249. Spring Recess 2018

       During my Spring Recess, I went lots of different places and I had tons of fun!! I went to Girl scout camp, participated in a marathon kids relay, saw movies, went to track and field, and worked on my blog!! I can’t wait to share my exciting experiences.

Boston 2018 Marathon

In the Boston 2018 Marathon, the relay races were a blast!! We lined up in single file and handed a baton to each person. Our team came second, but we had a lot of fun during this amazing race. After we finished, we got to have some refreshments and we got to watch other members of our team participate.

Movie

 National Treasure is a thrilling movie, where Ben Gates steals the Declaration of Independence to find a treasure that has been lost for centuries. The second movie, The Book of Secrets is where Ben kidnaps the president, John Kennedy!! Not much is different from this movie, but things get exciting when Thomas Gates, Ben’s great-grandfather might have been involved in the assassin of Abraham Lincoln.

Track and field @ CLCF

 Track and field might be tiring, but it sure is fun!! During my practice, we got to do long jump, and jump on high boxes. Our coaches always encourage us, for example when a box was almost taller than me and I didn’t even try to jump on top, my coach motivated me and I finally jumped on it!! Track and Field is always amazing and I know other people enjoy it too.

 Girl Scout Camp - @ Camp Hoffman, Kingston RI

 In Camp Hoffman, Girl Scout camp is lively. Every day is a new challenge and you and your troop should work together. On April 21, my cabin worked hard to make benches. We used wooden planks and power tools. And don’t forget teamwork!! We used the materials as best as we could and when we ran into a trouble spot, we tried different solutions and if needed, we asked for help. The leaders then came over and gave us some useful tips!!

Blog- articles and artwork

 I worked on my blog by putting in some drawings and juicy stories and experiences about different places like this story!! I also post some amazing pictures to look at. Working on my blog is repetitive, but it turns out extraordinary at the end!!

 In conclusion, my Spring recess was loads of fun and I hope we get more breaks, but we all have to go back to school sooner or later, and school is also fun in its own way. You get to see your friends, play outside, do exciting projects and you get to learn amazing things!! Spring Recess is fun, but school is also fun if you look at it in a different perspective.

206. Cross Country

I got enrolled in CLCF cross country. I couldn't even wait for it to start! One day out of the blue, cross-country had FINALLY started! Usually we practice at Roger Williams park zoo on Tuesdays and Thursdays and practice race on Briggs complex Hope Road, Cranston, Rhode Island. At Cross Country, we usually start by doing  regular warm ups, which include, figure four, touch your toes, lunges, butterfly, and we also stretch out our arms.

Then, we do a warm up run to the Temple to Music around the big tree and back. After that, we take a 5 minute break, and we start doing relay races, which are my absolute favorite!! When the whistle blows, TWEET! We take off running!! We go around the  big tree and we come back and high-five our partner so they can run!! When all the people in line are done racing, that team is first!!

Later, we take another break, and this time we ran across the big hills!! We go across the hills, around the big tree, and back where we started, but, instead of stopping, we have to keep running until the whistle blows!! This time, we take a 10 minute water break instead of 5, and we do an easy jog around the tree and back!!

On some days, we have a practice run, where we run around the tree. On Race days, we have a big race where we have to run 1.5 miles!!! When I ran the race, I finished with the 13.24 minutes!! The next time I ran, I dropped off 2 minutes!! Which is, 11.22 minutes!! Later that day, I got a ribbon that said that I was 3rd place in my age group which is 10 year olds!!  At the end of practice, we all gather together to hear where we meet next. And that's our workout for the day!!

The big CVS downtown 5k Race that held at Providence, Rhode Island, is so exciting!! Through CLCF, my parents registered for the kids’ youth race of 0.5 miles. The announcer called for the racers, and I went ahead and lined up!! HONK!! I took off running at the speed of lightning!! I went down on a huge slope, so, I sped up!! When I was going back up, I had to face a monstrous up hill!! It was so steep!!

I gathered the last of all my energy and I stumbled across the finish line!! I got a medal, and it turns out that I was tied in 5th place, because me and another girl had both reached the finish line at 2:25 minutes!! Unfortunately, we had the same minutes, and seconds, but, we had different milliseconds!! I was really proud of myself for being tied in 5th place, because, it was the very first time I had participated in the cross country youth race!!

192. Summer Camp 2017

Following are the places that I visited and enjoyed along with my friends during the summer camp 2017 scheduled by the City of Cranston, Parks and Recreation, Rhode Island.

1. Roller Skating At United Skates Of America
2. Water Slides At YAWGOO
3. Budlong Pool in Cranston
4. MINI-GOLF At Mulligan’s Island
5. Legion Bowl
6. Dream Big Gymnastics
7. AMF Cranston Lanes - Bowling
8. OSSG GYM & ROCK Climbing
9. Swimming at Spring Lake (Burrillville)
10. SOUTHWICK’S ZOO Zoological park in Mendon, Massachusetts

Roller Skating At United States Of America:

There are many games to play, and there is also a Roller Skating rink. At the front desk, you could pay $5 to get a Roller Skating Scooter, which you hold onto when you are out skating. On the way back, is where you get your roller skates!!

Water Slides at Yawgoo:

There are three pools, there is a small kiddie pool, a big pool which goes up to 8ft deep!! The other pool is where the water slides are, there is a big water slide and a small one!! They both end in this pool. There is also a volleyball court and there is a place for food and drinks!!

