My trip to mass

Here are some photos I took while in Marshfield Mass, visiting friends. It was tons on fun! We went to Martha's Vineyard which was great! I rode on the U.S' oldest carousel, which sounds kiddish, but i admit, fun. You get to grab these rings and it makes it more exciting! We got some yumma ice cream and rode a bus and went to the beach. IT WAS FUN! We also did a little shopping but not much. My mom needed to go to Crate and Barrel to get some wine glasses she broke, and we got them all the way home and she was unpacking one and dropped it. My mouth dropped. She was soo mad. It was funny in a non funny way.

Oh wow

Ok I think it is time I do some major editing on my blog...I have been too busy to spend time on it. School got out on June 23rd which evidently is a little late....it was torcherous to be like the last people out of school in the nation. Arg, at least that is what it felt like. I was ready for summer because I knew what fun I had a head if me. I left my first day of school early and headed to lake view ny to see the family. Everyone there is so big and mature and tall...ahhh it's crazy. There is all this talk about what highs hooks everyone is going to and all the kiddos relationships and What possible colleges the older ones might go to. It's quite insane. The first full day in lake view we headed to Darien lake with the fam...sort of. Pad had a stomach bug and fever so he and my dad had to miss out. I'm sure pad was disappointed but he needed to rest and get better. While he was at home we had the best time at the amusement park. I went on lots of rides I would not think I would like...but I ended up liking them. It's good to try new things. The day after we headed to Jamestown to see friends (definitely a highlight of the summer). It was great to see Coll and the adorable twins and pat and Abbie. Abbie is so tall and pretty I couldn't believe it...well I guess I should have expected her to change..itd been like what? 3, 4 years since I last saw her?
We only spent the day there but I wish I couldve spent more time. After I got home the reynold family came for a little while for the 4th. They had a foster kid, Larry who was adorable. I wanted to keep him. He was such a good baby. We went up to smuggs where they have a lake and aqua plunge which is like a giant trampoline in the middle...you can jump on it and shoot people in the air. There is a fidget ladder too...it's so hard to get to the bell but delaney and I managed to get up many times. We went to Stowe for a little while on the fourth and said our goodbyes from there... Now my summer is quiet and there is lots more too come...I will be sure to post pictures from all my adventures...I'm really excited because I am going back to new Hampshire at the end of this month with a friend..I promise to get lots of pictures. I am typing this off of my new iPad which is very fun to use...we have taken lots of demented pictures and lots of adorable pictures. The iPad is stupid and won't let me upload pictures but I will go downstairs and do that momentarily. Signing off for now...Lex

Mini Golf

As you know, it is coming closer to the end of the year, so our teachers knew it was time to let us have fun.....and so we did!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXLKnpxB4bE

Salzburg, Austria

We took this shuttle thing from C. krumlov to Salzburg, but it was not very luxurious. the guy driving stalled the car and didn't know where the gas hole thing was, but we think it was his first time driving that car, so we cut him some slack, but still, it was not very nice. The shuttle brought us right to the road of our apartment, which we easily found. We got to Salzburg way later than we thought, so we were hoping the lady renting us the apartment had some patience, which, Luckily she did. She was a very nice lady, and told us a bunch of helpful information. we spent the afternoon and dinner time at a bier garten which is basically a restraunt. It was ourdoors and fun to be at.
Our Apt. was right on the main shopping street, which was perfect for me!! There are all these brand name stores, but a lot of shoes and clothes are a bit expensive. My mom and I spent some time going through the stores. i got a few things from H&M, but that was it. I really enjoyed Salzburg, it was one of my favorite places. I loved all the shops and things to see and do. I liked the river going through it too! Mozart is from Salzburg, and his wife is buried here in the cemetery.

C. Krumov

After we went to Prauge, we took a bus to Cesky Krumlov (Chesky Crum-luv, that was very loud, shaky and vibraty! It was hard to sleep on it. We arrived there and found our hotel with no problem, the only thing was finding our reservation. We got to the desk and tell them our name, and the lady looks and looks but cannot find it. Finally she decided to look on the computer, where she found our name. The first day we were there, we headed to look for lunch, where we found a cafe that had yummy chicken. We then walked to the big castle in the center of the town. C. Krumov is a small town, smaller than Burlington, which was nice. Right at the enterence gate there are two European Brown Bears, who live there. They are of course closed in and everything, but you could look down on them. They were very cute!

