Take time out to reflect on yourself. Do you like what you see? Do you wish to change some attitudes, traits, and habits? Remember, it is never too late to change. -Unknown

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

"Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy."
Mike Ditka

"If things came easy, then everybody would be great at what they did."
Mike Ditka

"If you are determined enough and willing to pay the price, you can get it done."
Mike Ditka

"I had chosen to use my work as a reflection of my values."
Sidney Poitier

"I have always preferred the reflection of the life to life itself."
Francois Truffaut

"I'm a reflection of the community."
Tupac Shakur

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."
Jim Rohn

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way."
~Satchel Paige~

If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
Michael Jordan

"Good nature is worth more than knowledge, more than money, more than honor, to the persons who possess it."
Henry Ward Beecher

I took these reflections to show that everything is not always as it seems. Many of my photos take a while to realize what they actually are. I especially like the photos of my friends standing by glass, so that you can see a reflection of them looking at themselves. It shows that people have other sides to their life. I enjoyed taking photos and finding these quotes. It took a lot of time, but when you get the exactly right photo, it's totally worth it. I hope you enjoy my work.
Robbie

These are the meanings and origins of idioms compound words.

All Greek To Me, To be completely meaningless and incomprehensible. From Julius Caesar, Shakespeare
Bakers Dozen, 13, 1266, Britain said bread had to weigh a certain amount, bakers added a thirteenth loaf to meet requirements.
At The Drop Of A Hat, Willing to do something immediately. It is believed to come from the American west or Ireland where the signal for a fight was to drop your hat. 1800’s
Against The Clock, Rushed and short of time.
Lose Your Head, To go crazy and act without thinking. Believed to be from the Medieval times were crazy people would have there heads cut off.
Spearmint, Spear, a long weapon with a sharp tip, can be thrown or thrusted. Mint, a common herb. Spearmint, a herb used to flavor candy.
Basketball, Basket, a object used to carry things. Ball, a hollow or solid sphere. Basketball, a game with five players on each team, where they try to throw the basketball through the opposing teams hoop.
Moonlight, Moon, a sphere that orbits around the Earth, visible at night or at dusk. Light, the natural agent that stimulates sight, the only thing in the world that has no weight. Moonlight, that that comes from the Moon.
Fireflies, Fire, combustion or burning, one of the four ancient elements. Flies, a common insect. Fireflies, an insect that, when mating, sends out a bright light.
Eyeballs, Eye, a pair of globular organs that stimulate sight. Ball, a hollow or solid sphere. Eyeball, the round part of your eyes that are behind your eyelids.
Robbie

The Castle

Our Composition
By: Jonathan and Robbie

1. Our composition is called The Castle

2. The reason for this title is because when you listen to the composition, it sounds like a trumpeter, who in the morning plays a trumpet and wakes the people up.

3. What we like most about my composition is that it has so many beats, instruments, tone color, and it goes perfect like it sounds like a song someone would want to listen to.

4. The most challenging thing for writing this composition was making sure if it was making sense, like if the beats were matched, and the rhythm. Once we got the first couple of notes down we were like rockets, we would keep going until it made the perfect ending that matched the composition.

Day 1
Introduction
11:00 AM

When I first set foot on Covenant Harbor, I was stunned by how big it looked. The camp was huge, stretching from a waterfront, to all the way up past a huge hill, to a big plain, and there was still a ton, maybe even miles of trails. Then, I was shocked by how big our cabins were. I was not expecting cabins this big! Although I had been to Covenant Harbor before, I had always stayed in a different set of cabins. Finally, after playing a few group games, I was shocked by how much fun these next three days was going to be.

Meals at Covenant Harbor
11:30 PM

After I put away my stuff in my cabin, I headed down to the carpet ball courts. After playing a few games, I heard a bell ring. Instantly, every body turned their heads towards the dining hall and started to run. When we all got outside the lodge, the camp director explained how our meals were going to be like. We put on hand sanitizer and sat down in tables. My table was picked last, but that did not stop the meal from being great! For our first meal, we had grilled cheese, a choice of two soups. We could not have soda, but we could have lemonade and milk. The food was so good, I felt like it was my mom’s cooking. This was the same for every single meal. They were all delicious, and very tasty. I found it very hard to believe that the food was mass-produced, that’s how good it was compared to cafeteria food.

Big Group Games
12:30 PM

Once we were settled in and had eaten lunch, everybody went up to a big clearing. There, the counselors introduced themselves to us. When we finally knew their names, we played group games. Group games were awesome! They were not boring games like Duck-Duck-Goose. Instead, they were games were we got to run around and have fun. They let us be active. Some of the games were Brawl Ball, Everybody Is It Tag, and…. The Blob!

