I am back

I have been gone for awhile because I have been very busy and now I have to go to sleep early because I am in first grade.

Since I went on vacation I have started first grade and did some more things.

First I got my Orange belt a few weeks ago.



Then I was in a competition and I won a gold medal for board breaking.

I have also started soccer I like it but I am not good.

I also started choir at church. I like it sometimes.

My sister and I had our birthdays this week. I turned 7. I had a big party with all my friends from school. It was at Dinorex it was a lot of fun. This is my big sister and little sister on one of the rides.

This is me breaking the pinata. Lots of candy and things fell out.

When we had a family party these were our cakes. I don't like cake so I got an ice cream cake. My sister wanted a purple princess cake so she got one.

I have to go to bed early now so I am not able to write late at night. I will try to write more.

My Week

This was a fun week for me I had a lot to do all week.

I did my usual 3 days of Tae Kwon Do, then I had 3 days of sailing camp also this week. At sailing camp we went out on capri sailboats and another kind but I don't remember their names. I will have my Mom go look at what the other boats were called. They are small sailboats that are good for small lakes. We learned how to steer the boat, I was able to do it by myself. We didn't learn how to put up the sail only the big kids get to do that. The class was just for 5-7 year olds. I wish it was for more then 3 days. 3 days is not enough time to learn everything.


On Tuesday night I went to Grant Park Movie festival with my Mom. We met Alex and her partner Chrisanne and a bunch of their friends. My Mom and I took the El downtown and then a taxi to the movie. We had a bunch of food and drinks. I played a "I Love Lucy" game. I don't know what the show is, so Alex was my partner, because she knows all about Lucy. Alex had to recite the whole Vitameatavegamin sales talk. She knew it all by heart, my Mom had to read hers.

My Mom said that is because Alex is a freak about Lucy. Like I am a freak about transportation. We did not win the game because we let Alex's friend win. But we had the most cards and money he just rolled the dice better. But we really won. After the game and talking we watched a movie. It was ET. I have never seen it before and I really liked it, but we were close to the screen and it was really loud sometimes. After the movie we had to walk all the way back to the El because there were so many people you couldn't get a taxi. It was a long walk! We didn't get home until after midnight but I had a really good time. Thanks Alex and Chrisanne for inviting me. Chrisanne I hope you didn't get in to much trouble because you ate Alexs cookie. She doesn't like to share cookies.

Tomorrow we are taking the train downtown again. We are going to go to Freddy's house for the weekend. It is Market Days and we are going to do some fun stuff downtown. We also watched Charlie this week, that is Freddy's dog. Charlie is coming back next week because Freddy has to go to Key West to play the piano for Amy. It is like I have a dog some of the time. My younger sister calls Charlie her dog, but she knows it is Freddy's.

I will write about my weekend next week.

My Vacation

I just got back from a vacation with my Grandpa. We took a train to New York City. It took 2 days to get to New York and we were there for the weekend. I went to get away from my baby sister and to see some ships.



The first ship I went to was the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier. It is a museum now. My Grandpa and I went all over the Intrepid. Next to it was the USS Growler. That is a submarine. My Grandpa couldn't go in the submarine because it has a small hatch and he was to big. I was the right size so I got to go in it by myself. We also got to go in the Concorde. That was right next to the Intrepid also. Here are some pictures of the Intrepid.


In this picture you can see the submarine. But it is an older picture so the Concorde is not there.


When we came home on the train we had a sleeper car. There is a bed like a bunk bed that I got to sleep in. It is on the wall and it has a handle that you pull it down with. Grandpa slept in the chairs because they turn in to a bed. The train ride home was long because the train was late leaving New York. I was suppose to be home at 9:30am this morning and we didn't get home until 2:30pm. By the time we got to my house it was 4:00pm I fell asleep in the car.

My younger sister is here she missed me a lot, but my older sister is at camp in Michigan. She comes home on Friday. She took a train too but her ride was not as long as mine.

Tomorrow I go back to Tae Kwondo, no more vacations for awhile.

My Weekend

On Saturday I took my test to get my yellow belt. I passed my test and Master Kim said I will have my belt on Wednesday.


After class, I went to the store with my Mom and she bought me a light saber that changes colors. I can be Darth Vadar and Luke Skywalker at the same time.


Saturday night I went to my Grandma and Grandpa's. On Sunday Grandma took me and my sister to see people who had trains in their backyards. It was cool. The 4th house was fantastic they had lots of trains and different things. This is not the garden but it is kind of like what they had.

