Danko, Minnesota, USA

Kuschi Posted Apr 20, 2012, 10:28 am	Hey. My name is Danko the Zebra. I am ready to start my Journey.
.Vicky. Posted Apr 25, 2012, 1:00 pm	Hey everyone, I finally arrived in the small German town Detmold in the state of North Rhine Westphalia! The weather is great and will (most likely) stay that way this week.  I hope, I'll be able to take some nice photos soon, until then - have a great day!
.Vicky. Posted Apr 26, 2012, 5:38 pm	I started to take photos outside in the garden, because the weather was really great. I couldn't think of something better than sun bathing in a bed of flowers or in a canopied beach chair.
.Vicky. Posted Apr 26, 2012, 5:41 pm	This morning it was raining again, but I already found a nice hat for possible colder days.  In the afternoon the weather became a bit better and my host mum showed me the town centre from above and the sheep up there.
.Vicky. Posted Apr 28, 2012, 11:58 am	Today my host mum had to go to the bank and took me with her into the town centre. Detmold has a lot of beautiful and old houses. You can see two of them on the photos (the one with the ivy on the wall is my favourite!). I hope to be able to take a picture of one of the typical half-timbered houses as well. In most German cities these were destroyed in the Second World War, but Detmold still has a lot of them!
.Vicky. Posted May 1, 2012, 5:30 pm	Today was an official holiday (1. Mai) and the weather was awesome! We went into the town centre again, so that I could see all the beautiful und famous places in Detmold. I saw the castle and the park around it. It was crowded there, because of the great weather. There is a small lake around the castle, too! I got to see some more old buildings, like the post office, the Protestant 'Christuskirche' (church of Christ), a half-timbered house, which belongs to the 'Landesmuseum' (museum of the state), and another one, that is a hotel. I liked especially the old 'Landestheater' (theatre of the state), which looks fantastic from the outside. Unfortunately I wasn't able to look inside, because it was closed at this time.
Chloe09 Posted Jun 8, 2012, 11:10 pm	Hi Mom!! I arrived safely in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America! I was welcomed by NoMi and his mom. I wanted to be sure that you knew where I was living! It's a nice house....4 other people live here besides Chloe09! There are also three dogs.....they were big and scary. Chloe09 didn't let them near me because I was a little scared! I was lucky enough to meet NoMi before his journey off to Portsmith, England! My first trip was to the Post office to see NoMi off! Even though I only spent a little bit with him, he was interesting and had lots of cool stories to tell me! After giving NoMi a happy goodbye.....we went and visited an outlet store filled with discount bread! She let me try a few different kinds that were there. They were surprisingly good!! You should have seen all the bread, mom!! It was awesome!!! Look at all the bread we bought too!! She let me pick out some!! That's all we did today. I'm having fun so far! Don't worry about me, Mom! I'm having fun and being VERY good taken care of!! Miss you! Love you!! Danko
Chloe09 Posted Jun 9, 2012, 2:59 pm	My host mom and I went shopping at the Galleria in Edina! It's a cool little shopping center. We were window shopping at these shops: This is a fake dog that scared me when we were walking around! I thought it was real but my host mom let me know it wasn't! After this shopping experience.....we had to pick up my host mom's mom. She works at a construction company and had an awesome pink hat!  Can't wait for more adventures! Miss you Mom!!
Chloe09 Posted Jun 12, 2012, 9:03 pm	Hey Mom! Today my host mom, took me on a car ride through Downtown Minneapolis. There were so many buildings and cool things to look at! We also went and saw Amtrak, which is a cool train they have. Chloe09 was telling me that we could take that train across the country visiting a variety of cities and states. It just cost too much money for us to do it now. I had fun looking at them anyways! We are off to Como Zoo! I'm so excited!!!
Chloe09 Posted Jun 13, 2012, 12:32 am	We went to Como Zoo and saw a bunch of different animals! It was so cool...there were kids there and so many different things to see!! This was the conservatory that we didn't get a chance to go in but the building was very cool. This was a fake turtle that I got to sit on!! These were cool coin machines that I got to use! It was really fun. Whohoo!!!! I completed a life Mission!!!! Aren't you proud of me, Mom?! I finally got to meet another Zebra! Very friendly and awesome!!!! I had so much fun and feel ever so lucky to meet other Zebras!!! Love and Miss you Mum!!! Danko
Chloe09 Posted Jun 13, 2012, 3:44 am	Whew it has been such an adventure!!!! We stopped at this cool restaurant called Snuffy's Malt Shop! I was there with my other TV friends. My TV friend, Lilla, and I were trying to figure out what to order! There were so many choices! After we were done eating, we went through a car wash! It was soooo cool to be in there. Look at how much fun the other TV's and I were having!! It's been an amazing trip!!! I miss you Mum!
