Hoover was a bad boy on Thursday. He murdered a baby rabbit. He caught the rabbit and its life ended. Hoover hasn't been on his best behavior while I've been gone. Hoover committed acts of thievery by stealing Lizzie's dog biscuit and ripping the stuffing out of dog toys. I think he has been bored while I've been gone.
The next day I went to ODP mini camp. I would be there until Sunday. The first day we unpacked and practiced once. On Saturday, we practiced twice. The second practice we had a juggling competition. I actually surprised myself by getting 2nd place. The prize was $50 on Soccer.com to buy a jersey. The next day we did a 3 against 3 tournament and my team got fourth. The prize for the winner was another $25. I could be so rich!
I enjoyed being on the field and practicing with other kids. It was a lot of fun! When I got home, Lizzie snuggled on my sheets I brought home from camp.
The food, was okay. My scrambled eggs looked like a cube. So, this was probably my least favorite spot for food. I also wasn't a fan of the mac and cheese. It was cold and the cheese was goop.
I have a couple of day camps in July but my overnight camps are over. I'll be spending time with the sled dogs. I'll read to the cats at the shelter and hog the air conditioning with Hoover.
The "Cozy Corner" may return soon, although it may look a bit different. The last one was not destroyed by "Hurricane Hoover" but by "Tornado Ian." That's another story, there was glass everywhere.
I was hoping USA would beat Belgium. I bet the Belgium fans were hoping the opposite. It was a tough loss but it was fun being at camp during the World Cup. Now I am cheering for Brazil and Argentina. Who are you cheering for?
This week I went to IU soccer camp with some Cutter's teammates. I haven't been able to see the dogs in a while. I went to Bradford Woods last week and this week I was at the soccer camp. I arrived Wednesday and unpacked. We then scrimmaged some and the coaches decided what team we were on. I was in division 1, team four. For our World Cup we were team Brazil. Everyday, each division would get together and go to the fields. In the morning, we trained and in the afternoon and evening we played 9 against 9. It was a lot of soccer but I loved it!
I have to say, the food was great. But not Bradford Woods great. I liked the meals but I didn't stuff myself. I did still have to play soccer.
I went to bed at 11:00 and woke up around 6:30. My roommate slept past both our alarms. I had to wake him up every day. Without me, my roommate may not have woken up in time for training. During breaks it was fun hanging out in the dorm playing games.
We also did something called the Pizza Cup. We played 15 against 15 and the coaches played and refereed. They were purposely horrible. One team had fouls called on them for being too blue. They wore blue pennies. And we all got pizza.
But that day, to all you Castaway fans, I lost "Wilson". My favorite soccer ball went missing. It was used in almost every soccer game this spring. It was quite beat up but I miss him. Poor Wilson. I did get a new soccer ball at camp that looks like the World Cup ball but it's a size 5, we still play with a size 4.
On Sunday our team made it to World Cup finals and played Netherlands. We lost on penalty kicks. Speaking of World Cup, USA tied but it feels like a loss. It hurts. Good goal Portugal.
I had a surprise in the car when my parents showed up, POPCORN!!! It had been a long time since I had popcorn. I love popcorn.
The dogs greeted me heartily. They seemed to miss me this week. I played soccer with Hoover and then he hogged the air conditioning. He wasn't made for the heat. I had a great week!
Last week was probably one of the best. Although, Saturday was not fun.
I arrived at Bradford Woods on Sunday and passed a football with a friend at Bradford Woods. We were then joined by a few others and the the rest of the 17 campers. We played some fun games and unpacked at our cabins. We had dinner which was delicious as all Bradford Woods meals are. I wished Bradford Woods marketed their food. I'd eat their food everyday. We had a cabin break and came back to the dining area later. The counselors then acted out skits. Some were hilarious. Others I had seen before.
The next day, we had bacon. Glorious bacon. It exceeded my expectations by a landslide. But, it wasn't the only great part of Bradford Woods. We went to the alpine tower next. It was there I conquered my fear of of heights. The tower was 50 ft tall and I feel good about getting over my fear. We had more delicious food. 
On Tuesday, we went canoeing. I sat in the canoe with my friend and another person. We explored the lake and played a survival game with tape. We then went to the archery range and practiced using the atlatl. I only hit the target once. It was a bullseye. Pure luck.
Wednesday we went on an all day hike to a camp site. We stayed there and had a hobo meal. That means we cooked our food over the fire. We also told scary stories. We hiked back on Thursday and did archery and swam. We all got awards. I got "Most Attentive" award. My friend got the "Captain Ham" award.
On Friday, we left. I wasn't that happy leaving bacon behind but I left. I hope I can come again. It was amazing! I want to be a counselor. Then came Saturday.
We had a friendly with Ohio and Kentucky on my ODP team. I didn't feel good in the first game. In the second, I puked. My teammates didn't notice and passed me the ball while I regurgitated. The others waited while I continued and raised my hand for a substitution. My coach, was talking to another coach. I was done for the day and they had to move the game to another field. I went off the field and said to a former preschool teacher who came to watch, "Not the game you expected huh?" I hope to have a better game the next time she comes. My dad always says I should leave everything out on the field. Except my breakfast.
Mum reported Lizzie was the only dog who seemed to miss me this week. She was the one that went to my bedroom to sleep. Also, she was the only one to stay by my side yesterday while I was sick.
I won't blog for a while for I will be at IU soccer overnight camp for five days!
Sunday will be an amazing day. I'm going to Bradford Woods! I loved it the first time. Mum will be in charge of informing me about the dogs. I'll be hiking, swimming and having campfires in the forest. And the delicious bacon. The bacon, oh how I love it! So, I won't be able to blog for awhile.
