Yay the first one again uh huh oh ya go me ya see this is how tuned in i am to Nat Geo Kids!!!!!!!!!!!
Also good luck to everyone now that the contest is over

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

When I first saw this I had though for a moment that they had deleted all of our blogging messages from before but then to realize that this was a completely new blog!!!! Yay, except my only perception is that why did they make this blog when the contest closed last week!? Huh, oh well doesn't bother me. Well now this blog is officially about how the contest is now over!!!!!!!!!! Whoop Whoop!!!!! Well I wish they could announce who won a little sooner because i'm just dying to find out who won!!!!! Well, bye for now!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

well I am the second!!!!!!
HOOO HAHAAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! unless someone else is writing right now and hasn't entered it in yet..;.

the suspense is killing me.

I'm the first to blog in THIS section. Everyday it gets closer, I get more nervous. Was my writing good enough?, did my picture match with my essay?, and most of all, did my letter get stuck in a storm. Or maybe a dog ate it on the way there? So I think of all the different ways on how my letter could have been destroyed in the mail.
Wouldn't it be cool to get to meet the people that I have been talking to online if we all win. I agree with you, all the people who cared enough to find and write on this blog, will probably be the ones who win. I really hope we win, this is my final chance to get in.

Good job "harleycat" or should I say now JazzbirdExplorer!!
Well it's good that this name is actually showing up this time unlike Harleycat, LOL, tehehehehehehehe. Sorry I can get pretty carried away sometimes. But any who last years contest to Australia I had noooooo idea what this contest was all about. I didn't know about the blog, past contests, and what this contest was about!!! And I didn't really take writing my essay seriously and I never got around to finishing it and sending it in. Believe it or not. Well I now know what this contest is and what it's all about.

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Sorry GeekUsMaximus I was the first but oh well!! Maybe next time. Did you know that this was my second time in a row being first for a blog section!!!!! I know this is not the first entry. Anyway good luck in the contest to you, and everyone.

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

yeah the first time I entered I did'nt even read the rules so it probably got disqualified right away. oops....?! But this time i did better.

The first time I entered was the South African expidition, i thought for sure I would win but now I look back at my essay and it was pretty terrible...LOL! I tried really hard on the essay for Australia, alas no luck, but this year, THIS year will be different! (hopefully!)

even if you don't win, i found out that things happen for a reason...the first time I entered (South Africa) I mentioned how I love birds, and that wasn't a lie, but I exaggerated in how I observed them, then I felt really bad after I didn't win about how I exaggerated and so I started observing more and more to meet the qualities I had put in the essay, 6 months later I had forgotten about the essay and just did it for fun!, now I have passed passionate and reached obsession :)

everything happens for a reason ;)

~J.C.

p.s. Just to clarify, there was zero exaggerating this year, I didn't want you guys thinking I exaggerate all the time!

p.p.s sorry this is so long!!!!

p.p.p.s. to "geekusmaximus" this is my last year too!

I guess you beat me to it Luckstomper, I was just too late by 18 minutes, can you believe that!? Too bad this blog isn't like IM where the messages appear instantly. When I bogged there wasn't any blogs up. Anyway, spring has sprung, hopefully, at this time of year the weather is confused whether or not it's winter, at least where I live it is. The 2 feet of snow is gone! Soon it will be spring and then, and then........ Peru!!!!!, maybe. This is my firt year entering, and I didn't even know about the contest until the begining of january, when I got the magazine. I hope I hope I hope.

-Grace

Hi everyone!

Well, I'm a first time entrant and this is the last year I am eligible, so I hope I get in! Reading all your comments made me so nervous, because I am not nearly as active as all of you, but I do read National Geographic Kids and National Geographic, and when I checked back to see if the contest was closed, it made my heart skip a beat! I also keep worrying if mine got lost in the mail or if my picture was any good, but my mom said that it was good... but I don't know! I worked really hard :D
Good luck to all of you!