Chloe09 Posted Jun 27, 2012, 2:56 am	Hey Mom!! We got to go to a Dog Show! It was so cool! We got to see various dogs being judged and some of them had weird hair cuts! It was through the American Kennel Club, which is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. They are judged on the authentication of the true dog breeds and how they are suppose to look like. We also had gone to Special Olympics which is an organization devoted to providing sports competition opportunities for athletes with intellectual Disabilities. My host mom wasn't able to take many pictures with me in them but put me in the pictures. It was so much fun!! I helped the athletes pick out songs to sing karaoke with since my host mom was volunteering. I'm so excited to see what other stuff we get to see. My host mom said we were going on a road trip this weekend so can't wait to see where!!!! Miss you but I'm having so much fun.
Chloe09 Posted Jul 4, 2012, 4:53 pm	Hey Mom!! We got to take a road trip to Duluth, Minnesota! I got to take the trip in style! After seeing some of the sights, we were hungry! We went to eat at Grandma's Saloon and Grill. We had some good burgers and fries!!! This is the Ariel Lift Bridge. It lifts the bridge up to be able to let boats go underneath the bridge but cars can go on the bridge when it's in place! We took a walk down by the Lakeshore Walk. Then we decided to go rent this cool bike. Jillyifsh had all of her TV's, Shaunee, Luc Zeke, Noodles, Okuma, Chubby Berry, and another one that I forget his name....We all got to ride in this cool basket. We got to stop and watch some boats coming in! The last stop was shopping and we saw this huge Moose that we had to take a picture on! It was sooo much fun! Miss you much mom! We will be going to Wisconsin next for a family camping trip!! Miss you Mum!!! Danko
Chloe09 Posted Jul 18, 2012, 6:23 am	Oh Boy was that a fun trip we took!! We took a trip to Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.  The Mall of America (MOA) is the largest mall in the United States with the most visitors. One in ten shoppers is a tourist! There’s no sales tax on clothing in Minnesota. The Mall of America is one of the biggest most interesting places to be! There were 4 full floors of shops and restaurants! This is the cool ramp we parked in. It was weird that the level we were on was named after a state in the United States of America. Here I am with all of my TV friends! Lilla, Diddl-Maus, Buxi and then me! Yay!! There were rides inside the mall….I couldn’t believe it! There were also some cool stores. American Girl store was pretty girly and little girls were playing with dolls of all different sizes! There was this cool Disney store. Lots of clothes, costumes, and memorabilia from all of the Disney Movies! We got to sit and watch part of Toy Story 3! There were kids and parents there too! I can’t wait to see what’s next!!! Miss you Mommy! =) Yours Truly Danko
Chloe09 Posted Jul 19, 2012, 5:41 pm	Hey Mom!! Sorry for the delay in pictures! We were busy visiting places! We got to go on a camping trip! Here are a few pictures at this Hepokoski Family Camp!! The lake was beautiful!! The family was having fun in the lake and I wish we could have gone swimming but Chloe09 didn't want to. It was saddening that we had to go back to Minneapolis. We were having so much fun at Camp. Can't wait to see what else goes on!!! Yours truly, Diddl-Maus
Chloe09 Posted Jul 25, 2012, 2:15 am	Hey Mom!! My host mom, Chloe, showed us a sauna (sow-na). A sauna is a room with a hot stove or coals that are heated by water to create a nice hot steamy room. It is a Finnish tradition to have saunas. It was very interesting and quite warm! Cool, huh? We get to go see some big important buildings on our next adventure!!! Much Love, Danko!
Chloe09 Posted Jul 25, 2012, 3:39 pm	Before we went to see these big beautiful buildings, we got to make cupcakes!!! Host mom is Gluten Free - can't have wheat or the complex of proteins that forms when wheat flour is mixed with a liquid and physically manipulated, such as in the kneading of bread. We all had something to do. It was up to us to make these cupcakes delicious! I was in charge of the oven. Chloe took the pan out and put it in but I got to push the buttons to the temperature and use the timer! It was a very scary job because if I didn't get the timer right, the cupcakes could be ruined. that would be so sad! Look Mom!!! I helped make these delicious cupcakes!! We then had some ice cream and enjoyed our cupcakes. We were all so proud!!! What a wonderful snack before going to see big buildings! Now we're full and ready to go!
