricky dance! We all wore Colombia soccer jerseys.

Here's a glimpse at Alex's song...

We went to get eye exams and we found out that I needed glasses. I had to wear these special things to see what type of glasses I need. I was kind of afraid of getting glasses because I thought everyone would think I looked weird. But when everyone saw they just got used to it. I'm wearing them now.
~Alex

I got to the final five in the spelling bee. In the final five I came in second place. I was stressed out and felt like I was sweating. I got one word wrong and that's why I came in second place. Being in second place, the winners - first and second of each grade - got to go to McDonald's.
~Alex

Maloka is a science museum. We went there on a field trip. We played and learned lots of different things. There was one electric thing where a girl would go up and touch this big lightbulb shaped thing. It would make your hair stick up. Then the man got one person to do it and then everyone took hands. Then it shocked everyone! The electricity went through every one of our bodies. It felt as if something had just jerked our arms. There was another thing that was different. There was a truck that was hooked up to something and then behind the car you would pull ropes and lift up the car.
~Maggie

Girls just wanna have fun! Maggie's been having fun with her friend, Camila, during Spring Break. We went to a salon for girls and they were excited to get their hair curled! Here's some pics from after they had their hair done and a day at the park.
~Tona

On February 24th I had to do a science project. It was where we had to make a sun and an earth and label things like the axis, equator and stuff like that. Our teacher said we could do whatever we wanted with it, so I did cakes. The sun was vanilla cake with yellow frosting. The earth was chocolate cake with blue and green frosting. It took quite a while to make it. The equator was a chocolate Twizzler. The axis was just a little toothpick sticking out of the top. And the other things were labeled with little flags. They came out to look really cool and nice, but it’s always fun for me.
~Maggie

Mom says, "Maggie did most of the work on these cakes and loved every minute of it! She got 100% on the project!"

A quick update on Maggie's riding...

Maggie has being doing wonderfully in riding. She is jumping higher and higher and is not to the point where I think I might have a heart attack watching her each week! She has ridden the same horse, Rioja, for almost a year now, but her teacher just changed her to a different horse. This was a big deal to her because the horse she rides now, Jalisco, is from the upper barns. What does that mean? Well, there are two barns, the lower and the upper. The lower barn has all the horses in stalls that are just divided by small logs as fences. Those horses are used for all of the general classes. The upper barns, however, are like nice little individual stalls, kind of like a three star versus a one star hotel! The upper barns also hold all of the competitive horses and privately owned horses. So the upper barn horses are seen, at least to Maggie, as having a lot more prestige and are much more special! So now she is riding Jalisco and along with riding a "fancier" horse she gets more responsibility. After class she takes him for a walk, guided without his saddle, to the pasture to get a snack and cooling down time. Maggie is very proud of the responsibility she has been given!
~Tona

Here's her thoughts on her recent changes...
Maggie says, "Horseback riding gets tougher every week…well, depending on what’s going on. Sometimes it’s getting tough and sometimes it’s like usual. Sometimes we jump. Sometimes we just work on usual things like if my feet are in the right position, if everything is in the right position and that I’m doing everything right. When I changed horses it felt unusual because I got used to riding a certain horse. The horse I rode on felt more comfortable because it was a horse that teachers would usually use. Sometimes it’s difficult to use the horse if you don’t really know it and you’re not ready to ride on a new horse."

"And tomorrow, I'm making waffles!" - Donkey from Shrek

Yup, that's what Maggie's been saying every day! For Christmas she got a waffle iron (yes, something that was on her list!) and cooking supplies. On Christmas morning she made us all chocolate chip pancakes. Since Christmas we have had traditional waffles, Cinnamon Belgium waffles, Norwiegan waffles, chocolate chip waffles, French Toast waffles, apple waffles...I'm starting to feel like Forrest Gump here! You get the idea, and seriously she had made all of those types, some multiple times! The first day started with me helping her and from then on she's been doing it all on her own. In fact, yesterday we woke up to breakfast on the table and Corey's coffee waiting for him!! Sorry, she's not for hire! Anyway, Maggie's found something to keep her very occupied this school break and we're reaping all of the benefits!!!

Oh, she also made no-bake cookies the other night for the first time, a very important family recipe...haha!
~Tona