Pinky's Weekend

Pinky played peek a boo at the park

This weekend we had a sleep over at Nanna’s because Mum went out to a birthday Party. When mum came to pick us up on Sunday morning we went for a drive to Harcourt to buy fresh apples.

(Harcourt is about a 1 hours drive away located in the Victoria’s Goldfields district and it is know for it’s apple orchids).

On the way there we stopped a Malmsbury. It is a small town with a nice park. We like to play on the playground. There is an old train bridge at the back of the gardens. My brother thinks it is Thomas the tank engine’s bridge. We like to watch for trains but one never came while we were there.

(The Malmsbury Viaduct is the largest stone bridge in Victoria. It consists of 5 x 18 metre arches and was built in 1862)

After we looked at the bridge we went for a walk in the park’s lake. There is no water in the lake because of the drought and all the ground was cracked.

(The reservoir that feeds the local river and this lake is only 5% full. I will be posting a story about this at my blog sometime this week)

Then we drove to the apple shop on the side of the road and got some apples and a pie to take home.

I hope Sharlene had a fun weekend too.

Love Mikaela

Minnesota Wildlife

Ashlyn has spent a bit of time the last two days gathering facts about area "wildlife" from a few different categories. Here is what she came up with:

Bald Eagles:

They are white and brown. Females are larger. They are a symbol of America. We have lots of them around where we live.

Loons:

They are our state bird. They live in every state except Alaska. There are lots of them where we live also.

Walleye:

Fishermen catch and keep 3.5 million walleye in Minnesota each year. They are our state fish. The cousin of the walleye is the sauger. This is a picture of my dad and I last summer - it was the first walleye I caught of the season.

Deer ticks:

Deer ticks suck on people blood. They are like wood ticks but smaller. They live in the woods.

Chipmunks:

Chipmunks are really fast and hard to catch (me and my sisters have tried). They live in trees and are brown and white and black.

Foxes:

There are lots of different color foxes. Foxes hunt alone. They eat mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, birds, snakes, fish, insects, nuts, seeds and berries.

Clams:

They are members of the second largest group of animals that live under water. They live in rivers and lakes in Minnesota. We like to gather them in buckets when we swim at my Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Snakes:

There are only two species of venomous snakes that live in Minnesota. They are very rare and do not live near our town. Venomous snakes are dangerous but there bites are rarely fatal in Minnesota.

Turtles:

The Snapping Turtle is the largest turtle in the upper midwest. Their shell is normally covered with algae. We also have mud turtles that look the bottom of their shell is painted orange, red and yellow. This is a picture of a mud turtle swimming by the boat.

The types of wild animals I have seen in Minnesota are:

Deer, Bears, Wolves, Owls, Loons, Eagles, Snakes (Non Venomous), Turtles (lots of turtles), Muskrats (my Mom is terrified of these), Beavers, Otters, Fish, Foxes, Rabbits, Porcupines, Racoons, Skunks (usually dead ones on the road) and Woodchucks.

Nature Walk

On Wednesday, me and mum went on a nature walk to see what animals live in our local habitat.We walked over the bridge and along the creek. We saw a magpie and a crow. We heard frogs croaking.

Next we walked to the park. There were signs to say that Blue Tongue Lizards, hawks, the golden sun moth and copperhead snakes live in the Craigieburn Grassland Habitat.


(The copperhead snake grows up to 90cm to 150cm’s long and is venomous, but we have not seen one yet)

Blue tongue Lizard - coperhead Snake

Then we went back down to the creek and saw a big storm water drain and a little duck on the water.

Sometimes on the way to school we see flocks of sulphur-Crested Cockatoos and Glaha’s. They are very noisy birds.

Glaha - Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

My Trip To The Zoo

Today I went to the zoo! We saw fish, giraffes - a mom and her baby, lions, sea lions and my favorite - MONKEYS! I love monkeys. After seeing the animals we went to the gift shop and I bought a bunch of little toy monkeys. The last thing we did was go to the conservatory and see all the flowers and plants.

Love,

Ashlyn

** A Note From Ashlyn's Mom**

The zoo that we visited is not in our home town. Como Zoo is in St. Paul and is a free zoo. They have lots of animals to see and a sea lion show during the summer. My favorite part is visiting the conservatory to see all the flowers. I will be posting the pics of some of the flowers on my blog this week. If you want to check out the zoo's website I am attaching the link: http://www.comozooconservatory.org/

Have a great week!

Legends in the Sky

Hi Ashlyn & Amy,

We have many myths and legends. Mikaela has decided to tell you one that is very fitting considering we have sent you Sharlene the Emu as our toy exchange. She has decided to share this story of the Aboriginal Boorong people of Western Victoria that we learnt about at the Planetarium 2 weeks ago.

Liss

The Emu in the sky

There was a giant Emu called Tchingal. He pecked and ate people with his pointy sharp beak. He made all the families very scared. One man was so scared, he climbed a tree and hid there so long that he turned into a Ringtail Possum. Two brothers killed the Emu and plucked his feathers. They separated the feathers into 2 piles. These piles formed the smaller and friendlier male and female Emu’s of today.