Summer Trip

Tonight my Grandpa told me he planned a summer trip for me. We are going to take a train to New York and then we are going to see an aircraft carrier and take a boat around. Maybe I can go see a musical on Broadway. I didn't ask him about that yet. Then we are going to take another train and go to Washington D.C. for a day or two and see things. My friend Paul lives in Washington D.C. maybe I will see him there. After Washington D.C. we will take a train home. We will be gone about a week in July sometime. It will be a lot of fun!!

Tomorrow is my test for my yellow belt so I have to go to bed early.

My Week

Yesterday in Tae Kwondo I broke a board with my fist. Master Kim held the board and I hit it with a super tight fist. If you make a super tight fist it will break in to five thousand pieces. My board broke in to 3 pieces when I hit it. The other kids boards just broke in to two. On Saturday I will have a test to get a yellow belt. I will have to show my form and maybe break a board again. I won't know until I get there.

Last Sunday my Grandma and Grandpa took me to see Lion King. This was the second time I went to see it. I thought some of it was new from the last time. A lot of it was the same as before. We sat in different chairs on the other aisle so I got to see different animals coming down. At the end I didn't see the big elephant only the little one. My 2 year old sister went with she really liked it. She cried at the intermission because she didn't want it to be over, she cried for more. She kept saying more Lion King more Lion King. We took the EL downtown to go to the theatre. I like to take trains, I liked trains before I liked ships.

This week I am in Vacation Bible School at church. We are going to have a show on Friday. My class is called the MirrorCats. It is suppose to be like a zoo.

Next week I start swimming lessons during the day.

That is it for me.

PS: I wonder when I am going to Great America?

Wednesday

This week was my first week with out school. I found out that I take my test for my yellow belt on the 25th. I have to practice at home so I do well on the test.

Monday my Mom and Dad took me to get a new bike. It is a red and silver mountain bike with hand brakes and 7 gears. I will take a picture of it this weekend. It was hard to get use to at first but now I do better riding. I am learning how to change speeds on it. You have to be riding to do it. I took my bike yesterday to Grandma and Grandpas. I road it around their bike path for awhile and then I went on the street and through the puddle but I didn't get wet.

The End

This Week and Weekend

This was my last week of school. I had 4 days of school this week. The last day was an outdoor picnic with the whole school. I am now going to be in the first grade when I go back to school.

Now I want to talk more about Titanic. Last night I watched Ghost of The Abyss with my friends Alex and Chrisanne. They had never seen it before. We didn't get to watch the whole movie because it was late and Chrisanne was getting sleepy.

I was reading my book tonight on how many people died. On the movie it showed the iron gates that kept the third class people from getting out. These numbers explain how many died and were saved by class.

First Class
Lost 130 Saved 199

Second Class
Lost 166 Saved 119

Third Class
Lost 536 Saved 174

Crew
Lost 685 Saved 214

More people on the crew were saved then in third class. Weren't the crew suppose to help everyone on the boat first before they saved themselves. It seems like only the people who paid a lot of a ticket got saved.

Tae Kwondo is tomorrow I may get a yellow belt this week. This will be the first belt that I go up to.

This weekend

On Saturday my Grandma and Grandpa took me to the Botanic Gardens to see the trains. They had a diesel engine with smoke coming out of it. That was my favorite train. My cousin and little sister went with me. My sister liked the ladybug train. I don't know what my cousins favorite was. We walked around and saw a baseball field and their was people there to get married. It wasn't a good day for that they should have gone to the Queen Mary to get married because it started raining here when we left the Botanic Garden. I hope they were able to have the wedding inside, but not outside.

Today my Dad got the sprinkler out and I put it under the trampoline so when I jumped I got all wet. It was fun but my sister hurt herself jumping.

We turned on the airconditioner today because it was hot upstairs.

Spring is out and Summer is in. The end!

Going to Great-Grandma's

I want to write about how I go to my Great-Grandma's for Halloween every year.
For the last 3 or 4 years I have been going to my Great-Grandma's house at Halloween time.



We go to the farm and have breakfast. Then we take a horse drawn wagon out to the pumpkin patch and I get to pick my own pumpkin.



Then I go and play in the hay maze. There is also a horse ride that I like to do by myself not with a wagon and we go in to the big farm to see what new animals have been born. The last time we were there they had baby pigs.



I like to go do this every year it is a lot of fun.

