Peng's Family
Naomi Peng
Hello everyone!
Happy Holidays! This year we stayed closer to home, not traveling as much as we have in the past few years, but that’s okay. We still have a lot to share with you. This year we went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to visit friends that we left behind last year, Chicago, Illinois, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida for Naomi’s Gymnastics State Competition, Melbourne, Florida for the Violin Institute, and Amelia Island, Florida for my dad’s conference.
Lucinda is in the seventh grade at Lincoln Middle School. She got into NJHS, National Honors Junior Society. She plays in the Orchestra, and this year she is in first violin. Naomi and Lucinda take violin lessons from Ms. Kim Chalmers. Naomi is in fourth grade at Talbot Elementary School. She does gymnastics four days a week three hours a day of gymnastics at Sun Country. She got second all around in her State Competition. Lucinda and Naomi have had many exciting stories to tell this year.
The following are stories about the trips by Naomi and Lucinda. Lucinda’s will always be longer than Naomi’s since she is younger than Lucinda.
Naomi’s Story
This year I spent a lot of my time participating in my gymnastics competitions. I traveled to many places including Milwaukee and Chicago. I also had fun tubing, having friends visit us, learning math, and having a violin camp at Melbourne, Florida.
The Gymnastic Competitions
Gymnastics is my favorite sport. I have been doing gymnastics since I was seven and a half years old. I am now in level five at Sun Country Gymnastics in the competitive team and have been doing training 12 hours a week. Doing gymnastics is very fun and a serious sport too. One thing that I like about it is that you can learn new skills and keep trying even if you fall the first time. If you want to go to the Olympics then you can’t give up in order to be qualified in the Game.
I have competitions all over the state of Florida in the fall season! My very first competition was called Black Jack on the beach, in Daytona. I did sort of OK. I fell when I was going to the high bar. But I held the bar and did a pull over so I could continue the routine.
My second competition was called Starlight Invitational at Jacksonville. I don’t remember what I got at that meet but I do remember that I got 3rd place all-around and 4th place on beam. We got third place for our team as well.
The next one was called Teddy Bear Invite at Gainesville. I was glad that the meet was in Gainesville because we wouldn’t get lost and we wouldn’t have to drive that far, waste gas and pollute the environment. All I remember is that I got 1st on vault, 4th on bars, and 2nd all-around. We got second for our team.
The fourth one was named the Turkey Trot in Longwood. I did super on that meet because I got all nines in my score and I got first on every event and all-around. I was shocked at that news. That was a great meet. For the whole team we got Second place again.
The next one was a really challenging meet called Wheel of Fortune in Largo. One of the reasons it’s a challenging meet is because it was only split into two age groups and other meets were split into 3 or even 4 age groups. I only got 10th place on bars, 8th place on floor, fifth place on beam, something on vault, and 7th all-around. For the team we got the 7th place, too. It was kind of sad.
The last meet was the State competition that was held close to Miami. That was the most important meet because all the teams from the State of Florida went to compete and there were 4 judges for each event instead of 2 in other meets. I was kind of scared that we would be late for the meet because we couldn’t find the place that the competition was held at. Luckily we got there right on time when open stretch was just about to start. Fortunately, I did very well. I got 2nd place on vault, 2nd place on bars, 2nd place on beam, 4th place on floor, and 2nd on all-around. I also got a huge trophy for all-around. I was happy because I seemed to get improved from my first meet and gained confident every time. But our team only got the 10th place as a team at this state competition.
Naomi first place all-around Longwood, FL
Naomi second place all-around of the State Competition Coral Springs, FL
While we were at Miami we drove to the Lion Country Safari. This was different from a zoo because we actually drove inside where animals live. When we started to drive we saw lots of animals, including Lions, Zebras, Rhinos, Asiatic Water Buffalos, Aldabra Tortoises, Asian Potbellied Pigs, Chinchillas, Ferrets, Hoffman's (Two-Toed) Sloth, Common Squirrel Monkey, Siamang, Dall's Sheep, Spider Monkey, Caribbean Flamingo, Northern Pied Hornbill, Ornate Lorikeet, Blue-Fronted Amazon, Blue-Mountain Lorikeet, Red-collared Lorikeet, Blue-Streaked Lory, Sarus Crane, Scarlet Macaw, Edward's Lorikeet, Southern Ground Hornbill, East African Crowned Crane, Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo, Forstein's Lorikeet, Sun Conure, Ostrich, Green-Naped Lorikeet, Yellow-Billed Stork, Lady Ross Turaco, Yellow Headed Amazon, Marabou Stork, Yellow-Streaked Lory, and lots more! I actually don’t remember so many animal names. I had a flyer and a CD with me while we were driving. We also fed the Lory birds some nectar. When I ran out of the nectar then I pretended that I still had some and tried to feed it nothing but they are very smart so they started to pinch me with there sharp beaks. We also tried to feed a giraffe. But it was kind of scary.
During this trip I learned lots and had lots of fun when I was at the safari. I will always remember this trip and never forget the animals we saw and learned.
