Freebies at Exhibits

Went to my mom's ALA (American Library Association) exhibits for the third time today. Before I tell you about that let me fill you in about what happened yesterday and this morning.

Yesterday we went to the exhibits in the morning and got free books. The books weren't truly free because we had to spend almost $100 to ship them home. Then we went to the Newseum. It was huge - seven levels in all. They had some really cool exhibits but we didn't have enough time there because it closed at 5pm

This morning we went to the National Postal Museum. I'd been there once before but it wasn't as good this time because the best exhibits were under renovation.

Now back to the free books at the exhibits today. Since it was the last day of exhibits, many publishers were trying to get rid of their books so they wouldn't have to ship them. Many publishers sold $20 hardbacks for $5 and paperbacks ranged from $1 to $3. Galleys, in other words books that weren't yet published, were free.

I waited in line for almost 45 minutes to get an autographed copy of 4th book in the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. People were lining up more than an hour to get an autograph copy.
The best books I got over the 3 days of the exhibits either for free or at a very low price are:

• Monster High by Lisi Harrison (due out in September)
• The second NERDS book by Michael Buckley (due out in September)
• The Gift by James Patterson (due out later later this fall)

In all, I got over 40 books. My dad flies home tomorrow while me and my mom continue our vacation to Europe in 2 days. Update you soon.

Updated Finally!

Okay - I haven't updated in a while. I've been really tired and it is really hot and humid in Washington DC (at least compared to Seattle.) One day we even hit 100 degrees a new record for that day.

Here's a general overview of what I've done so far:

• Wednesday: American History Museum and the National Archives.
• Thursday: Air and Space Museum and American Indian Museum.
• Friday: Koshland Science Center and ALA exhibits.
• Saturday: Natural History Museum and National Building Museum.

Foodwise we've eaten at the morning hotel buffet every morning so far and 3 Smithsonian museum cafeterias. Restaurants we've ate at include Legal Seafood, Cheesecake Factory and a really bad Italian place.

Since we came here for my mom's librarian conference we get to go to the exhibits and get free stuff. We've already gone for two hours and will be going again tomorrow.

I'll try to update you later if I'm not to tired.

We've learned that vacationing is hard work.

Setbacks and Good News

So we made our flight okay. We landed about a half an hour ago. Currently it's 10:39 PM DC time (though I'm wide awake because that's like 7:30 Washington time.)

So we got a taxi to the hotel my mom made reservations at (and to boot she checked with them yesterday.) We got to the hotel and when we checked in they said they didn't have any rooms for us because they overbooked. I'm writing part of this at the hotel computer while the main desk people try to get us another hotel at 10:42 at night.

This is a major setback for several reasons;

• First we are all cranky and tired because we spent the whole day getting ready for this trip and spent 5 hours on a plane.


• Next tomorrow morning we will have to come back to this hotel from the one they set us up with. That basically wastes....

I want you to forget everything I just said. Just as I was writing that sentence my dad came over and said they found us a room in the hotel so we don't have to move hotels. My family thinks it's because we talked about mentioning this on this blog.

I'll try to update you with pictures tomorrow. I've got some great ones I've been taking all day.

Also on the plane ride, right before we were about to land we started seeing lightening. It was really cool until we realized that we were on a metal plane flying in the air. Anyway we landed fine and our vacation officially starts tomorrow.

I've got to get the sleeper sofa ready so update you tomorrow.

First Travel Update

Currently I'm at the airport eating Chinese food (which was surprisingly good.) We'll be going to our gate soon for our 2:00 PM flight to Washignton DC. We will arrive at 10:00 PM (DC time, 7:00 PM Washington time).

I'll try to update tomorrow but no promises. My mom wants to get going so that's all I can write. Will update soon and hope everyone is having a great summer.

Nothing and Everything

I haven't posted in ages (okay it was only two weeks). I've been pretty busy with the last couple weeks of school and this vacation (who am I kidding we really don't do anything for the last week of school). So let me fill you in on what happened:

First two weeks ago we had student elections. It's funny because double the amount of people ran for eighth grade senator than for seventh grade senator. Senators are our leader positions at our school instead of president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer.

That's all that happened two weeks ago that is of importance of writing about.

So the last week of school:

Monday - Final project in Social Studies due and we made portfolios in English (We need to keep stuff from English every year so we can do a reflection on it in our Sophomore year.)

Tuesday - Watched movie in Science, took final test in Math, and rollerbladed and watched a movie in PE.

Wednesday - Got yearbooks, signed them in all classes. After lunch free to roam school and do different activities.

Thursday - Talent show and no real work in ANY class.

Friday - Went to school for 1 hour 4o minutes and went to an assembly honoring the eighth graders.

As you can see the last week of school is just filler for the 180 days needed.

Also for doing Honors English next year we have to do a summer reading project. (This is going to be interesting since I'm traveling for a month.)

Now we move on to the vacation/blog news. So I've already posted that this is turning into a vacation blog. I might try to post pictures but they won't have me in them (They may even have Roadtrip Reene in them for a contest that container store is doing.)

My mom was kinda of panicking last night (like she always does before a big trip). The panic last night was about how me and my mom hadn't packed and we leave today.

I haven't decided if I want to tell you my itinerary yet. Maybe I'll surprise you along the the way. What I can say is that I leave for Washington DC this afternoon.

Since I'll be traveling I don't know when I'll be updating (hopefully often) but my mom is bringing her netbook. I will still need to get wifi but I'll keep you in the loop as much as possible.

Hope you guys are all having a great summer vacation. Bon Voyage!

Slow Week and an Anouncement

I know I haven't posted on practically a week. There wasn't anything mind-blowing to blog about and all my teachers are doing that last minute push to get through the curriculum. Also I was sick on Friday so I have less than 10 days to make up the work (and I had a test that day.)

In other news our computers get taken away in the next two days. This means basically that most schoolwork that uses the computer will stop. Also we only have one more week of real school because all students know that the last week of school is mostly fun.

LASTLY I have a big announcement. This blog will be turning into a somewhat halfway travel blog. This summer I'm going on a great vacation (I'll fill you in later). So I'm going to blog about it. I guess you could say that for about one month this blog will be the "The Summer of a So Very Average Middle Schooler."

The countdown to summer is here, check back later for more information about "The Summer of a So Very Average Middle Schooler."