Last signs of spring entry

(June 1, 2010) Time to start winding down school. All of our continuos projects are coming to an end.

Last year we didn't really have anything, but the year before that Mrs. Lydecker ended her tickets program right around now. The year before that Mrs. Ofolis stopped her many year long program around now. Also my 1st, 2nd, and kindergarden teachers stopped the marble jar around now.

My next sign of spring is that we have to turn in our math Student Reference books.

Every year we have to turn in these books for the next year's students. If we turned them in before the end if the year then we would be in trouble seeing as we would need them. This is a sign that spring is almost over, because it shows the end of school is coming. When the school year ends SUMMER vacation starts.

Signs of Spring entry #11

(May 22, 2010 My House) Happy birthday Julia! That's right it's my sister's birthday. This year she got a surprise from my brother and I. I created a website (click here to see) all about the Walphin, walrus/dolphin, and how to adopt one. She completely bought it, so on her on her birthday she opened the box on the front porch and found a stuffed Walphin and an "I love Walphins" t-shirt, courtesy of Lucas Marden design. This is a sign of spring for me because usually she has the first outdoor party of the year that doesn't have a "bring your coat"

note on the invitation.

(6 o'clock 5.24.10 Gymnastics and more) My second sign of spring is that it is "snowing" pollen at the gym. During the time we were on floor my level witnessed 14 vortexes of just pollen. during our stretching and conditioning time we saw the pollen fall like it was snow in a blizzard. This is a big sign of spring for me because it says "flowers and weeds are prospering in the warmth of spring!"

Signs of Spring entry #10

(5.15.10 2:00ish) It's time for the epic battle with the front yard again. Around this time of year every year my dad wages a great battle trying to get the shady front yard to grow grass. Thanks to Steve and Mike (our landscapers we recently hired) we are winning for the first time. They are having us water the lawn in shifts which we never had tried before.

With the speed the lawn is growing at now we'll have a jungle before the end of the school year.

(5.15.10 2:00ish) My second sign of is wind, as previously mentioned we are trying to grow grass in our yard. We have steel centered poles with caution tape on them. Two of the poles were snapped at the base from wind with only the thin tape pulling them.

The spring wind that comes right around now is getting more powerful telling me spring has just about sprung.

Signs of Spring entry #9

(Friday, April 29 4:00ish) Well it's that time of year again, rip season. At gymnastics around this time of year all of the younger kids start to get "rips" as we call them. A rip happens when someone develops a blister and has it popped from the bottom. Sometimes they take some extra skin with them (as shown).

No one really knows why, but some guess are: the humidity makes you sweat moisturizing your hands, making them softer and easier to rip, it's the end of the season everyone's hands are beat up, and your working on new skills which your hands aren't used to. This is a major sign of spring for me because the rips just start coming at the same time every year.

My second sign of spring is that our tree is shedding.

Around this time each year the trees in front yard start dropping branches left and right. My dad picked up all the branches right before this picture was taken just to show you how fast they're falling.

Signs of Spring entry #8

My first sign of spring is that we got April vacation finally. I was luck enough to be able to to Florida and meet a scorpion,

see vultures

and ride Busch Garden's Sheikra with two complete vertical drops (click here to see and on-board video). This is a huge sign of sign of spring for me because it means that it is warm enough for travel to start and not be frequently delayed due to weather.

My second sign of spring is that Tony the ice cream man is out and about selling ice cream to kids.

This is a huge sign of spring to me because now that Tony is out and about I know that it is warm enough to eat ice cream outside without completely freezing. Another mini-sign that goes along with this is the start of "lemonade stand season". You would only need a nice cold lemonade when you get hot, you would only get hot when it was hot outside,which it is most definitely not in the winter.

Signs of Spring entry #7

T-shirt and flip-flops, the official attire of summer. Finally we are able to wear them! On Tuesday April 6 at 3:00 I was able to wear flip-flops and a t-shirt to gymnastics practice. Although that was a short time I wore a t-shirt to school today and flip-flops all weekend. Only when it is warm, summer and spring, can you wear open-toed shoes and short sleeve shirts.

My second sign of spring is that my gymnastics season has ended. My last meet was on Sunday April 10, at 2:30. The last meet of the season is called regionals, due to the fact that the whole region of New England sends their best gymnasts to compete. Both my little brother and I qualified for regionals and got to compete for Massachusetts. Despite the high quality field, 86 gymnasts, and tough judging my little brother Lucas won the gold on high bar.

This is huge and sad sign of spring because my winter sport is over and although I worked as hard as I could I never got an award for my pommel horse routine.

My 6th Sign of Spring Entry

(4.2.10 11:00 My House)

Every year for a short time each spring some little purple flowers come up in the same spot.

