Ebba, Milbury, Massachusetts, United Stat

Apperveilchen Posted Aug 27, 2008, 10:01 am	My name is Ebba. I am going to be a present next year for a nice woman who always wanted to go to the USA for a year as an au pair but could never quite work up the courage. So I want to spend a year travelling through different households in the US before I come to her with my travelog. I like kids a lot and would be happy to see how they live. I also like all animals, but esp. cats, just please don't let them scratch me or eat me! I am going to start the USATVT next week. Wish me luck!
wmphimu Posted Sep 10, 2008, 3:19 am	Hello from the United States! I arrived this afternoon to a fuzzy welcoming committee of Fllama, Plaid Moose, and Jimbo Elephant! I haven't gotten to look around too much - I spent much of the afternoon taking a long nap and getting to know my new friends - but I hear that we'll be out and about tomorrow!
wmphimu Posted Sep 11, 2008, 4:45 pm	Hello! Mara had a bunch of errands to run today, so we hopped in her bag and went along! First stop was the post office to say goodbye to Fllama and send him on his next adventure: Then we went to Target - it's a huge store, and since it's close to where I am staying, Mara goes a lot! After a few more stops, we were all hungry, so Mara took us out to lunch at Boston Market: Here I am eating my lunch - yummy!
wmphimu Posted Sep 14, 2008, 3:10 am	Hello! It was a beautiful day here today (it's been raining a LOT lately), so we all headed to Old Town Alexandria for the Festival of the Arts - a big arts fest in the streets of Old Town. Old Town is where George Washington grew up, and is not only a historic area but a really neat place with shops and restaurants. Here I am walking around the arts festival... There was lots of cool art, but the steel sculptures were our favorites. I really liked this one of a tree with birds! While we were walking around, we took a break at the fountains in Old Town - look how beautiful it was out today! Afterwards, we walked down to the waterfront. Alexandria is near Washington DC on the Potomac River. Here I am in front of the Potomac: And here I am in front of the Torpedo Factory: It used to be used to make torpedoes (you could probably have figured that out!), but now it is an artist colony! What an amazing day!
wmphimu Posted Sep 28, 2008, 2:54 am	I've been getting a good sense of what day to day life is like here in Virginia. Mara has let me tag along a lot, and it's been nice to see where she lives. So, here are a few pictures of where I've been this week... We started the week off going to the new library. It just opened a few months ago, and it's really nice. Here I am in the front: And here I am looking for a book! In the middle of the week I went with Mara to Let's Dish. It's a meal preparation place - you go and you make a bunch of dinners for the month that go in the freezer. Here I am in front: And here I am helping out by making enchiladas! Today it was raining really hard, so we sat in the car while Mara's husband ran into the store to get stuff for her rabbits (can you tell how hard it was raining from the picture??) Thankfully, the rain stopped long enough for us to get some lunch. We went to a popular place called Noodles & Company where Mara and I shared Wisconsin Mac & Cheese (they are famous for it!) Yum-O!
wmphimu Posted Oct 1, 2008, 11:29 pm	Shana Tovah! That means Happy New Year in Hebrew! This week we celebrated Rosh Hashana - the Jewish New Year - and I helped! Here I am helping to set the table for a family dinner... And here we all are putting a cover on the round challah that Mara's family ate! And I celebrated the new year the traditional way - eating apples dipped in honey! Yum!
wmphimu Posted Oct 7, 2008, 6:38 pm	Hello! Over the weekend, a new visitor arrived! I helped to open up the package and welcome Pebbels! I had never met a tiger before, but she's really friendly! She showed us her travel journal - she has been to some really neat places!
wmphimu Posted Oct 7, 2008, 6:40 pm	My host and her husband play softball on the weekends. So a few of us hopped into Mara's bag to check it out! Here I am at the field (Mara is upset that the camera cut the bottom of the picture off, but you can still see me!) And here we are sitting in the bleachers to watch the game!
wmphimu Posted Oct 12, 2008, 2:09 am	What a beautiful day it was here today! It's nearly the middle of October, but it was sunny and 70 degrees out! So we headed into Fairfax City for the Fall Festival, a big fair with lots of arts & crafts, food, and activities for kids. Mara says that there are lots of fairs like this here in the fall - each town has one! Here I am on one of the streets looking at the crafts booths: I also got to see some of the history of Fairfax. Here I am in front of the courthouse: It was built in 1800 - here is a plaque that explains the history: And here I am (still in front of the courthouse) on one of the Civil War cannons!
wmphimu Posted Oct 14, 2008, 1:51 am	I have had a great trip to Virginia! But I am leaving in the morning to my next host. So as I am getting packed tonight, I also said my goodbyes. First I said goodbye to Mara's bunnies - as a fellow rabbit, we have become good friends! Then I said goodbye to my Toy Voyager friends. I have had a good visit, and am excited for my next adventure!
wourpet Posted Oct 20, 2008, 3:14 pm	I have arrived with my new host and took a quick look around at the mountains.