I have one sled dog story to tell before my big adventure. I caught Lizzie red-pawed. She was lying down in the garden which Mum does not enjoy. This time she flattened some flowers. I took a photo and exposed her as the garden hating dog she is. Well, she might not like gardens, certainly not mum's gardens. That's why I love her, she keeps things exciting. I hope you have a great week.
The school year is over. It's bittersweet. I love school but I want to celebrate the end of 5th grade. I did celebrate. My class presented our inquiry projects to the school. My booth was a success. I got 40 people to visit my booth instead of two people wanting to learn about the Mafia. Most people only looked at my poster board and the Wallace and Gromit video. Not many people actually wanted to learn about stop motion. But, at least some people came to my booth. I do know it's not about how many people you get, it's about the grade. I'm very happy with my grade.
We also got to celebrate two special people. Hoover and Dad. Hoover is now 6. Dad is... But they both had a birthday. That's all that matters. Hoover got a monkey toy and an elephant toy for his B-day. I would say he liked them. The monkey didn't last long. It lost its arm in one day. We should have gotten Hoover the octopus, he would have had more arms and legs to rip off. Dad, got a donut. And an amazing amount of world cup shirts. He also received a Neil Diamond CD and Godzilla soundtrack (which I listened to all night). The Godzilla CD is actually mine, thank you Lora.
The dogs had a little bit of ice cream and partied all night. I just stayed in my room and listened to my Godzilla 2014 soundtrack. The girls have relaxed just like me.
My last game of soccer as a U-11 is on Saturday so I'll blog about that. I've had a few stumble, trips and falls tonight. Hope I survive to play on Saturday. I had to apologize to Lizzie for breaking one of my falls. Stay tuned for more exciting, funny, and weird dog tales.
Friday was possibly one of my most favorite days. On Friday, I saw the new Godzilla movie in 3D with friends Lora and Justin. Out of ten, I give Godzilla a twenty. I just liked the movie. I won't give any spoilers in case you want to see the movie. But if you don't, I'd love to tell you about it. I've been a Godzilla fan since I was very young. I have watched all the Godzilla movies I can and it's a dream come true to see the 2014 reboot. I am satisfied. I've even received and bought Godzilla books and toys. I am a very devoted fan. We even went for a post movie discussion with Lora and Justin at Yogi's. Lora gave me my first 2014 Godzilla!
The next day Cutters had a soccer tournament in Terre Haute. It was the State Cup. We were playing for the state finals. If we won three games we moved on. Our first game was a loss against a Franklin township team. We lost 7-4 but made a good comeback. Our next game we won 10-1 to a Westfield team. The entire team did great, we were on fire. Almost everyone scored. I scored two goals. I stayed with the team at a hotel and had great fun. My parents went home and found an unpleasant surprise. One of the dogs had diarrhea. It was Lizzie or Hoover because the poop was downstairs and Nikita doesn't do stairs. When mum went downstairs, Hoover was following her until she yelled out, "Oh no!" Then Hoover turned around and ran upstairs. Lizzie stopped at the top of the stairs. So while I was having fun, mum and dad were cleaning doggie doo.
On Sunday we played again to make it to the next round. Unfortunately, we lost 6-4 after two unlucky goals. We made another good come back though. We were out of the tournament.
Sunday afternoon I finished up my inquiry project. I did mine on stop motion. I chose stop motion because I've made my own stop motion shorts and I enjoy Wallace and Gromit. I also like cheese and crackers, just like Wallace. I presented today and was very happy with my score. It was a busy weekend and I worked really hard but it was a fantastic weekend. I hope you have a fantastic week.
I haven't been able to blog for awhile. I've been playing soccer all week and studying my topic for inquiry. I'll tell you about my topic.
My inquiry topic is about stop motion. I chose stop motion because I make stop motion shorts with Lego's and I would like to learn more about the history of stop motion. Did you know "King Kong" featured stop motion? Stay tuned for more fun facts.
A week ago on Sunday, I played a soccer game against Zionsville. We lost 4 to 5 but almost tied. We made a great comeback. I was able to score one goal. We have many games left but it was our last home game.
This past weekend Cutters played in the Red Lion Tournament in Indy. I had to wake up at 5:30. The game started very early. The dogs were all asleep and didn't want to wake up. I suppose our dogs are anti-morning.
Our first game we lost after two unlucky goals. It was 4 to 2. After the game, we all went and had a second breakfast.
Then we had 7 hours until our next game. So, I went to a Northern Lights Sled Dog kennel in Anderson. We walked four great dogs. The first dog we walked was Kia. She was a hunter that startled two rabbits and almost caught one. Then we walked Lucien. He was energetic and smart. He enjoyed picking dandelions with me. After our walk, Lucien relaxed under the picnic table.
Next was Kadence. She was as thin as Lizzie but faster and stronger. Dad had to hold her. She was crazy! We had Zack as our last dog. He was like Kadence but more controlled and knew his commands. I enjoyed running with him. Please check out the Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue web site. While we were at the kennel, we got to see Alue! He was one of our former foster dogs. He was getting a pedicure.
We then played another game at 4:45, which we won so we could still compete in the championship. We scored the winning goal late in the game. The next game on Sunday was another early start, 9:15. We did get to sleep an extra hour. The game was a tie so we were out of the competition. I had fun though and we played an aggressive game.
I decided to go to ODP in the afternoon to train. Although I was ready to rest, I practiced and played well. By the end I was ready to just sleep. And that ended my weekend. I had a great time.
And the kindness award goes to the woman who let out our dogs and played with them or else we would have no house, thank you Darra. She's also brave. She could withstand Hoover's kisses. That is a feat to be honored!
