The Hot Air Balloon

This morning Cleo, Amya and I went to the field to ride on a hot air balloon.

When we were waiting in line, Flower, Amaya’s mother, asked if Amaya could go with Cleo and me. I said, “Yes,” so Amaya went with us.

When it was nearly our turn, my heart started to beat very fast because I was so excited. The balloon we went in was yellow, orange and red. We had to be very patient because the line was massive.

When it was finally our turn, a nice lady lifted Cleo and Amaya into the cane basket. I climbed in by myself. A man pulled a lever and there was a stream of fire above our heads. It was really scary at the start but then I got used to it.

We hovered above the ground for a bit then he pulled the lever again and we went up, up, up, in the air so high that he said, “I overdid it.”

Cleo, Amaya and I all looked down. We were up very high. He pulled the lever again but overdid it again, so he said, “We'll just hang up here for a bit, shall we?”

We all said, “OK!” Madeline waved to me so I waved back. Flynn yelled out to me, “The penguin!”  

I said, “I’ve got an idea.” I pulled in the line with the penguin attached to it and said, “Time to bungy jump, Mrs Penguin,” so off went the penguin. It did not go far though because the line was very short. When we started going down, I pulled up the penguin so it wouldn’t get squashed.

When we were on the ground, I felt very proud of myself because that was the first time I had been in a hot air balloon.

Waka Racing

Today, we walked to the riverbank to watch the Regatta waka races.

When we got to the riverbank, we sat down to watch the races. The water was sparkling and the crowd on the other side of the river was shading under tent tops. Some crews were getting into the waka to go up-river for their races.

Harrigan’s crew was racing next. We were feeling extra excited and nervous at the exact same time. When the race started, everyone started chanting “Go St Pauls!" as Harrigan’s crew rowed in the gleaming water.

As they got nearer and nearer to the finish line, everyone shouted and screamed, “Go St Pauls!” then everyone started to clap because they had won. Everyone was clapping so loud it sounded like there was an earthquake and even some people were jumping up and down in excitement. Everyone had a great big smile on their faces when the race was finished.

St Patrick's Day

My Shell

I call my shell a luck shell because, when I went to swimming interschool's, it gave me lots of luck.
I think the shell came from a faraway beach. 
The shell is very smooth and it's got light brown on half, and white on the other side.

Swimming Sports

Yesterday, our school had our swimming sports at the Ngaruawahia Town Pools.

It was  time for the Flying Squadron  race. All the house captains were getting us all ready to race against the other  houses yellow, red, blue and green and if you're wondering what house I’m in? I am in the BLUE HOUSE! As the house captains were getting us ready, I was getting very nervous  and my heart was beating very fast. Jessica, our house captain, said that Serenity and I had to start in the deep end. Paige and Liam started in the shallow end then Mr K blew his whistle. The little kids in the little pool started to swim and then one little kid tagged Quinn and she started to swim to me. When she was nearly there, I jumped in and started swimming in the ice cold water. I was glad that the water was ice cold because my neck felt like it was on fire. I was nearly there when Paige jumped in and started to swim. Madeline and I were both in the race so we started talking together. The sun made the water in the pool look like a picture that had been covered with glitter. The blue house and red house tied with third, green house came second and yellow house came first. Hurray for them.

Holy Spirit Symbols

The symbols of the Holy Spirit are water, fire, the dove and oil. Water reminds me of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit comes to us at Baptism and water is used, as well.

Ash Wednesday

Honey Bees

Honeybees are small insects that fly around and collect pollen. They also help all the fruit and veggies grow in our gardens.

What Do They Look Like?

Honeybees are small golden and black striped insects. They have a small body made of three parts - the head, thorax and abdomen. Honeybees have two straight antenna and two compound eyes. They also have four wings, a small sharp stinger, six legs and a pollen basket. Where Do They Live? Honeybees live all over the world except for the cold places like North Pole and Antarctica. They like to live in warm places where there are flowers. They can also live on bee farms and beehives. They also can’t live in the desert because there are no flowers. Honeybees live on some farms because they help with all the fruit and veggies. They can also live in colonies made up of the queen, worker bees and drones.
Giving Birth
The Queen lays lots of eggs, probably at least over 4000. The drones mate with the queen. When babies are born they metamorphosis. They start off as eggs and then they turn into larva and then into a adult bee. They could be a drone or a worker bee, Worker bees are girls and drones are boys.
How Long Do Honey Bees Live?
Queen bees can live up to 7 years while worker bees and drones can only live for a few months, otherwise a few weeks.
What Do They Do?

Honey bees collect nectar to make honey. They get nectar from flowers. They use their long tube-like tongues like a long straw to suck up all the nectar and store it in their honey stomachs until they get back to the hive. Bees have two stomachs, their honey stomach and their normal stomach. They have to go to 1000 flowers to fill their honey stomachs. After they have visited 1000 flowers, they return to the hive and pass the nectar to another bee. The other worker puts its tube-like tongue down into the other worker’s mouth into the honey stomach then the other bee sucks and chews on the nectar for half an hour. After half an hour, the bee then spreads all the honey into the wax cells where water evaporates from it, making a thicker syrup. The bees fan the nectar with their wings to help it dry. Once the honey is thick enough and dry enough, the bee seals up the honeycomb with a plug of wax. It is the ready to collect.
How Do Bees Communicate?
They do a dance like this - waggle to the left, waggle to the right, for excellent direction, when workers are in flight.