My new pet

This is Spot

This is Spot's Home

Spot is my new pet he is a Box Turtle, we got him on Saturday. He likes to eat dandelions, apples, vegetables and all types of fruits. We got him some turtle snacks but he likes dandelions better. He is in the aquarium in my room on my video shelves. Sunday when my Grandma and Grandpa were over we let him out on the patio. My friend Anna came to see Spots. Spots spent the whole time under Grandpas feet and then he crawled over to my Mom. He takes a bath for 20 minutes every other day. He had his bath outside yesterday. Spots doesn't like to be upside down, it makes him nervous, he wiggles his hands and feet.

Yesterday my friend Alex was on TV. I didn't watch the whole movie but I watched the parts when she was on.

This weekend my Grandma and Grandpa are going to take me to see the trains at the Botanic gardens. My sister is going, but she doesn't like trains that much.

the end (Cole typed this)

New Site

This is the Britannic underwater.

I hope you all like my new website. My Mom has learned how to add pictures, so now I will add pictures about the things that I am discussing. I tell her when to change the color of the words.

My friend Alex and her partner Chrisanne are coming to visit when Alex gets back from LA. My Dad said he is going to grill out when they come, he is a good cook. I want him to make me a burger, we will make steaks for everyone else.

Alex is going to work at The Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier. She is going to be in "Princess and the Pea" in the mornings for kids. I have seen this already she is a good Queen. Then at night she is in "Comedy of Errors." I have not seen this, it is for adults my Mom and my Grandma will be going with their friends. I think everyone should go see both. Don't forget Alex is going to be on TV Monday the 30th. I will remind you all when it gets closer.

The Queen Mary and others...

On Saturday I went to the library. I told you I was going to research the The Empress of Britain but there were not a lot of books on it. From what I could find there were at least 3 ships called the Empress of Britain but only one of them wrecked.



My Grandpa told me about a ship that is in California, that use to be an Ocean Liner. It is called the Queen Mary. I found lots of books and videos on this ship so I am going to talk about the Queen Mary. The Queen Mary was a much bigger ship then the Titanic. The Queen Mary was over 1,000 feel long the Titanic was only 882 feet long. The Queen Mary almost weighed twice as much as the Titanic at 81,237 Gross Tons. The Queen Mary's life boats could hold 145 people the titanic could only hold 60. The Queen Mary was also used as a war ship during the war from March 1940 until September 1946. The Queen Mary had 1,001 crossings of the Atlantic until it was docked in Long Beach, CA. The Queen Mary's Rudder weighed 140 tons the titanic was only 101 tons. I am going to read more about the Queen Mary but it sounds like it is a very large boat.

My Papa told me that he may take me out to California this summer to see the Queen Mary and stay at it's hotel. To bad my friend Alex will be here this summer, but when she comes back to Chicago maybe she can tell me what I should see while I am in California. I think I want to stay for 2 weeks, I want to go to Disney Land.

Spiders and the library

Today in school we learned about spiders. I learned that tarantulas are nice but some of them are poisonous. Tarantulas do not spin webs, some spiders go in underground holes.

I also had Tae Kwondo again today. I go three times a week. Today I got to spar at the end of class with a boy who is a black belt. It was no contact which means we just do the kick movements but not hit them. At the end of every class we have to say our home rules. I don't know mine by heart yet but I am practicing. I remember them when I see the sheet but I can't remember when my sheet is at home and I am in class. I am working on memorizing them every night.

Right now when I am telling my Mom what to write I am drawing pictures of ships. My Grandma said she is going to show me a picture of the ship my Great Grandparents went on for their honeymoon. When I find out what ship it was maybe I can research it.

I am going to the library tomorrow after school. I have to return my books and get some new ones. I get new ones and return old ones and get new ones and return old ones, it is like a pattern.


That's it for tonight more about ships this weekend.

Alex on TV

Today I read my friend Alex' blog. She wrote about me again and that makes me happy she talked about the Home Rules I have to memorize. I keep asking my Mom when Alex is coming back for a visit. Alex told me June, which is next month. Alex will be on TV May 30th. She will be on ABC Family Channel the movie is called Romy and Michele: In the Beginning. I get to watch ABC Family so I will be able to watch the whole movie, I will even TiVo it. When I know what time it will be on I will let you all know.

Today was my second time at Tae Kwondo. Master Kim said I was doing a good job. I always have to say "yes Sir" or "no Sir" that is good manners. I have to also practice these manners at home and say "yes" not "yeah". "Yeah" is not good manners.