wourpet Posted Nov 9, 2008, 4:49 pm	Its been cold and windy so my host has left me to hang out on a nice warm shelf above the computer but today I got to go out for a drive.  We went to the train station to meet a sailor that was coming home. The train was late and it was a very long wait.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 9:54 pm	Here is a picture of me with the friendly beast Charlie I met while out walking in the yard.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 9:58 pm	Wow.  What a change in scenery all of a sudden.  My host whisked me away today to Washington DC.  We had to get out of bed and down to the airport in Grand Junction while it was still dark.  We flew from there to Denver and after breakfast at the airport there we hopped on a long flight to Washington DC and arrived in time for supper.  Tomorrow we will be part of the Veterans Day activities at Arlington Cemetery.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 10:10 pm	Today we are wandering around downtown looking at the sights.  I did get to Arlington Cemetery yesterday and we had lunch at a seafood place on the waterfront that had a huge salad bar for me to graze at.  We didn't get any pictures though because my host was part of the ceremonies so she had her friend in charge of the camera.  But I was there, and even helped place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier but I stayed quiet in my hosts pocket. Today was all the big buildings downtown -- and a quick trip into chinatown for lunch.  Then we had to hurry to the airport in Dulles VA. We saw a Smithsonian exhibit, the Women's Art Museum and the International Spy Museum.  Then we ate at a Mongolian Grill and walked back to the Hotel through a park.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 10:19 pm	We are at the Dulles International Airport. My host told me we are very close to the host I stayed with in Fairfax last month. The flight isn't crowded so I am able to have my own seat.  My host gave me a pillow in case I need a booster seat to see. I also rode in the seat pocket for part of the trip because the seat belt did not fit me.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 10:23 pm	I am back in Colorado and met up with another visitor who is on an extended stay.  Frogger has been here for awhile and came to help me meet the new TV that arrived.  Mister_Right is also on the USATVT.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 10:43 pm	Today we are traveling again.  At the airport in Denver we had quite a wait so I walked around and stretched my legs. It was warm when we left Grand Junction but it is very cold and blizzardy on this side of the Rocky Mountains. My host didn't say where we are going but she said to get used to the snow.  Mister Right is traveling with me this trip. The Denver International Airport is very big and very busy.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 10:51 pm	Well here we are coming in for a landing but I can't see anything but clouds.  My host said we are landing at the Detroit International Airport and driving from there to the campground at Grass Lake.  I am not so sure about going camping in the winter but she said we will have warm cabins.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 11:08 pm	Wow -- Can you believe it??!! We spent the weekend at Grass Lake and it was very cold and snowy.  Mister Right and I crawled in on the top bunk and stayed there where it was warm.  This morning after a long drive we woke up and found out we are now in St Mary's Ontario Canada. I thought we might be in England.  We drove around and passed a sign that said London -- and crossed a bridge over the Thames River. There were many beautiful old buildings around town.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 11:18 pm	We headed out back to the airport and this time we drove through Sarnia.  I still thought we were in England as we drove past towns named MiddleSex, Plympton and Watford.  It was very very flat. At Sarnia there was a very big bridge.  Our host said this is the bridge to the USA but not the same one we came up here on. Half way across the bridge we were left Canada and entered the USA again.  Then we had to go through the border patrol station.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 11:31 pm	We were soon back in Detroit and headed for the airport. At the Airport we ate at T.G.I.F., also called Fridays. Wourpet got a platter with something for all of us.  After we ate we watched and waited for our plane. The one we would fly back to Denver on had a baby fawn on the tail but I foget her name. The time Mister Right and I each got our own seat. But it was more fun watching out the window.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 11:34 pm	It was just getting dark as we landed in Denver so Mister Right and I slept for the rest of the trip back to Grand Junction.
wourpet Posted Dec 27, 2008, 11:40 pm	Wow!  Its Christmas tomorrow.  We have bee so busy having fun and playing outside and hanging out at the mall that we haven't had time for any pictures. Tonight we put up the Christmas tree and I met some new friends. They said they live here but they only come out for the holidays. After we decorated the tree we got up on one of the large presents and sang some Christmas Carols. Our host gave us a stocking to hang and said we could share it because the TV Santa would probably bring plenty for all of us.
tarepanda Posted Jul 3, 2009, 4:43 pm	I am here in Florida!!  Hopefully I will be able to go somewhere interesting and send pictures soon.  Happy 4th of July to everybody!
tarepanda Posted Aug 20, 2009, 4:08 am	Sorry I didn't get to post for a while, but my host was busy preparing for a panel interview at work and so we have to be good and stay home and stay quiet while she worked.  Now it's over she is posting the pictures we took! For July 4th, I get to go out and take my first look at Miami. Hmmm, this place has lots of palm trees.  Nice weather. This guy is cycling on the bridge. We pass by downtown Miami. I see the sign and get excited.  Are we going to Miami Beach?  But Dottie Grace, my friend, tells me that it will be another day.  He also tells me that I-95 is a major highway that will take us all the way from Florida to New York on to Maine, if we want to. We arrive at the pizza place for lunch. This is the mozzarella bar.  There are some burrata wrapped in leaves. We try a coffee soda.  It actually tastes quite good. We watch the hot dog contest on TV. Yuck.  I don't know how they can do that.  I am losing my appetite. Fortunately when the pizza arrives, it looks so delicious I am feeling hungry.
tarepanda Posted Aug 29, 2009, 4:34 pm	Today we go somewhere very special.  The airport!! We get onto an airplane!!  This is so exciting!!  I wonder where we are going? Hmmm, where could this be?
