We went to the Disney World Studios today.  We started out very early since we didn’t want to stand in long lines at the rides under the hot sun.  We went on different rides. The one I liked most was about cars, how they make movies, and how they create car chase scenes with stunt men and they used various tricks to make things look exciting on the screen. It is kind of sad after that I saw all those tricks . Now watching movies with car chase scenes won’t be that exciting any more. Maybe I need to erase what I saw so my movie watching is still a great sport for me to enjoy.

After a few hours in the park, then it was time to go the big, scary ride: the roller coaster monster ride. Scott was so scared and kept talking that we should not go into that ride (while he did the talking, I saw he turned green; then I knew that cat was really, really scared).  I felt sorry for him. I am glad that I don’t feel the same way like Scott most of the times.

Well, Mom agreed to stay with him while everyone rode this monster. I think Mom is scared too but she didn’t want to admit it . The weather wasn’t very nice; it rained here and there, drizzling the whole afternoon. Coming off the ride,  you see the two cats:  Mom and Scott; one old, one young; standing by the tree waiting for us. It was quite a scene .  Scott was relieved seeing us again.

Next ride was the Hollywood Hotel scary drop ride (you ride in elevator up to the top of the building, then the elevator pretends to break hurling you down to the ground floor but on the way, it stops here and there , bouncing up and down like a crazy car a number of times to scare you before the final descend. Everybody yelled loud. Scott didn’t want to go either; now he claimed having a big headache. But Mom wanted to ride this time:  so Scott stayed with our uncle . His face remained green all the time whenever he is in fear.

Kevin and I really had a good time because we tried every ride. They had American Idol audition here too. I asked if Scott wanted to try out.  He said he didn’t bring the violin. Scott could make you cry with his violin or the violin cries itself out every time he plays.  Anyway, Mom and I plan to go to Vietnam next summer. I promise him we will check it out about the band situation over there for him.

Maybe Scott will be popular as a one man band in Vietnam, he will be the youngest (Mom says Music Band over there uses old people; plus Scott speaks English so well; the folks can practice English with him in the spare time while they wait for jobs , and they can teach Scott Vietnamese).  He can eat all the Jackfruit he wants (Scott’s most favorite fruit from Vietnam. He gave Mom $50.00 to buy one big fresh Jackfruit two weeks ago so the King can eat himself) He couldn’t finish so we got to eat with him.  It is nice to eat fresh Jackfruit, not the frozen one.  I like Durian better. Kevin doesn’t care for either of them.

We came back to the hotel after a long and exhausting day at the theme park. We ate at Pizza  Hut then coming down to the pool for late night swim sessions. They had a nice Jacuzzi which you can only dip in for 15 minutes, then go to the big pool. Scott dove into this hot water hole and coming out crying because the hot water almost boiled his eye balls.  Can you believe this (the temperaute was 102 F.) . He should have read the instructions before jumping in.

P.S:  We got really nice birthday presents from our aunt and uncle plus our GrandMa took us out to buy nice clothes. We want to thank them for the wonderful time we spent with them.

We arrived at  Jacksonville,Florida last night  9p.m after one full day flying and transfering from airport to airport. It was a very long trip because of the tight security at every airport.We had to check in and out, then go to the planes. We were so tired that we went to sleep right away, no dinner at all.

Waking up around 8 a.m, Mom could not wait going to the beach :Mom’s favorite vacation place after Vietnam.  We went to the beach this morning .  It is about 1/2 hour from our grandpa’s home. We got there early. There were not too many people,  and the sun still rested low on the horizon.  We got our surfing boards in the water , but there weren’t too many big waves to push the boards any where.  So I just floated on the board.  Kevin and Scott played with the sand, building a sand castle.

After a while, Kevin got bored and he started to throw sand at me.  It wasn’t very nice, but he kept going and I cried about 5 times til he stopped.  Mom swam full speed.  She has been in the water the whole time;  my Dad got sun burned like a lobster because he sat by the pile of clothes to guard the keys of the car (Dad is always a careful man) while Mom ran away with the water.

Dad kept motioning Mom to come up to guard the pile so that he can go to cool down in the water. Mom kept ignoring him so he was stuck on the beach, being roasted by the sun the whole time.  Poor Dad. Our uncle, Lap, burried us deep down under the sand up to our necks.  Scott had a hat and a pair of sun glasses, and kept wagging his head and smiling the whole time.

After a few hours of sun and sea, we went to the Golden Corral restaurant (Kevin’s favorite place:  all you can eat heaven).  He had salad, then 2 full plates of Macaroni, and a bowl of ice cream in the end.  We have been here 3 days now, and we went “all you can eat” 3 times. I wonder what will become of us at the end of this vacation, which will be 11 more days in Florida.