Then my dad,brother and I decided to go up in the castle tower. This is the view:

The next day we spent some time exploring and walking around. There was a cute square where there were benches and restraunts where you could sit and watch people, and luckly, that day, there was a market going on. there was cheese, homemade potato chips (really good) and jewlery, easter eggs (hand painted) and childrens toys, and more! Its really fun to walk around. We stayed at a cute, family run hotel, and had some drinks on the terrist. Oh and did I mention that there were doughnut things there too!!! haha! And gelato (but the workers at the place were not very polite) We lucked out because we got breakfast at the hotel, which was good because we were tired of cereal by then. they dont give u waffles and pancakes, its mostly cereal, bread (like rolls) and fruit. I had rolls with nutella on them....
We ate at a place for dinner and we ordered a cheese and meat appetizer, and so Pad took a bite of some cheese and said it tasted gross, so i tasted it and it had like no flavor and it was cremy, but it was definitely not cheese, so my mom, of course rolls her eyes and decideds to take a bite. "It almost seems like butter" she said, then my dad goes, "Thats what it is!!" (See, apparently there was butter and it came on the plate, but he forgot about it!) It was disgusting!! Haha!! Other pictures...

Prauge

This is my post about Prauge. My family and I voted it Most Beautiful City We've Ever Seen. Every building you walk by has something different and pretty about it. We stayed in a very cute and modern apartment that was a two minute walk from Wincelas square, the main square. There are lots of stores, and there are vendors on the Charles Bridge, which is a bridge that crosses the river. There is mostly jewlery and caricatures. i got a bracelet and earrings. One day we took a tram up to the World's Largest Castle, the Prauge Castle. There is an amazing church on the grounds. All the windows have these great stained glass pictures. At the bottom of the square there is this little section filled with these small wood shacks that sell things...my favorite stand was the sausage one, but better yet, the one that sold tall, thin doughnuts!! Best things ever, especially since they are covered in Cinnamon sugar with nutella inside of them!!! I wish they had them here in VT... :( Oh i forgot to say we did have a little mishap when we first arrived in Prauge, but a nice man helped us. You see we were going to meet a guy that would let us into the apartment at a certain time, but 45 minutes later, he never showed up, so we tried to get wifi somewhere to check email to see if there was a change of plans, but our computer died and we had no converter, so we decided to go to plan B, go to a different hotel with a computer that we could be able to stay if the apartment was a fake, so a nice man helped us. we used a computer and found out the guy meeting us could not make it, so a new guy was coming, so we called him, and 20 minutes later we were in our apartment. Here are some pictures... Doughnuts Jewish Cemetery, with 12 layers of people underneath

Sommersdorf

This is the first place we stayed. It is a midevil castle. There are even mummies that are here and burried. I didnt get to see them, but I got to see the caskety things they were in. Freaky! Thought I would just post some senic views of the area. We did a lot of driving around while we were there. Sometimes, for dinner we would order random things for dinner and not know what we would get because it was german, but everything we ordered ended up being great! We were happy about that. They have great pretzals and one town we went to had these amazing ball things... Really great! Chocolate, cinnamon sugar and way more! I will post a picture. It was really cool out there. There would be a small town, you would drive through it, get to a long straight road, and drive through another small town. Very cool. We had a stick shift car, so my mom had to drive, but that was OK. We got lost ton, or well, not ost, just not sure where to go. You know, in other words, we did a lot of turning around and drove in lots of circles. Haha! Here you go:

Traveling- The Mangan Style

Yes everyone knows the way us Mangans travel,right? No? Well we always have bad luck when traveling. Last year, a volcano errupted days before we were supposed yo go to ireland. Plus we were delayed amd almost missed our flight to Dublin. This time, we did miss our flight. We were delayed in VT and our plane left lots later than it was supposed to, and just as we ran to the shuttle, our plane had left. So we are staying here in Philly ad maybe today we will go see the city because our flight doesnt leave until 6:30 or so. Sigh. We can just say we added a city to our travel.

