|
|
Thursday, July 26, 2007
July 27: Crazy House of Love
So maybe I’m the one who’s nutsy. I mean, call me crazy. But I don’t think I could live in this house. Not every day, I mean. But just visiting this place? Wow!!! It’s beyond just awesome or whatever words you want to say. This house I was telling you about last week? The Bonnet House in Fort Lauderdale, right? It’s just so wild. Listen to this.
There was this guy way, way back in history. Like, even before my dad was born. I think it was almost 100 years ago. His name was Frederic Bartlett. And he was totally rich. And he was an artist too. Ya know, he painted paintings and everything. So then he was like wild in love with this woman, Evelyn. She was an artist too. And they got married and made this house just for fun. They lived there and just added new nutsy things all the time.
What about striped gold-and-white wallpaper covering the walls of a big room? With huge old mirrors and white statues on the fireplace and everything else? Pretty funny looking. And that’s nothing. Because they also painted pictures on the ceilings! It sounds like I’m making this up but I’m not. They painted turtles and fish and seashells and stuff right on the ceiling! And then, in this one place, they stuck a giraffe in the corner! Not a real giraffe – duh! But a huge fake giraffe, standing there below all these fish on the ceiling. See? I told you it was nutsy! But so totally cool too!
Dad and Juliette and I took a tour of this place. Oh yeah, that’s right. I almost forgot. Spencer was there too! I guess I’d like to forget that Juliette’s brother came with us! Haha! Anyway, this nice old tour guide lady walked us all over the house. She told us everything there is to know about the Bartlett people and their house. It was a house built out of love! Because they spent lots of time together, painting the rooms and ceilings and decorating. They went swimming in the ocean every night together. They had parties and invited over all their friends. They were like totally, totally in love with each other. And they loved this house too.
Our lady guide told us they kept making one room look wild. Then they’d do another room, hanging masks on the walls. Or strange, wild paintings. Like this big painting of old guys with long beards and really tall weird hats. I remember that painting for sure! I guess they were pretty lucky, huh? I mean, if I stop and think about it. They had lots of fun in their life and lived in a nutso funny house. And they really really loved each other.
And they loved their monkeys! Remember, I told you last week about the wild animals? Well, guess what? Those wild animals include wild little monkeys! They are so totally, totally cute and adorable! I want one!!! (I said that to Dad. He just said, “NO!” Guess not, huh?) Anyway, next week, I’ll make my blog about the monkeys and tell you all about that. Monkeys, monkeys, monkeys hanging everywhere! Jumping through the trees. Hanging by their tails. Right here in Fort Lauderdale! I have to admit – this is a pretty cool place to live. Or visit! See ya next week, ok? Bye!!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
July 20: A Wild, Wild Place
I don’t get it. I mean, what happened anyway? It’s been a week and Jensen hasn’t called me. A whole week! We went together to visit his cousin and swim in the hotel pool, right? No texts or emails or cell calls since then. Nada! I almost wish we were in school now. At least I could see him. Maybe he’s just busy, I guess. But maybe he doesn’t want to go out with me anymore.
But I’m not sitting around waiting, ya know? That would be dumb! So Juliette, my best girlfriend, and I are getting together all the time again. Sometimes her dorky brother, Spencer, comes too. He went to the beach with us twice last week. Yuck! He’s SO like in love with me or something. Yeah, right! I just was hoping we’d run into Jensen, and his twin brother Jason, at the beach. We didn’t! Total bummer!!
But we did have fun anyway. Especially today. Because Dad took Juliette and me to this super cool, super wild house in Fort Lauderdale. And yes, Spencer had to come with us. Of course! But it was still so much fun. It’s called the Bonnet House. Ever heard of it? I hadn’t either! But I’m glad I know all about it now. It’s this big place, like a park really. And there’s a crazy house with funny stuff all over it. And they’ve got wild animals. LOTS of wild animals!
That’s the first thing we saw. We’re walking from our car across this wooden bridge and we see it. This beautiful tall white bird, standing in the water. He’s fishing! Spencer thinks that’s so funny – a bird standing there fishing. Like I said, he’s just a kid. I’m a real teenager now, remember? I turned 13 last week. So I guess I have to just ignore all Spencer’s kid stuff. I guess older kids had to ignore my kid stuff when I was his age.
So anyway, we’re at the Bonnet House. And Dad says, “That’s a heron! Shhh! Don’t laugh or you’ll scare him away! He’s looking for his lunch!” So we all just watch this big bird. The heron stands there, totally silent. Not moving a muscle. Then he sees a fish and – WAM! He grabs the fish and swallows it. Then he stands there a long time. Digesting his lunch, I guess! Pretty funny when a bird acts like a human that way.
Then we pay to go through the gate to see the best stuff. There's a huge outdoorsy area. You can’t believe this place is right in the middle of a busy city! We look in the gift shop, which has some great things. I bought Dad some cool coasters as a gift. He can put them under his drink glass when he’s watching TV. He liked that! I mean, it seemed like a nice thing to do. He’s always taking me places and everything like that, right?
