I will also be doing a reading with my friend, Lauren-Kate at Main Street Books on July 16 at 4 p.m. Hope you can join us.

Chapter 1: The Bus Ride

            “Campers,” the bus driver said over the loud speaker, “we are approaching Camp Lakeside. Be sure to put all your stuff back into bags so you’ll be ready when we get there.”

            Eleven-year-old Teresa glanced over at her nine-year-old brother Matt as she stuffed her book back into her backpack. “Are you excited, Matt?” she asked.

            Matt grinned back at her. “This is going to be so cool, especially having Uncle Jack and Aunt Sally as the directors.”

            “I do wish we could be in the same cabin,” Teresa said. Since she didn’t have a friend with her, Teresa was nervous about interacting with the other girls.

            “Oh, it’ll be fine. It’s only for a week,” Matt replied, then changed the subject. “I wonder if Rusty can sleep with me.”

            Rusty, Matt and Teresa’s one-year-old golden retriever, was coming to camp to be the camp dog. She was with the kids’ Aunt Sally who was driving her own car in front of the bus.

            “I doubt it, Matt. Rusty’s mostly an outside dog anyway.”

            Uncle Jack, the bus driver, rubbed his beard and repositioned his baseball cap as he turned onto a gravel road that led to the camp. One kid in the back of the bus yelled, “We’re here!”

            Up ahead of the bus were two screened cabins, an office building where Aunt Sally, Uncle Jack and some of the volunteers worked and the dining hall. Past the buildings were all the camp activities like the zipline, a tall climbing tower, the head of a hiking trail and the pool. Even farther from the buildings were the tall mountains where the kids would hike.

            The bus came to a halt and all at once kids hopped up from their seats and lined up at the door. Through the bus window, Teresa saw a pathway leading through a rose trellis going to the cabins. Vines filled with different shades of bright pink roses wound around the trellis. This is more beautiful than I remembered. I can’t wait for the fun to begin! Teresa thought.

            She looked at her brother. “I guess I’ll see you at dinner. We can talk more there.”

            “I can see you anytime, Teresa. I want to meet my cabin mates and make friends with them this week,” Matt said.

             I guess I won’t be hanging out with Matt all week. Teresa thought as she looked around the bus. She saw pairs of girls everywhere chatting and laughing. I better start making some friends soon.

            The bus doors opened and girls and boys ran, pulling their suitcases and carrying their duffle bags and pillows to the different cabins. Matt and Teresa separated to go claim their bunks.

            “Hi, I’m Logan, one of your counselors. What’s your name?” said a lady with short blonde hair.

             “Teresa Jones,” she replied.

            “Nice to meet you. You’ll meet Vicki, my co-counselor, inside,” Logan said.

            “Okay. Thanks!” Teresa mumbled shyly. She pulled the cabin door open and saw bunks beds lining the walls and girls on top of them talking. “Hello,” Teresa said quietly looking up at a group of girls on a bunk. She waited a minute, but no one seemed to hear her so, she turned to the corner bunk, climbed up the ladder and plopped her stuff on the top bunk. This is going to be a long week without a friend. I wish Allison or Maureen were here. 


Let me know if you'd like to write a blurb. Thanks for reading!


Sydney

We now joke that Sunny was just saving up her energy for when she went home with us.

At one point, before we could take Sunny home, she lost her collar. Luckily, we were able to figure out which one was her. On the day we took her home, she did a good job of whimpering when she needed to go to the bathroom as we were driving. The next nights were not great. We had to let her out three times during the night. My dad took the late night shift. My mom took the graveyard shift and I took the early shift. She did become better at potty training, but we had to learn to deal with her whimpering for the first few months. 

Even though Sunny is no longer sleepy, we love her dearly.

So that's the story of Sunny. Does anyone have fun stories about how their pets came to their families? If so, I'd love to hear about them.

Sydney

I've been wondering if anyone has a topic or idea they'd like me to write about on this blog. It's hard to keep thinking of interesting things that everyone likes to read about. If you have an idea, please comment or fill out the form below.

I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Sydney

7. I can create characters.

6.  I love to share my work!

5. It's fun!

4. If I ever get tired of life, I can go into a different world when I write.

3. I enjoy researching and learning about what I write about (i.e. the Appalachian trail)

2. I've always loved stories and books.

1. I can be creative!

The last one is: Top ten ways I get inspired:

10. Doing research.

9. When I receive positive feedback.

8. Every week in class, I want to read a chapter of my book aloud, but if I haven't written a chapter, I can't read it.

7. When my mind explodes after brainstorming, I'm inspired to write.

6. Hearing that my friend has written a chapter.

5. When I receive suggestions and edits.

4. Having Writing Class.

3. When I read a good book.

2. Writing down ideas helps me think of new things.

1. Getting encouragements from friends.

I hope you enjoyed reading three of my top ten lists. Do you have any interesting top ten lists that have to do with writing? If you do, I'd love to hear about it.

Sydney

Sunny is just as crazy. You can see some more pictures of her by clicking here. One of the main things Sunny is known for, as is Rusty, is her thievery. Sunny will steal gloves out of your pocket, a bag of fast food out of your car if your door is open, trash from a trashcan, a jacket from around your waist, shoes off your front porch, and I haven’t even begun. She will steal just about anything she can get her mouth on. One time, my dad left the garage door open by accident, and when we returned home his bag of golf balls and golf hats were spread all over the yard. Dad was not too happy. Once, Sunny ran off while we were walking her and when she came back she had a shoe in her mouth. We called our across-the-street neighbors and they said they weren’t missing a shoe. They called back a few days later saying, yes, actually they were.

Many dogs are allowed to live in the house all of their lives. Sunny isn’t. Sometimes when we open the gate to go into Sunny’s area, which is the laundry room, she’ll dash by us. And since she’s a thief, what does she do? She heads straight for the pillows on the couch. After grabbing one of those she’ll trot into my room like she owns it and grab a shirt or some socks from my laundry basket, still trying to hold the pillow. When she comes across the indoor cat, Melia, she can’t decide whether to chase Melia or keep everything in her mouth. By that time, we’ve hopefully caught her, but if not, upstairs she goes, stealing the toilet paper from it’s holder, taking something from the floor of my parents’ bedroom and running downstairs with her treasures and out the back door. Then, it’s really hard to get the things away from her because she thinks it’s a game. Eventually, all of our stuff is lying in the mulch. This is why Sunny isn’t allowed in the house. When she was a puppy, we let her stay in the kitchen. She soon discovered a way to get up on the counter. 

We’d come home and find footprints all around the counter. Once she stole a banana and ate it. From then on, she was only allowed in the laundry room, unless she was on a leash.

A new talent that Sunny has is using her muzzle to open a baby gate that we put on the stairs of our deck to protect the flowers and the outdoor cat, Cinder, from attack. See the video below that I took from an upstairs window.

Sunny isn’t all bad though. She’s good with some of her commands like “wait” and “okay.” We’ll tell her to “wait” before she eats her food and then let her eat by saying “okay.” She’s also very good at walking on the leash, and she’ll “shake” and “sit.” No, she isn’t the best at “come” or “leave it,” but we’re still working on that. Sunny’s very good about going to the vet because she knows she gets treats.

Despite Sunny’s thievery and naughtiness, she’s really very sweet, and we love her. I hope you enjoyed reading about my dog. Do you have any pets with bad habits? If so, I’d love to hear about them.

Sydney