Back to school BBQ

On Saturday, I got together with my friends for a back to school BBQ.  My friends who came were: Margot, Alec, Sophie, Stacy, Rachel, and Kaylee.  We played fun things such as cards and drawing faces on balloons.  We also played Hunger Games balloon stomp.  It was really fun.

I think the best game was the balloon stomp.  In the game, we stood on small platforms in the front yard.  When Kaylee said go, we all went in different directions.  I quickly made allies with Margot and we ran and hid.  We found a good hiding place in the gardening shed. The other tributes never would have thought we were inside the shed.  We were there for half the game.  We also heard everything that Katie and Alec were saying.  At that point, Katie and Alec were allies and were tracking us down.  We came out in the middle of the game because Kaylee, the Gamemaker, called us together for a feast.  The feast was a scene in the book were all the tributes needed something desperately.  Margot and I didn't want to go to the feast because people die there all the time.  Shortly after the feast, Katie stepped on Margot's balloon and she died.  The people that were left were Alec, Katie, and myself.  Katie and Alec's alliance broke. Alec and I became allies.  I stole a balloon and told Katie and Alec that if they tried to kill me, I would trick them both. My plan to trick them was to take the stolen balloon, pop it to fake my own death which would force them to fight. I would hide until I was the only one left.  The plan didn't happen though because Alec turned out to be trustworthy by sticking with me. Alec stepped on Katie's balloon and then the game ended.

After the games, we had dinner and had a great time talking outside on the deck.  Katie and I also made a special dessert.  Nobody knew what the dessert was so it was a fun surprise.  The special dessert was creme brûlée.  It was really good.

I had a great time at the BBQ.  It was a great get-together right before school.

-Julie Shiroma

Hephaestus

Hephaestus, the son of Hera and Zeus, was the god of blacksmiths and fire.  He was different than the other gods because most gods are beautiful and handsome, but Hephaestus was big and ugly.  When Hephaestus was young Hera threw him off Mount Olympus just because he was ugly.  It took him one whole day to land and several more days to get back to Olympus.  After that he always walked with a limp.

Hephaestus spent a lot time at Mount Olympus but most of his time in his forge.  He made amazing weapons and beautiful jewelry.  He also made three golden "automatons" as helpers in his forge.  The robots were shaped as a human and could do things depending on what they were assigned.   Sometimes his wife, Aphrodite, came to watch him work.

Hephaestus was an important god in mythology.  What do you think?

Sleep Over

This past week, my friends Eric, Olivia, Alec, Margot, and Sophie had a sleep over at our house.  Eric and Olivia came earlier because Alec, Margot, and Sophie had soccer.  When everyone came we had a lot of fun playing hide and seek and Monopoly Zapped.  It was really fun.  Later in the evening, we had sherbert floats for dessert and watched the Hunger Games which came out on DVD on the 18th.  We planed to stay up really late, but didn't make it through half of the movie.  We watched the rest of it in the morning.  It was a great movie.

In the morning, we played more Monopoly Zapped and had a great breakfast.  After a while of playing, Eric and Olivia's mom came to take them to a soccer camp.  We said goodbye and they left.  Later in the afternoon, my mom took the rest of us to Alec, Margot, Sophie's house.

Since we had nothing going on we went to Sunset Beach.  It is a great beach, but there were stingrays around. We talked to the lifeguards and they told us that there were some stingrays there, but if we shuffled our feet then they shouldn't bother us.  It was a little scary at first, but then we went into water because we didn't see many.  It was really fun because we caught a lot of waves and nobody got stung!  We all had a great time!

-Julie Shiroma

Artemis

Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, was the goddess of the hunt and the moon.  She was the daughter of Leto, a titan woman, and Zeus.  When she was young she swore never to marry and asked her father Zeus for three things - to be an eternal maiden, to have fifty fine and swift nymphs, and to have a pack of dogs as companions.  Zeus gave her what she asked for. She got herself got a silver chariot drawn by four reindeer with silver horns.  She was a graceful and elegant goddess, but fierce as well.  Once, for example, a male hunter spied on her in the woods.  When she found out, she turned him into a stag and was attacked by his own pack of dogs.