Brawl Ball

One of my favorite things at Covenant Harbor was playing Brawl Ball. Brawl Bal was like line soccer. You were given a number, and you were across from the other team. When your number was called, you rushed forward at a ball in the middle. While you tried to get the ball, all of the other people whose numbers were not called tried to block the ball from getting past their line. The point of the game was to force the ball through the other teams line. You could get the ball across the line using a few tactics. You can carry the ball, or kick it like you were playing soccer. This game was very fun, but also very competitive.

Everybody Is It Tag

Another very fun game was Everybody Is It Tag. This is a game were everybody is it, and you try to tag everybody. When you get tagged, you sit down and wait for the person that tagged you to get tagged. When this happens, you get to stand up and rejoin the game. This game was very fun. I was tagged a lot in the first few minutes, but I kept getting better and better.

The Blob

The final game was… The Blob. This game was extremely fun. In this game, there was somebody that was it. When they tagged somebody, they both linked hands. Then when they tagged somebody else, the same thing happened. This game took a while to be fun, but when there were plenty of people tagged, it got very fun. I think this was one of the bestparts of Outdoor Education

Low Ropes Team Course
1:30 PM

After playing a bunch of very fun games at Covenant Harbor, my group (group 4) went and started playing team-building exercises. These exercises were meant to help us work together as a team better, and let us have fun as well. There were several exercises, each different and unique in it’s own way. All of these games required my group to work together to complete the exercise. Some games were: Spider, upside down plane, Jamaican Island, Balance Beam, and Have You Done It.

Spider

The game Spider was one of my personal favorites. There were two trees and between those two trees, were several lengths of nylon. They were strategically place to resemble a spider web. The point of the game was to travel from one side of the “spider web”, to another. That sounds easy, right? Wrong! There was a catch. My entire group had to hold hands. Plus, if our entire group hit the rope three times, we all had to start over. It took a while, but we finally completed it. To complete it we had to use each other’s strengths, and know each other’s weaknesses.

Upside Down Plane

Another one of the games was Upside Down Plane. The point of this game was to flip the “upside down plane”, AKA, a sheet to the other side. This sounded really easy but again, there was a cache. My entire group was on the sheet! It may sound impossible, but it was just very, very, frustrating and hard. Eventually, William found out a way to do it, but it was extremely complicated. Everybody was happy when this game was over.

Jamaican Island

One of the best team activities was Jamaican Island. In this game, you have flown to Jamaica, and went whale watching. Sadly, your boat sunk. But happily, you are all stranded on an island. You had to get to the next island using only a long, sturdy piece of wood, and some rope. Once you got to that island, you had to get everybody on to the island. Then, you had to stay on while you traveled to the third, and final, island. This activity was fun but hard. You had to make sure everybody was on the boat, while you were maneuvering a long piece of wood. But in the end, getting to the final island gave everybody a deep sense of accomplishment.

Relay Races
7:00 PM

At the end of my first day, every headed down to the JAC to participate in the relay races. These were not your normal relay races. They had crazy themes, like running with a rubber chicken, then placing it on a chair. These relay races were a bunch of fun, and very interesting.

Night Hike
8:30 PM

After the relay races, people had the option of a night hike. If you went on the night hike, you would learn about nature and plenty of other cool things. I decided to go on the night hike. I was the only boy going, but that didn’t stop me from having fun. First, we learned about night vision. That was cool. Then we learned about our five senses by sing them to find out what certain things we found a deer tract, it was really cool. Finally, we headed back to our cabins and learned about bioluminescence. Every body put a mint in there mouths, sucked out all there spit, and chomped down on the mint I f you looked closely, you could see a bright flash, inside the person’s mouth.

Day 2
Lessons
8:30

When I was done with breakfast, I headed outside and played a few games of carpet ball. Then our group leaders told us to meet up by the Triplets. When everyone was by their leaders, they explained we would complete our first lesson and then told us where to go. My first lesson was Nature, so I headed up to the place where Nature was located.

Nature
8:45 AM

My first lesson was Nature. In the beginning, we used our 5 senses to find out what certain items were. Then, we had our thumbs tied to our palms. This was to show how it was like to not have opposable thumbs. As if this was not enough, they then tossed candy into the air and we had to catch it. The candy was delicious. After that delicious surprise, we were blindfolded and were brought to a tree. Then we headed back, and had to locate the tree without a blindfold. This was harder than it looks, and it was hard for me at first, but I kept getting better. Finally, we had a nature hike. We had to use the senses sight and smell to find the five clues. There was a puddle of peppermint spray near a clue. At the fifth and final clue, there was a prize given. Every body was given an Airhead and the promise of more candy.

Entomology
9:50 AM

My second lesson was Entomology. Entomology is the study of insects. I learned a ton about insects in Entomology. I always thought that spiders were insects, but in Entomology, I learned that insects have six legs. Spiders have eight legs, so they are not insects. We did a lot of fun activities in Entomology too. When we first came into Entomology, we had an insect taped to our back. We had to find out what bug we were by asking specific questions. I was the Monarch Butterfly. Then we learned about insects some more. Finally, we were given a few pieces of candy. We had to construct an insect using the candy, some tooth picks, and our imagination. We also had to make up our insects natural predator. I made my insect as a scorpion that had no natural predators. My scorpion was very fun to eat.

