Its not every day you get a picture painted especially for you by a penguin. It was my seventeenth birthday and it was quite a special one. My mother, sister, best friend/sister, her mother and her mother’s boyfriend and I took a trip up to Edmonton. We stayed in the West Ed Hotel in the Hollywood room. It was not only the celebration of my birthday but also my friend Brookelyn who can with me. We are about two months apart and have always wanted to celebrate together. Our parents decided to make this a surprise and planned everything without us even hinting that they were putting together such an eventful weekend. This picture shows my favorite part of the whole trip. It was the most unique experience and memorable moment; I will never forget it. Not only did this little guy paint me a beautiful picture but I also get to hold him and not going to lie I was a freaked out he would poop on me. Their feathers are like silk and I could have taken him home he was that adorable. They make really neat sounds and motions that we got to learn about what some of them meant. We got to tour all behind where they make the food and salt water for the animals and got to see the sea turtles from the top of the tank. My least favorite part was stuffing small dead fish with vitamins for the penguins. That was not a pretty sight but thankfully the smell was tolerable. I am so glad I had the chance to experience something so out of the ordinary and with someone who I am so close to.

A Moment

Over the break I went to my grandparents’ house in Creston BC for a week. It’s a small town surrounded with mountains; it is so quiet and peaceful. My dad’s side of the family was all there. While we were up there we played a board game called Settlers of Catan. Each game takes about two to three hours and I have never had so much fun playing a game before. It’s become a family tradition every winter, for the past three years we have united as a family at my grandparents’ house and play this game for the majority of our visit. It is a great way to bond with family while having a blast. We never get sick of it because the game is different every time. My favourite moment over the break was while we were playing this game. It was my grandparents, dad, stepmom, uncle and I playing one night and I was not doing very well until the last bit of the game. My uncle the champion was winning until I took his points from him last minute before he went out. This allowed me to win the game which out of the many times I have played it was my first time winning. My uncle was very impressed with how I played and told me he is happy to have a challenge. I have never been super close with my uncle, it has always been kind of an awkward relationship but after that game every time we played after that we competed and it allowed us to bond. It may have been a small thing but to me family is the most important thing and being able to connect over a board game with my uncle made it a special moment I will not forget.

The Little Things

                            

My sister Hannah is eight years old. She is one of the most enthusiastic, energetic and outgoing little girl I have ever known. The other day she was going on about how sad she was about losing her little kitty for her Lego friends. That night she had spent hours looking for it. The next day my mom had found it under the couch. When Hannah came home from school my mother gave her the small kitty and she was filled with joy and exhilaration. She comes running down stairs streaming, “I’m so happy.” I was in my room down stairs doing my homework and I could hear her excitement from all the way upstairs. She came in my room to tell me she found it; the happiness in her voice made me smile and laugh that such a little plastic toy would make her so appreciative. Times like this make me wish I could still be that little girl who was high spirited over the little stuff. It is so funny how such little things make children so eager and as we get older that excitement and cheerfulness over small things goes away. If only we could keep that enthusiasm alive our whole life I think our existence would be that much more enjoyable and fulfilled. 

     

Snow Day

        When I was around ten years old I was at my friend Micah’s house for a sleepover when a crazy snow storm came in. It was a little frightening but fun. The power went out and we had to light candles all over the house. We were upset because we were in the middle of a movie and we could not finish it. That’s when we can up with a brilliant idea to play hide and seek in the dark with her three siblings. It was the most fun I have ever had playing any version of hide and seek. When the power came back on after about forty five minutes we were dissatisfied. We were having such a blast playing the game that we did not want to stop. So we decided to turn all the lights off and continue our game. The next morning everything outside was covered in at least two feet of snow and our eyes filled with joy. We got all our snow gear on as fast as we could and rusted outside. The snow was perfectly fluffy and sticky. We spent the whole day making the most incredible snow fort and we were so proud of it. My favorite part of it all was when we finished, made hot chocolate and went back outside and drank it in out fort. That was one of the best memories I have had with my friend Micah.

Silent Laughter

One time my friend Brookelyn and Lexie were at my house to have a sleepover. We were all in the kitchen talking and my sister Hannah came upstairs, she was only about 5 years old at the time. Brookelyn was sitting on the counter and asked Hannah to try something. She said for her to sit in her legs so she could swing her. It didn’t work very well because Hannah ended up flipping and hitting the tile floor. At first she didn’t react, and then she began to cry, but only from the shock. Initially, we were stunned at what had just had happened, but then we all started to laugh uncontrollably. Especially Hannah, because at the same moment she fell I had taken a swallow of water and I had water coming out of my nose and was coughing, as well as laughing; it made everyone laugh even harder. We all were dying from laughter and when my sister laughs hard her nostrils flail which made us laugh so hard we could hardly breathe. There were moments when it went silent because we couldn’t control ourselves from laughing. The best part is Lexie happened to have her phone with her and recorded the whole thing.

One night my family and I went out for dinner to Red Lobster, one of my favourite places to eat. I wasn’t very hungry so I just ordered the clam chowder soup but my sister got the big plate of snow crab legs with buttery garlic mash potatoes and jumbo coconut shrimp. It looked unbelievably delicious and mouth watering. I was so determined to have some of her crab but she hates sharing with me so I wasn’t able to snatch a piece without making a scene. She likes cracking the crab and getting all the meat out before eating it. She had cracked them all but one before she had to go to the bathroom and she clearly stated that I must not touch her food and informed mom to keep a watch on me. It was my chance I thought to myself and my mother was in a deep conversation with my brother. I snuck a fork full of the crab meat drenched it in butter and prepared my self for the savouring, comforting taste that melts in your mouth. My mom caught a glimpse of my and raised her voice saying that my sister had better not find out. She came back to the table and thankfully didn’t notice. My clam chowder was not satisfying at all; it was chewy and not very warm. I would kill to have another bit of that crab. I risked it the split second my sister was digging through her purse, I quickly grabbed a small piece and dipped it in the butter. Before I could bring it to my mouth she saw me and tried to grab my hand, but the fork slipped and the buttery crab went all down my new blouse. I was furious and I wanted my mom to get mad at her but all she said was you deserved it and that I should’ve listened.