Hi! It's Zoe. Over the summer, I went on a big family trip with my mommy, daddy, and big brother. I had so much fun, I got a bit behind on my blog. To make up for it, I will share the many amazing things I saw on my trip. 

Our first stop was Tuscon, Arizona. Since it was a long drive to get there, we stopped off in El Paso for the night. The next day we were off again. I was very excited because in Tuscon we were going to meet a few cousins for the first time. As we arrived, I was exploding with questions about them. 

Quickly I dressed for the pool and my family went to meet my Aunt and Uncle and my cousins. When we got to the pool I met my cousins, Cealan and Rory, for the first time. (My other cousins, Enzo and Hudson, were arriving the next day.) They were also very keen for our arrival. My brother and I were shy at first, so were Rory and Cealan. Soon though, we warmed up to each other and were playing happily in the pool. We had lots of fun. 

The next day we went to the pool again and I met my other cousins, Enzo and Hudson. At first they were shy, but soon we were splashing and playing the entire afternoon. The first part of our trip was playing and hanging out at the Omni hotel pool a lot! 

On our last day in Tuscon, my family and my Mimi went to see Biosphere II. A place that has habitats from around the world. It is a huge research facility to study the Earth. It was very interesting and exciting. (See the videos below) Our guide told us about the eight people who lived in Biosphere II for two years doing research and never coming out of the building! I was fascinated. Two hours later the tour was over. I had just done one of the 50 things to visit before you die. That's one off my bucket list. It was amazing.

We got back to the hotel and met up with Enzo and Hudson and my aunt and uncle. (Cealan and Rory and their parents had already left.) We played that last night and said goodbye with lots of hugs. I miss them all. 

The first part of my trip was so much fun. We had a family reunion, visited Biosphere II, and played at a great hotel. 

Hi. It's Zoe. During the week I made a stop motion animation film, with the help of my brother and my Daddy, called "Romance In New York".  I learned how to edit it and photograph the pictures. It was a fun experience, but boy, did it take a lot of patience.

I used a erase white board to draw the pictures. After I drew a picture, I would take a shot of it with a camera. (I made sure to not move my camera or the board so everything would line up from shot to shot.) After I took the picture, I had to erase and move something in the scene and take another shot. The road was the hardest. I had to erase all the cars and then draw different ones to make it look like it was moving. Sometimes I would have to redo a picture I drew because it didn't look right, so I had to be really patient. It was fun and it taught me a lesson; learning to be patient!

When it came to editing my Daddy and my brother helped me. I learned how to slow down the image on the computer for close-up views, and to speed it up on actions (like walking, running, the bus pulling up). We used a handy website that had sound effects, so I could add noises to my video. It was great fun!

It took about four days to make my movie. Calling my family into the living room, we watched gleefully, as the characters came to life and interacted with each other. I was happy to see my movie was a success! You can watch it below.  

I think the two most important things to remember when making this film are (1) being patient, and (2) keeping a positive attitude. I feel I definitely reached that. Maybe there will be a sequel to come. Bye!