Parkeripedia

Our Bird Nest

Hi!

I have to tell you about something really cool. For the past month or so, there have been some robins flying around my neighborhood. One of them decided to make a nest right by my front door! Awesome, right? After the male finished the nest, a couple days later we saw a mother in the nest! When the mama bird left the nest, my mom got on a stepladder, being careful to not touch the nest and took a picture of it with my iPad. Once she got down, we looked at the pictures and were amazed to see a couple of light blue robins eggs!

Isn’t it amazing? They are so beautiful. We left the eggs alone for about a week, but one afternoon, we saw some blue eggshells on the ground! We grabbed the stepladder and took a peak. They hatched and there were naked baby birds, sleeping in the nest. It was really a site to see.

We checked the nest weekly after that and they were so much bigger! You just have to see for yourself.

We loved seeing the little feathers and beaks develop. Look here!

And below is the mom feeding a worm to the little birdies.

The mom is really protective! Whenever we tried to walk out our front door, the mom was right there waiting to ‘swoop’ down on us. One or two times she actually tried to swoop my dogs! We were all scared of her. And, it is crazy how fast they grow up!

Well, I will probably be saying that in 40 years when my son or daughter grows up, but still, wow!  Eventually we didn’t see the mom come back to the nest for about two days, so we checked and the baby’s had grown up and flown away.

Seeing those birds grow up was really cool and so interesting. Someone told me it is good luck that the mama bird chose our house. I wish it could happen again!

See you later,

Parker

P.S. Yesterday there was a sparrow in the empty nest. Really, it’s true. It is like a bird hotel!

Posted in Family Fun, Random Thoughts, Story Scenes | 4 Comments »

Blog Anniversary

Hi guys!
Sorry I haven’t been writing posts for a while. I have been really busy with swimming and school lately. It’s almost summertime! But, there is one more thing that we are doing this school year…Going to Camp Edwards! If you remember, I have been writing a post or two about camp since my blog started last May. I am so excited! We are leaving tomorrow morning.
I promise, you will see a blog post about it.

Ok, anyway. Last week, it was my blog’s 1 year Anniversary! I cannot believe it has been almost a whole swimming season, a State meet, a full school year, an awesome trip to London and the Olympics, a vaction and 2 (almost 3) camping trips, since I started this blog. Wow. That is a lot of posts.

Ok, this is the end of my Anniversary Post, so I wish you a happy end of May.
See you after camp!
Parker

Tags: Anniversary, Blog, Camp Edwards, Florida, London, Olympics, Summer, Vacations
Posted in Family Fun, London Legacies, Random Thoughts, School Side, Story Scenes, Swimming Strokes, Travel Tales | 2 Comments »

My 10th Birthday!

Hi! So this is my first post on my blog where I am officially 10 years old! This year, my birthday was really special because it was on 12/12/12!  Did you know that this kind of birthday will not happen in another 1000 years. Cool, right? If I was born 2 years earlier, I would have turned 12 on Dec. 12th 2012.  I am still excited to be double digits. But, my dad told me that someone was born on 12/12/12 at 12:12 am. That is even cooler!

As a birthday present, my dad drew a sketch of me as a newborn. Compared to the photo, I think it looks just like me! I also got a bunch of lottery tickets and candy. Guess what? I won $10 on my very FIRST TRY! I think it is hard to believe. It must be good luck to win $10 on my 10th birthday!

But, my birthday celebration started early when my Grandma (Greeny) came into town. Greeny let me open my gift early. She bought me an awesome LEGO Lord of the Rings set! I built it in an hour and a half. I love it.

Then, we all went to Symphony Hall to see the orchestra. They played some really exciting songs like Beethoven Symphony No. 5 and the conductor talked to us about the history of the music. After that, we went out to lunch and the waitress surprised us with 2 cakes because both Greeny & I were celebrating our birthdays! (By the way, the cake was delicious!)