I stop and go to rest now since I am very sleepy after a full day in the sun.  Hope you all have a nice summer vacation. Kelly Nguyen.

There is a sad news this week: Kevin‘s friend’s Mom finally got divorced. She told Mom she was very generous because she wants nothing much from the ex-husband except enough money to buy food, to pay rent, going shopping and taking the kids out to eat every weekend.

She also wants to take the kids traveling in winter and in summer time. Scott said it seems that she wants to take everything from the husband. He felt sorry that the husband might have to take a second job so he can pay rent on his apartment. By the way, the Mom also got the house.

Scott is taking this news very seriously. He wants to make sure there’s no divorce touching his skin when he grows up and ready for a job. He asks Mom what kind of wife won’t divorce. Mom goes back to the old lesson: look at the eyes every time the sweet heart talks, watch her move in the beginning of the relationship.

We have a cousin who is a doctor; he would give his new girlfriend a credit card to see about her spending habit. Scott might be too broke to test the lady this way. Finally, the doctor found a smart girl who spends wisely to become his wife; Mom says she didn’t spend money at the test time, but she spends it now – in big load. The rest of the lesson about how to spot a good spouse _ Mom will need to write a book so Scott can follow to avoid being divorced by an angry wife. I’m too young to know this stuff. Kevin doesn’t care because he thinks he’s smart to handle any wife; only poor Scott gets very concerned and asked lots of questions.

One great idea Kevin says : Both should like to do the same thing; if you like watching sport, make sure she does too; and keep the dip and chips coming Scott is also worried that Mom might get a divorce and he will become Momless: Scott can’t function without Mom ;but I told him not to worry: Mom is too old to divorce. She will be here to watch us grow up and being mature.

Golda, our female Chihuahua, is a violent creature! She got into a fight with Nicky over a chicken head, which Mom brought out for them. Nicky must have gotten really mad that every time food arrives, Golda grabs the biggest bite, runs way , gobbles it down as fast as she runs, then reappears and takes the next bite as big as the last one.

Chili gives up, just stands around to watch Golda in action. Nicky got so mad this time that he started to growl and fight with Golda. But like always, Golda got the chicken head anyway and ran( Scott says it’s her nature to be a fast eater) I say she is a greedy dog . I tell Mom she should divide up the food, and let Chili and Nicky have their shares first.

Well, Golda is no longer a concern for Chili and Nicky! She ventured away one day through one of the holes in the fence, and never returned. Most likely, one of the neighbors or a passerby picked her up and kept her. She has not appeared on the Animal Shelter Web site for lost dogs, so most likely, she is now somebody else’s pet. We really miss her. Hope she doesn’t have to fight for food like in this house.

We got a day off yesterday so we went to YMCA to exercise as Scott wished since he thinks he needs to lose some weight. After 10 minutes on the treadmill, Scott switched to the row boat equipment. Scott was quite a scene to look at: he got a quilt cap with flappers covering his two ears, he wore dark sun glasses, and he got a short on to show off his skinny legs. He looked like a rat on the exercise machine: sweating and huffing. The hat keeps falling off every minute, so he has to use his hand to straighten it up.

After the hard work, Scott wants to eat at “In and Out Burger”. In no time, he gobbles down 2 Cheese Burgers and a big order of fries. He becomes very silent after the meal – a sign that he overstuffed himself.

Two more days of school, and we will have the Spring break for the whole week. I can’t wait. We will start planning birthday party for Scott and I: we will be 10 years old. Mom will make big party for us since she thinks number zero at the end of your age means something very big that we are getting older. It’s so much fun packing up goody bags for my friends.

Kevin’s writing is so sloppy that Papa made him do tracing like a toddler. Scott’s is not good either but still readable.

Every Friday after school, you see both of them line up sitting in front of the computer like 2 scientists working hard, but what they do is really concentrating on playing games; no talking, just playing so hard and being so serious.

They only start talking when they have to do the homework. It’s a very strange habit.

I LOVE YOU THE REDDEST

Mommy, I love you the reddest.

I love you the color of the tasty licorice,

waiting for you to eat.

I love you the color of a shiny , juicy apple

sitting on the table.

You are as cozy as a knitted blanket.

You are as red as a salmon swimming

through the ocean.

You are as red as lava coming out

from a volcano.

I love you the color of rubies that make

you shine like a star.

I love you the color of the United States

of America flag.

You are as red as the feathers of a robin.

You are as red as the wine that you drink.

You are as red as the crayons that I

use everyday.

Mommy, I love you the reddest.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

You are a nice Mom.

You go to the stores ( sometimes).

You are a hard working Mom.