tarepanda Posted Sep 8, 2009, 12:47 am	Guess where we are? It's New York City!! I think, oh we will see the Statue of Liberty, we will see King Kong, we will see... but then our host tells us that we are heading to the Finger Lakes Region of New York state, so we won't see all these places.  I am a bit sad but she tells me we will have fun there too.  I hope so. Anyway, she takes us to try a Tibetan restaurant.  I have never tasted Tibetan food before!! The restaurant is called Himalayan Yak.  The dish here is called Cheura Tareko.  It is beaten rice fried with peanut, potato chips & spices.  Very spicy but addictively delicious. After lunch we start driving. What is this?  New Jersey? And Pennsylvania? I think our host is totally lost.  But she insists that we have to pass through New Jersey and Pennsylvania to get to another part of New York.  Ha, she thinks I am silly.  But I am a well mannered bunny so I don't say anything and just enjoy the scenery.  Which is quite nice.
tarepanda Posted Sep 8, 2009, 1:25 am	We have arrived in the Finger Lakes region after all.  This area is famous for its wine, and after Napa Valley in California, is the region in the U.S. with the highest concentration of wineries.  Today we visit some vineyards around the Seneca Lake.  The region is called Finger Lakes because there are several long, narrow lakes in the area that extends out like fingers. The first one we go to is Shalestone Vineyard. This looks like a hobbit home.  I didn't know that hobbits are good at making wines.  Come to think of it, they have big feet for crushing grapes. Our host says no hobbit lives here... We knock but nobody answers the door.  Maybe the hobbits are really busy making wines. Anyway, we then visit the tasting room. I don't see any hobbits either.  But there are a lot of wines, and we taste some.  Well, actually not us toys, as we are too young. Then we visit Lamoreaux Landing. It is a very beautiful tasting room.  Out host says the wine is very delicious, especially the Gewurztraminer.  I don't know what she is talking about?  She must be drunk.
tarepanda Posted Sep 8, 2009, 1:42 am	Today we visit the Ithaca Farmers Market. There are a lot of stalls, and some musicians playing. This bakery looks so yummy we get our breakfast here. A lot of different type of food!  But Dottie-Grace still feels kind of sick from the spicy Tibetan food a few days ago. (And I think she drank some wine too!) The round things hanging up are called dream catcher.  It's a web with feathers, to catch the bad dreams so only good ones pass through. Being farmers market there are a lot of vegetables.  But as we are travelling we can't buy any.
tarepanda Posted Sep 8, 2009, 4:02 pm	Today we visit some animals at a place called Farm Sanctuary.  It is a shelter for rescued farm animals.  It is very beautiful and the animals look really happy there.  It must be like heaven for them, after their sad early lives. Behind us is the visit center and some log cabins where visitors can stay for a few nights. Inside is a souvenir shop. and a place for brochures if you want to learn more about the abuse of farm animals. We first visit Miss Moo.  She says that she has seen bunnies but none like me!  We see some sheeps but they are really shy.  They walk away when we try to get closer. Then we say hi to Mr Goatee.  He had injury on one of his legs so they have to put a prosthetic on.  But he brags that he can still run very fast. We meet Mr. Turkey.  He invites us back to dinner at Thanksgiving.  He tells us there will be a lot of corn to munch on.  I wonder if he has carrots too? There are some chickens too.  They invite us for lunch but I don't feel like eating worms. I want to say hi to the ducks but they seem to have a big quarrel, all the quackings get so noisy they can't hear me! This is a lovely place indeed.  I wonder if they will take in one more bunny?
tarepanda Posted Sep 8, 2009, 4:21 pm	This is the Taughannock Falls, located 8 miles north of Ithaca.  The cataract has a drop of 215 feet (66 meters), one of the highest east of the Rocky Mountains, slightly higher even (25 ft., 8 m) than Niagara, although the water volume is much smaller.  The name  originates either from that of the Delaware Indian chief Taughannock or from the Delaware word taghkanic ("great fall in the woods").  We walk along a trail to get a closer look at the bottom of the fall.  The mist is giving me a gentle shower!
tarepanda Posted Sep 9, 2009, 6:26 pm	Today we visit the Watkins Glen State Park.  It is reputedly the most famous of the Finger Lakes State Parks. Within two miles, the glen's stream descends 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs, generating 19 waterfalls along its course. Here we are at the entrance. We can see the stream down there!  It's beautiful isn't it? Here we get a bit closer. Another gorgeous view. Look, we have to go under the waterfall! We did it!!  A bit wet but it was exciting!! Oh this place is really beautiful. Sometimes we will notice this "joint" on the rocks.  It's kind of like a fault except that there is no earthquake. This is really one of the most spellbounding places I've been to.
tarepanda Posted Sep 9, 2009, 7:39 pm	Today is our last day at the Finger Lakes Region.  We will visit some more vineyards, this time on the west bank of Seneca Lake. The first one we visit is Hermann Wiemer Vineyard which is a small vineyard but famous for its reisling. We can see lots of barrels in the tasting room inside the barn. Next we go to Glenora Wine Cellars which is one of the earliest wineries in the region.  They even have a restaurant and a hotel, which as you can see, have spectaucular views. Okay, where is the picnic basket?  We want our wine and cheese! This is a very big wine barrel!  Can you even see me? We can see the vineyard and Seneca Lake behind us. Look, this are the grapes for making wine! And some bugs who can't wait to for the grapes to ferment into wine. Oh what beautiful days.  It's sad to leave ad I must say it has been a very nice trip.