On Sunday, our friends Jesse and Patty came over. They bought me a Wii U for my birthday! The new remote is the best Wii controller I have ever used. There are a lot of new buttons and games that are made just for it! We played for most of the afternoon.

Later, we all went to Dave and Busters with my friend Harry. When we got there, we spotted a gigantic banana hanging on the wall! We said to each other “‘Let’s win that Banana!”. We went to the prize booth and asked, “How much is that Banana?’. Turns out, it was 3200 points.

After our long day there, we ended up with only 3090 points. Bummer, no banana. We were about to walk away. Then on a whim, Jesse & PJ used their last token to spin the wheel and hit the jackpot.  All of  sudden the sirens went off and 500 tickets spit out. We were so happy; we left with the banana!

Well, overall, I had a great 10th birthday! Thanks for all the presents from my friends and family! I really love them all. Now, we only have 10 more days till Christmas. Wow, December is always a really busy month for us.

So, I am going to go play with all my presents and think about what I will give to people for Christmas.

See you later,

Parker (Who is now 10!!!!)

Tags: 12/12/12, Birthday, Lego, presents, WII U
Posted in Family Fun, Music | No Comments »

My First Orchestra!

Hi! So yesterday we went to the Orchestra at Symphony Hall downtown as a weekend treat. The show was called Hallowed Haunts. They played lots of scary classical music to the audience for Halloween. But, it was not just a regular orchestra, it was the Orchestra of DOOM!!   This is me and my brother in the front of the hall.

The inside of the hall was cool too. It had a big dome up high on the roof  so the sound was awesome!

When the musicians came out, they all looked like zombies and were walking like them too! It was a little creepy. The music was great, but they also wove a little skit into the program to keep the kids involved. It was about a woman bassoonist who liked to play happy songs but, the conductor did not think that bassoonists in the Orchestra of DOOM should play cheerful tunes. So, he took her bassoon away and fired her. She tried to grab the bassoon, but the conductor controlled her with the evil metronome!! Finally, she got her bassoon back and the Orchestra played a happy song.

“Thank you Greeny for the tickets to this amazing show! I really loved it.”

Have you ever been to an Orchestra?

See you later,

Parker

Tags: Music, Orchestra, Symphony Hall
Posted in Family Fun, Music | 3 Comments »

Happy Sunday!

Hi! So today is the last day of the week! Today we are just going to have a relxaxing day at the house. I have had a great weekend so far. My friend came over on Friday. I showed her how to play Minecraft and we watched a movie while eating ice cream.  It was awesome! The next night, I also saw a Harvest Moon. I logged it in my moon journal. It was a really cool yellowy color. It looked like this:    Awesome, right? A couple days ago, I built a lego bed for my lego person. It was really hard to assemble and it wouldn’t fit inside my house but I figured out a way to get it in there. The bed is big enough to have the person actually sleep on it! I’ve got to say, it is pretty cool. I also built a little garden for the backyard. There are lots of plants!

The swimming season has just started. I cannot wait for the first meet! It is in October. I am training hard till they come. This year is going to be a lot more competition because of all of the older kids. I have to prepare! Wow. I can’t believe that today is the last day of September until next year. I will really miss you September! ;) I am going to go relax so, Goodbye!

Parker

Tags: Harvest Moon, Lego, Minecraft, Weekends
Posted in Cool Creations, Family Fun, Loving Lego, Random Thoughts, Swimming Strokes | No Comments »

Goodbye Summer, Hello School!

Hi!

So today is my last day of summer before school starts tomorrow! Just to let you know, I did not get kidnapped by English thieves or disappear off the face of the Earth. Let me give you the update on what happened after London. My brother and I had a nice flight back to Chicago and when we finally arrived back home we literally did this: a load of laundry and then the next day we packed up the car and left for FL. It was a 20 hour drive, but it was totally worth it. When we got there at 9:00 pm, the first thing we did was go to Two Scoops, the local ice cream shoppe. They have amazing homemade ice cream, chocolate dipped cones and much more. We were in heaven.