Lory bird on Lucinda’s shoulder
Lory birds love us
Powerful walking lion
Giraffe trying to lick our hands
Friends visiting from WI
On July 4th, 2008 Kathy, Randy and Molly McCready came to visit us from Wisconsin. Molly was as tall as me and she was only going into 2nd grade, and I was going into 4th grade. When they arrived to our house it was already 10:00 pm. So we ended up going to sleep at midnight.
In the morning we had blueberry muffins. Then we went to the Ichetucknee Park. Ichetucknee Park is a place where you can go tubing or canoeing or kayaking. We went tubing. It took one and a half hour to go down the river once. When I went down the river it felt like I was flying through really cold air. Sometimes it was fun but other times it could be scary, like when you fall over on really hard rock and scrap some skin.
Naomi and Lucinda tubing
The whole family at Ichetucknee Park
When we were heading back home Molly saw a CVS store and she wanted to go there so she could get the same kind of headbands that I had because, she liked them and she wanted what I had. So my dad dropped us off there. At the end we ended up buying the headbands, the same kind of brush that I had for Molly. Then we walked home. When we got back to the house, we had dinner, and went swimming in our pool. We got to swim for only about 30 min because they had to drive to Orlando, FL to go to the Disney World.
I liked the Ichetucknee Park so much that we went there several times later for tubing. I learned how to stand on the ends of the tub and balance myself so I don’t fall. When my Dad tried it you don’t want to be on the tub at the same time because he was crazy I’m telling you, he could fall off in any directions and flip the tub over.
Naomi doing a split on the tube
Dad trying to stand up on tube
Wisconsin Trip
When we got to Wisconsin I was sooooo exited that I jumped higher than my sister in the airport. Lucinda’s friend invited Lucinda to come and play with her so we had to drop her off to her house first.
After we picked up Lucinda from Natalia's house we sent Lucinda to Rachel and Alex's house. I stayed there to play. We ran to Laura's house to check if they were home. They were not home so we started to walk/run back to their house. But just when we got to Rachel and Alex’s house we saw Laura's car and she came back with us. We ran to Laura's home to play. First we played some music, second we went downstairs to play Monster. Monster is a game where someone is the monster, and the monster has to do something difficult, like you have to hop on one foot and try to tag people; the stairs are the base and the monster can only go up to the 4th step. You get 3 lives, and then you are dead so you have to just stay there. When people go past you, you try to tag them because you are on the monsters side now. After we got too hot and tired of that game, we went back to Rachel and Alex's house, where my mom was there to pick up me to go to Emma's house to spend the night.
At Emma's house we went on webkinz and watched TV, ate dinner, and went to Target. When we got back from Target we did our hair, made it look crazy, and played war with the cards. After we played war we went to sleep, even though I was not really tired. In the morning we had waffles with syrup and apples. After we finished our breakfast, brushed our teeth, brushed our hair, and changed into our regular clothes, we played wars again.
When my mom came to pick me up we headed to Summer Academy which is a camp where you can choose 4 courses, but you have to stick with those 4 classes for the rest of the camp. During the whole time we were at summer academy I followed Katerina, because she was the only one of my friends to get a guest pass so I could go to summer academy. My 1st class was American Girl, the 2nd class with her was soccer, 3rd class was cartooning, and the last class was sign language. At the end I went home with Jeni. We drove to Jeni's dad's house to get our stuff because we were going to Jeni's mom's house to spend the night.
When we got to her house we had lunch, went upstairs to do our hair, played video games, and went to Blockbuster to rent a video. Other friends came later and did their hair wacky. For dinner we went to Habaneros Restaurant. I was starving!! When we got back we went outside to do a campfire. Then we played Ghost in the Graveyard. When we went inside we got into our pj's, braided our hair while watching a movie we got from Blockbuster. In the morning we had cinnamon rolls that were really tasty. After we had breakfast we did our nails. When our nails were dry we helped clean up our stuff. Then my mom came to pick me up and we went to Taco Bell for lunch.
After we finished lunch we went to Daria's party, except we were 2 hours early because we were suppose to help get ready. We helped by blowing up the water balloons. Everyone else came at 3:00 pm. At the party there were 22 people. We were going to sleep in tents in their backyard. The first game we played was “Milk the Cows.” “Milk the Cows” is where you put a sponge in a bucket filled with water then you run to the other side and squeeze the sponge into the bucket. Whichever team that fills up the bucket with water first wins. Lucinda’s team won, but it was still really fun.
Summer Party at Isabelle and Daria’s house
Belle, Naomi, Daria, Lucinda (making bunny ears for Naomi)
Then we went swimming. After we were done swimming we played the towel game. The towel game is where you have two towels and you can choose how many people fit on a towel but that group that you chose can only go on one of the towels, because the person that was last on the towel takes the towel and gives it to the person in the front who lays the towel down, then they walk on to the other towel, and on and on like that till they touch the milk jar. If a person touches the grass, the whole group has to go back to the beginning. Lucinda’s team won again. We were about to win except that at the very end we had to go back. After we finished that game we had dinner. After dinner we did DDR which stands for Dance Dance Revolution. DDR is a game where you dance and you try to do the right feet. Then we changed into our pj's and we did a campfire. We roasted marshmallows and had s'mores. When we got in our tent for sleep, we talked for a long time and finally fell asleep.
