I FINALLY got my balloon ride!

When I was six my parents promised me a ride in a hot air balloon after I helped on the ground crew of the Energizer Bunny balloon at the Champlain Valley Balloon Festival. By the time we finished helping the balloon rides were closed and I couldn't get a ride. So we have spent the past three years trying to get a ride. This summer I finally got my ride. AND, I got to take the ride with my friend, Maddie.

Here is Maddie, Maddie's mom, and me (and the pilot) in the basket. We're ready to go.

Here we are...Up, Up, and away!!

After Maddie and I had our ride then it was Papa's turn. Bye Papa!!

In the evening, after the tethered balloon ride, we went to the balloon glow. The balloon glow something that happens after dark; it is when the hot air balloons burn their fires to heat the air in the balloon. When they do this in the dark it makes the balloon glow.

On the First Day of First Grade...

Actually, I'm in third grade now, but it IS the first day...
I wish that I could say I was excited about school starting, and I am in some ways, but mostly I just wish I could stay home and fly my kite, build my zoos (Zoo Tycoon 2...video game) and play with my snakes (no, they're not living snakes). I do look forward to seeing my friends again and maybe making some new ones, and it should be fun to get to know Mrs. Wirsing...maybe third grade won't be so bad. Oh, and this afternoon we get to go to the Fair and watch the Demolition Derby...that'll be cool. And Oma and Opa are arriving this weekend for their move to Vermont! Now *that* is totally cool!

This is Me with Katherine getting ready for Mama to drive us to school.

Last Day of Summer Vacation

It's our last day of summer vacation. After we went to Montessori School to visit Katherine's classroom Mama took us miniature golfing at the cool place with the big waterfall.

This is me taking my out on the 3rd hole.

And this is me standing in front of the big waterfall.
I haven't been mini golfing in a long time so it was really fun.

Flying a Kite

This is me flying a kite in my back yard! (I can't tell you what my little sister is doing on the slide...she's just goofy.)

I can drive!

Today was a great day...well, if you don't mind shoe shopping and going to the grocery store. The rest of the day was great. Mama let me get the lawn mower out and drive around the yard with Katherine in the trailer!!


And when we were done doing that Katherine and I acted out stories that we made up and then Mama said, "How fast can you get your fishing stuff ready?" and I said, "I'll be in the car before you can say 'SHARKBAIT'!". Then she took us to Lake Iroquois. I fished and Katherine played in the water until she was cold. And dinner wasn't yucky! It was a great day.

Pictures of Me

This is a picture of me with a fish I caught.


This is me with my friends from Tae Kwon Do - we went to Ben & Jerry's for ice cream.


This is me with my friend, Frau Schumann, from the International Ladies Group that my Mama goes to. We are discussing some of the flowers at the Shelburne Inn.


This is me doing a guitar concert with Grandpa Widaman.


This is me rowing the raft with Grandpa Widaman on the Yellowstone River.


There are lots of pictures of me from this summer as my family traveled and did many fun things. Check us out at www.mellmann.com!

My Tae Kwon Do Tournament

Yesterday I participated in my second Tae Kwon Do Tournament and I received two second place medals; one for my "forms" and one for sparring.

This is me doing my forms. I had to do it twice. The first time Papa said I did a picture-perfect job, but I lost to the other participant. The second time I hesitated on one of my moves, but I still won. Over all I received a second place finish. The video is from my second round.

I also had to spar. Sparring is when you fight against an actual opponent. Unlike the forms where you are only competing against yourself - whoever does a better job on their chosen form wins - sparring involves actually kicking and punching (and getting kicked and punched). Sparring isn't my favorite part of the sport, but I did okay and managed to take a second place. Here you see me sparring with someone from another school. I was trying score a head-shot (worth two points), but I'm not sure if I made it. The following video is from one of my sparring rounds.

If you would like to see more pictures of the tournament you can go to my family website and see it here.