Hi everyone!
Waiting is just so suspenseful! I really want to find out who is a finalist, and most of all, who won! I really hope I and everyone else blogging on this site wins. We've been such dedicated bloggers, explorers, writers, and photographers! We should be congratulated. LOL! Just kidding. But if we were to be congratulated, I bet if we had a choice all of us would totally pick winning the Peru trip! We all want to win this so badly that I hope we all do win this! It would be soooooo awesome to meet all you fellow bloggers and explorers! I hope our essays and photographs catch the eye of the judges! Good luck everyone, best wishes, and for now, keep you hopes up about getting a call! If someone does get a call, can you post that you did? It would be cool to see who is a finalist! Good luck! I hope I and every other blogger on this site wins!

'jazzbirdexplorer'
i totally don't think you exaggerated this year (i'm sure no one else thinks that too!). we all know how much this contest means to all of us and we know nobody would lie or exaggerate if they really want to win. Nat Geo people are so well trained and have so much knowledge that they would probably be able to spot a lie and/or exaggeration in the blink of an eye!
Also, most of the judges have probably judged this contest before so they probably know what is fake, what is exaggerated, and what is true passion and genuine work. no worries!

Hey it's Abbie.

You guys are depressing me. I haven't realized that it's been nearly 7 months since I was down under. Now the next contest is being judged by everone I've come to know. I need some music.

all is well

Abbie ;P

Hey guys!!! My name's Luckystar. This isn't the first time I entered the contest. I entered the very first year it can out, but I didn't win. My essay was REALLY bad, but I was 10. This year, I really think I have a chance at winning and I hope I do!! This is my last year before I become to old to enter. That would be so cool if we all won and got to meet each other on the trip!!

I've been worrying nearly every night that something happened to my letter in the mail or that the judges won't like my essay or picture. What if they think it's not "real" enough? I was completely honest though. Ugh!! I'm so nervous!

HI ABBIE!!!!!!

We haven't heard from you in a long time! How come you just posted now, a sudden urge tell you to go on this site a post something.? Any who I never really thought of trying to pass time. It really never occurred to me really. what I do is I find something that takes a long long time and just get into it and then walla! The winners will be announcing the winners!!! Well maybe not that fast, but you know what I mean.

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

This coming week I have VACATION!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
So I will be posting a lot!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

woah, ok so i just signed in and it said sixteen, then I went back and 2 seconds later it said 17! luckstomper, you must be typing right now! and someone must be approving your comment RIGHT NOW! woah! that's soo cool!

HI ABBIE! its so cool to hear from someone who won the contest! Thanks for posting!

well, I have to go do homework now, but I would totally rather be outside because it is WICKED WARM! its almost 50 degrees ! It's like spring! :D

keep exploring!

~J.C.

Lucky! It is like, 10 degrees hear!

I think I'm going to die

of anticipation xD

I haven't been on in awhile I've been so busy with school! It's crazy, but in august I'll be starting high school, anyone else? Of course it just reminds me of the fact that I can't enter anymore...

Greatness is rewarded to the lucky, luck is rewarded to the grateful

-Best wishes
Chance

Yesterday it was 62 degrees here!

Today it was warm too, but there is till about 8 inches of snow on the ground!

I keep thinking of all the reasons why they wouldn't accept my essay! (...i'm 14, but i'm in high school so will i still count as young enough??...What if the name on the top of my essay counts as words, then I went over the limit!...what if the title doesn't go with the essay?...) silly I know, but I still worry!

well, I suppose we should all try to be optimistic!

BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE!

~J.C.

Hi everyone!!
Ibanez Icy I won't be going to high school for another....3 years so that's a while. And today at this very moment it's 45 degrees out, the other day it went over 50 degrees!! Woooooo so like couple of inches of snow melted!! But you guys when you are thinking of all those reasons why they might not pick your essay just turn it round and say all the positives about why they MIGHT pick your essay. Well that's all i really have to say now so I guess.

