#36. A Sculpture Park

We visited the sandcastle contest at the Neptune Festival at Virginia Beach.

#52. A Literary Location

We live a stone's throw from Putnam State Park in Redding, CT. We visit there often.  The book My Brother Sam is Dead was set in and around Putnam State Park.  

#30. A Marvel of Engineering

We visited New York City to have Tui T Sutherland sign our books. While there, we saw the Empire State Building.

#10.  A Faraway Island

Maybe it's not so faraway. But it is an island.

We like to walk to Charles Island when the tide is slow whenever we visit Silver Sands State Park in Milford, CT.

#6. A Working Farm

We visited Holbrook Farms in Bethel, CT.  We played with the baby chickens and purchased local honey to help with our allergies.

#75.  A Courthouse

My Challenge B class competed in a Mock Trial competition at the Green County Courthouse in Catskills, New York.

#14. A Waterfall

We visited Southford Falls State Park in Oxford/ Southbury, CT.

#69. A Radical Rock Formation

We visited Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona in the summer of 2018.

#18. An Art Museum

We visited the Mattatuck Museum in downtown Waterbury.

#86. A Canyon or Gorge

We visited the Grand Canyon with our family in June 2018 to celebrate our grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary and our grandfather's 80th birthday.

#11. An Antiquarian Bookstore

#11.  An Antiquarian Bookstore-

We visited Argosy bookstore in New York City.  The store didn't have any new books at all, they only had out-of-print books.  The store was on several floors and it had an old elevator with an operator and scissor gate. In addition to books, the store also had really old prints of maps and posters.  We looked at the maps and prints of Connecticut made in the 1800s. 

#31- A Cemetery

#31- A cemetery-

Today we visited Riverside Cemetery in Waterbury, Connecticut.  It's a big, beautiful cemetery with dogwood trees in bloom.  We walked around and we saw several graves, one belongs to a Union solider who died from wounds he got in the Battle of Fort Wagner during the Civil War.  He lead an entire company of soldiers who all volunteered when Abraham Lincoln asked for troops, so there were a lot of heroes from Waterbury in the Civil War. 

 

#32 - A Wildlife Refuge

We went to Chincoteague and Assateague Island.  We went on a boat ride and saw the wild ponies that live on Assateague.  At the end of every June, they swim the ponies across the channel to Chincoteague and people can buy the foals.  If they didn't sell some of the young ponies, there would be too many ponies on the island.  This is called "Pony Penning Day."  There's a bunch of books about the horses on that island. "Misty of Chinoteague" is one of them. They're really good books, based on true stories and real people who are still alive and living on the island. It was really fun there.   

#25 - A Famous Field.

We went to Camden Yards to see the Orioles play against the Nationals.  All around the ball park everything was decked out in black and orange and there were signs that said "I hope the Orioles win."  and things like that.   The Orioles won!  I think the Orioles were encouraged by all the signs around.  We went with our friends, the Fosters, who live near there. It was really fun! 

#81.  A Place Where They Make Cool Stuff-

We went to Carlo's Bake Shop yesterday.  This is where they make the television show "Cake Boss." We like that show.  It was really fun.  We saw marzipan shaped and colored like fruit.  We saw the same big cakes that we often see on the show. Even though we didn't get to pick any of the really big cakes, besides that, Mom and Dad said we could have anything we wanted.  Avril chose a yummy cupcake with red icing and sprinkles that looked like hearts.  I got a mini, strawberry cheese cake with a giant, glazed strawberry on top.  It was so good.  But it wasn't exactly mini.  It was so big, I could only eat half of it and then I ate the rest of it in the van when we were going home.  Mom had a cannoli and Dad had a lobster tail.  I didn't get to see what the lobster tail looked like.  I only saw the end of the lobster tail before it went into Dad's mouth. 

#5.  A Skatepark-

We to a skate park in New York City yesterday.  We had fun there watching them skateboard.  We asked a skateboarder how he jumped.  He said that he leans back on his skateboard really fast and it makes a force big enough to get the skateboard off the ground.  I thought it was really cool.  

  

#73. An Artist's Inspiration- 

Yesterday we went to Central Park and saw the Bethesda Fountain.  We watched several artists painting it. When I was talking to one of the artists about my painting skills, she gave me some advice.  She said, "Don't think too hard.  Just paint what you see."  

#91. A School That's Different Than Your Own-

While I was in South Carolina, I went to school for a day at Riverpointe Christian Academy.  It was fun. We did sign language, rehearsed a play and did reading.  The best part was lunch. We had chicken nuggets, chocolate milk and mixed fruit.  I played chess with a boy in my class for recess. 

#38. A Wetland-

While we were in South Carolina, we also went to a state park to see wetlands.  We saw birds and alligators, fished for algae in the water with sticks and hiked through the swamp and woods. 

#57. A Very Big Thing-

While I was in South Carolina, we saw the Angel Oak.  It was so big! They said it could be 1,500 years old!  The branches were so big they came down to the ground, went under the ground and became trees again!