So ya know what we see next? A fox! I mean, a real fox! Maybe only ten feet away from us. And we also go walking around this crazy house I keep telling you about. Next week I’ll tell you why it’s so crazy, ok? I’m not kidding! This is the craziest place I’ve ever seen – but really pretty too. If you like wild paintings on the ceiling! Or walls made from seashells! You won’t believe this place! See ya again real soon!!!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
July 13: A Cool Pool
Wish me a happy birthday! I’m turning into a teenager – 13-years-old! And guess when? On Friday the 13th! Yeah, July 13th is my birthday. Freaky, isn’t it? But luckily, I’m not the superstitious type. If I was, I’d be really worried. But I’m not. I’m not scared of black cats or walking under ladders. Or old houses that look haunted by ghosts. Nope, not me. That’s just dumb kids stuff!
So far, I’ve been right about my birthday too. Dad is taking Juliette and me to some fancy restaurant on Friday night. That’ll be fun, I guess. But even before my official birthday party, things are going pretty good. Even if my birthday is on Friday the 13th! Because ya know what happened? Jensen called me! Remember him? I hope you’ve been reading all my blogs before this one.
Anyway, he asked me to go out with him again. Isn’t that so great?!! He said we could cool off in some big hotel swimming pool. A “cool pool,” for sure! Hahaha! See, this is what happened. His cousin’s family is visiting Fort Lauderdale. I mean, they’re all staying in this gorgeous hotel right on the beach. So Jensen said we could take the bus to visit his cousin. Then we could change clothes in the hotel room and go swim in the pool.
That’s just what we did too. And it was, like, just the best! Jensen’s cousin, Kevin, is from Chicago. He’s the nicest guy. So we all take turns in the bathroom getting into our swimsuits. Kevin hands us each a towel and we go laughing and running down the hall to the elevator. Just messing around. Some old lady looks at us like we’re doing something wrong. Whatever, right? We were just having fun. But anyway, we go to the pool. But we don’t even need our towels. They have monster beach towels right at the pool. Anyone can just use all the towels they want. I’ve never seen that before.
Wow! What an amazing pool!! There are palm trees all around the water. And they have waiters who just take your order. Like, they walk right up to your chair beside the pool. So we buy three Cokes. Then all three of us just jump into the pool. Of course, the two guys start doing their guy thing right away. I mean, Jensen pushes Kevin underwater. Then Kevin comes up for air and pushes Jensen underwater. What is it about guys anyway?? Well, I’m just watching and laughing. And staying away from them! I didn’t want to get dunked underwater too!
Because you know why? I’m a teenager now for real. Not some little girl splashing around a swimming pool anymore. Both Jensen and Kevin are older than me. But they’re just guys. I’m not a guy! I guess that’s why Jensen likes me, huh? So I want to start acting more grown up now. You know what I mean, don’t you?
Of course, I still want to have fun!!! And I learned one thing at this great, gorgeous, cool pool – there’s nothing like swimming in a pool on a hot South Florida day!! Especially a pool at a really nice hotel. You should try it sometime. That’s my wish for you from the birthday girl. Take a nice cool swim in an amazing pool around here this summer!! Use lots of sunscreen!! Oh, and one more thing. Have a really fun, and lucky, Friday the 13th!!!
Thursday, July 5, 2007
July 6: Games We Play
I love playing games! Any games! Don’t you? I love computer games and board games. I even like playing card games with my dad sometimes. Sounds boring, huh? But it can be fun too. I mean, if there’s nothing else to do. But I’ve never played some games they have at Boomers. I was telling you all about my big double date at this amusement park, right? At Boomers, I mean. It’s this cool place to hang out with friends in South Florida. So I went with my girlfriend, Juliette, and the gorgeous twin boys, Jensen and Jason. We were on the roller coaster and go karts and bumper boats and everything else.
Then we go to the awesome monster-size gameroom. For someone who likes to play games, it’s unbelievable! Of course, the guys know every game by name. Like, “Let’s go play Time Crisis III!” They’re always saying things like that. Juliette and me? We’re saying things like, “Let’s go play that thingie over there with the motorcycle!” I don’t care what it’s called. Why should I?
But I do remember that motorcycle game. It’s called “Super Bikes” and all four of us played it. We took turns to see who was “the master bike rider of all time!” That’s what Jason said anyway. He was just joking around. But guess who won? Me! I think it was first-time luck, really. You sit on this motorcycle seat, and grab the handle bars. Then you’re off to the races! So when I’m done racing this virtual motorcycle, my date, Jensen, just looks at me and smiles. And then he says, “You are SO off the chain, girl!” Then Juliette looks at me and giggles. But she’s thinking the same thing I am. We’re both thinking that Jensen likes me. A lot! How awesome is that? I mean, he’s a great-looking guy who’s almost 15!
Know what I do next? I just play it cool. I act like I don’t even care what Jensen said. You girls know what I mean! You guys too, right? Because you guys pretend not to care about some girl when you really do care. Don’t you? I guess that’s just another kind of game. A real life game. So now I just look at Jensen and say, “I’m hungry. Should we get something to eat?” I hope I wasn’t acting too cool. It’s hard to know what to do sometimes.
I just know I had the most amazing afternoon with Jensen at Boomers. It was so fun! It was nice to have Juliette and Jason with us too. This was my first real double date ever! My dad picked us all up around 5 o’clock and took the twins home. They both told us what a great time they had. Jensen kisses my cheek, right in front of Dad! And he says he’ll call me soon. I’m thinking, “I sure hope so.” Because I’m new in town, remember? I just moved to Fort Lauderdale and have a lot to learn about this place. It would be great to have Jensen to show me around. So in next week’s blog, I’ll tell you what happens after my Boomers date with him. See you then.
|
 |
RSS