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

I just found out something really cool!
For those of you who don't have many years left to enter, there are national geographic expiditions for highschoolers! However it is not a contest.... you have to pay. But it is a study trip and you can pick which country to go to. The point of the trip is to study something, and there are several different catergories, such as journalism, photography, people and cultures, film making, and archeaology.
The expiditions take place every summer in all different countries and are led by professionals. There are a lot of cool countries to choose from, including Peru, and Australia.
It is for students from ninth to twelfth grade.
I JUST THOUGHT THIS WAS REALLY COOL!!!!!!!

Yesterday was like the windiest day EVER!!!!!!
So. Yeah.
I love the wind!
To make the time go by, go out and explore! I went to a big field by my house and took a lot of pictures with my dog. And another day I went down to the creek, and there was a big whirlpool because the ice had melted.
So, just saying, theres plenty out there for you to find!!!!!

Today it's about 31 degrees, maybe a little lower, but it doesn't feel it, it feels about 45.

The other day I was following some animal tracks (thats why I love snow!!) and I ran into a tree (yeah, yeah very funny!) and I saw this frozen sappy stuff on it! It was really shiny and really cool! I bet if you put a hair-dryer to it, it would make maple syrup...(well sorta) So yeah, definately go out and explore, you could find anything! =D

GOOD LUCK

~J.C.

Hey, it's my first time on this blog. I'm 14 and I entered, so I'm really anxious to see if i got it because it's my last year! Haha it all sounds so amazing... Peru for 14 days! I keep trying to tell myself not to get my hopes up, but it sure is hard :D

Hey Everyone Luckstomper here!
Ya know what I love about Machu Picchu that I love is that there are energy connections there. And suposingly it's spiritually connected. And there are special rocks where you put your hand on and you can feel the magnetic powers. That's one reason I want to go there!!!!!!!

And Puerto Maldonado looks wicked cool too. I want to go on the WORLD'S LONGEST RIVER the Amazon, and spot caimans, blue headed parrots, giant river otters and lots of other animals. Also I want to learn about forest medicines, Incan dances, and just explore everything!!!!

I do personally think that I will win and have a good shot at it, but I could be wrong it's just that I have one of those gut feelings. Also that is very weirding me out is that I'm getting all of these signs like all of a sudden I'm seeing the word Peru EVERYWHERE it's not even funny! I'll see it in books, on the computer, posters, school, the public, and even TV!!! It's creepin' me out. Well gook luck to everyone whom entered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Actually not to break it too you Shabamm its only 12 days unlike last year where it was 14 days. Anyway goodluck to ya!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Ya, same here luckstomper, peru, peru, PERU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZEY!

Wow wycombestar!
That's positively great news! I will definitely look into that...
By the way, have any of you been watching "living with the Machigenga"? It's set in Peru on the travel channel, and its about a native tribe and their way of life in Peru! It's really interesting, and I bet you guys would like it.

$CEAH$

Hey Guys! I've been reading through your blogs and I can see that we all want to win for the same reason. I'm starting high school next year too, Ibanez Icy, so you and I have to win this year!!

I keep dreaming about winning this trip!! I want to win so badly, but so does everyone on this blog. Good luck to all of you!!!

-H.M.*

Happy... day after Valentine's Day!!!!!! Hope you all had a good one and went out and loved nature!

I'm in New York this week but not what you would normally think of NY. I'm in the part where it's land all around you with forests ponds, not like the cities where there are enormous biuldings all around you. Anywho I brought my camera along with me and have taken really good pictures. Well that's all for now!!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

It's been a while since since i signed on, been busy,exploring, I mean, painting my ceiling, fun. I can't believe how fast the time is going, it's already febuary 16 and 10 degrees outside. Hopefully I will see you soon, maybe. I'm waiting for the call.

OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! I just got a fortune cookie that said "You will have a pleasant trip!!!!" IS THIS A SIGN???? OMG!!!!!! I am going to New York to march in the parade for St. Patricks day, maybe thats what it meant? Maybe i'll have a good time there? Oh I hope it meant Peru!!!!!!!

AHH!

Good luck to everyone!!!!

~J.C.

Hi everyone Luckstomper here!

