Travels with 'Roo

January 27, 2008

G’day Mates!

Second quarter is over and here we are freezing our paws off in the cold Chicago winter. Back home in Hobart, Tasmania, our mums wrote us that it’s in the twenties and sunny. Oops, sorry that’s in degrees Celsius ( that’s in the seventies the way you measure here in the States). But we’ve had some warm weather escapes and some pretty wet ones to tell you about, so we’ll give the drum on our adventures. That means we’ll tell you what’s been going on!

For openers our Cobber Ozzie spent three days at Outdoor Ed with the 6th graders. Colleen Durkin was kind enough to tote him around. Unfortunately, she had a bit of bad luck with her photos so we’re just getting around to this story. Camp Tecumseh in Brookston, IN is a cool place to visit and he had great fun. Hey, all. It’s the Oz man here. Colleen and I were in Cayuga Cabin, the green trail group and Table 6 for meals. There are four trails and they’re all different. Ghost Creek was a little wet. Did some fishing and located a soft-shelled turtle and a toad. In the Oak Forest we measured trees and got blindfolded and had to find a certain tree. I didn’t even know it got lost! We went with Blue Jay to Pine Forest. He’s a counselor not a bird! We found a skeleton of what we think was a gopher. Poor bloke! We did some canoeing and archery. Even tried my luck at the obstacle course. They didn’t have a vest my size so I helped the canoers from the shore with some helpful hints. Naturally, I had some trouble with the obstacle course. Long tails just get in the way. We went to the Meadow and to the Nature Center. An ALLIGATOR almost ate me! Just kidding! It was just the head of a gator but they’re pretty scary. What a trip. Thanks, Colleen.

I also got to visit Iowa State University with Emma Welsh. We went to visit big brother Kevin. The university has long had a great reputation for engineering and we got to see a few examples. Despite the rain Emma took me to see the first water tower built west of the Mississippi and a bell tower that has bells that are played like a piano. Pretty cool! While we there we celebrated Emma’s 12th Birthday. Emma’s scrapbook page was featured in our first letter. Thanks Emmy.

Say, mates. This is Sydney. My first story is about my trip to Champaign/Urbana with Erin and Connor Keegan. We went to see an Illini football game. They had me fooled because I was expecting soccer. I got to visit the gift shop and got to where the ever-popular foam #1 finger. We screamed until we were hoarse. I’m still not sure what all the yelling was about, but it was great fun! Mr. Keegan didn’t think it was a good idea for me to drive home since I don’t have a license not to mention I couldn’t see over the dashboard. It was great Keegans.

I spent the holidays with Mr. and Mrs. Salek. All my cobbers were away, so I became part of the family. Things are busy at the Saleks, but we still had time for fun. I helped Mrs. S decorate the tree and hang the stockings. If you look for our scrapbook page you’ll see I really get into my work. I wrote Santa a note and asked for a sweater. It worked! I received a ski sweater which I got a chance to wear when it snowed and we went outside to build a snowman just my size. I also got to meet Logan, Mrs. Salek’s granddaughter when we went to babysit her in Chicago. She’s a cutie, but she has quite an arm. I never knew what flying under your own power was like until now! Mrs. Salek let me help with the scrapbook pages. I’m pretty good at using the paper cutter. Lots of fun, Mrs. S.

Grietzy! That’s hello like people in Switzerland would say. I know that because the Hartes took me with them on their recent trip. This is Aussie and we had a great time! Mr. Harte played in three hockey games in Engelberg. He’s pretty good! We got to visit Mount Titlis. At about 10,000 feet above sea level it’s 9,300 feet higher than Downers Grove. We got up there by ski lifts and a cable car. I would have been scared but Meghan held onto me. At Mt. Brunni we went bobsledding. I don’t know who Bob is but I’m sure glad he let us borrow his sled! Then we went back to the ice arena and played curling. This is one strange game. First you slide this round…”thing” out on the ice and then someone goes in front of it and sweeps the ice to make the “thing” go as far as it can. See what I mean about weird? We also saw the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe, Chapel Bridge, took a walking tour of Luzern, went to a transportation museum, and saw bears in a bear pit. Did you know that Bern, the capital of Switzerland, actually means bear in their language? You learn something new every day! Andrew, Meghan and David are great! You too, Mr. and Mrs. Harte. You can see their scrapbook page on our travel board.

If you think Switzerland sounds like fun You should have gone with me, JoJo, to Ireland with the Galligans. We also traveled with the Faloticos and the Corbetts from St. Joe’s. We started out in Dublin and traveled to the Falotico’s home in Buncranna. We went out and played in an old graveyard. Not MY first choice, but the others didn’t get left in the old ruins. We spent a lot of time kicking back, but we did visit an old castle that we reached by taking a ferry boat. We celebrated Thanksgiving while we were there. But our families were the only ones, because it’s not a holiday in Ireland. It was nice to be with friends for the day. Thanks Galligans for taking me to the land of Shamrocks.

Speaking of Ireland, I also had a chance to go with Erin Gentile to an Irish dance competition in. Erin took me with to look at wigs. I even tried one on! I was stunning! We also looked at beautiful dresses. The colors are amazing! When it was getting close to time for Erin’s troop to perform we went to make-up. I needed just a dusting, but the girls looked really beautiful. There’s a lot of waiting around for all the groups to perform, but it was really exciting when Erin’s dance team went on. We all cheered and applauded as the girls did their routine. I almost got up and danced myself the music is so catchy. It was a great opportunity to see a little bit of culture and to share the day with Erin.

Don’t forget to visit our bulletin board outside the Computer Lab and see all our scrapbook pages. If you have plans for future trips fun or business remember to give Mrs. Salek a jingle or write her a note and take one of us along. We currently have traveled 51,568 miles this school year. We’d all like to see your pictures on a scrapbook page and hear your stories.!

Ta Ta,
Ozzie, Aussie, JoJo, and Sydney

This must be the right way! We’ll just follow the sign!

Why I Like St. Joe's:

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Travels with 'Roo