Orienteering
10:55 AM

My third and last lesson before lunch was Orienteering. In Orienteering we learned about the history of the compass and how to use it. We also learned about how orienteering became less popular with the invention of the GPS. Then we practiced with our compasses before we started the game. In the orienteering game we were given a starting point, and a few clues and a tree to find. We were supposed to end up at a different starting point, but it was extremely hard and not many people made it to the proper ending place.

This is my shelter.

Survival
1:15 PM
After eating a tasty meal, I was ready to do another lesson. I headed down to the Survival lesson place to get ready to start this lesson. When everybody was there, we started Survival. The first thing we did was learn about fire safety and survival. Then we had to pick 3 things we would take with us if we were stuck in the wilderness. Then we were put into groups and got to make survival shelters. I made a lean-to and had a great time. Our shelter was the best, but don’t tell the other team that! All in all, Survival was awesome.

New Games
2:20

After eating a tasty meal, I was ready to do another lesson. I headed down to the Survival lesson place to get ready to start this lesson. When everybody was there, we started Survival. The first thing we did was learn about fire safety and survival. Then we had to pick 3 things we would take with us if we were stuck in the wilderness. Then we were put into groups and got to make survival shelters. I made a lean-to and had a great time. Our shelter was the best, but don’t tell the other team that! All in all, Survival was awesome.

I am the person throwing the ball in a game of kickball.

Archery
3:25

My final lesson was Archery. During this lesson I learned a few things, but one stands out. I am a terrible archer. I could hit the target, but it would always be too high or low. Never the less, Archery was still very, very, very fun. I was one of the first people to shoot the bows and arrows. When before we started shooting, we were taught the safety rules of Archery and how you never point a loaded bow and arrow at somebody. When we started shooting, it was so fun! It didn’t even matter that you were not good at archery. What did matter was that you were having fun and having a good time. All in all, I will defiantly remember archery.
Games/Campfire
7:45/8:00

After that, we had a bunch of fun. Finally, we headed down to the JAC and played sports for an hour. After that we headed down to a campfire to tell ghost stories and roast marshmallows. I was so good at roasting marshmallows that people kept coming up to me to ask if I would make them some. In the end, I must have made at least 10 marshmallows. The scary stories were really good to. Mr. Thurston had the best scary stories.

Day 3
Zip Line/ Climbing Wall
8:45 AM

On my last day at Covenant Harbor, everyone participated in the best thing yet… The climbing wall and the zip line. The climbing wall was extremely fun. It was fifty feet straight up and much harder than it looked. It took several tries, but when I finally got up to the top, I was so relieved, until I had to do the zip line. I was so scared. I could hardly get down on the platform. It took me two times to jump off, but when I gathered the courage to do it; I did a quick prayer and jumped. Being on the zip line was so fun! You went fast and had a great time. When I had to get off, I was sad. The zip line was my favorite part of Covenant Harbor.

This is the zip line gear.

High Ropes Course
8:45 AM

While you were waiting for the zip line, you could do the high ropes course. The high ropes course consisted of a Tarzan tire jump, a balance beam twenty feet off the ground, a set of swinging stairs, and the giant steps. Each of these was fun, but my favorite was the giant steps. In it, you have to work with your partner to get up onto a beam of wood. Then you help get your partner get to the next beam. It goes on like this until you run out of time. I will always remember the High Ropes Course.

Everybody at outdoor education.

Conclusion
All in all, I will definately never forget Covenant Harbor. I had an awesome group and group leaders, an amazing cabin, and had the time of my life. At Covenant Harbor, they have every thing from amazing food, to a fifty foot climbing wall. There was everything from awesome games, to roasting marshmallows. They even have high ropes coarse and a zip line! There is one thing that I won’t miss about Covenant Harbor is there mattresses. The first night I was back, I slept like a baby. Covenant Harbor is definately my favorite 6th memories.

All in all, although the proportions project was hard, I had a ton of fun, learned a few new things and can't wait to see my grade.

P.S. Below is my recipe. I hope you like the Cookie Bars!

Hasta Luego

Robbie

Hi, after a long and very fun summer break I have had the option to add  something to my blog. I took a survey of all the students in my class and my teacher  and made a histogram graph. This graph is U-shaped. On average students have visited 5-24 states, with peaks of students from 5 to 9 and again from 15 to 24. There are no outliers or gaps in this graph.  I have been to twenty-two states. I am slightly ahead of the class average. This might be because every year I go to visit my grandparents and Aunt/Uncle.

Have a nice day,

Robbie