Much Ado About Everything

Wow, I havent written in forever, and I apologize for that. I have been so busy these past few weeks! I had a good 13th birthday, but I don't feel any older. I brought a friend with me to Lake Placid where Pad had a hockey tournament. I got a new camera, and lots of supplies for it, I got a new bathing suit, shorts, money, giftcards and thats it! In Lake Placid on Saturday, we walked around town and had crepes for lunch (they were really good), I swam for a little, ran around the hotel, tried Reeses peanut butter cup coffee. it was really nasty! We also went and saw Hop, the movie, which was really cute. I liked it. Pad came in first in his division, congrats to him and his team. We left early and got home by 1, which was nice. I have that big trip to Europe coming up. We leave the 12th, which is not that far away! I am really excited for that...it will be fun! I have lots of projects and tests coming up this week (great)(sarcasm) and have a weekend to look forward to. My friend and I recently learned how to do this type of braid 'a fish tail' braid, and with my new camera I took a picture of this one, that I did on my friend. It was my best one. Its quite simple, but it takes a long time. Wel, Im not sure what to say anymore, I said pretty much everything I needed too. Oh, I will be testing for my green stripe in Tae Kwon Do at the end of April, and im really nervous. Oh well, I think I will do fine! Bye for now.... Lex

"You know there's a lot of snow when you have to shovel the car."

"You know there is a lot of snow when it takes you 10 minutes to walk from porch to porch." "You know there is a lot of snow when there is a snowday! (In March!)" "You know there is a lot of snow when I am taller than my car." "You know there is a lot of snow when the snow comes up to my knee." "You know there is a lot of snow when the news people announce that this is the 5th biggest storm in VT EVER! "You know there is a lot of snow when I say there is a lot of snow!" I had a snow day today, thankfully, because I was not feeling 100%. Maine was GREAT! and I had a lot of fun! I got to go to Target and hang out with my friend. I got to swim and ya! I've been up to nothing today, cleaned and unpacked, and went outside. Glad it was a snowday! Pad's team won two games, an lost two (sadly one was the game determining who would go to the championship.) G2G BYE!

We played Pretty Pretty Princess today....

Its my new favorite picture. He was such a good boy letting us dress him up (especially like a princess)

I guess I just have a lot to say...

Well, first things first, Happy Birthday Mom! I know your birthday was Thursday, but still! I love you! I made her a very yummy icecream pie. MMMMMMMmmmmmm.... What have I been up to the February break? Not much really. I got a mani pedi with my BFF and did a little shopping. I got a pair of leggings and a pretzal (woot woot). I hung around upstairs, played outside (pictures to come) and did a little more shopping. I really need(ed) a new bathing suit for when I go to Maine next weekend, and for spring/summer. My mom and I headed to the mall today. Old Navy had very few selections for girls, and there was one in the womens that I liked, but of course, it was much more expensive. I tried on a million, but didnt get any at the mall. I got a cute shirt and will (hopefully) order one online. (wink wink, mom) along with a couple other things I need (sorta). I love shopping! Anyway, I have no idea why I am telling you about bathing suits, so I'll move on. FUn facts for you to wrap your brain around (that you probably will just skip over) 1) In germany, water is more expensive than beer, so i have to find a new drink to last me while I'm there (because I drink water like all of the time. Its my fav!) 2) In Moldova, Europe, Snow White is considered Santa Clauses granddaughter!!!! I thought that was like the coolest thing ever! Makes me wanna see Santas kid! Haah! 3) I have a bruise from where Pads Team Mate stabbed me with a pool stick. It didnt hurt and i had fun playing pool, but still! 4) Dolphoins sleep with one eye open and one eye closed. Tchnically they are half awake half asleep. (kinda like me right now) Ok, Im sure youve had enough of my 'fun' facts. Next weekend (friday actually) we are heading to Augusta, Maine, for Hockey Regionals! Im a little excited. I just want a shirt that says Hockey sister. hehe! Ill have fun though, I always do! My frind and i dont even have to go to all the games, we can just hang at the hotel!! Well, Im starting to close my eyes, so im gunna shut down for the night. Pictures soon! Lex (has anyone noticed how much I use parenthesis?) (They are like my LIFE! I dont know what I would do without them!)

Cliffy got in the tub!

It took lots of pretzal crisps to just get him in the bathroom. We tried a bone with peanut butter in it, but no. Once we got him in the bathroom, he sat his butt down and wouldn't move. We cooed him, and once he stood up again, we lifted him up, and put him in the tub. PHew!