Some Facts:

Tchingal occupies a large amount of the night sky in the southern hemisphere and is easiest seen in the evenings of the months of May through to July. Its head occupies part of the Southern Cross, what western astronomers call the Coal Sack. Its neck stretches down through the Pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri) and its body is the large dark patch just before reaching Scorpius. Its legs hang down into the tail of Scorpius, and the nebulae in Sagittarius are its eggs. The tree that Bunya climbed is the Southern Cross.

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Guess who arrive today!!!
Pinky has been introduced to the other toys in Mikaela’s room and has quickly made friends with a snow leopard.

Legends and Folklore

In my town we are famous for being where Paul Bunyan is from. We have a big statue of him that people like to take a picture with. There are lots of stories about him - here is a link so that you can read about Paul Bunyan.

http://www.visitbemidji.com/bemidji/paultales.html

My question for you is:

Do you have any legends where you come from (either your town or country)?

I can't wait to find out the answer.

Love,
Ashlyn

What I did today.

Today was mother’s day. I got up really early to surprise my mum with a massage in bed. When mum got up, I gave her a present that I got at the school’s mother’s day stall. This year my mum helped run the store and her friend Naomi told me that mum wanted an Angel that lights up. I got a pink one, becasue it was the prettiest. (Mum loves the pink Angel. It will go beside her bed)

We went to Nanna’s for lunch. I love to jump on the trampoline and play with Sally when we visit. On the way home we stopped at the lake near our house to feed the ducks.

Yesterday it was cold and we stayed home so I drew Ashlyn a picture.

I will answer your questions on Thursday.

Love Mikaela

About My Day

Saturday, May 9th 2009

First I got up. No one was awake so I went in the living room and read Spring Fever by Peter Lerangis. Next I ate Kix for breakfast and my sister Hailey woke up. We watched TV until everyone else woke up. Then I got ready and went to my Nana and Grandpa's house. There I played Wii and had lunch. Later we went to the last geocache (for more information on geocaching visit http://www.geocaching.com/) of the Tricachealon (FYI the Tricachealon is a major geocache involving a 3.5 mile hike, a 12 mile bike ride and a 3 mile canoe trip to get numbers to unlock the final cache). Guess what - we were FIRST TO FIND yaaaaa! In the geocache was the ashes of Babe the Blue Ox (we will tell you about Paul and Babe in another post later). We each got a t-shirt and special geocoin to keep. We all celebrated. After geocaching we had a family movie night. We watched Hotel For Dogs and had pizza. My favorite pizza is pepperoni with no sauce. At bedtime I sat done to write this. On Wednesday I would like to ask you a question for my post.

Love,

Ashlyn

5 Things from Down Under

Hi Amy and Ashlyn,

Mikaela will be very excited to see your first post when she wakes up. Although we will wait to after school to reply you.

Mikaela is also planning and writing her post on paper. I am then transferring her writing into a blog post, and elaborating on what she has said where needed. I have taken all the pictures in this post but in future posts most of the photos will be hers.
So with out further ado here is Mikaela’s first post.

Liss


5 Things about Mikaela

1. I like meeting new friends.

2. I like China. For my 8th birthday I had a Chinese themed party.

3. I love going to the park or beach.

4. My favourite breakfast is vegemite on toast with a chocolate milkshake.

5. I love dancing and Disney Princess movies.

5 Things about Melbourne.

1. Melbourne is the second biggest city in Australia. It has a population of approximately 3.9 million people.

2. Melbourne is the only city in Australia to have a network of Trams as part of our public transport system.

3. It is Autumn/Fall in Melbourne

4. Melbourne has 3 zoo’s. The Royal Melbourne Zoo. Werribee open range zoo, which has safari animals and Healesville Sanctuary, home to Australian wildlife.

5. Melbourne has been in drought for 10 years. We have very little water. We are not allowed to water our lawns, or wash our cars with garden hoses or tap water. Our dams are only 27.6% full.

Five Things

This is a very exciting day for Ashlyn! She is thrilled to have her first blog posted on the Trans-Pacific Learning Adventure. She has worked very hard on what she wanted to say. What she has done (and will do for future posts) is write out on paper what she wants to say and then I (Mom) will type and post it for her. This will be in her words and the pictures (well most of them) will be ones that she has taken herself. Enjoy Ashlyn's first blog posting:

Five Things About Myself:

1. I love monkeys and I collect them.

2. I love art and geocaching.

3. We have a boy dog named Boomer.

4. I love to play soccer and dance.

5. When I grow up I want to be a marine biologist.

Five Facts About Where I Live:

1. We have over 10,000 lakes in Minnesota.

2. Our state drink is milk.

3. Bemidji is the first town on the Mississippi River.

4. Bemidji is known for Paul Bunyan.

5. Minnesota is one of the 50 states in the United States of America.