Pumped Up Kicks

Hey, guys. Sorry for the long wait for the next blog entry. I've been sick. Actually, I've been sick for a while now...WITH BEIBER FEVER!
Just kidding!
(Did you really think I'd catch the disease? Hahaha no!)
As the road trip continues, Mom, Than, and I are creating a set-list of songs that play on our radio and we like listening to. So far our theme song this summer has been "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People. It's about gun/gang violence, auto-tuned, so why WE like it I'm not sure. I myself like guns and gangsters, but domestic gun violence is something I'm not a big fan of. It's still a cool song though.
We're also putting on this list "Falling In" by Lighthouse, and "Little Lion Man" by Mumford & Sons.
I've also realized how annoying banjos are. And that Shania Twain actually has some pretty catchy songs. And just how much my mother dislikes Rush.

MOMS RUSH QUOTES

Mom proves why it takes patience and an open mind to listen to Progressive Rock. I still like it...

EARLY DISTANT WARNING

ME: And THIS song proves why Geddy is a maniac.

MOM: Oh, I never doubted the fact that he was a maniac.

“Dear GOD how did this man ever get his hands on a microphone?!”

“This drummer guy is a machine! You pit him against a metronome...and he might win.”

TEMPLE OF SYRINX

“This is my favorite rush song so far...but that doesnt mean I like rush. At all.”

ME: Its a crazy song. Its about futuristic priests who run the world with computers.

MOM: What the- that doesnt even make any sense!

ME: They control everything you know, everything you've heard, evrything you've seen... (hand motions) and the meek shall inherit the earth...

MOM: Who even comes up with these ideas?

ME: Trust me, I've had this conversation before with my friends...

MOM: I don't doubt that. I really don't.

CLOSER TO THE HEART

“But...but...there's no drum solo!!”

“One of the few Rush songs where they ACTUALLY say the title.”

TOM SAWYER

“And...famous riff moment. And...famous riff moment. And...famous timing moment.”

FORCE TEN

“This is a terrible song!! It's boring, long and repetitive!”

(This last quote SADDENED MY HEART!)

Lets not even go into Moms Geddy Lee impression...(but it was a little funny)

SO ANYWAYS...

We left the Shredl's yesterday and had a ten hour drive through the rockies. We arrived in Edmonton and our staying at our friend Jenn's. It is such a pretty, cozy home. I also finished the book "Strange Angels" and drew the characters in manga. Right now I'm working on a special gift for a friend (in manga) and arranging a song for orchestra next year (well...trying to do that all without instruments. It's like playing four star sudoku, do-able, fun, but mind-bending!). We also went to Boston Pizza yesterday. Ahh...one of the things I miss so much about Canada...

Today we went to the Telus Science Museum. We went to several exhibits that were really cool, and watched an Imax movie (About surfing. Not my favorite thing, but it was actually pretty good).

I'll post pictures tomorrow. See you then!

-Hannah

An Incident At The Pool

Today I'm going to talk to you about something that happened to me today.

We left the Sherdl's this morning/early afternoon and went to a pool at Eric's mother's house. It is a large, beautiful heated pool. It was one of the girl cousins birthday parties. I went swimming, and it was refreshing.

Then I saw my brother sitting in the shallow end alone, and I knew he couldn't swim very well. So I decided to help teach him to swim.

We practiced first with a pool noodle, and soon he understood the dog paddle and decided he was confident enough to try swimming without a floaty. I was very proud.

Together we walked across the shallow end, swimming confidently. Suddenly, the pool sloped downwards into the deep end, which goes above the head-height of me and my brother.

Suddenly, he panicked, yelped, and sank beneath the water. I thought it wasn't serious, so I tried to pull him back to the shallow end, about three feet away.

I grabbed his arm, but suddenly, he pulled me in. In a second, he was on top of me, head bobbing in and out of the waves. He held me close, trying to pull me up towards the shallow end. He's only eleven, and not strong enough to do anything like that.

I calmly tried to deal with the situation at first. I figured I could wriggle free and get back to the surface easily, and that my brother was only scared to be in the deep end.

But the more I wriggled, the tighter he clutched onto me. Then, my heart began to beat faster, as I realized I had no air left. I needed to breathe.  I bobbed and swerved and jerked around, trying to free myself and get away. Me and my brother began to go up and down, me in circles, trying desperately to get to the surface. I raised my hand from the water, hoping somebody would see and realize something was wrong, but I only sank deeper.

