My Summer Vacation 2014

Kristoff: Really? I'm guessing you don't have much experience with heat.

Olaf: Nope! But sometimes I like to close my eyes, and imagine what it'll be like when summer does come.

Krupa: When summer did come ..this is what I did!!!

Camp : Would you spend your summer vacation at home doing absolutely nothing, or trade those humdrum days in for enjoyable, busy-buzzing days at Safari Camp? Hot summer days on field trips spent playing at parks, swimming and sliding down the slides at water parks. Seeing time lines of inventions at the museums, watching the animals romp around at zoos, panning for Pyrite Gold like a gold miner in the California gold rush and more!
Days whizzed by playing games, going places, and doing things at camp base (YMCA). Break dancing and diving into the cool water on a hot day at the pool were my favorite activities. I am glad I went to YMCA camp.

Camp

Enjoyable, Eventful

Swimming, Dancing, Horsing Around

Campers, Counselors, Mom, Daughter

Boring, Learning, Uninteresting

Monotonous Routine, Identical

Home

Lights, Camera, Animals:  Animals in action. Of course you've seen regular do-nothing-but-sleep animals at the zoo. But on a particular trip to the zoo, me and my sister got the pleasure of enjoying Lights, Camera, Animals in action. Tiger scratching and pounding at the door, bawling for it's food, Lion at close-up window pacing back and forth, thinking " Hmmm, should I eat this side first or this side?" We arrived just in time to see the python eating it's food, a live rabbit on a stick!

Kayaking: My very first kayaking with my best buddy was splashy, wet, tricky but fun!!
Montrose Bay: As we drove into the parking lot, I could already see the trees swaying with the breeze and the sandy trails that led to the beach with waves lapping on the shores. We had a tasty picnic under a shady tree and with our bellies full, we went to get a good look at the skyscrapers. Tall, black, beautiful skyscrapers, touched the fluffy, white, clouds. A nice cool breeze wafted through the air with the smell of the Michigan Lake.The Montrose Bay was cold but we went for a good swim anyway. The park also gave us a chance to view nature's beauties and creations in the bird watch trails. Wow, the city has it's bad sides, but man, are it's good sides wonderful.
Raging Waves: The water was rushing down the slides, people swept down slippery slides on tubes or just like that. My family enjoyed a beautiful day at Raging Waves, slipping through the Three Sisters. Plummeting down P. J's Plummet. Boomeranging into the funnel-shaped Boomerang. Letting ourselves be swept away by waves in the wave pool, and just relaxing in the lazy river. What a cool, fun, lazy day.


Road Trip: In our exciting road trip to Minnesota we decided to visit the famous amusement park inside of the biggest mall ever. Swoosh, bump, zing, AHHHHHHHH! The whole amusement park spelled EXCITEMENT, THRILL, and FUN. People where everywhere, playing games to riding coasters and screaming their heads off. Bouncy houses and roller coasters, bumper cars and more were spread out across the park. Scary rides and baby rides, shooting games and throwing games. Everywhere you looked, you saw a new adventure and before you knew it you would be in the ride and speeding into the adventure it held for you. I thought the fun would never stop coming. I boinked through the Pineapple Popper, zinged through the Pepsi Streak, and went round and round in the Ferris wheel.The Ghost Busters, the  Ninja Turtle Shell Shock, the scary Air Bender, and the Brain Surge that twisted you upside down!
By the end of the day, I was spinning and my brain was going crazy with all the scary and fun rides that I went on that day. And I have to admit Nickelodeon Park in the Land of Thousand Lakes was the best Mall/Amusement Park I have ever been to.  Could this day get any better? My first answer was no but then I got my first American Girl Doll Who I named Anabelle.

India Trip: Whoosh, Zoom. "Please keep your seat belt on for landing, Thank you" the plane crew announced. We had landed in Bangalore, India for my summer vacation.  As I stepped out of the airport, I took in the fresh smell of India air. I couldn't wait to see my family. Sticky jack fruit and mangoes, bakery and street food here I come!
"Wow, Orion Mall is as big as the mall of America" I whispered, dazzled by the wonderful sight. Icecream stands, food stores, cloth stores and more. At the first level, a giant play place, maybe two stories high stood in the middle of the mall. There was even a huge arcade with rides, bowling, arcade games and a small merry-go-round outside.
After the terribly long bus ride to Sode( pronounced Soun-day), North Karnataka it finally seemed worth it.  I took in scene. A large pool with holy water (that the adults would bathe in) followed by a step of stairs, leading to the choultry and a temple made up what was known as Vadirajaru's Matta, Sode. Me, my sister, and my grandmother took a bath while the rest of my family dipped in the holy water. We spent most of the day in the Vadirajaru Matta singing and meditating. It was a very calm, serene day.
" How many more trips are we going to go on. We just came back from Sode" I grumbled." Well we are going to Tirupati now" my mom announced. "A line which you have to wait in for 7 hours to see ONE god. Is it worth it ?" I asked a bit annoyed. Pushed and tossed around we came out grumbling, mumbling, and yelling. Another few minutes and there was saw the very famous and rich Tirupati Venkateshwara. As if the room was one I heard "VENKATA RAMANA GOVINDA!" The wait was worth it and I will visit him again the next time I come to India

Kerala: " I can't wait to meet Sir, and see all the beautiful places, and go toall the beaches" I went on and on rambling through my list of things todo in Kerala. We drove for a few hours which was an eternity for me. Finally we reached the boat stop in Allepy, caught a boat to Citrus Hotel which was a resort on an island in the middle of Allepy,Backwaters. The next morning, I was in for a real surprise! Goodbye land for 4 hours. Boring as it might sound, I enjoyed exploring the boat, watching the beautiful view, laughing at the snake like features of the snake bird, stopping at a near by island to take pictures, and even driving the houseboat! After a long drive, we ended up at UDS (Uday Samudra) with gorgeous lotus ponds, swimming pools and a variety of restaurants! The next day we went to Poovar which was a miniature Amazon.We paddled through the mangroves. Mosques lined the land next to us. We even stopped at a beach along the way. After our miniature adventure, we went to a place where we could ride elephants. A large elephant lumbered up the path. Climbing onto the beast we ambled along slowly, the elephant followed the Mahout ( the master), passing lotus ponds and banana trees.
" Brothers & Sisters"that's how Swami Vivekananda announced his crowd when he give his first speech in Chicago. We took a boat to the great Kanyakumari temple, dedicated to the lord Shiva, the destructor. From there we took yet another boat to the Vivekananda statue and better yet we went to Kanyakumari beach with beautiful shells, tiny wave pools, and red, black and white sand!
" A spring with medical values"? I questioned. We were up early to go to the holy lake, Papanashashivam beach which you bath in to wash away your sins and apparently there was a natural spring with medical values next to it. Gargantuan waves broke over the hot sand. Men went in to a wave and came back soaked, but nobody in my family dared to do that!
Thrissur here we come." We are going to see Sir, we are going to see Sir" I exclaimed excitedly as we were going to see my music teacher.  But first we had to go to Guruvayoor, the temple of lord Krishna. We were cramped into a line going here and there for 5 hours, on the other hand, it was worth it. The moment I saw the glowing statue, I forget about the terrifying line and started laughing!! We were supposed to go to my teacher's concert but we were delayed, though we were able to pick him up and go back to Lulu's and have dinner. Oh well, as they say, something is better than nothing. I was very disappointed that we were leaving India, but thinking about what would be happening at home turned that sad face into a smiley face.