tarepanda Posted Sep 9, 2009, 8:05 pm	Yay today I finally make it to visit the famous Miami Beach! First stop is Ocean Drive, where the art deco style buildings are featured in many movies and magazines. The place to see and be seen! This is the Versace Mansion, you can see the front door steps where the famous designer was murdered one morning years ago.  Give me the creeps! We will go and see the beach. A lot of palm trees. I think I can hear the ocean! Oh this is the beach! This is the Atlantic! I wish they have toy sized T shirts for us. Next we go to the South Pointe Park, which is at the southern tip of Miami Beach. Behind us is the private community of Fisher Island.  It is a man made island and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Fisher Island has the highest per capita income of any place in the United States.  Boris Becker, Oprah Winfrey, and Mel Brooks are among the celebrities with homes on the island.  You have to pass through security to take the ferry to get on the island.
tarepanda Posted Sep 17, 2009, 4:48 pm	Today we go to Chibi Pa, an anime convention. Sure there are a lot of people around!  A lot of them in cosplay. First we go and visit the booths to see what nice stuff they are selling. I want a chicken hat! Our host decides to have a geisha glamour shot.  Here are the makeup tools, wig and accessories. The makeup lady whips together the white foundation.  It's so thick it can make me into a white bunny!  Wow I can hardly recognise my host!  We are shown different kimonos, and we vote on this pink one with flowers.  Isn't it pretty? Wow, this is quite a bit of transformation! Next we watch a taiko drum performance. This is a pinball machine from Japan called Pachinko. We watch the "live" video game.  The characters line up, and the audience yells out which characters they want in the game. Then the two characters fight.  Very entertaining!
tarepanda Posted Oct 3, 2009, 3:57 pm	We get a new TV visitor, her name is Baby Lican.  She tells us that her mission is to visit beaches so we take her to Miami Beach.  I am the guide since I just visited a few weeks ago with Dottie Grace! We park our car and start walking along the broadwalk to South Pointe Park.  We pass by a marina; it's a place where people park their yachts when they are not using them. All the yachts are so beautiful.  I think it will be fun to travel in one? Here I am at South Pointe Park again. I see Fisher Island again, but today weather is nicer.  We decide to walk further this time.  We find a nice piece of grass to rest on.  It would be perfect if we had a picnic basket. Does this picture make it look like I am at a safari?
tarepanda Posted Oct 12, 2009, 2:24 am	As Miami is the closest major U.S. city from Cuba, there is a substantial Cuban immigration population here, and therefore a lot of Cuban restaurants. Today we go to a place called El Rey de Las Fritas, which means The King of Fries, to try the Cuban hamburger.  I wonder how it is different from McDonald's?  Let's look at the menu! We order a guarapo, and a fruta bomba.  Guess what they are?  Sugar cane juice and papaya shake! This is a Cuban hamburger, a Frita.  Instead of the French fries on the side, looks like they put it inside the hamburger!!  How weird! Hmmm...  it's actually tastier than it sounds! After the meal, we finish with a cup of cordadito.  It's espresso coffee with milk and sugar. After lunch, we go by to visit a friend of our host.  She is having a garage sale so we go to help out.  Garage sale means putting everything she doesn't need out in the front yard for people to stop by and buy.  In America, it's a popular way to get rid of unwanted stuff and get some cash from it, and there are professionals who go around to hunt for good bargains, hoping to find some antique or collectibles that people may sell for a few dollars.  We see some toys and go over to say hi.  Our host wants to adopt some to be a TV but she decides they are too big to travel.  I do wish they can find a good home nonetheless.  Good luck!
tarepanda Posted Oct 12, 2009, 2:40 am	Our host received some Harry Potter coloring book through a BookCrossing, where she is a member.  It's a bookring, which means that the book goes around to different members, who read it and pass it on, till the last participant sends it back to the person who started the ring.  For this coloring book ring, instead of reading a book, we pick a fe pages to color.  Of course we are happy to help our host. Hmm, it's hard to decide which pages to color. Yuck! Who wants to color Umbridge?  I want to tear out the page or paint her really ugly but I think it's not a polite thing to do. We decide to color this page.  I will give Hermione's jeans a very nice blue. We also want to color Dumbledore and Snape, because they are two greatest headmasters of Hogswart. That's a lot of trees to color! It takes a long time but I think it looks nice. I like to color the girls too, and give them pretty clothes.
tarepanda Posted Oct 30, 2009, 4:15 pm	Today is the Mid Autumn Festival in China.  It is a night when the moon is supposedly the roundest and brightest in the year, and a day for families to gather together and celebrate.  We all go outside to admire the moon but I am not sure not it compares to the other time of the year. Baby-Lican is from Hong Kong, so she is feeling rather homesick.  To cheer her up, our host offers us a little moon cake party.  First we pick the tea, for mooncake goes very well with a cup of hot tea.  There are a veriety of flavors and sizes of moon cakes! This mooncake is made with lotus seed.  All the mooncakes have an egg yolk in it, the round yolk representing the moon.  They say that during the Mongolian invasion, rebels hid messages inside the cakes and passed them around, thus succeeding in overthrowing the Mongolian rulers.   Yum yum... it is interesting. I haven't tasted something like this before.  It's sweet and smooth.