The next morning, the first thing we did when we woke up in paradise was run down to the beach.  The beach is one of a kind, because of the soft sugar sand. So for the next 3 weeks it was all about relaxing, but we managed to have tons of fun. I learned to surf, we paddle-boarded with wild dolphins, swam in the ocean, played board games, found awesome treasures, hung out with friends, and most importantly, relaxed on the beach a lot. This is a pic of me surfing on a paddle board!

Did you know that three weeks in Florida can give you a nice tan?

Even after nearly a month of island living, I was still excited for school to start.  Today was a day to just drop in to see our teachers & classrooms. Visiting all of my friends was so much fun.  I can’t wait for tomorrow morning.  Ancona here we come!

More later,

Parker

Tags: Beach, End of Summer, Lots of Fun, Travel
Posted in Beach Blasts, Family Fun, School Side, Story Scenes, Travel Tales | 1 Comment »

London Day 5: Taekwondo and a walk around London

Hi! So today was my final full day in London. We went to Taekwondo with Tom’s sister, Miranda. After talking to Greeny, we discovered she is our 2nd cousin. In the early morning we took the bus and the train to arrive at the stadium. I actually took a picture of my Lego Me on the Tube.

When we arrived at the stadium, we had to walk a long way to the Taekwondo arena and we had to clear security. When we went through the beeper, I got beeped! I looked in my pockets and found out that my metal card holder set off the alarm. My “lost” card has my grandma’s address and phone number on it so if I was lost I could find home. Well, I walked through the beeper again and didn’t get beeped.

Well, after that drama we walked through the entrance and took a picture of all of us!

Once we found our seats, we couldn’t stop watching! It was so awesome! It was really fun for my brother because he does Taekwondo. He is a high brown belt. This is a picture of the professionals sparring.

After the TKD, we went on a cable car across the river Thames. It was amazing! We were almost 300 feet in the air! You could see everything. After the ride all of us walked to the O2 center, also where the basketball is playing. You had to go thru security again. I was determined not to get beeped! Well, I didn’t. I was happy.

Then we went to lunch at a nice place where they have chicken burgers. It was a good meal! We stopped at the London 2012 shop to buy things for certain people, like our parents. Hint, Hint! We caught a bus to the waterfront and caught a boat to Big Ben. This is Miranda and I on the waterfront.

The boat was so cool. There were 2 floors! On the boat, I spotted another set of Olympic Rings! Yes, I took a picture, of course.

You also get a great view of Big Ben! On the boat ride, I realized how beautiful the city of London really is. I just love London.

Well, goodnight,
Parker

Tags: 2012, Boat ride, City, London, Taekwondo, Vacation
Posted in Family Fun, London Legacies, Random Thoughts, Story Scenes, Travel Tales | 2 Comments »

London Day 4: Synchronized Swimming

Hi! So today was an awesome day. In the morning, we relaxed then went to a cool playground in the woods. In the back of the playground, there is a ZIPLINE! It is so awesome! We rode it a couple of times then enjoyed the rest of the park. We found an old tree stump and thought we would take a picture next to it.

Also, I put my Lego Me on top of it and took a pic. This is what it looked like. This photo is one of my favorites!

After the pictures, we headed back home to have lunch and prepare for our big trip to the Olympic Park. We took a double decker bus and the overground. As we headed in to the Olympic Park, I looked at all of the sights and the beautiful views. As we got towards the Aquatics Centre, I noticed another set of Olympic Rings! I just HAD to take a picture.

I was happy I found them because I did not want only one picture in my Olympic Rings Picture Collection. That would be just sad, don’t you think? We walked up the stairs and I saw that Aquatics Centre sign. Of course I took a photo!

