Mom and I went to the states while Dad was in the hospital. We flew into Atlanta and cleared customs. The customs  line was crazy and overwhelming.  We stood in line for two hours.

The next day we drove to Boone, North Carolina. We got to see Makenzie and Ella. We stayed at the Towne Place Suites with Ella and her cat Lily. 

I got to see my friend Kelsey and my new friend Sarah. I was excited to see Kelsey and Sarah because I had not seen them in a long time.  We had them over at the hotel for swimming.

Brendan and I went swimming at Elk River Falls. The water was very chilly, but we had a great time swimming and floating around. Brendan even jumped off one of the rocks into the water.

We left Boone and went to Sunset Beach to see Mom’s family and spent a couple of days with them.  It was mind blowing to see everyone, but also exciting. We got to see our second cousins from England who we haven’t seen in 5 years. I played a word game with Lauren to compare English words to British words.

We went back to Boone to drop Makenzie and Ella off, then we went to Nebo to see Don and Mel. Don left for work and Mel, Mom and I had a girls day on the boat. It was exciting because I missed our boat, Aventis. Dad and Don kept teasing Mel about wrecking the boat, but she did a good job driving it.

Another day, Don grilled hotdogs on the boat and pulled me around in the tube. It was fun, luckily he went easy on me. Don surprised us when he told us he wanted to knee-board, so Mel pulled him. I am going to ask Dad for a unicorn float like this for Christmas.

We saw Grandad and Nana in Charlotte with Makenzie and Ella. We got lunch from Makenzie, Ella and my favorite restaurant, Cowfish. It was delicious! What was even better was the dessert they had us try called, Butta Pie. We then went shopping. It was a fun day.

I got to spend sometime with Mel by myself while Mom went to Boone for doctors appointments and then to Charlotte to get Dad.  I got to experience being in Tropical Storm Fred. It was weird. We lost power, so we had to go to town and get coffee and tea. Later that same day I had lunch at an Asian Fusion Restaurant and I had Bubble Tea. I haven’t had it in a long time. It was delicious! I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t tried it before. It’s a tea that tastes like soda with tapioca pearls that sit at the bottom to make it taste like your eating bubbles.

The day before Mel and I were at the hair salon getting haircuts and there was a little bit of an earthquake. It was my first time being in an earthquake. Luckily the earthquake was short so it wasn’t really scary. The ground shook a little bit, but nothing fell and broke. We had a movie night and made popcorn and candy bowls. This is where each person fills their bowl with whatever combination of sweet and salty treats that we have in the house.

Dad Arrived Yay! He got to spend some time with Grandad and Nana then he and Mom came to Nebo to see me. I was glad to see him. We joked that he was like Captain Hook.

We went to Virginia to see Grandma. It was hard because she is not what she used to be. We saw Shawn, Miki, Lucas and Theo. It was fun and nice to see them.

We went back to Boone to drop Makenzie and Ella off then we went back to Nebo and saw Don and Mel and went “Brewery Hopping”.

I got to see Kelsey and go swimming with her again.  We swam at the Blowing Rock Pool, which is an outdoor pool near to where Blowing Rock School is.

I also got to see my English teacher, Mrs Carter.  It was nice to see her and spend time with her. She still helps me with my literature assignments. We went to Charlotte one more time to see Grandad and Nana and have dinner with them at this Italian place called, Little Mama’s. It was amazing! It felt different seeing them without Makenzie and Ella, but in a good way. We went to Atlanta and had dinner at Fogo de Chao. It was a unique place because it had a salad bar with plenty of choices both warm and cold. It also had good rolls and dessert. The one thing I wasn’t really happy about was that they came around with meat on a stick to your table and cut it and put it on your plate. It was a memorable last meal in the states. We flew to Aruba and stayed a couple of days there. The doctors wanted to see Dad again. The hotel that we stayed at is called Playa Linda. It had a nice pool and beach. I stayed there while Mom and Dad went to meet with the doctors.

We flew back to Bonaire. That flight was scary because it was a small plane with 20 passengers and it was a shaky flight, but we made it to Bonaire. I was happy to see my dogs and my friends.