tarepanda Posted Oct 30, 2009, 6:06 pm	Today we help Baby Lican fulfill her dream, to visit some real pelicans. Where can we find some pelicans?  Pelican Harbor sounds promising. They have a bird sanctuary here.  Here we arrive!  The Seabird Station is a non profit group to rescue and rehabilate animals, especially sea birds. We go and say hi to the pelican at the entrance,  he's very friendly.  I didn't know that pelicans are such big birds.  Fortunately, they eat only fish, not rabbits These pelicans are inside the cage while they recover from injuries.  Most of these injuries are caused by entanglement with fishing lines, ingestion of plastic and other manmade garbage. The volunteers explain that the birds outside the cages are visitors.  They probably come here to visit their injured friends in cage, and maybe hopefully get a bite of the fishes when there are leftovers.  Here is a different kind of bird.  We don't know its name but it has beautiful blue eyes. After the visit we wander around the harbor a bit. Oh look, there is mother duck with her babies!!  They are so cute! Oh no, there are some American black vultures.  I am not sure if they like rabbits but I am not waiting to find out!  We hurry away as soon as possible.
tarepanda Posted Nov 3, 2009, 8:08 pm	Today we head out for Central Florida.  That's where Disney is.  I am so excited! It's four hours drive from Miami.  Halfway through we stop by a rest area.  We find a booth selling Florida grown citrus.  Yum, they have some samples! Here we are, at Downtown Disney! This is Disney Quest, an indoor game center. There are a lot of interesting stores to visit. This is the Mary Poppins balloon ride that can take you up in the sky. There is a Planet Hollywood restaurant in Downtown Disney. There is some excitement on the water.  There is a dragon boat race going on! Wow it's a big dinosaur!!  Or rather, it's skeleton. It's a T Rex restaurant.  Let's go in and check it out! You can make your own dinosaur here. I see another dinosaur... and this one is not just bones.  It's moving around.  Very scary... Hi Buzz, what's up! Hello Mr Potato Head! Let's go check out the toys!! Wow true to its name, there are a lot of toys here! You can get your own customized light sabre here. You can also play with designing your own Mr. Potato. None of the parts fit me though... We get to say hi to Winnie the Pooh and his friends.  He shares some honey with us. It's Halloween coming up so there are lots of Halloween stuff. We got lost.  Donald Duck is kind of grumpy but Donna has been very nice. Look, a Lego store! Baby Lican tells us that this is how Hong Kong, her home, looks like.  Maybe I will get to visit Asia some day. We meet Blinkey, the Lego dragon. It's amazing how they can build all these with little lego bricks! Well, we try, but I don't think we can. Maybe I'll go in for some Christmas shopping! Can you find me in the picture? In the art gallery, an artist is there to do some demostration.  You can see his head hiding behind the drawboard.  There is a TV screen so you can see what he is drawing. The gallery has a lot of beautiful artworks. This is a very huge store that sells all things Disney. Let's get a little penny souvenir!
tarepanda Posted Nov 8, 2009, 3:57 am	Today we are heading home, but we will have breakfast first. We arrive at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  We are having an African buffet.  I have never tried African food before!  Let's go get some food. I get some POG (Pineapple Orange Guava) juice, some quinoa, some egg with curried meat, ham, grilled tomato and other stuff.  They also have an African fruit salad which is very delicious, and other more standard breakfast fare such as French toast, cereal, muffins, croissants and omelette.  Even their restroom is nicely decorated with woven baskets. This is where the guest rooms are at the lodge.
tarepanda Posted Nov 8, 2009, 4:36 am	Wow we are travelling again!  Today we are flying in the airplane.  First, we arrive at the Miami airport. Look!  A giraffe in the airport!  Oh, it's about the Miami Metro Zoo.  Geez, I was wondering how a giraffe can fit into an airport. Okay, all buckle up and ready to take off! We arrive at the Chicago O'Hare airport. The weather looks rainy and gloomy. We are not staying in Chicago but decide to check out the information anyway.  Maybe one day I will be really visiting for a few days. Wow, a lot of apples!!  Dipped in caramel, chocolate and more...  They sure look delicious!
tarepanda Posted Nov 8, 2009, 5:08 am	We arrive at our destination.  It's Kansas City! We ride to the hotel.  Our host tells us that Kansas City is in two states.  The airport is in Missouri but our hotel is in Kansas.  Bally and I are especially excited as they both want to visit many states, though unfortunately Bally gets so tired from all the travelling and doses off when we cross the state line.