Budlong Pool:

It has 4 pools!! There is one that is 2 feet, to 5 feet. Another that is 6 feet to 8 feet. There is also a pool in the middle, but, that is only used for when they conduct a test to see if they are allowed in the deep end. Speaking of the deep end, it is 9 feet to 10 feet! There are also comfy chairs to sit down and rest.

Mini-Golf at Mulligans Island:

On the Mulligan's Island, there is a volcano that actually blows fire, underneath the volcano is a small hole! If you walk up the stairs there are three holes leading down under, which comes out of another end!! Mulligan's island also has some drinks such as Gatorade and water!! Mulligans Island sure is a fun place to golf!!

Legion Bowl:

It has many games such as Deal or No deal, the claw machine, Basketball, and much more!! It also has fun prizes for tickets. In the right hand corner, there is an area to bowl!! Some of the lanes have bumpers, so, don't worry if the ball slips out of your hands, the bumpers will have your back!!

Dream Big Gymnastics:

It has bars, beam, trampoline, foam pits and much more!! It also has its very own karate center!! The Gymnastics has very nice equipment, and it doesn't hurt your hands!! They also, make sure that no one gets hurt, by, putting heavy mats on the floor. To me, this place gets 5 stars!!

AMF Cranston Lanes Bowling:

This place is a blast!! It has food, such as pizza and cookies, and drinks such as Pepsi and water!! It also has games such as polo-hockey, and the giant claw machine!! It is also the right place to have birthday parties!!

Ocean State school Gymnastics(OSSG)

It has rock climbing and gymnastics!! This place is great!! The Rock climbing has many different walls to climb, and they also have a rope ladder!! The gymnastics has a humongous foam pit, tons of beams, lots of equipment!! I would want to go here all summer long!!

Swimming at Spring Lake(Burrillville)

This place is exactly like a beach, only difference is that is a lake!! On the other hand, it also has a nice playground near the sand!! The water is very cold, but if you are having a lot of fun, you can't feel the water!! Speaking of the water, there is a also a small plastic slide, so, kids and slide into the pool instead of jumping!!

Southwick's Zoo:

This place has a lot of animals, from monkeys, to lions, even to kinkajous!! Southwick's Zoo is a fun place to visit, because, it looks as if the animals are excited to see you, even the deer!! Speaking of the deer, there is a special place where you can feed them!! Don't be scared if they are going to bite you, because deers are calm gentle animals!! Southwick's Zoo is for you if you love animals or nature!!

154. Basketball at YMCA

My parents enrolled me at the YMCA for Youth-I, Basketball. I was very excited to see my coach. When I went there, my coaches were Coach Matt and Coach Saye. There were also ten kids along with me for the training.

Usually our training starts with an exercise by doing fifteen jumping-jacks, followed by dribbling the ball in our right hand, then left.

Later, we would line up, so we could shoot hoops. The ball we used to practice, has the circumference of 28.5 inches and the weight of 20 oz, a perfect kids size. We had to squat down, and put our hands up, to show defense. So, when our coaches yelled one-two, we yelled, defense!

Then, we raced with the person next to us. After the exercise, we would play a real basketball game. I was usually on the blue team, by wearing a blue jersey and the opponent wore a red jersey. When I play, I am careful not to double-dribble or throttle, because then, the coaches would stop the game and give the team penalty.

Later, we would continue the game, and we had a timer, which would show that we would have 20 minutes to play. And, when we have 5 seconds, the players would have to hurry because they would want to get a hoop. When the seconds have passed and a team had won, the coaches would grab a basketball and we would put our hands on the ball and shout, “We Love Basketball!!”

We had this routine Basketball Skills and Drills for 6 weeks, on the last day we had the match and my team won!!

The coaches gave us certificates, to show that we have successfully participated in the YMCA basketball training program. My parents congratulated me and signed me up for the youth II program, and I hope it will be as fun as the youth I!!

116. Swimming at YMCA

When my parents enrolled me in the Aquatics Program, I was really excited to start Youth - I, where I learnt to paddle 25 yards’ front, side and back, in addition to that, I also learnt how to float, kick and rhythmic breathing.

  Usually, I woke up early in the morning when I remembered that, that day was swimming practice. I used to bath swiftly on those days and put on my swimsuit, and my parents drove me to the YMCA. Then I used to rush into the pool, and join the team for the regular routine, which was 5 laps in backstroke, and 2 in butterfly, 2 flips and some freestyles. Later on, our coaches, Ms. Jamie and Ms. Kacey would come and tell us to grab our kick boards and do a streamline. Later we would go on the diving block and do 2 or 3 dives and then do a dolphin kick. Thus, I successfully completed Youth - I and headed into Youth -II!

   In Youth-II, I learnt breast stroke, side stroke, and both elementary and overarm back stroke and diving skills. I kept practicing those skills and I amazingly completed Youth – II and headed to Youth – III, where I have learnt to focus on refining the techniques in the strokes, and introduction to butterfly. Endurance was built to 50 yards in all strokes, 25 in butterfly. During these practices me and my friend Sophia challenged ourselves to do 3 laps in breaststroke and it was a tie! It was really fun in the entire sessions. Successfully, I then got approval from my coach, Ms. Mena to move to Youth – IV, which is Stroke and Endurance.

    In Youth – IV my coach is Mr. George, who is responsible for the swimmers concentration on stroke mechanics of crawl, back, side, breast and fly stroke and endurance swimming. As of now I’m in this level and very much eager to proceed ahead to adaptive swim lessons and teen swimming where I would expect to learn water submersion, floating, swimming to the edge of the pool and swim-float-swim technique.

 Note: Names have been changed to protect privacy.

by Harini, Grade IV