You make us eat and study all the times.

You are also a really great cook,

but next time make sure the French Fries more crispy.

You also read a lot.

That makes you smart.

Thank you for reading this.

From Scott N.

P.S: You need to save your money!

Scott has set up a home for himself next to the bed: a huge box taken from the shipment of the Mac computer from Florida that our GrandDad no longer uses; Scott climbs in here to hide when he gets into trouble.

Lately when going to bed, Scott will also put a soldier hat over his head besides the soldier uniform, ready for the morning wake-up; he will wait til the last minute to get out of bed, brush teeth and carry his backpack to the car. He won’t mind not brushing his teeth.  He says the reason for the hat in bed is he won’t get sunburned while sleeping. Kevin asks: “Where is the sun to burn you up anyway?” Scott gives no answer, but still keeps his hat on.

The Star Test is happening this week.  It is a very stressful time for all of us because we will get big money from Mom if we do very well; so Scott is trying his best – I can tell. He would sit and work quietly.  Nothing motivates Scott more than money in this world so that he could buy more toys. I thought he would stop at some point buying the action figures, but the list is still going on strong because Target keeps coming out with new guys monthly.

Sitting at the table doing my math, I watched Kevin: he was shaking his legs and whistling while taking care of the homework. No wonder he got lots of wrong answers when Mom checked his work.

Kevin must be a hyper -boy because you always see him in motion: he keeps moving his pencil, keeps busy circling , underlining the reading  like a hard worker; but most of all, Kevin loves  shaking his legs; he is  not really into the reading like Scott. Scott would not even pick up the pencil:  too lazy, he would just do the math in his head, and only lifts up the pencil at the last minute because  he has to jot down the answer.

We went to Jumbo Juice for Smoothies.  We all ordered different things.  Once Scott’s drink arrived, he thought it tasted and smelled like perfume so instead of drinking it, he says we should pour it over ourselves.  I ended up drinking two Smoothies, very delicious. I like Smoothie now, no more Latte.

I can’t wait til next Friday .  Why?  No more tests!!!  It is the beginning of our summer . Even though we will still be going to school, the teacher makes it so relaxing ( My teacher is pregnant with her first baby, so she is taking it super ,super easy in the classroom because she and the baby need to rest most of the times.)

Scott asked if he could remain at the old school because he doesn’t want to miss his best friend , Ricky, the Vietnamese boy.You should see both of them together:  always hang – out , walking in pair to cafeteria or at recess like an old couple out of air because they don’t talk much, just stick around each other.

I will try to study more words from the dictionary (there is a reward also) and read more books to make Mama Nguyen happy.  She says the only way I can write better is to read a lot.  Kevin and Scott don’t write very well and they don’t care any way.

Chili, our female dog, has been chewing up our shoes in the backyard; I wonder why. Maybe she is nervous about something (whenever I’m nervous, I would eat my nails) . Scott says she should chew her paw instead of our shoes.

New School

We got accepted to the new school , Heartwood Academy. Yesterday we went to the orientation to register; it was held in the cafeteria. It was quite scary the way the principal presented the letter of commitment that students and parents need to sign in order to go here:

- Summer school is required for 3 weeks before school start .

- To arrive at school everyday by 7.15 am (Monday to Friday), and remain in school until 5 pm .

- Complete all homework every night. Tell the truth. Keep good behavior.

The list goes on and on for the whole page of all the things we are supposed to do. This school prepares for college from 5th grade ( Kevin already visited one college here in San Jose while his friends from old school visited the park for field trip) .

Scott didn’t look too happy hearing these new things. He thought by the time he got to 12th grade, would be the end of his study. He could relax and get a job . Then in a few more years, he would be old enough to have a girlfriend. Scott has already laid out his plan until he attended the meeting. Quite a big shock.

Scott looked really sad and worried, why all this much hard work and not much free time like the public school we are going to now ( teachers are so relaxed , super nice, and super easy ). We even got Honor roll without too much work.

I see how much Kevin has changed since going here. He has become an old man, and also lost his beer stomach from the summer in Florida.

I wonder what kind of life we will have once coming here? At the meeting, they even made us sit up straight, no slumping unlike the way Scott likes to sit – always spreads himself out on a table. He can’t sit straight .

Probably the only reason we like to come here is the wonderful Spring trip the school takes the good students of the 5th Grade to Los Angeles( they don’t let everyone come, only the superb good kids): Students get to visit a few colleges , then going to Disneyland. They will get the chance to stay in very nice hotel for the whole week. Kevin can’t wait for this Spring trip which will happen next month.

Sorry I can’t write too much this time because I don’t feel too happy about this place – just reporting what’s going on this week.