tarepanda Posted Nov 10, 2009, 5:38 pm	Today we attend the BookCrossing UnConvention.  BookCrossing is an online community of readers who send books to travel around (like us toys) to see where the books end up.  At the beginning of the UnConvention, we enjoy a delicious cake to celebrate. We take a picture with Ballycumber, the BookCrossing mascot. This morning we sit very still to listen to some speeches. First are two speakers who are authors.  They talk about the books they write and how they get them published.  Next comes a presentation of BC in DC for 2011.  It will be the 10th anniversary of BookCrossing so it will be a big gathering with lots of fun.  It sounds very interesting. He is a Very Very Important Person.  Bruce is the co-founder and CEO of BookCrossing and has made a surprise visit.  We get some tickets for the raffle drawing.  I get to put a ticket in.  Hmmm, there are so many good prizes I don't quite know which one to choose! This is a mobile OBCZ by crrcookie.  She goes around in it to give away books!! We also have a book buffet table where there are lots of books, and people can take and leave any book they like.  We have fun looking at the books. Bally finds a monkey book, and I find a Bunnicular book.  My host is very impressed.  She says that she has heard of a lot of themed released but this is the first themed catch she knows of.  Mocha try to look for a moose book too but the closest we can find is a reindeer book.  We also try to help Baby Lican finds Pelican Brief, but all we see are four copies of The Firm.  When I turn around to look for books, someone took my Bunnicular!!  Lunch is, of course, the famous Kansas City BBQ.  Mocha is very excited to see the Tim Tams.  He says that it is a famous cookie from Australia and one of the members from Australia, Skyring, brings them to the BC conventions whenever he attends, so it becomes sort of a tradition.  I try it it's quite delicious and I am told that now Pepperidge Farm imports them during the winter time. Discoverylover is from New Zealand, and she makes sure everybody wears a pretty New Zealand tattoo.  I want one too but I couldn't get it on... We also stop by the BookCrossing store to get supplies like book labels, bags and stickies.  At night we visit a place called The Legends.  One of the BookCrossers gives a book to this Indian chief. Look, here is another T Rex restaurant.  We just went to one last Saturday in Orlando, so it's hard to believe that there are only two of them in the whole country! We release a book by Rex Stout in front of this T Rex. Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road... We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Nov 10, 2009, 11:21 pm	Hi Mom! Yesterday I arrived safely in Pennsylvania. Guess what else arrived? My host Sam and her husband Greg bought a new TV, and it was delivered shortly after I arrived. Its huge! To give you an idea of how big it is, here I am with the old TV : And here I am with the new one: Its great for playing video games, so that is how we all spent the evening. So far I've mostly just been relaxing here, but Sam tells me that we will be doing more sight seeing soon. I've also heard rumors that Sam and Greg will be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner here. I hope I get to help cook! Well, I think I'm going to get back to playing some more video games. More updates to come soon! I just wanted to let you know that I arrived safely.
tarepanda Posted Nov 11, 2009, 2:38 pm	We are very excited because we are going on a Reverse Scavenger Hunt!!!  We have never play this game before and it sounds like a lot of fun.  We have a list of places we have to find and release books at. The most important thing of course is to have the books for release.  No worry we have lots of books. We are ready to set off!! Hmm... I think this is the unofficial Bally car? We arrive at the Country Club Plaza. Behind us is the Cheesecake Factory. The BookCrossers are all gathered together for the game.  Everybody is carrying a lot of books.  We can feel the excitement in the air! The first book we release is by the J.C. Nichols Fountain.  It's called Hole in the Water. We find a horse statue in front of PF Chang and put a book with a unicorn statue by it. Then we drop off Nickel and Dimed at the bank. I try to help put a book by this statue.  But kyaaa!  I almost get stabbed! Next we climb into the eagle nest to release Like Water for Chocolate in front of this chocolate shop. It's really scary to be so close to a big eagle but it's quite a thrill too.  Baby Lican insists that we are taking wild releasing too literally, so we decide to do some tamer releases to calm our nerves a bit.  We find this guy by a McDonald's.  Hmm, is that lettuce and tomato in his burger? Kansas City sure looks very different from Miami. We leave a dog book, Why We Love The Dogs We Do, at Three Dogs Bakery.  I wish I have a book to leave for a dog to read too. It's a bit tiring so we rest a bit.  We put in another book here, Three for the Chair. Hmm, they should title the book Four for the Chair. We also leave a book at the clock tower of Fogo de Chao.  It's a Brazilian restaurant.  We have a matching theme book called Zero Hours.  This book actually gets picked up by someone from Alabama!  Isn't that cool? We have been so busy running around the plaza we barely have time to notice the beautiful scenery. After a very fun and exciting morning running around the Plaza, we go on to the Hallmark City Center. Unfortunately, the Hallmark Visitor Center is closed. But we get to shop around a bit.  Here are some arts done by local children. We also find a nice tea shop. The shopkeeper (who came from Fujian, China) invites us to sit down for some tea.  He keeps pouring cup after cup we drink so much we need the restroom! We visit the Crayola store. Oh look!  We catch a BookCrossing book!  It's lying on the bench in front of the Crayola store.  Amazing!!  Hallmark is headquartered in Kansas City. We couldn't find a pay phone at the hunt (which is a bonus point), but finally here's one.  We leave Superman Returns here for Superman to pick up. Wow this is a huge cinnamon bun. And a huge ice cream!  Hey are we in Texas? We are tired so we sit down and watch the fountain a bit as it dances along with the music. The trees here are gorgeous in their colors indeed. Look, we are leaving Kansas! Missouri welcomes us!! After this we have some time before dinner, so we visit a coffee shop called Latteland.  There is an OBCZ (Official BookCrossing Zone) here, where bookcrossers bring free books and leave here for people to take.  We leave some books and take a few. Then at night, we go to eat... you guess it, BBQ!  It is very delicious. We also get to know Ringbear.  She has traveled around a lot with Skyring, and tells us of all the great BC gatherings she has been to.  We tell her she must join ToyVoyagers so we can stay in touch.  It's like Facebook for toys!  I hope we will see her soon on TV.
tarepanda Posted Nov 11, 2009, 3:33 pm	It's time to go home.  We are heading to the airport. We arrive at Dallas Fort Worth airport, that is in Texas. We have a very short time to change planes, when we arrive at the gate it's boarding already, so we could not find better places to pose for our very short visit to Texas... It is very rainy here.  We are lucky that it only rains in places we are just stopping for transist, and are able to enjoy nice weather in Kansas. Wow we have taken off! Now above the cloud we can see the sun again. It's night time when we arrive back in Miami.