In the morning we played volleyball with a badminton net. We packed up the tents and got three pieces of candy for packing up. Then we left Daria and Isabelle Gill's house, and went to Lucinda's friend Diane's house. We went swimming at a water park and had lunch, and left to go to Joanie’s. At Joanie’s we played the piano, played on the computer and went swimming. At 5:30 pm I got out of the pool because I had to go to Emma's. But Lucinda, Joanie, and Jeni still stayed in the pool until 7:00 pm.
At Emma's we played war 2 times, truth or dare. Then we had dinner and watched TV. After that we had ice cream, brushed our teeth and went to sleep but I was not tired. In the morning we had pancakes and bananas. After we did our hair, changed, and brushed our teeth, and played with Issac (her dog), my mom came to pick me up. After we left we picked up Lucinda and Jeni, we went to Jeni's house to drop off Jeni. That was an awesome trip ever!!!!!!
Chicago, Illinois
While we were at WI my dad went to Chicago. Then we drove there too after we visited our Milwaukee friends. On our way to Chicago there was a lot of traffic so it took us about 3 hours instead of the normal 2. When we finally found the Hotel we met our dad and brought all our stuff into the Hotel room. After a few minutes we were on our way to The American Girl Shop, but then we noticed we would not have enough time because from 5:00 to 6:00 pm there was a free wine taste thing so you taste different kinds of wine. So mommy said we could go to The American Girl Shop in the morning. We just kept on walking nearby the hotel and went to a park where there was a tall rectangular prism with water coming down from the top. Unfortunately we did not know there was a water place so we did not bring our swimming suits. But we still played in the water until I was soaked and hot, so my mom got ice cream to cool me down.
Naomi at the Chicago River
Coming back from shopping, we’re very tired
After that we went to watch a show inside the park. The show was called “Australian strange fruit”. It’s about four “fruits” dancing on bendy poles. It looked really scary but fun because the bendy pole was very tall, the actors and actress on the top of the poles looked like they were going to fall on your head. But at the top there are straps so they wouldn’t fall off. What they did was fall forward, then fall backwards, then fall forward again, and on and on like that.
After it finished we walked back to the hotel to get wine. Then we went back to the park to listen to some music. An hour later we went to another park that had a huge water fountain, and stayed there for about 3 hours. That day it was windy so some of the water blew out from the fountain and it was very misty. Inside the fountain were lights that changed colors and by the waterfall were lions and they were lit up too. When we got back to the hotel we were hungry and tired because it was already 10:00 pm. While my dad went to a restaurant to get some food, my mom, Lucinda and I went back to our hotel to take a shower.
Lucinda and Naomi standing by Nellie and Samantha dolls
Naomi is “lifting up the cloud bridge” in Chicago, Illinois
The next morning we woke up at 9:00 am. We skipped breakfast because we were going to have a brunch. We left the hotel to go to the American Girl Shop. There were a lot of people and a lot of stuff there. We ended up buying Samantha’s Accessories, 2 books, and a hair kit for me. We walked all the way back to the hotel. I was very tired; it took all my energy out of my body. When we got back to the hotel room we packed everything up and checked out. Then we drove to have dim sum. It was very scrumptious.
I learned a lot from this trip, hope we can go to Chicago again some other time, but not in the winter.
Melbourne, Florida
During the summer Lucinda, mom and I went to Melbourne, FL for the Violin Camp. It took us 3 hours to drive there. Every day we went to a church and played violin with teachers and other kids. After that we would go to the beach and play, while the grown-ups talked the kids boogie boarded. Then in the night times we would go walking along the beach with a bunch of different families. One night we saw a huge tortoise just trying to make her nest to lay her eggs. The tortoise was so big it has the size of me. That night we also found glow in the dark algae.
Naomi’s violin recital
All of Naomi’s violin friends in a pool
A Math Game
I have a wonderful math teacher in my school and we always play this game called “24.” You are given 4 numbers and you can use division, subtraction, multiplication, and addition to get the answer of 24. But you can’t use the same number twice. For example, you are given the following 4 numbers:
5
6 9
15
This is how you get the answer of 24.
5x6=30, 30+9=39, 39-15=24
Now it’s your turn. There are 4 numbers:
7.35
13 5
0.25
Can you figure this out?
If you can then you’re very smart.
I think “24” is an awesome game to get to learn your basic math. It also uses knowledge and deep thinking to get the answer out. There is also the game in cards where you have 4 numbers on a card and you try to get the answer of 24. That is a very good game to play if you’re having problems with your basic math.
This year I was very busy with my gymnastics but I still could visit my friends in WI, go to Melbourne for violin camp, learn a game in math, and play in a river. I love the weather down here, our new house and our own swimming pool. I do miss snow, but then I don’t have to bundle up to get in warm clothes. Hope you had a fun year too!!!
Happy Holidays!!!!!!
Lucinda’s new FL friends