I realized very soon that I was sucking in water. It was so easy, so very easy, it was terrifying. I began to kick and pinch my brother ruthlessly, but he refused to let go of me. Why wouldn't my brother let go? What was my mother doing? Why didn't the other kids help me? Couldn't they see something was so very wrong?
In my panic I sucked in more water, but my body was fighting to get it out of me.

I heard my brother yelp. I was so close to the surface, I could feel the urge for freedom.

Suddenly, I was back up in the world! Luckily my mom had been watching us closely and was there quickly! My mother grabbed my wrists and began to pull me up. I sucked in the oxygen, but the feeling was all wrong. My voice was low, gravely and sickening to listen to.

Mom helped me to get up on to the pavement, but I was weak. I was coughing already. I mustered all of my energy left to shakily yank myself onto the pavement.  Mom bent over me and held my back softly. I coughed and vomited for a while, my eyes bulging and my throat burning.

I checked to see if my brother was okay, and he'd made it to the shallow end safely, running to see me. He was fine.  Kids asked me if I was okay. I refused to respond. I was angry.

I sat and cried for half an hour. I'd been underwater for what seemed like lifetime, but it was actually less than a minute!

I warmed up in the sauna, and as soon as my throat felt a little better I ate some salty chips. I felt sick still, a wet cough and tirdness lingering. But I decided to be brave.

I continued to cry from fear and happiness. My mother told me that she'd seen my brother bob to the surface and yelp. She'd thought he was on a pool noodle. It took her a second to realize it was me. The other kids had only stared, or just ignored me.

Mom and I knew to conquer my fear I would have to get back in the water. I talked to a few people about the incident, just to vent, and had a loving talk with my brother. He had been crying. We both had panicked in the water.

I knew that I was not afraid of the water. It had been my friend until recently. A two-faced friend, but a friend. So I got back in it. It wasn't scary at all. I even went underwater and on the diving board. I felt so brave!!

After that, we went to the mall and I ate a lot of food.  :)  I've been kind of tired and emotional and I've been coughing a bit. My throat and lungs still kind of hurt, but it's nothing too serious. My mom and Terri have been keeping a close eye on me (too close!)  Anyways, it was really scary and it made me think of the people I love. Live every day like your last.

-Hannah

Vampire Bug Bites

MOSQUITOES!!
So. Many. Bug. Bites. Itching. And. Pain. I don't think I'll sleep well tonight.
Alright, today we left the Kentels with a sad goodbye. Jensen and I are going to be pen-pals, which I'm thrilled about. It's going to be a great.
Then, we drove off to Kelowna and drove around town, looking at our old apartments, houses, churches, day-cares, and other buildings. It was kind of odd, but also very charming.
Then we drove of to the Shredl's at about 11:50 AM and we arrived at about 12:15. They were in the same city we were already in. Now, we're staying at their house. I grew up with their daughters, Arden, Kasenia, and Trinity, and they almost feel like sisters, or at least really good friends. Terri, their mother, has known me since I was a very young baby and she's like an Aunt now. Our mothers are the best of friends.
We then went cherry picking. Over an hour we picked and payed for 12 pounds of cherries. They are DELICIOUS. I'm addicted. Not really. I don't get addicted to things, I can't let myself get to that point. But these cherries are still really great.
Then we took a walk and got some Booster Juice (basically the Canadian equivalent to Jamba Juice). We then went to dinner at an Irish-themed pub called Kelly O'Brian's. We got these fries called Pachos, criss-cross potato skins with bacon, cheese, and chives. I know that it was so, so, SO bad for me, but it was so delicious. Man, THAT was superficial.
Alright, piiiiiiccccttttuuuurrreee ttiiiimmmeeee.....

Here's the house we used to live in when we lived in Rutland. I don't really have memories of this.

 Here's my old daycare. I do remember this.

 Here's the apartments where we used to live when I was little (3 or 4). I remember this vividly. It was amazing to see this in real life, all I've had is memories and dreams.

 SPRINGFIELD! Something about this just made me so happy. Anything slightly Simpsons reference. I dream of someday seeing a blue saxaphone.

 Here's the old abandoned building where my Dad used to work. This made us all really sad.

 Here's my parents favorite Mediterranean Market.

Here's the house where we used to live, and where I got that scar. It's really overgrown and kind of sad, but it's cool to see.

