The perfect summer is a day when all the birds are out singing. The sun is fully shining; there is a nice, cool pool just waiting for someone to jump in. There are beautiful flowers and fruit trees as well as beautiful trees with colorful flowers to look at. There are little caterpillars scurrying around and amazing butterflies fluttering along. There are a few dragonflies to catch and admire. What else could describe a perfect summer day?

Yesterday, I visited an alligator. I astonished it. No one ever wanted to visit him. It had a temporary house in a swamp. The house was divided into four parts. The gator was so happy to have a visitor that it ran around in circles until it collided with its wall. It crashed through the wall and kept going until it was barely visible! I retrieved some wood to fix the wall while it swam back to the house. It lives in a place near a lot of cars. I hope it prospers even with the exhaust fumes from cars.

HAWAII

This report tells about Hawaii. This state is very interesting. The topics I will cover are Traditions, the People, The Land, Industry, and History.

The traditions of Hawaii are very interesting. The Hula is a beautiful Hawaiian dance with repetitive chants called mele. The Hula began as a form of worship. The next Hawaiian tradition is The Luau. The luau is known as the Hawaiian barbecue. It is normally a party. At this party, you will eat pupus (appetizers), limu (seaweed), laulaus (meat), lomi-lomi (salmon cooked with tomatoes and onions), and haupia (coconut and pineapple pudding). Lei-giving is the last Hawaiian tradition known to me. A maile lei was used as an offering to the goddess Laka, goddess of dance. Leis are given to people arriving or leaving Hawaii as a symbol of love or friendship. Leis also mark special achievements such as weddings, anniversaries, and graduations. Leis are made with flowers, leaves, shells, feathers, seeds, ivory, and animal teeth. Learning about Hawaiian traditions was my favorite part of the report.

The estimated population of Hawaii in 2008 was 1,288, 198 people. The capital city of Hawaii is Honolulu. Hawaii’s largest city is Hilo. This information was fairly easy to find.

Hawaii is right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The regions of the biggest island are North and South Kahola, Hamakua, North and South Hilo, Puna, Kau, and North and South Kona. Hawaii is not too hot and not too cold. Half of the Hawaiian year is summer and the other half is winter. In Hawaii, the temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit in summer and 75 degrees Fahrenheit in winter. Hawaiians get 6 inches of rain at some times, and 486 inches at other times. There is no telling when you will get how much rain.

Food is one third of Hawaii’s total annual shipments. Other major industries include clothing, stone, clay, glass products, fabricated metals, and ship building. There wasn’t much to find out about Hawaii’s industry.
I looked up a few things about Hawaii’s history. Hawaii was discovered by Polynesians who brought pigs, dogs, chickens, sweet potatoes, coconuts, bananas, and sugarcane. They were under the ruler Kamehameha I in 1810. They considered themselves under British protection. On February 10, 1843, British King Paulet demanded King Kamehameha III to give the Hawaiian Islands to the British Crown. Hawaii surrendered under protest. In 1849, the French invaded demanding full religious rights be given to Catholics. This order was only partially carried out. Because of it, the French attacked Hawaii, doing $100,000 damage. A while after that, Hawaii signed a treaty with the U.S. granting the U.S. exclusive trade rights.

Today was a pretty quick school day. For that I am glad. I changed from the Spectrum to the Jump In writing program. Jump In is actually fun (in my point of view). I still dread the the week. My dad will be coming home from his trip tomorrow, so i am looking forward to that.