Owen's review of _King of the Wind_

The historical fiction novel King of the Wind by Margit Henry tells about a boy and his horse that come to England to improve their breed of horses. In the beginning, an Arabian slave boy has a horse that dies giving birth to a colt named Sham. Sham turns out to be very fast, so he is sent to England to improve their breed of horses. When Sham and the boy, Agba, get there they are turned down. So, they find shelter at a nearby inn. The maid is kind and feeds him and teaches him to read. However, the owner is mean and steals Sham and when Agba tries to steal him back, he gets sent to jail. Some stable owners buy Agba free and let him stay at the stable. At the stable, Sham mates with another horse and has three sons that win loads of races and bring glory to Sham.
The theme of the story is that friends don’t always have to be humans. I think this because Agba and Sham have such a great bond. I think this because Sham will buck off anyone who tries to ride him unless it is Agba. Agba shows his love for Sham both by caring for him when he is a foal and by trying to steal him back when the inn keeper steals Sham. Lastly, another one of Agba’s friends is a cat named Gremlick. She proves her friendship by fallowing them around.
A connection I have with the story is that I use to have a pet cat that was a good friend of mine. Though we did not have the special bond that Agba and Sham had in the story, we were still good friends. My last reason for thinking this is that tons of kids have dogs that are good friends.
The author’s viewpoint is that good friends aren’t always humans. I think this is a well written book. I’d recommend this to anyone!

Home Sick

The main part of my day was staying home becase I was worn out from Black Belt School. I spent my time on my dad's computer doing the art program.

My Solo Adventure -- by Kerri Grace

photo credit

The Fourth of July really was Independence Day for me this year: the boys were in the middle of a four day trip to Huntington Beach with Papa and Nana, and Chris was in the middle of his work week, leaving me free to do as I pleased. Since I was on my own for the holiday, I decided to make the most of it by taking a solo trip up the coast – something I’d always wanted to do. My goal was to hike, relax, and enjoy some quiet time taking care only of myself.

I ended up at Green Gulch Farm near Muir Beach, about 15 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Green Gulch Farm is a Zen Buddhist practice center that also offers overnight accommodations to the public. I was drawn to Green Gulch Farm by their affordable rates which also included three meals in their dining hall, their lush grounds and gardens, and their beautiful coastal location. All in all, it was a perfect place for my mini-getaway.

Once I pulled into the driveway at Green Gulch, I felt like I was in another world – or at least another country. Most buildings on the farm were built in the Japanese style, and a very deep sense of peace pervaded the whole place.

I stayed in the Lindisfarne guest house, a two-story octagonal building with twelve guest rooms situated around a bright, airy common room. I shared a bathroom with one other room and a shower with all the rooms on my floor. Everyone really worked to maintain a quiet, peaceful atmosphere, so sharing the space was very pleasant.

As a guest at Green Gulch, I was welcome to join in as much of the community’s activities as I wanted. I could have joined in the morning meditation in the zendo, or helped with farm chores, or attended the “Interdependence Day” festivities. I could have spent a whole day just wandering the path that wound through Green Gulch’s gardens and farm fields, which covered a couple of acres and held every kind of flower and herb imaginable, and a whole market full of greens and cool weather crops. However, my feet were itching to walk far and long, and the miles and miles of hiking trails just outside the farm gate beckoned me too strongly.

On my first afternoon, I stayed fairly close to the farm as I had no desire to wander too far and miss out on the dining hall’s dinner hours. The next morning, after enjoying a leisurely conversation about organic farming with one of Green Gulch’s farm interns over homemade coffee cake and fruit, I set out for Tennessee Valley Cove, about 5 miles from Green Gulch on the Coastal Trail. What I pleasure it was to walk as long and as far as I wanted, carrying only enough supplies for myself, with the birds and the wind and the waves for company! When my hike was finished and it was time to leave, I felt refreshed and renewed, ready to dive back into my amazingly full life – and ready for the next adventure life presents me.

My review of Peter Pan by Owen

A few weeks ago, my family and I went to see the new play Peter Pan. I think the entire family enjoyed it. The play was excellent.

One of the best parts was the flying. Throughout the play Peter, Wendy, Tinker Bell, and Wendy's two brothers fly through Never Land. To fly in the play, they used cables. In the tent where Peter Pan was performed were projectors. They really helped make the actors look like they were moving when they were flying.

Another good part is the puppets. All of the puppets are controled by men in suits, so you have to ignore them. The Crocodile, Nana the dog, and a small bird are the puppets. The puppets let animals be in the play.

Lastly, I think Peter Pan is a great show for both adults and kids. Also, the candy is great!

Adventure Park by Jacob

I went to the Adventure Park. I’m old enough for the zip line now. It was fast! You had to stick your legs out or you would get sand in your mouth. I built a door. I got nails, a hammer, gloves, and a piece of wood with hinges. I whacked the nail with the hammer. I put the door on a house. The last thing I did was skip rocks at the beach.

The Karate Report by Chris

Judges! The shout ends each kata performance and has been heard frequently this year in the dojo — and in the garage, at the park, outside Starbucks, etc. — as all the Shannon men competed this season. Jacob and I typically face only one or two competitors in the Under 6 and Over 35 Divisions, but Owen has been taking trophies frequently while facing as many as a dozen competitors. I’m still working on my warrior face, but Jacob and Owen nonchalantly make the Jekyll and Hyde transformation from mostly innocent boys to near rabid mini ninjas. Our sparring stories are similar, but each of us has matured greatly this year regardless of the abundance or dearth of competition.

Owen and I will be thankful for the lessons learned as we enter black belt school together this fall. A half dozen Saturdays and other days of training over four or five months will culminate in a 4-hour test for Owen and an overnight 20-hour test for me. The training regimen and testing process are secrets, but sure to include numerous miles of running and an untold number of sparring matches from point fighting to Muay Thai to sport Jiu-Jitsu. Bruised muscles and tired minds will also need to master over a dozen traditional forms and board breaking before we can don the black gis of honors black belts. It’s sure to be a father-son adventure not soon forgotten.

Summer fun? by Kerri Grace

As the school year came to a close, we asked the boys to pick a summer project to keep their reading and writing skills sharp. Owen surprised us by deciding that he wanted to start a family newspaper, and Jacob surprised us even more by eagerly jumping on the bandwagon. When the boys pointed out that it wouldn't be a family newspaper if the whole family didn't contribute articles, Chris and I threw ourselves into the fray. The teacher in me thrilled at the notion of my children engaged in "authentic literacy tasks," so I happily took on the job of publishing our little rag.

We had hopes of publishing a newsletter every week. Then reality reared her businesslike head, and the first three weeks of summer slipped by without anyone writing anything. Also, I discovered that our little publishing house was never going to get off the ground if we had to wait for me to type the articles, format them into a newsletter, copy them, and mail them off -- especially since the boys stood firm in their insistence that I actually contribute my writing to the endeavor. Hopefully, publishing a blog will be at least a teeny bit simpler than what we'd originally envisioned. And, hopefully, I won't suffer so terribly from writer's block for the rest of the summer. It's humbling to have one's six year old say, "I've finished my article, Mom. How come you've only written one sentence?"

Jackpot at Superfranks by Jacob

I went to Super Franks with Sifu Glasky on Friday. I went into the machine room. I played this machine. I pressed a button and the ball fell into the jackpot. I got the jackpot and got a thousand tickets.