Tonight I have been playing with my little sister. When I was practicing Tae Kwondo at home she tried to do it. Now she is in the laundry basket and I am calling it her little boat. I road around the block tonight on my bike and my Mom pushed my sister in her stroller. Now it is time for us both to go upstairs. She will watch her Baby Einstein video and I will watch TV.

This and That

I am not going to talk about ships today because I need to do some more research before I tell you about them. I am learning right now about the Empress of Britain. It was torpedoed during World War II. I will tell you more about this ship on another day when I have all the facts.

This weekend I learned how to ride my Dad's blue and silver electric motorcycle. I am pretty good at it. I have to wear a helmet and not go to fast. I only ride on the sidewalk. I stop when I go to fast and if I put it on low it doesn't go that fast.

We got our summer pool passes, and I am going to also take sailing lessons this summer. Maybe one day I will be the Captain of a big ship.

On Sunday I went to the store and picked out lots and lots of outfits for the summer. My Mom let me pick out anything I wanted. I am good at matching outfits. I also got a towel and bag that match's my new bathing suit.

Today I took my first Tae Kwondo lesson with Master Kim. It was a lot of fun I am going to go for an hour every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I have to learn the Children's Home Rules for class. There are 10.

1. I shall show respect for my parents and family members at all times
2. I shall greet my parents and relatives when they enter the home and tell them good-bye when they leave
3. I shall be truthful at all times
4. I shall maintain a good relationship with my sisters
5. I shall help my parents with household chores
6. I shall keep my own room neat and clean
7. I shall keep my body, hair and teen clean at all times
8. I shall not interrupt adult conversations
9. I shall finish my homework and parents errands before playing
10. I shall show respect for teachers and peers at all times.

My Mom says these are good rules for everyone.

Tae Kwondo means foot, hand and art. Tae Kwondo's philosophy is to learn how to respect others, help others, be honest and always stand by the weak. (That means to help people who can't help themselves.) I will let you know how I am doing, I go back on Wednesday. You start with a white belt and then you move up to yellow green, blue, red and Black I will let you know more when I learn it.

Well I am off to watch a movie but first I have to brush my teeth. I hate to use toothpaste.

Cole

I'm Back

Hi everybody,

I am sorry I wasn't blogging, cause I wanted to wait for my Mom to come back home. She was in Cancun with her friends and Dad. When they got back I got a shark necklace but it broke, Mom has to fix it tonight. I also got a T-shirt, some shells and a Maraca.

Tonight I want to talk about the Lusitania. The Lusitania sunk on May 7, 1915 it sank in only 18 minutes. There were 1,959 people on board only 764 lived.

There were many rumors about the Lusitania, like that it held gold bars in its hull. This was just recently proven untrue a few years ago by the Bank of England. What was in the hull was compartments stored with coal, which may have had something to do with how fast it sunk. (coal is kind of like my name but it is used to make some engines go and other things) What the passengers probably didn't know was the ship was built for a warship and a passenger liner that is why it had coal in it. Also in 1913 when it was in dry dock they put guns on it that were hidden below deck in case they needed it for war. There is also talk that there were a lot of explosives being shipped but it can not be proven.

The Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine that fired one torpedo. The question is there were two blasts during the sinking. What made the other blast. It was thought that it was caused by the ammunition that the boat may have carried but in 1993 Ballard filmed the wreckage and felt that the second explosion was also caused by the torpedo. The thing I find interesting about this ship is there were a lot of people that tried to salvage this ship but nothing was really found of much value. This may have to do with the Royal navy sending down divers in 1948. They never said what they were doing there. Also captain Turner did not go down with the ship. He got in a lot of trouble later. He should have gone down with the ship like other Captains did.

Been Busy

My Grandma Bella is typing for me today, she and Pappy Mike came on Daddy's Birthday the 29th. We had cake and sang Happy Birthday. Mommy and Daddy went to the airport on Saturday and went to Cancun for a few days So Bella and Pappy Mike are watching Payton, Janee and me til the 8th and then Grandma Liz will be taking over. We had a surprise visitor, Fauve, she came home, I hope she stays. This is very short I'm, just is too busy to dictate, all my readers will just have to forgive me. Love, Cole

Birthdays and other things

First I want to say Happy Birthday to my Grandma Paulette it is her birthday today and tomorrow is my Dad's birthday. So happy birthday to both of them.