Chloe09 Posted Jul 27, 2012, 10:11 pm	All of these downtown Minneapolis buildings are big and beautiful! Some of these buildings have a cool history! This is the Minneapolis City Hall. It occupies an entire city block and has about 680,000 gross square feet. The building is an architectural treasure listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designed by Long and Keys Architects. The building also features a 15-bell chime and is the only American made set that can play the "Star Spangled Banner" in the original key. Every hour, quarter, and half-hour you will hear the bells of the tower. The bells were manufactured in New York and weigh from 300 to 7,300 pounds each -- over 14 tons total. This is the Public Safety building. It's a jail!! Here's some information Chloe09 told us about it! The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office operates the largest pre-trial adult detention facility (commonly called the jail) in the State of Minnesota. Jail facilities are located in two different buildings in downtown Minneapolis, but are treated as one facility:     The Public Safety Facility (PSF) has 330 beds for arrestees.     The City Hall (ADC) has 509 beds for arrestees. On average each year, there are approximately 40,000 bookings at the jail. The jail is currently staffed for a capacity of 703 beds, and the average population in 2009 was 694. The jail has consistently earned the distinction of being accredited by the American Correctional Association for maintaining the highest standards of inmate custody and care. This building is the Hennepin County Court House. Little bit of information about it! It was pretty cool. The Hennepin County Courthouse, located in the Hennepin County Government Center, was completed in 1974. It was designed by John Carl Warnecke and Associates of San Francisco, with Peterson, Clark and Associates of Minneapolis. The masonry is the same carnelian red granite from Ortonville, MN, that was used in building the Minneapolis City Hall, where the courthouse used to be located. The diagonal braces of the modern building are steel sprayed with a fireproofing material to which a cream-colored porcelain-type material was fused. The building's total cost was about $50 million, with $1.6 million more spent after completion on making necessary window changes, fitting an additional floor for courtrooms, and installing glass walls on atrium floors and walkways. This is the United States District Courthouse. The history of the judicial system in Minnesota begins in 1849 when the first territorial court term was held in Stillwater, Minnesota. The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota was not established until nine years later when Minnesota became a State in 1858. This train was cool. She called it the light rail. We couldn't go on there....we didn't have time. maybe next time! Can't wait to see our next adventure.
Chloe09 Posted Aug 9, 2012, 3:33 am	Greetings from the Minnesota Zoo!! We had to celebrate Diddl-Maus's new journey that's going to continue by going to Chuck E Cheese and playing games. Can't wait to see where we head to next! Miss you! ~Danko
Jillyfish Posted Aug 20, 2012, 4:30 pm	Hello! Chloe09 passed me directly to Jillyfish.  I'm still here in Minnesota, but we've had a grrrreat time! We took a spontaneous two day trip to Lake Superior! It's really beautiful here! We found this little bridge near the cabin where we stayed. Aren't we a good looking group? :P We even took a boat ride! It was a great trip! Hope you are doing well at home! ~Danko
Jillyfish Posted Sep 18, 2012, 5:38 pm	Hello! We have been staying inside because of the cooler Autumn weather. I help host mom with her studying, but I think another trip is in order. Totoro and I met some celebrities! Can you name which movies these characters are from?  Look for our next update tomorrow. Miss you! ~Danko
Jillyfish Posted Sep 20, 2012, 6:11 pm	Host Mom has been very busy and stressed out with studying for school. I've been helping her! Whew! Studying is more hard work than I thought!
Jillyfish Posted Jan 29, 2013, 8:45 pm	We are making chocolate-chip pancakes today! Priscilla and I are in charge of the batter. Yay teamwork! Alright, everyone, let's sit down and eat! What a good looking group!
Jillyfish Posted Jan 29, 2013, 8:48 pm	Autumn is beautiful~! I love the crisp fallen leaves. Mr. Munchy and I are reveling in the warm sunshine of a peaceful afternoon. We have a nice outing planned for tomorrow.
Jillyfish Posted Jan 29, 2013, 8:57 pm	Can you guess where we are? A normal park? WRONG! We are here at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, MN. We are here to see the Minnehaha Falls, walk the trails, and even fish a little bit. We are going down there-------> Mr. Munchy and I are great explorers; we are up to the challenge.  There's not a lot of people out here today. It is a bit chilly. Good thing we packed that extra sweater. Aren't the Falls beautiful? We found this sign very funny.  We stop to rest a bit and eat a snack. We made it! THE MIGHTY Mississippi River~! No one is here besides us---- must be a secret spot. Alright! Let's get out that fishing gear and get to work. Look at us! We're in the River.  I think I prefer to stay on shore. It was a good adventure. I'm looking forward to many more! ~Danko
Jillyfish Posted Jan 29, 2013, 9:02 pm	Merry Christmas! We count up all our Christmas cards we received: 49! Christmas dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's house is big and yummy. We can't wait until it's time to open presents! Do you know what Christmas trees are good for? Climbing!!!!

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