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Nov 25, 2009, 7:06 pm	Hi Mom! A couple days ago, my host and her husband needed to go into town to buy a few things. The weather wasn't very nice at all, but we did take a couple pictures from inside the Jeep. The church behind me is the one where Sam (my host) and her husband got married a little over two years ago. I've really tiny and very old! This is Fraley Street in the town of Kane. It is the main street that goes through the town, and most of the businesses are located here. Its kind of hard to tell from the photo, but this is a really small town. I hope we can go out again soon and get more photos to show you better. Sam has been talking a lot about Thanksgiving plans. Since the big day is tomorrow, we're going to be doing some cooking today. I'll be sure to update very, very soon to let you see what we're making! Love, Ebba
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Nov 25, 2009, 8:02 pm	Hello again! My host and I have started cooking for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner. We just got done making a very yummy smelling pumpkin cheesecake. I really enjoyed helping, but I really can't wait to be able to taste it! First we had to make the graham cracker crust. Next, we started mixing up the ingredients for the filling. Then we separated out part of the filling. We added pumpkin to what was remaining and mixed it all up. We started putting the filling in a little bit at a time, alternating between colors. Then we used a knife to carefully swirl the two together. After letting it bake for about an hour, here is the finished result. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow when I will get to try some!
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Nov 28, 2009, 3:43 pm	Happy Thanksgiving! Well, its a little bit belated now. My host has just been so busy with Thanksgiving dinner and spending time with family that she hasn't been able to help me upload photos until today. I got to meet a brand new friend the day before Thanksgiving. Big Bird arrived just as Sam and I were doing some cooking. Since Thanksgiving is all about being thankful for things, I would like to say that I'm thankful to have a new friend! It was nice having another toy my size to spend the holiday with. Before it was time to eat, my host's Mom and Step-Father came down to visit and play Nintendo Wii. Sam and her husband had the Thanksgiving turkey cooking in a smoker for most of the day. It smelled so good! When it was done it almost looked burned, but thankfully the skin just darkened because of the smoke. It was really moist and tasty! When it was time for dinner, we had TONS of food even though there were only four people and two toys at the meal. My favorite part... Dessert! The pumpkin cheesecake was delicious! After dinner we all just relaxed for a while. There are so many leftovers! I think we have enough turkey left to eat for a week!
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Nov 28, 2009, 4:06 pm	*Yawn* Good morning! My host and her husband work me up very early this morning. In fact, we were awake by 3 am! I was confused, but she explained to me that the day after Thanksgiving is a BIG shopping day known as Black Friday. A lot of stores have really big sales, and they open really early. Lots of shoppers go out today to buy gifts for their loved ones for Christmas. For Sam, its a tradition to go out shopping with her family today. We managed to leave at about 4 am. Sorry this picture is a bit blurry. The camera didn't want to work very well in the dark. I think we drove for about an hour to get where we were going. I decided to take a little nap. When we arrived, Sam told me that our first stop was Walmart. Their sale started at 5 AM, and we arrived just moments before. The parking lot was so full we could hardly find a place to park! Once we got inside we ran around and got what we needed to get. There was no time for pictures until we were waiting in line to check out. We waiting in line for what seemed like an eternity. The lines were so long it was difficult to even walk through the front half of the store. Eventually we got checked out, and we moved on to a few other stores before going out to eat for breakfast.
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Dec 3, 2009, 8:09 pm	Hello! I was out with my host and her husband, and we came upon some beautiful Christmas decorations! They put up TONS of lights outside of a group children's home. It was so pretty. My host also helped me take a video of all the lights. Check it out! Tomorrow we're going to go see even more Christmas decorations. I can't wait!
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Dec 6, 2009, 12:14 am	What an exciting day! I got to see a lot of new places with my host and her family. First we went to see The Avenue of 444 Flags. This is the largest display of flags in the world! The flags were originally flown in honor of the Americans who were held hostage for 444 days in Iran from 1979 to 1980. The flags have flown year round ever since. It really is a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight! These plaques list the names of many American soldiers from Pennsylvania who have passed away. The plaque and statue in these photos serve to commemorate the Avenue of Flags as a memorial of the 444 days the hostages were held.
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Dec 6, 2009, 12:21 am	Hello Again! After the Avenue of Flags, we went to a store called Kraynak's. Every year Kraynak's has a HUGE display of Christmas decorations called Santa's Christmasland. I got to see a lot of trees and other Christmas decorations with my friend Big Bird. There were a lot of people, so we posed for quite a few pictures together. I even got to meet Santa, Rudolph, and the Grinch! They even had a very pretty life sized Nativity Scene. I had never seen so many different decorations in my life! I'm really feeling in the Christmas spirit now! Once I get to see a few more indoor and outdoor decorations, I'll be able to check off one of my life missions!
