Cheney, the Dog Died

Cheney had a better life than she would of had. We got her from a Mexican family in Salinas, California. We took her home when she was just a couple weeks old. She made friends in our family very quickly. She, lived in two of our houses. When she was six and a half she got hypothyroid but we didn't discover that until a year later. The vet put her on medication, so, we did that for a couple of weeks until she got skinny again. We stopped the medication but, she kept getting skinnier and skinnier. Then she didn't eat or drink, so, we had to force feed her. We did that for a couple of months. Then, she started going to the bathroom in the house, so, we put her in the bathroom. Then, it just got to the point that we couldn't take it any longer, so, we took her to the vet and put her to sleep. She lived 8 1/2 years and she died July 27 2010 at 1:30 PM.

My friend Chuck, who is a writer said this "I loved that dog. However, she had a great family, a great big yard, got to run around up at the ranch, an all you can eat chicken poop buffet, and the unconditional, indeed, some say unnatural, love of Chuck. It was a dog's life, and one to be envied. If one believes in these things, she's gone to where all the good dogs go."

Shoot and Miss

Yesterday morning, my dad and I went out snorkling with the spear as usual. But, yesterday he actually took a shot at something, but missed. It, was some kind of white fish. We also saw a bunch of scallops. I told him to get them but he didn't. When I came in, I built a sancastle. It had a wall of sand protecting it, but, the waves came up and took most of it away. When we went to the pool, I got thrown high up in the air and at the same time into the water. I usually land on my feet.

For lunch, I had patatoe chips and scrambled eggs.

Happy Fifth of July

Yesterday morning, I went with my dad and, my uncle, and my grandpa. My dad found a cowry in the coral reef. Then, I went to the pool and played with my cousin. Then my uncle came and we played with him. For lunch I went to our condo for once. After lunch I went to the other condo and played with my cousin. We watched the "Brady Bunch" in Hawaii, then, "Frankenstein". My cousin got scared and had to go to the bedroom. Then, we had to stop the movie because my cousin was hungry and didn't want to sit at the table, so, we went home.

Happy Fourth of July

Yesterday morning, I had scrambled eggs and bacon. Then my dad and I went to the pool and my grandma and my cousin were there. When we got there, my grandpa and my uncle were coming in from snorkeling. My cousin and I went swimming. Later, my dad and I went snorkeling. After 15 minutes I got to cold and I went in to the pool and went swimming with my cousin again. When my dad came in, I asked if I could go have lunch at my grandma's condo. My dad said yes. After lunch we watched "Napoleon Dynamite" again for my cousin. Then, we went the pool and my uncle brought boogie boards down. We got some good waves. For dinner we had hamburgers.

Flight to Hawaii

Yesterday, was the day to go to Hawaii. We flew from San Jose to Honolulu. I watched the movie "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". When we got to Honolulu, we had a 1 and a half hour layover. The next flight was to Kahului, Maui. When we got to baggage claim we found out that all of the luggage went on the first plane because a pane left 15 minutes after we got there. My grandparents and my uncle and his daughter flew in the same day and picked us up. When we all go to the Condominium complex, we went straight to the pool and ocean. We had steak at my grandparent's and my uncle's condominium. Right when we sat down my cousin took three bites of dinner and then marched into the bedroom. After dinner, we watched part of "Napoleon Dynamite". It was pretty good.

My bed in our condominium is right under the T.V.

Illegal Sightseeing Tour & Last day in New York

Yesterday morning, my dad and I moved some slate from a pathway into the woods. Then my dad decided to go to Taughannock Falls and I didn't.When we got there we immediately went into the river bed and walked on that. We saw another snake. When we got to the falls we noticed that there was not as much water as usual. When we got back to the car we had 45 minutes until we had to pick up my grandpa at the library. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. We went home and did nothing. Then we headed to the library. When we got to the library my grandpa's Spanish class wasn't over so we walked through the village. When my grandpa was ready to go we went to Ithaca bakery for lunch. I had a bagel with smoked salmon on it. When we were done with lunch, we went to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to look at the swamps and a snake skeleton. We saw a badger, turtles, and blue herrings. Right before we left it started raining HARD. When we got back to the house I remembered that I had the tractor parked outside. When we got home I put it in the barn. Then, it got really sunny and we went to the pond because the owner of the pond said to come down and get your picture with the fish. It took me a little while to want to pick up the fish but I did. Then I asked the owner if I could cut one open and look inside and he said if you catch one. I did inn a mater of minutes. We had pork for dinner.

Woodchips and Chainsaws

Yesterday morning, I made waffles for breakfast. After breakfast, my grandpa got out the chipper and my dad, my grandpa and I chipped the pile of wood that needed to be chipped and then some. We took all the wood chips to a path that my grandma is trying to make. It looks much better with wood chips on it. Then, we cut down a tree that was in our way. We chipped that also. I even got to use a chainsaw. Afterwords, we had lunch, then, we went to the lake to go swimming. It was 68 in the lake. We swam out to the platform were they had a diving board. We went back home to get the camera because we were going to go look at the water fall. Our first stop was the scenic overlook to see the big water fall. The second stop was to go on to an old railroad bridge but my dad wanted to walk past the railroad bridge to the water fall, so, I had to do that. When we got back, we went fishing in the pond. My dad caught 2 small ones and I caught a small one and a 14 incher. I was to scared to touche it. For dinner we went to hazelnut kitchen the (the best restaurant in town). I had duck breast and my dad had pork belly.

My Dad Arrives

Yesterday morning, I had to get up really early to go to Syracuse to pick up my dad. When we got back, it was lunch time. But before we had lunch I drove my dad around to show him what I've been working on. He rode in the trailer. After lunch, we went down to the pond and went fishing. We caught 8 small mouth bass. just after we got to the pond my grandpa came over to see how we were doing. He fished with a rubber frog.

For dinner, we butterflied a boneless leg of lamb and grilled it with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. After dinner, we went back to the pond to watch bats. We saw 1 bat and a billion fireflies. We ended the day with a game of cribbage.

11th Day in New York

Yesterday morning at 10:00 AM, my grandma and I went to Wegman's to get groceries and to my cousin's house to pick up one of my cousin's. When we got back we went directly to the pond. We fished a little. Then, we cleaned it out a little. We caught 2 fish. When I opened the box to look at them they both flopped out and swam away. When we got back to the house, we rode around on the tractor. At 3:30 PM, we went to play miniature golf again. Afterwords, my grandma took my cousin to his house, while my grandpa and I went to get ice cream at NOT MY DAD'S.

Tenth Day in New York

Yesterday morning, my grandma had a hair appointment near my aunts house. I didn't really want to go to the hair appointment, so, I stayed at my aunt's house for an hour. When I got there we fixed 2 fishing poles. Then, the kid next door who is kind of weird walks in to the garage and trips over a fishing pole and breaks it into 2 pieces. Then, he said "That must be a cheap one."

When we got home, we had lunch, then, my grandpa and I mowed the lawn. Then, my grandpa got his brush mower out and mowed over 2 flower beds, a path to a perch in the field, a path around the dump pile, and to the next door neighbors.

That night, during dinner my grandma was playing golf, so, my grandpa and I had to make dinner. But luckily show left some stew in the refrigerator.