D, D and D.
No, I wish it was Dungeons and Dragons.
But I means "Done, done and done."
:( Darn I wanted to kill orcs!
Alright, time to go.

-Hannah

The Tale of Cindy Anderson

Hey, everyone!
Today was crazy, but there's never a "normal" day for me. So I might as well get used to it.
It was a very fun day. All of us kids made another mini-movie called "The Tale of Cindy Anderson". It was a mock-horror movie about Cindy Anderson, a girl who mysteriously goes missing, then shows up and kills everyone at a camp sight. But it was pretty funny. I got killed by getting run over by a baby tricycle. My brother was stabbed to death with a spoon. It was incredibly wacky, and very cheesy, but the adults laughed pretty darn hard. It was great.
Other than making the movie in the afternoon, we spent the whole day at the beach. We made a huge scale model of Okanagan Lake with lots of mini sandcastles. It was about 2 hours of digging, and lots of hard detail work. In the end, it was worth it.
We also went tubing. That was a whole ton of fun (except for the part when I fell off the tube!). I have lots of great pics of that below.
Alright, picture time.

 Here's our little DVD case...

 Here's my evil twin and my brother on the boat

 Here's Eli, Kai, and Nathaniel out tubing. Kai was a fearless little guy! He was singing and shouting and screaming and laughing more than any of us! And he's three!

 Here I am on the boat. Ahem...here's my hair on the boat.

 Here's Eli, Kai, and Nathaniel again.

 Here's Jensen and I. We look like miniatures of our mothers almost. This almost seems like a Jackie & Dorinda picture, not a Jensen & Hannah picture!

 here we are getting pulled in from our first little ride. This was before I fell in. Otherwise my grin would be slightly smaller.

 Here's...I have no idea what.

 Here's the lake! It's so beautiful ^_^

 Here's Jensen, Eli and I out tubing. This is right after I fell off the tube. The hoisted me back on and I decided to ride anyway.

 Here we are again...

 Here's my brother riding on the boat. :)

 These are the shimmery waves of the Okanagan. You can't find this anywhere else.

 Here's Kai, all tough and brave after a ride. Apparently I'm his best friend now ^_^

 Here's my brother again

 Me and Jensen on the tube!

 Steve, looking for a way to knock Jensen and I about and get us soaked.

 Here we are in the car on the way to the dock so that we can go tubing

 Here we are at the beach. Nathaniel and Eli were very serious about this sand-model, and often stopped to plan and talk things over.

 Here we are digging. And digging. And digging.

Heres Nathaniel and Kai working on the model. Actually, I think Kai was looking for pretty rocks and Nathaniel was working.

Well, that's all for today! Now, to be eaten by mosquitoes >.<
-Hannah

Big, Green, and Beautiful

Hello world! Today was a very good day. Despite risks of storms and mosquito bites, we went tubing this afternoon! Up until that point we went for a walk, had some chips, and made a mini movie (The Showdown).
My little brother Nate and his friend Eli decided to make a little cowboy movie about an outlaw who comes into town and challenges the sheriff. We added a few twists and a couple of jokes, then costumed, filmed, and edited (and edited). The ending goes something like a few adults rolling in the aisles and a DVD for us to bring home. No joke, the adults were laughing SO hard! :) I was proud
Tubing was great. The weather was lukewarm, and the water was cold, but the sun shone and we brought towels. So we got in the boat, drove out on the lake, got on the tube, and then flew through the water (and the air). We got really jostled about, and soaking wet (as if my hair needed to be more puffy. haha). But it was extremely fun and I'm very grateful. Hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same.
Some of the pictures below are a few days old. You'll have to pardon that, I had some trouble downloading a few things.


 The thing that amazes me about Canada is that it's so GREEN! Always a place to recycle in a restaurant, always a greener option available. Signs are put up and people are PAID to recycle! The beaches are so clean and the water is clear. And not only is the COUNTRY green, the people here are green too! Most people are walking and biking around Summerland currently, and many of them have dogs. Physical fitness is all the rage, and I think the U.S should catch a bit of the fever.

 Mmm...Timbits. The Canadian treat. For those of you who do not know what these are, they are little doughnut holes basically, with about a gram of magic sprinkled into the box.

 A breathtaking view from the Coke. A big landslide and lots of rain resulted in a beautiful, smooth surface that shines in the daylight. Such amazing views!