Movies I've seen

Friday, I went and saw Justin Bieber Never Say Never with 9 of my friends. We met at the theater and played games for a little while. It was actually a pretty good movie, meaning I'm glad I saw it. It was entertaining, especially sitting next to my friend who has the funniest reactions and comments on things that happen. Some of my friends didn't come because they didnt want to pay 12 $ to see his face (note that we only payed 8) and they didnt want to walk out of the movies liking him. It was in 3D and it was funny because everytime he pointed he pointed at me, because i was sitting in the middle of the theater, I would tap my friend and pretend to be so excited. i would say things like, "OMG! He pointed at me! Did you see that, he loves me!" Haha! The boys sitting next to me probably got annoyed. The other movie I saw was Just Go With It. I love Adam sandler and Jennifer Anniston, so i thought it would be really good, but it was only OK. It was a stupid kind of humor, but like the JB movie, I'm glad I saw it. Just felt like giving a review. I also recently watched Life as we Know it, which was really cute and funny and good. I recommend it. I know I'm not spelling a lot of things right, but I'm to lazy to think about spelling. I also wanted to post one of my new favorite songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LraOiHUltak I love the music video to it.<3 Carrie Underwood. Post later!

School Project!

After reading the Outsiders by S.E Hinton, we had the choice of doing a couple projects. Me and my BFF decided to do the one where you have the choice of either being blind or deaf for three days. We decided to be blind. It was a wonderful (and boring) experience, but I'm glad I did it! Here is a short video I made (and that I am really proud of). That is my friend in the other blind fold, (FYI)

Penguin Plunge!

What an awesome time! I had tons of fun plunging into Lake Champlain in February as crazy as it sounds! Basically, you change in a tent, go to a different tent and when your group is next, you stand by a door until they let you out. You run about 50 yards through the crowd, and when you see the water you freak out a little but keep running forward. You cant hear the crowd yelling for you, and your mind is blank. You feel the water on your feet, but only slightly. You go immediatly numb, dunk your head under and scramble out as fast as you can. You grab a towel and run back to the changing tent to put on your warm clothes. The Penguin Plunge is the biggest fundraiser for special olympics, and they raised 360,000 $ for the cause. (By the way, the kid is from my school! I had a great time with my friends! ANyway here are some pictures and a video. Before the plunge My friend and I after! Brr! This is my group. I am in a bright green bathing suit, if you can see me!

Here's a video

Funny story- So cliffy really really needs a bath. He looks dusty and dandruffy! Haha! We took some treats and tried to lead him to the bathroom, but he ran to his bed. My dad pulled the bed from under him, and Cliffy automatically ran to the couch. Later, we tried with his dinner... Haha! Sorry its a bad video. He is such a great dog! I headed to the bathroom and he ran away into a corner! Did you see him turn his head everytime I said 'tub!'? Anyway, school is boring and nothing exciting has happened recently. In a week I plunge into Lake Champlain! I am super excited! I will get a video, if you would like to see it! I have to tell my mom to make it short, or else it won't upload it. Does that happen with you, Coll? Thought you would want to see a video! Bye for now!

Everything...

Wow, I have not posted in forever. I have lots of things to tell you, so let me get started. I have decided to do the Penguin Plunge with my school team. You raise $175 to jump in Lake Champlain. All of the money goes to the Special Olympics of Vermont. I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited! I am not normally the person to do these things for. I normally wouldn't jump in a freezing cold lake on February 5th either. I have raised about $140 and WAHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to all my sponsers!! Second, the Reynolds were up this weekend and it was really nice to see them! We had lots of fun and spent a ton of time outside snowshoeing, sledding, having a bon fire and we even walked around Church Street! I wish we got to see them more often. Next weekend we are heading to Lake Placid to see the Ferris'. I am totally totally excited!! My cousin is playing one game Friday (I am skipping school) and two on Saturday. Sadly, we don't even get to be there that long. Thirdly, I have to go to the Orthodontist on Thursday. I still don't know when I am getting my braces, but I should get an idea on the 20th. Everyone is starting to get them. I hope they dont have to come to Europe with me. Then again, the sooner I get them, the sooner they come off. Fourth, I have to read the book _The Outsiders_ and I have to do a webquest on it. For extra credit, I did a little video. I hope it attached..... I had today off, which was a nice treat because i normally don't get this day off. I also am not going to school on Friday! Super short week!!!!! I <3 that! I have a district test on Thursday though. Uggg!!!! i get so many tests now a days.