I recently turned 8 and had a tropical themed pool party in our back yard. It was a nice sunny day but the wind was a bit cool. We played some pool games and I had a hula lady pinata. We all hit her hard but in the end we had to break her open to get to the lollies. I don’t like cake very much so I had some donuts and cupcakes as my birthday cake. It was so windy the candles kept blowing out! I had a great time and caught up with lots of friends from school and lots of family came too. It was so much fun I wish I could do it again!
At Christmas time I was lucky enough to be chosen to do a special ballet performance at the Barrabool Hills Christmas Carols. It was on the side of a hill and very very windy. It was really hard to dance in all that wind as I am only used to dancing inside. We had special tutus and head pieces and had to have our hair done in a special way. We got to have lots of sparkly hairspray too. It was fun to dress up and dance for everyone and I really enjoyed performing for the people at the Christmas Carols.
Here is a photo of me and my friend Rebecca after the performance. We had to wear blankets and our jumpers as it was a cold wind but we took them off when we performed.
Here is a video of some our performance. It only shows a little bit as people kept walking in front of the camera. I am the one dancing in the middle.
In June, my brother Finn and I bought my Dad a helicopter ride for his birthday. On December 8th we finally got to go!
It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a helicopter ride. We had to wear a life vest and listen to a safety demonstration before we went in the helicopter. Then we climbed aboard. I sat in the front and my Dad in the back seat. It took ages for us to take off as the pilot had to teach us more safety things. Then we were off over Eastern Beach. I saw the Giant ferris wheel, the pier, the boats and lots of water. It was a quick flight but very exciting.
My Helicopter Ride Over Eastern Beach on PhotoPeach
Have you ever been on a helicopter ride?
If you could go anywhere on a helicopter where would you go?
On Friday my Mum and my brother Finn and I went for a walk along Eastern Beach. We are very lucky here in Geelong to have such an interesting and beautiful waterfront. You can walk all the way from Rippleside Park to Limeburners Point and learn lots about the history of Geelong on your walk. We parked the car at Cunningham Pier and walked along the waterfront taking photos of the bollards for my blog post on the BayFM website. It was 37 degrees Celsius and so hot! On our walk we saw a wedding in the carousel and we had a gelati to cool off before we went for a ride on the Giant Ferris Wheel. Here is a photo of the wheel. It really is GIGANTIC!
As you can see a BIG storm was coming and it was pretty scary watching it come as we were going around. It stopped at the very top and my mum was really scared. I loved it! Here I am enjoying my gelati on the Ferris Wheel.
We were all glad when the ride finished and we got back to our car just in time before the thunder and lightening and rain hit. Phew!
My dog Abby is a Lakeland Terrier. She is turning two in November so Happy Birthday ABBY!
History
The Lakeland Terrier breed goes back to the 1800s and is one of the oldest terrier breeds that is still around today. They were originally called the Patterdale Terrier. The Lakeland was developed by crossing the Bedlington Terrier with the Old English Wirehaired Terrier in the Lake District of England. The dog was used to prevent foxes from destroying their crops and herds. It hunted animals such as badgers, foxes and otters. It was able to hunt everywhere including the woods, fields and water. They would chase and kill animals, so they are very very fast. It is still used for hunting, as a companion and as a show dog. Some of the Lakeland Terriers talents include: hunting, tracking and watchdog.
Features
The Lakeland Terrier has a double coat. The outer coat is hard and wiry in texture. The undercoat is close to the skin and soft. There are many coat colours including blue (which is a grey colour), black, liver, red and wheaten. My dog Abby is a red - wheaten. They also have different markings called saddles where a second colour covers the neck, back and sides and up the tail. Saddle colours may be blue, black, liver and different shades of grizzle .Because they have a double coat they are non shedding and need to be groomed regularly by a dog groomer. My dog gets a hair cut every 10 weeks as her hair gets very long and shaggy. They are quite small dogs and weigh about 8kgs. They live for 10 – 12 years.
Behaviour
They are alert, cheerful, lively, loving and affectionate dogs but also like to bark and dig. My dog Abby is quite naughty and steals our toys and chews them up a lot! She barks lots and chases birds but also gives me nice kisses and hugs. They need lots of training if you want a well behaved dog.
Here are a few photos of my dog Abby. She doesn’t stand still long so it was hard to take her picture.
Do you own a dog?
If so what breed is it?
If you don’t have a dog what sort of dog would you like to own?
During the school holidays I went on the train to Melbourne. It took about an hour to get to Southern Cross station from Geelong. We went to the city to get our ipad fixed. My little brother smashed the screen when he dropped it by accident – Oh NO!
While we were waiting for it to be fixed we went to Melbourne Central. It is a big shopping centre with lots of levels. In the middle is a shot tower. It is really really tall. I got dizzy looking up at it.
It was built in 1888 and is 50 metres high. The building was saved from being pulled down and when they built the shopping centre and train station it was built underneath an 84 m-high cone shaped glass roof.
Coop’s Shot Tower is 9 storeys high, and has 327 steps to the top. Imagine climbing all those stairs! The tower produced six tonnes of shot a week up until 1961, when the demand for the lead shot became low after they changed the laws for guns.
What Is Shot and How Was It Made?
Shot is small balls of lead. It was packed with gun powder into a musket gun and fired like a bullet. Shot was made by dropping molten lead from the top of the tower and as it fell it became ball shaped. Water was placed at the bottom of the tower, causing the lead to be cooled. These pellets were then used as ammunition in shotguns or rifles.
Here is a picture of the tower looking up to the top .
Today my little brother Finn and I went on a surprise visit to Kaiser Craft. It was their Carnival Day. There was lots of kids activities and we entered a few competitions. I entered a coloring competition and also a hula hooping competition. I came second in the hula hooping and it was really fun. Roaming Reptiles were also there and we got to pat and hold lots of reptile including snakes, lizards and even a crocodile!
Here I am with my brother. I am holding the little snake. It was really cute and had lots of muscles to wrap itself around my arm.
Here I am holding the BIG snake! It was very heavy! He had just shed his skin and was lovely and soft to touch. He eats 3 big rats once a month. Imagine only eating once a month!
We also got to pat the lizards and crocodiles. They were rough and cold to feel but were also soft. I got to feed the lizard a piece of banana. It licked it first then gobbled it up once it knew what it was.