Today I will start talking about my favorite ship. First did you know that the Captain of the Titanic, E. J. Smith was also the Captain of the Olympic when it crashed in to HMS Hawke. The Olympic did not sink but I think Captain Smith had a problem running in to things. Violet Jessup was a stewardess in first class when the Olympic had it's accident. She was then transferred to the Titanic. When the Titanic was sinking the officers were having problems getting the 3rd class people in to the lifeboats because they didn't speak the same language. One of the officers asked Violet to get in to the boat to show the other women what to do. She did that and was handed a baby by one of the woman when she got in. Violets lifeboat was the last to be rescued by the Carpathia. After the Titanic sank she was transferred to the Britannic and I told you what happened to her on that boat. If I were her I would not get on a boat.

My Grandpa reminded me that I forgot to tell people that I ride my bike with out training wheels now. I never wanted to try and one day I just did it with out practice. I was born to ride. My Mom thinks it is funny when I say that. She said she is going to buy me a shirt with that on it.

Today in school we learned about pediatrician they are doctors that help kids and babies. I go to one but not that often because I don't usually get sick.

Thanks and More

Thank you to all my friends and family and new friends that made comments on my blog. I really liked hearing my Mom read them.

Before I talk about the Britannic I would like to talk about my day in school. Maddie's Dad came to school to talk to us about "Stranger Danger". He is a policeman and a fireman. He gave Maddie badges in bags to put in our cubbies. He told us if someone we don't know comes up to us and says "I have a dog in my car that is sick and needs to go to the vet will you help" they are bad and we should run away and get another adult. He said if I saw a friend and his Mom I should ask his Mom to help. He told us about what he wears and the different vehicles that policeman and police girls use. They use cars, bikes, motorcycles, helicopters, rollerblades and horses.

About the Britannic: The Britannic was a sister ship to the Titanic and the Olympic. It was built to be like the Titanic but in 1915 she was made in to a hospital ship for the war. When she was on her way to a hospital she was hit with an explosion. They are not sure if it was a torpedo or a mine. She was hit in the same space the Titanic was, but she sank really fast, in 55 minutes. Only 30 people on the Britannic died. They did not drown the were in a life boat, but because it sunk so fast the life boats were sucked in to the propellers. Everyone was all chopped up. That is pretty gross, their brains and everything were chopped up.

What I thought was also interesting was that Violet Jessup made it through the Titanic sinking and she was on the Britannic too. She jumped overboard but was knocked out when a lifeboat hit her head. Someone pulled her up and saved her. She was also on the Olympic when it was in a collision with another ship.

Thank you Uncle Brian for the web site on the Andrea Doria. I will look that boat up when I go to the library this weekend.

Thanks to everyone else for your comments and please let me know if you think there might be something out there that I would like to read, watch or look up.

My First Entry

Hi I am Cole and I live close to Chicago. I am 6 years old and I am in Kindergarten. I should be in first grade but I have a late birthday so I couldn't go when I turned 5.

My friend Alex told me that I should start my own blog because I write to her all the time. So my Mom and Dad are letting me start one.

http://www.alexandrabillings.com This is my friend Alex. She is actually my Mom's friend but I have seen her in some musicals and on TV. She is really good! She was on the "Doctor Show" this year (ER). I can't watch it because it is bloody, but my Mom let me watch Alex when they showed her. She put a bunch of stuff about Titanic on her website for me. I really like the Titanic and I will try to talk about that and other things that I like.

I am really in a Titanic mood lately and I go the library once a week so I can get new books. I can't read them all but my Mom reads them to me and I can figure most things out from the pictures.

Some other things that I like are Theodore the Tugboat, Airplanes, Jets for the Air Force Trains, any kind of boats, Army Tanks and Boats for the Navy especially aircraft carriers with Jets on them. I also like Submarines.

I was in my first musical this weekend at church we did "100% Chance of Rain". We just sang a few songs and then there was a game fair after the musical. My Mom bought me tickets to play games. I scored a goal in the game basketball and got a whistle my Mom is going to take the whistle away from me if I don't stop blowing it in the middle of the night. Now I can't find it I keep losing it in my room. I also played golf at the fair and I did the moon jumper. I was also able to buy a lollipop and popcorn and I won prizes in a few games.

Well that is it for me for tonight. Tomorrow I will tell you all about the Britannic and how and why they think it sank.

Please let me know what you think about my post.

Cole