We were browsing the mall for shopping.  We went to Sbarro to buy some fancy pencils from Japan. I wanted to buy a text messenger but I thought about the batteries it would need;  I didn’t want to buy it.

Next, I wanted to buy a lunch bag. Then I thought about the time Mom bough me a Barbie lunch bag when I was in first grade. I didn’t even use it and threw it away. So I didn’t even want the lunch bag now.

Finally, I wanted to buy gum, but then I thought that if I chew gum, it would hurt my teeth, so I didn’t buy it either.

Afterward, we went to the B@N bookstore. Mom saw one book “Deal Breaker”. It’s about how to spot bad guys from good guys. Mom asked if I want to buy. I looked at it and said “No”, but I asked if I could have the money instead. She said “NO”. Such a deal breaker!

On second thought, I think Mom should buy the book for her “Lonely club”, so the members can learn how spot the trouble makers. Mom always says the problem starts when you can’t read people’s mind or keep getting the wrong messages: “Always look into the eyes; a bad person usually won’t look you in the eyes when talking). I notice that Nicky (our male dog) always looks into the eyes, so dogs never lie.

I notice Mom’s members don’t like to read at all.  Neither does Scott.

He’s extremely allergic to books. Scott is allergic to everything in this life except the fun time and his Action Figures. Mom and Scott are identical twins, except for the reading. When Mom is down, look at Scott, he will look very depressed. When Mom is up, Scott looks so happy. It’s such an amazing pair.

Yesterday Scott used Scotch tape to tape his front right shoe.  He likes this pair so much that he did not want to throw them away even though one has one side wide open exposing Scott’s toes. (Scott offered to Mom that he will wear Kevin’s shoes and Mom will offer him some money instead so he can buy something else; no need for new shoes).

Scott looks like a homeless boy. We went to Walgreen on Thursday. A homeless man asked if Scott has any money. Scott said he’s broke but he promised to come back next week with some money. So his homeless friend is waiting for Scott.  This man knows Scott well, he will approach Scott for money every time. One time Scott gave him all the money he got.  When he went inside the store, he had no money left; he almost cried. So Mom paid for him.

Hope Scott will have a good career so he can help his friends out.

Today is Sunday and it wasn’t a very good day.  Kevin didn’t want to study.  He got detention by Dad.  He can’t be playing on his computer for one month.  Later during the day, we went to YMCA to swim.  He wouldn’t come into the Gym, so Mom and I just went inside doing our job.  One hour later, we came out finding Kevin lying on the floor of the car in the back seat, sweating like a puppy just coming back from his daily run.  He got a tear on his cheek and sweat all over his body. I wondered if he had been crying for one hour straight.

Kevin said he checked around with his friends from school if they have to study on the weekend, and none of his friends have to work this hard.  So Kevin, Scott, and I don’t feel too good about all this extra work.  Scott says we should stage a strike (Scott just learned this idea from his Social Studies class.   If workers are not happy about pay or conditions of the work place, you can strike to get what you want.

Our pay is getting lower since last week. Now extra homework time, but still no pay for extra work.  Mom says we need to study for the Star test coming up in April or May. Then after Star test, she would say we need to study before Summer break. There is always an excuse for study. I like to take off and go somewhere, far away from school.

I probably get back to my old habit of drinking Latte so I don’t feel so stressful about my life right now.  Mom has to go back to work and the poet isn’t too happy about her current situation either.  Mom thinks poets should be excused from work so they can sit, look outside to the sun (in the day time), or the moon (at night), and write whatever ’s coming to the poet’s head.

Lately she can’t produce any poetry because her boss is after her at work.  (She probably writes and works at the same time).  Mom likes to save time by doing two things at the same time.

Everyday, coming home she has to cook for us and the dogs.  Our dogs are spoiled now: they won’t eat dog food.

I hope someday I will win the lottery so I can take Mom and the rest of us going around the word.  All of us can be excused from school for a while because we will be so rich.  Any degree can wait for a few years.

Mom is getting very tired from doing overtime on everything .At night, she has to be on guard with the phone for emergency from her “Broken-Heart Shelter” (Mom is the President so she has to do lots of work for members).  Most members are depressed so they don’t want to do anything besides talking about the issue.

We don’t have to go AA meeting any more because we are going to have our own meeting at the house once a month.  All members will gather here to eat and talk about their not too good situations. Mom lets me be the Secretary of the club so I can observe, make tea or bring cookies to the sufferers.

I’m very excited about this new job.  Soon we will need to go to Office Depot to buy some supplies for the meeting.   Mom says we will have to fix our Karaoke system so members can sing when there is nothing else better to do.

I can’t wait for the first meeting.

It’s late, I need to sign off and go to sleep now.