I have no idea what kind of flower they are, but they are a sign of spring to me because they are the first new thing to pop-up in my yard. Once things start popping-up in my yard, not dying I know the flower killer cold winter is over and spring has begun.

(Varying dates and times, All at my house)

Spring cleaning has begun! Every year pretty much everyone does some spring cleaning. This year my family did some massive spring cleaning mainly due to the fact that we are moving to Malaysia. This is a sign of spring because it shows that it is time to clean out all the winter stuff and get ready for the summer things to come down from the attic.

(4.4.10 My Great-Aunt's House)

Well happy Easter!!

Easter is not only a great holiday, but it is also a sign of spring to me. Easter is a holiday all about rebirth, the rebirth of all the vegetation shows that things are ready to bloom again after the cold winter.

The "Happy Easter" picture was made possible by the "Dress Eggy" iPod touch and iPhone application.

Signs of Spring entry #5

My first sign of spring this time around is, rain. On the short walk from the school to my mom's car my shoes and clothes were drenched. After four hours of drying out my shoes still look like this:

I know it is spring when it rains because it means that it is warm enough now not to snow.

My second sign is that the Red Sox will begin the season on Sunday. Being the very lucky guy I am getting to go to the season opener with one of my friends from gymnastics. This is a huge sign because it means that spring training is over.

My last sign this time is that we finished MCAS! MCAS is taken at the end of the year to see what we have learned from that year's studies.

What comes at the end of the year? Summer break. Summer comes after spring so that means we are very close to spring and not too far from summer.

My 4th Sign of Spring (3.18.10, 3:10 My House)

My first sign of spring this time is that the HUGE puddle in my backyard evaporated.

All of the circled area was 3" to 9" deep. Firstly this is a sign of spring because it means we had a lot of rain, which comes in the spring. The second reason this is a sign for me is that the sun evaporated all the water, as we near the summer the sun grows more intense making the water evaporate faster.

My second sign this time is that there are more birds that are out and about. On 3.17.10 I was eating a bag of Chipotle chips in my backyard and there were over 20 birds calling an flying in my backyard including three or four common grackles and red-winged blackbirds. I went out in my backyard an looked for birds for a few minutes with a video camera.

My third and final sign for this time around is that I am starting to sneeze a lot more. For some unknown reason I pretty much always sneeze in the sun. As we get closer to summer there is more sun and I am sneezing more.

*Thank you to the amazing "Doodle Buddy" application that allows me to draw on photos like this one.*

Signs of Spring entry #3

I don't know where to start, I have so many signs of spring! My first sign is that I saw some flowers blooming.

I think that they are crocuses, but I am not 100% sure. My next sign is that I was finally able to wear a t-shirt outside. This is a big sign for me because it shows the temperature is rising and the sun showing brighter. This means that the summer solstice is coming. (Both made in Darien, CT at aprox. 10:15)

My third sign of spring is that the Boston Classic (a very large gymnastics meet) was just held. Despite the meet being so large my floor routine was good for gold,and our team won first place in the team competition.

This is a sign of spring to me because it is always the last meet before the state and regional competitions begin which are the last few meets of the season. (New England Sports Academy NESA at four o'clock on Feb 21st). My final sign of spring is that we were able to go outside for recess today. For me this is a huge sign of spring for me because the teachers won't let us go outside if there is snow on the ground. That is all for now ,but I know there will be more signs of spring coming up soon.

My Second SOS Post (February 23, 2010)

My first sing of spring is a little sad. We went skiing for the last time this winter on February 20th and 21st. We went to Crotched Mountain on the 20th and Pats Peak on the 21st. Although I think we all have room to improve.

Thanks to my dad for letting me publicly embarrass him.

My second sign of spring is that spring training is just around the corner! On March third the Red Sox Will split into two teams. One team will play the Northeastern Huskies and the other will play the Boston College Eagles. The Red Sox will spend their spring training season in Ft. Myers preparing for the upcoming season. * *This is a screen shot taken of my phone while on the ESPN score center application.
Sorry for the extra time at the beginning of the video.

An Observation From My Front Lawn (2:44 P.M. 2.2.10)

My first sign of spring is that my snow fort has melted! My friend Jacob and I worked on the fort for about 45 minutes. The walls originally went from almost chest height to waist height. Now the walls go from knee height to no height. All that is left are some tiny walls a the base of the fort.

Another sign of spring is that it is Groundhog's Day!Unfortunately Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. That means that we have six weeks of winter left. That also means that this project might be a little more difficult than I expected. Well, I hope spring still comes.

Test

This is a test to make sure I can post words and pictures correctly.