As you can tell, I am the Cameraman in almost all of the Olympic photos. It is a fun job. When we went into the Swimming pool, the Synchronized Swimming was starting! I looked around in awe. The pool was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! It could fit probably 10,000 people. As we got to our seats, I started to watch. It was actually much cooler than I thought it would be.

After we watched the medal ceremony, we ate dinner at McDonald’s. I love UK McDonald’s because it actually taste like chicken! We finished and walked to the train. We rode on one that was going like 160 MPH. It was amazing. The train cars were nice too.

When we exited the train I spotted ANOTHER set of the Olympic Rings! This is my lucky day! So I took a picture. I don’t know why I wouldn’t.

Sorry I published my post so late, we had so much to do! What did you do today?
Good Night,
Parker

Tags: 2012, Day 4, London, Olympics, UK
Posted in Family Fun, London Legacies, Loving Lego, Story Scenes | 2 Comments »

London Day 3: Track and Field

Hi!

So, today was my first day going to the Olympics! Off we went to the Track and Field stadium in East London. The events were held in the main Olympic Park and it is so gigantic! It is really well organized and the volunteers were all so nice. Also, my Dad’s cousin, Tom came with me, PJ and Greeny. He is a super cool guy. This is a picture of me & him.

The stadium for Track and Field is actually really easy to get in and out of too. That surprised me, because there are probably about 80,000 people inside. This is a picture of the Stadium from the inside.

It is a spectacular court, don’t you think? I think it is awesome. Speaking of Track and Field, the events that we saw were Women’s 100M Hurdles, Men’s Discus throwing (which is very cool, by the way), Women’s Shot Put, Women’s 1500M running and Men’s 500M running. They were amazing events to see in real time.

Also the big torch was AWESOME! It had about 50 sticks of fire clumped up together. Finally, on the back of the aquatics center, there are the Olympic Rings in a shade of gray. This is a picture.

Can you believe that it took London only 5 years to build the Olympic Park? I thought it would have taken them at least 10? Do you think they did a good job?
Well, tomorrow I am going to Sychronized Swimming, or water ballet, as some people call it, with PJ & Greeny. I can’t wait to see the pool! Then on Wednesday we are going to Taekwondo with our cousin Miranda. It is going to be so fun!
Good Night,

Parker

P.S. If you have noticed, I have been putting up pictures of my Lego Me in London. Today I forgot to take a picture of him while we were out and about, so I am putting a picture of him with my special Great Britian Lego Mini figures.

Tags: 2012, Hurdles, London, Olympics, Running, Track and Field
Posted in Family Fun, London Legacies, Loving Lego, Random Thoughts, Story Scenes, Travel Tales | 1 Comment »

London Day 2: My Trip to Tower Bridge

Hi!

So, it is my second wonderful day in the amazing city of London! Today, we were going to go to “Denmark” with our friends Laura and Ben. “Denmark” is an event by the Tower Bridge where you could play with Lego, eat Danish food and see the lego Olympic Park. Unfortunately, the event got rained out, so we took refuge in a coffee shop. After the rain, I took some cool pictures of the lego Olympic Park.

Then, we walked to the bridge. On the way there I took some more photos.  This time of the Olympic Rings that London recently put on the Tower Bridge and other famous landmarks around the city. These are the first rings I have visited.

It is very awesome. When we got to Tower Bridge, we spotted a seal that represented London. This is a picture of the seal and of the rings and my Lego guy.

After all the excitement, all of us went out to lunch at Pizza Express. It is a very fun restaurant! I got pizza, of course. This is a picture of me with Laura.

Then we went home for about 30 mins before we jumped in the car to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. It was a good movie. So, that was it for today! Time for bed.
Good Night,
Parker
P.S. If you are in the US, good afternoon!

Tags: day 2, Fun, London, Olympics, Summer, Travel, Trips
Posted in Family Fun, London Legacies, Random Thoughts, Story Scenes, Travel Tales | 3 Comments »