​Peng's Family
Naomi Peng
Naomi’s Story
Hello friends, this is Naomi and I am at the third grade. I am going to tell you the amazing trips I made this past year. Hope you like them. We went to Washington D.C., Michigan, moved to Florida, went to a water park called typhoon lagoon in Orlando Disney World, and last we went to China.
Washington D.C
When I took my first trip to Washington D.C in 2007 we planned to see the cherry blossoms, but it was so cold that most of the cherry blossoms were all gone before we got there. But, we still saw a couple of trees with flowers. We went to the Capitol building. What we saw there was a lot of pictures and sculptures of the past presidents. Did you know that in the past the capitol building was burned by the British in 1814? We went to the Washington monument except we did not go up in it because you had to have a ticket, but we went there too late and the tickets were all given out. We still had a lot of fun in the park. Lucinda and I were chasing Dad. We caught him but he got away, then we caught him again but he got away, again and again and again, until we were all exhausted and lying on the grass. Our family went to the Air and Space museum and saw a lot of big rocket ships and airplanes from the past. Then we went to the museum of Natural History that was where part of the movie “The Night of the Museum?took place. It was soooooo FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Naomi and Lucinda at Sculpture Garden, March 2007
Chasing Daddy, March 2007
Michigan
In the summer when Dad was in China, Mom, Lucinda and I went camping in Michigan with four other families for three nights and stayed in a hotel for two nights. On the 4TH day we went to play in the sand dunes. If you don’t know what a sand dun is, I will tell you. It’s like a really really big hill covered with sand. You can slide down the hill till you reach the bottom then you crawl back up and slide down again. But it can be dangerous for babies, because at the bottom of the hill there is sand and a large lake like ocean. So if the baby can’t climb back up to the top then the baby would be stuck there forever. Lucinda, the other kids and I had an awesome time playing on the sand dunes!!
Morning at the Picture Rock, July 2007
Sand Dunes at Lake Michigan
Moving to Florida
We moved to Florida in August because my dad got a new job at the University of Florida. First we went to Gainesville to look for houses, bought a house, and then went back to Wisconsin, stayed for a little while there. Before we moved I said goodbye to all my friends, particularly Emma, Daria and Nora. I was very sad to leave my friends, my teachers, and our old house. I missed them a lot.
Our new house at Gainesville looks like a giant comparing to our old house. There is a swimming pool and a forest in our backyard. In the summer when I got home from school I always jumped in the pool with my dad when he got home from work. We even swam in the winter on Christmas day. I love our pool!!!! The school I go to is called Talbot elementary school. It starts at 7:45am and ends at1:35pm, but on early days it ends at 12:30pm. Talbot is a really cool school!
Our New House
Our Family Room
Our Breakfast place
I love the pool and the forest in our backyard
At Disney World
At Typhoon Lagoon we had sooooo much FUN!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you know why it was so much fun? It was because at the wave pool there were waves that were way bigger than those in Wisconsin Dells. It’s like one of those waves you surf on the ocean. I also went on this slide that a whole family could ride on. During the ride there were a lot of bumps, so we went up and down, and up and down until we splashed into the water.
China Trip
We went to China a day before Christmas. It took 14 hours and 6 minutes to get from Chicago to Shanghai. But from Gainesville to Jacksonville to Chicago to Shanghai to Zhengzhou it took us about 22 hours and 45 minutes. On the first day when we got there my sister and I went to bed at 2:00 am, because of the time change that was actually 1:00 pm in Florida time. On December 28, 2007 it was my aunt’s birthday. We went out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate. We had two cakes and a lot of food. Chinese people celebrate their birthday soooo differently. Because you don’t really have a birthday party like inviting your friends over to your house, they go out to eat and invite only their relatives, sometimes a few close friends.
With all cousins
ZhongYue Temple
On the 31st my mom's sister went to the mall with us and bought all the stuff we wanted. She said whatever we wanted she would buy for us. So I got a watch, 20 key chains, and a thing for your door that hangs in front of the door, a toy that when you spin it, it lights up and sings a song. A few days later, we went to Songyang Shu Yuang, one of the four most famous ancient schools of classical learning in China. We also went to a famous temple called Sao Ling Si, where people learn Chinese Martial Arts called Gong Fu.?I went to many other places that I cannot remember their names and also got a lot of gifts from my grandma, grandpa, uncles, aunts and cousins for the Chinese New Year. I like going to China!!
At Shaolin Temple
Grandparents at Longmen Shiku (Dragon Door Grottoes)
Those are a few things of what I did in 2007. There are way too many other things that I don't want to write. For this year (2008), my sister and I bought violins in China. So I started my violin lessons now with Miss Kim, the same teacher as Lucinda'. I will still have my favorite gymnastic training (3 hours a day, 4 days a week) at Sun Country Sports Center. It’s going to be another fun year. Oh, do you know that in summer 2008 we are going to see our friends in Wisconsin? My sister and I are very excited about that and cannot wait to go. Happy 2008!!!!!!!!!