Chloe,
Wow! I can’t believe that we’ve been writing to each other all summer. That’s really good for me. I’ll have to see if Mom will count this as some sort of grade. Years ago (third grade I think), Mom found a pen pal for me. Some missionaries from our church had a son about my age. He was pretty good about writing me, but I rarely wrote back to him.
Your trip sounds like fun. I never would have guessed a museum with the animals clue you gave. Grandma and Grandpa have the best things to do you when you visit, don’t they? They haven’t taken me to that museum yet, but if they do I think I’d enjoy it—at least the part about the animals and stories.
Our adventures around here have been a lot of fun. I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially when we toured the castle. The architecture was definitely different from the medieval castles that I normally think of, but I think the same idea was there. Castles anywhere show power and help protect the leader and his people.
At some point, we may take a mini-vacation at Lake Nojiri. It’s supposed to be a really great place to go stay at. Pictures of the water look awesome! We may do that in September if Dad can get a day or two off; we’ll see.
Mom’s busy lining up my school schedule for the year. I think she wants us to start at the beginning of September, so it’s not too much longer after you start. It feels like we just finished last year, which we kind of did. If we don’t start in September though, we’ll have to go late again. And Mom would rather we have some “cushion” days to help us work around Dad’s schedule.
The good news right now is that I finally got out of piano lessons. Mom hasn’t been able to line up a piano teacher here, so she’s going to have to skip that. I’d rather focus on soccer anyway and maybe try picking up guitar. Dad played it some when I was little, so he could give me some basic lessons to get me started. Mom hasn’t asked me yet what electives I would like to take, so I have a little more time to make up my mind.
By the way, I ended up reading Kidnapped, The Swiss Family Robinson, and Robinson Crusoe. They were great, and I totally enjoyed them. (Thanks for suggesting that last one!) I did try to read The Count of Monte Cristo but had a harder time getting into it. So I returned it to the digital library and may try reading it again next year.
Well, that’s all for now. Hope you’re enjoying your classes. I’ll write you later!
Eric