Don't you ever wonder how many entries the Nat Geo Team gets!? Just think about it. I would think at least over a good 4000 entries. But I feel bad for all those people who had to read all of them, how much of a pain that would be!!!!!! I know it, and you know it we all wish they could read all of them quicker and announce the winner earlier, but we have to give some slack they had to read what seems to them about one million entries.

Anywho today being in New York this week instead of Massachusetts i took some walks around the house I'm stating at and found something. A fox hole!!!!!!!! I started to panic at first but then I thought what are the odds a fox would come out at this very moment and start chasing me? I mean really.

But there are lets see only.....one......two.....53 more days until they pick the winners of the contest!!!! How exciting. Everyone at my school are asking me when are they going to announce the winners? And then I say April and they're like that's a long time away. Well anyway that's all for now PEACE MY PEOPLES!!!!!! Well your not really mine but youknow what I mean right?

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Hey luckstomper here,

Hey have you guys checked out the GLobal Bros blog pages? Well I have and it's WICKED AWESOME!!!! They are two boys (11 and 8) traveling around the world with their parents!!!!!!!!!!! Lucky ducks, I sure wish my parents would take me around the world wouldn't you?! But they started out in New York (that's where I am for vacation this week!) and have gone across the USA and gone to Hawaii, Japan, China, Bhutan, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, S. Africa, and are currently in Botswana. But their trip is far from over. They're heading to places like Tanzania (or Zimbabwe I can't remember), Egypt, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Brazil, PERU!!!!, and I thnk ending their trip in Panama or somewhere around there!? I really wish I was them because they don't even have to enter the contest to go to Peru their parents are taking them anyway. But I'm not keeping them from bothering me or making me jealous. I'm saying to my self that because I'm going to be a travel journalist I'll get to go to those places too just not as young as them because I'm already older, I'm 12 turning 13 later this year after the trp to Peru. Well anyway if you want to check out their blogs here's the instructions. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page and you'll see something that says "Blog Rules" and so click on that and when the page comes up scroll down a little bit more and you'll see a button that says "Bach to main" (that button will look like the preview or submit buttons if you want to post something) and then click on that button and you'll get a list of all the blogs on this website National Geographic. Well this was really long probably my longest ever! Well good-bye for now hope to hear from someone soon!!!!! PEACE OUT!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

WOW! I checked out the global bros page and it was pretty cool! I'm sure they have no desire to enter the contest...!
I took a walk today and now the bottom of my pants are all wet! I just thought you should all know... :)
I live in Pennsylvania. Has there been a contest winner from Pennsylvania yet?

HEY explorers - IM so nervous.

Hey everyone... The days are going by so fast! Its been pretty boring here, (I live in Oregon), especially since I get soaked just peeking out the door!!!! So I've pretty much been cooped up inside all week...
By the way Jazzbird... I think I'll persuade my mom to buy chinese food tonight!! ! (that cookie is definitely a sign!)

Talk later -Chance ;)

I'm pretty sure there hasn't been a winner from Pennsylvania yet I would know because I've looked at the past trips. If you go on google and search Hands On Explorer Challenge South Africa or Galapagos Islands. Then scroll down and look through all the choices. I'm pretty sure if you search the Galapagos Islands first there will be a link going to The South Africa trip. You can check there if there has been a winner from previous ones by ones I mean contests. That help?

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Well, there probably has been a winner from Pennsylvania. I live in California, and i know that there have been winners from Cali in the trip to Australia... I can't wait to meet you guys if most of us end up winning the trip to PERU!!!!

I'm pretty positive that there has been a winner from Pennsylvania now! I went back and checked all previous contests and Ben from last years contest. Well that clears up that. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Sushi so I'll ask my parents to get sushi and a fortune cookie comes with it so I'll check (if I get sushi!).

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Ya know what would really stink?! If I didn't win, not only me but all of us. Because we are the ones who really want this contest more than anything or at least I think all of us do??????

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Hey everyone! I am soooooo excited to find out who won!! I reaaally hope I win because then I'll be the first one from New Hampshire!!!!!! WOOHOO! That would be wicked awesome!