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Dec 6, 2009, 12:29 am	Our last stop of the day was at Daffin's candy store. It is considered to be one of the world's largest candy stores! They make their own candy right here in Pennsylvania. Their factory is located just a few miles from the store we visited in Sharon. Unfortunately the factory only does large group tours, so we couldn't go see the chocolate being made. At the candy store, we visited the Chocolate Kingdom. The Chocolate Kingdom features some GIANT animals made entirely of chocolate including a turtle that weighs over 400 pounds! There is also a smaller chocolate village, train, and castle. The room smelled soooo yummy because of all the chocolate! We even got to enjoy a free sample. And of course... what fun would a trip to the candy store be if we didn't buy lots of goodies???
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Dec 15, 2009, 11:02 pm	Hello! I have been having a wonderful time helping my host family get ready for Christmas. It seems like there is so much to do! I can't do a lot since I'm so small, but I was able to help Sam wrap some Christmas gifts. Here I am with a lot of gifts before they got wrapped. I know I like cats, but I was a little bit scared of the toy cats! They look scary! They didn't hurt me though as they are just toys for the dogs. Yep - in my host's family even the cats and the dogs get wrapped Christmas gifts! I'm really good at holding the wrapping paper in place so Sam can tape it! And lastly, here I am with some of the wrapped gifts. There are still a lot more to wrap, and there is a LOT more to do to get ready for Christmas!
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Dec 15, 2009, 11:28 pm	Guess what? I learned that my host family enjoys lots of different holiday cartoons. I got to watch one of the classics a few days ago. We watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Its really fun and relaxing to watch all the holiday specials! I hope I have a chance to watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" also. I've heard its really good!
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Jan 7, 2010, 4:00 pm	Hello! My host said to let you know that we are very sorry that this update is being posted so late! We were very busy enjoying Christmas with my host and her husband's families! Anyway, a few days before the big day we went for a drive into town to look at Christmas lights. We saw all the ones that won prizes and honorable mentions for the town's holiday spirit contest.
SamanthaMittelmeier Posted Jan 7, 2010, 4:23 pm	\Good Morning! Its Christmas! Last night we spent Christmas Eve with my host's husband's family, but we didn't get to take pictures. Sam was afraid that with all the chaos and excitement we might get lost. First off, this is the Christmas tree at my host's house. She would like to put up a much larger tree, but unfortunately her cats will not leave a Christmas tree alone, so she can only have a small one that is anchored to the wall. My host and her husband spent Christmas morning opening their gifts from each other and from some other family members and friends. Look at all the goodies! Afterward, we all went to Sam's mom and step-dad's house for a wonderful Christmas breakfast. Yum! All in all, I had a very nice Christmas!
beccasaurus Posted Apr 23, 2010, 4:04 am	Hi! I have safely arrived in Fort Kent, Maine. My new host beccasaurus is currently very busy with school, she graduating from University in just two short weeks. She's promised lots of adventures for me after next week.  It was nice to get out of that envelope! and when I had completely emerged I was greeted by a group of other TV's! Here I am with Xrundel=), Alister Gator, and Puff who is going to Florida very soon! I'll post again soon about my travels around Fort Kent!
beccasaurus Posted May 29, 2010, 3:58 am	Hello Mom! Today we went on a short trip to town and had some fun at the local park. Before we got there we stopped at the Block House. The Fort Kent blockhouse is the only extant fortification relating to the "Bloodless" Aroostook War of 1838-39, and the border dispute between Great Britain and the United States. The signing of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842 settled the boundary dispute between Maine and New Brunswick and reduced the need for a fort, although federal troops remained there until 1845 to protect Maine's and the United States'­ interests in the region. In addition to being listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the structure is a National Historic Landmark. Here are some photos of me at Riverside Park! Here I was introduced to one of Becca's friends her name is Krystal. She's very nice It's hard to see me in this picture but I'm at the top of the slide getting ready to take a trip down... After playing on the jungle gym for a while we went down to the water. In the distance you can the Boarder Bridge and on the right the trees of Canada! It was a beautiful day to go to the park and I had a lot of fun! That's all I have to report for now. I'll update again soon. Love, Ebba
beccasaurus Posted Jun 24, 2010, 6:14 am	Hello Mom! Last night and this morning has been filled with traveling. We took a very long 8 hour drive all the way from Fort Kent, Maine to Worcester, Massachusetts where Becca is from. Since we were all tired from the traveling we took this day to just relax. First we had a nice yummy snack of strawberry shortcake. Then me and my friends Xrundel=) and Alister Gator relaxed and had some fun by the pool. We were all very safe and used floaties when we swam. It was the perfect day to be by the pool, since the sun was out and shining bright. I've had fun in Worcester so far. I can't wait for the rest of the week!
beccasaurus Posted Jun 24, 2010, 6:35 am	Hi again Mom! Today we went only on a short trip to the ZOO!! We saw a lot of awesome animals up close and we got to pet some deer. (I'm not in some of the pictures below, but I wanted to show you some of the animals we saw). Here I am at the entrance! Along the way I was able to meet a fellow rabbit. He wasn't allowed out of his cage at the time, but I still had a nice chat with him. We also saw some African Porcupines that we pretty cool. and this baboon: We stopped for a photo op with some chimps: Next we went into the deer park we're the we were able to get close enough to the deer to pet and feed them: after walking around for quite awhile we stopped and had some ice cream before moving onto see the Giraffes: We also saw an albino Peacock just wandering around! Becca likes these birds and we found it interesting because we have never seen a pure white peacock before. We tried to coax it into opening it tail feathers but it refused. This day at the zoo was great and I was happy to go

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