 Another landslide in the Coke. And no, it's not result of clear-cutting, in Canada that's illegal!

 Another landslide view :)

 1) Some of the mountains you can see from the Coke. It's a very high-way (PUN ALERT! PUN ALERT!) The highest point in the Coke is the height where some airline planes fly! This is a little bit lower than that.
2) A lower point of the Coke, near the river. Lots of trees, and when the sun hits it just right...these hills sing (Ohh boy...me and my random references. That one was Disney if you're wondering...)

 Another great view!

 Here's the peach in Penticton that sells snow cones! I want to buy something just because it's a peach. EVIL marketing. Someday I'm definitely going to take my new baby cousin, James, here, and make him ask for some Roald Dahl characters (Auntie Colleen, keep your son away from me, I'm a bad influence!!)

 Here we are in the park, and thats the entrance to the gallery and Japanese gardens.

 Duck! Duck! Goose? NO! NO GOOSE!

 Japanese gardens/gallery area.

 The Casino in down town Penticton. My brother NEEDED a picture of it...

 The bike rental place where we rented our two person bike! I love all the colors in this picture.

 The famous Okanagan lake. Isn't it spectacular?

 My friend Jensen in the kitchen, making some cupcakes. Look at that smile! :) Its obvious she's loving it like a McDonald's happy meal. That was an analogy by the way. I don't know if she actually likes those THAT much...

 Eli's cupcakes. We had a cupcake decorating contest and we all lost :P

 OUR MOVIE!! This is just the case though

 This is Willis, the piano. He's so out of tune, I don't know what he's talkin about.

 Jensen's cupcakes. Lots and lots of frosting.

My brothers cupcakes.


Alright, that's all for today! Check in for a new entry tomorrow (probably late at night)
-Hannah

Ain't No Mountain High, Ain't No Valley Low

We crossed Coquihalla, a huge, beautiful mountain passage into the Okanagan Lake territory yesterday. Everything here is warm, sunny, and beautiful. We've had a few storms and some warm rain, but mostly lots of sunlight. The days have been bliss. We're staying with our friends, the Kentels. Steve and Jackie, the parents, and their kids, Jensen, Eli, Kai, and Carter. Jensen is my age and we're bonding. Apparently five years ago we were very close and had a great time. I think I understand why. :)
Today we went mini golfing and bike riding. The bike was made for two adults, and it was a lot of work getting it going. But once we started it up, it was a lot of fun. We also had dinner at a make your own burger place with our friends Michael, Suzanne, Kaitlyn, Eliyah, and Jonathan. Now, I'm back at the Kentel's, lounging on the couch, and preparing to answer Carter's baby toy phone. Apparently his grandparents are calling me...

 Here we are crossing into Penticton. A lot of the hills around here have names and dates on them. A lot of graduation classes put their years up on the hills, and cities do the same.

 Here we are eating cherries that we bought at a fruit stands. Fresh fruit stands are EVERYWHERE around here. And these cherries are AMAZING. Big, juicy, sweet, and ripe. Yum!

 Here's a little fun fair business in town that we visited today. More on that later.

 Here's a front view of the Adventure Park. It seems pretty busy from this angle, but it wasn't that bad.

 Here's the pretty park with a rose garden and a gazebo. Apparently they do weddings and all sorts of events. Good to keep in mind (JK)

Here's a boat they have docked in the down town. They do tours and events, but we didn't do anything today.

 Here's another view of the boat.

 Here we are mini golfing at the Adventure Park. My brother and my mother both kicked my butt at this game (My mother did 2 points better than par!). Me and my brother both got a hole in one though.

 Here's a picture that hangs from the wall outside of the local art gallery. My brother loved it so much he took a picture of it.

 Here we are at the Japanese garden not far from the art gallery. It's very serene and calming. Thats why we couldn't stay long ;)

 Here's a picture of a beautiful coy fish my brother took. It was truly majestic.

 Here's another shot of the garden.

 Here's a fountain in the down town that we passed. Nathaniel had to snap a picture.

 This is for my friend, Danny Ramirez (Suki). Sorry, Mom, I had to put this on here. :P

 Here's a great shot of a para-sailer on the lake. I want to do this SO bad, but Mom says no. Someday...

 Here's a shot of the beautiful Summerland hills.

Here's another hill shot.

Alright, that's the end of post for today. Talk to you tomorrow. Sorry for the delay in posting