Guess what?? THERE WERE MOOSE TRACKS IN MY YARD! I've never seen a wild moose in real life yet but plenty of tracks. Here I see plenty of deer, gophers, squirrels, birds (my favorite!) , raccoons, fox, skunks, snakes, coyotes, and lots more! What kind of animals do you guys have in your backyard?

Keep exploring!!

~J.C.

There are whitetailed deer in my backyard, although they kind of stay in the woods, there are racoons, I saw one in the woods once. At first I thought it was a dog, so I started going up to it, but then I realized it was a racoon so I stopped!
There are flying squirrels too! So far we've caught 20 in our attic! They like to nest up there in winter. We take them to a park, far away from our house. But actually they are the cutest things! Until we found them in our attic, I actually had no idea they lived around here. But they do!
I've seen skunks, snakes,and foxes too.
Also, the other day I saw an opossom. It was kind of scary because it was hissing and it's teeth were sharp.
I read in a book today that there are coyotes around here but I haven't seen any. (yet!)(I did see one in MA while visiting my aunt)
It's cool to hear about what animals live near us all, since we all live in different states. Like, I think it's really cool that there were moose tracks in jazzbird's yard, because I know there aren't any moose around here!

Tigerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgirl in,

In between all 7 houses I have lived in (now I am in maine!), I have scene raccoons, deer, opossums, Coyotes and black bears & more. Wanna know a freaky story? 3 years ago (at house #6) I was playing out side, and I went in side 'cause I thought I herd something grrrrrrrrrrouling at me from behind some trees & bushes... and the next morning my mom found cougar tracks, LOTS of deer tracks, and when I went down to our privet beach, I found a deer carcus....SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SCAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I was only ten!)

when are they gonna judge!!?? Im tired of waiting! I can barely sleep. Its a bummer they don't post when they judge - it would be rad to meet all of you. I've been reading the blogs, but this is kinda my first on geo P.S. I've always wanted to see a real opossom - ...

Hi guys (or girls),

Well Jazzbird-- since my state is a bordering neighbor Massachusetts we have mostly the same animals. So here they are.......deer, moose, turkey, birds, snakes, opossums, squirrels, chipmunks, lots of insects, coyote (seen them in my backyard!), raccoons, fox (have a den in my yard!), skunks, gophers, woodchucks, black bears, fisher cats (make an awful sound when they are trying to find a mate! Trust me I heard one at night!!!!), and a ton more!!!!!! The reason I have all these animals is cause I live in a little suburban town.

Well anyway I'm back home now from New York. I wish I could've a little longer! Oh ya! Just when I thought the snow was going away IT COMES RIGHT BACK!!!! Ugh!! :(
Well that's all for now!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper

It's supposed to snow this weekend.... sigh. WELL, I guess I should try to enjoy it while I can, because pretty soon it will be spring!!!!!!
I found a great new way to "explore" that I hadn't thought of yet. Stargazing! Where I live the stars are really bright because it's in the country, and there is no light pollution. But anyway I looked at the sky and found the north star and stuff like that. I used binoculars, and I was surprised how many you could see!!!!
Well, that's just so you know. Have to get back to my latin... (*sigh*)

Tigergirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl in,

At my BFF's house, once we thought it would be fun to camp out on her porch, and she woke me up in the middle on the night to find that there was a GIANT MAIL FISHER CAT LOOKING IN TO THE TENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last weekend my father and I went down to the lake to hike the mountain that rests behind it. We started at sumrise and the sky was red and purple and orange. It was so amazing, you could hear the forest coming to life. I was amazed on how much life there was in the woods even when it was about 10 degees outside. We saw deer,coyote, turkey, rabbit, fox, and bird tracks in the snow. The view from the mountain was breathtaking .I even looked close enough to see mouse tracks! Then to get back home we walked across the 1/4 mile long frozen lake.
I am so dissapointed about the snow though, I thought it was going to get warmer, because the daffodils and irises are already sprouting in my yard. I know it's spring when we see black bears traveling the roads and I start to hear the coyotes howl at night again.
I't warm in Peru!
Grace

wow! it's sooo cool to know all the animals that live in each of our backyards! I think it's cool that we all live in different places and all have relatively the same animals in our yards! Last week when I was hiking, I saw these bunny tracks! They were soo cute! I also saw a tree that a beaver nawed on! it was that same shape as in cartoons! (the two parts look like triangles) ==><== (thats supposed to be the sideways tree)

it's snowing again! I love snow, but i don't like cold...

then it was raining this morning...weird

hope to tsee you all in Peru! (THAT WOULD BE WICKED COOL!)