Artemis and her twin, Apollo, were very different yet alike in some ways.  They were both Olympians and were very protective of their mother, Leto.  One myth went like this:  A kingdom was once ruled by a queen named Niobe who had 14 children, seven girls and seven boys.  They were celebrating and honoring Leto.  That's when Niobe made her mistake.  She suddenly shouted to her people, ''Foolish people!  Why honor Leto when you can honor me your queen!  I am far better than her for I have 14 children while she only has two!''  Leto heard this and called on her children, Artemis and Apollo.  When they found out about Niobe's disrespect they made their move quickly.  The twins flew down to the kingdom.  Furious, they shot the seven sons of Niobe with their powerful bows.  Before Niobe could finish a sentence, her seven daughters fell dead.  Niobe couldn't stop crying.  Finally, out of pity the gods turned her into a rock.  Even then the rock was wet everyday with tears of grief from Niobe.

What do you think of this story of Artemis?

11th Birthday Party

Last Saturday, my sister and I had our 11th birthday party.  We had a fun water jumper with a slide on it.  We had Hunger Games based games such as the Cornucopia balloon stomp and the Tracker Jacker team race.

In the Cornucopia balloon stomp we had balloons tied to our feet and had to stomp each others balloons like a battle. Most of the time I was chased by about three kids which included my sister.  Finally, a girl named Jennifer pulled my balloon off and popped it.  It was really fun.

Another fun game was the Tracker Jacker team race.  In this game, the kids were divided into districts.  I was in District 11 along with Margot and Mia.  We went into the jumper with our teammates and competed with the other districts for the best time.  The time stopped when the last person from the district got down the slide.  It was very exciting.

We had hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad and other yummy things for lunch.  Later in the afternoon  my mom lit the candles to our cakes and brought it out.  She made me lemon cake and my sister mocha almond cake.  They both had Hunger Games pictures on them.  Everyone sang happy birthday and ate the cake.  It was the best!  

Later, during the evening party we opened presents and got really cool stuff.  My long time friends, Alec, Margot, Sophie, Olivia and Eric slept over.

I had a great time at the party and want to thank my friends who came.

Friends who came
Ireland, Keva, Jennifer, Allison, Olivia, Eric, Margot, Alec, Sophie, Naomi, Nicole, Bekah, Mia, Jasmine, Melanie, Gabby, Erin, Luca

 

-Julie Shiroma

Demeter

Demeter was the goddess of earth and harvest.  She was also one of the original goddesses.  In some cases she is the most important goddess.  Once, her daughter Persephone was kidnaped by Hades and was brought to the underworld.  This saddened her so much that she did not allow plants to grow and crops to be harvested.  It was a very hard time for the humans and they suffered greatly.  When Demeter got Persephone back everything was better.  This explains her importance in the world.  She allowed plants to grow and be harvested.  She was an interesting goddess because she almost made the seasons.  When her daughter Persephone was in the underworld, she ate only three pomegranate seeds which forced her to stay in the underworld for parts of year.  When Persephone was in the underworld, Demeter was sad and the weather turned cold.  When Persephone was on earth and with her mother, the earth was nice and flowers grew.

CAMP!

Last week, I went to a Buddhist summer camp.  It was held at Camp Morning Star up in the San Bernardino mountains.  It was a weeklong camp we go to every year.  I went there last year and had a great time.  It was fun to go back and see my old friends and counselors. There was archery, arts and crafts, hiking, swimming, and many other fun things.  I loved the arts and crafts and archery.  In arts and crafts they had practically everything you seemed to need.  Last year, I made a stuffed bear.  A few boys made a huge boat out of mint cans.  It was really cool.  This year, I made a lanyard, a ribbon lei, and fake sushi.  My friends and I entered the sushi in an art contest and won! It was really exciting.

I also liked archery a lot.  I learned how to use a bow and arrow.  It was really fun.  This year, I got only one bullseye, but last year I got two.  It was a great experience because you got to shoot and feel how a bow and arrow was like.  I did better last year though.

It was a great week and I am glad to be home and see my family again.