~J.C.

To day I climbed a fallen tree in my yard and got some cool picks from 10' up!

I have some of the same animals in my yard that you guys do. But no foxes or moose. I live in Wisconsin (which is quite a bit farther west than you guys in Maine and Massachusetts). cannot even tell you guys how cool The Great Lakes are! The worlds largest bodies of fresh water!! I love to go swimming with my dog in the summer and look for tracks in the winter. I found a bunch of deer tracks along the ice when I was there the other day. It was really interesting. I followed them along the beach for a little while and then the cold air from the lake made me turn around and stay home. It was -10 degrees here today!

-H.M.*

Hi everyone Luckstomper here,

You know what I just thought of? That old saying "what goes around comes around". You know how when you do something good something good happens to you in the future. And vise versa for if you're bad. Well I believe in this statement 100% all the way. By now I'm pretty sure you're getting my point, right? Well anyway if you're not getting my point well then here it is: if we try (if we? how about "we are going") to be good over the next 45 days maybe we'll get picked. Don't get me wrong here I'm not saying that if you be nice you're automatically going to be picked, I mean c'mon, really? I'm just saying it MAY (underline MAY) bring some of us good luck. Also I'm not saying be good until they pick the winners then stop being good. Continue being good something good has to happen to you sometime right?! PEACE MY PEEPS!!! (again I know you're not mine but you know what I mean)

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Yesterday was so windy here! Was it for anyone else?

Wycombestar it was not really windy here in MA but if was in PA then wat' ev' I guess.

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Hey Wycombestar, it wasn't windy yesterday, but it was this morning!!

I feel bad for those of you who live where there is no snow, if only could could see the beautiful scene i saw today! Wow! It was like I was walking through a snowglobe! The snow was blowing really hard sideways yesterday, so today one side of everything was snowy! ha!

That's what I love about New Hampshire! All four seasons! You never know what to expect!

Welp, good luck my fellow explorers!

-J.C.

Hey guys! You know what I discovered today? That exploring isn't necessarily limited to nature. I knew this before but it really hit me today 'cuz I made the Jazz Ensemble here at my high school, and the symphonic band here too (slash marching band) and I am exploring all sorts of instruments! for example: Baritone Saxophone in Jazz, Alto sax in Marching and Bassoon in Symphonic! ha! I am discovering all sorts of new abilities!

wow there are so many ways to explore! You just got look for them!

~J.C.

I live in washington state and i heard wolves are moving in from canada!!!

Exactly right Jazzbird! I play the guitar, and a little bit of piano, and I've also found that it's just like nature exploration.

Hmmm... is it possible that I am the only one on the northwest coast??? Oh well... by the way, I don't think there are any moose in my city, but I used to live in Wyoming, and there are plenty of grazing animals there!

One last thing. Luckstomper, I think what you were describing is karma, or its also known as "the secret". But I bet another thing that would help, would be, THINKING GOOD THOUGHTS! Not just being good, but thinking good too! Try them both!

Have fun with Nature! $chance$

Tigerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgirl13 in,

(to be sung in the beat of "take me out to the ball game")

Take me out to Peru, take me out the the jungle, buy me a camera and a postcard, come on, please, I REALY worked hard...
Hehehe

Hi guys! This is my first and last year entering as well. I think we should be a little more sensitive to those who entered the contest and did not blog because just because they didn't happen to stumble upon the blog (like I did) doesn't mean that they don't want it.

OH MY GOODNESS!

2 things:
1.) I had a dream last night that I was contacted by the judges that I made the final round, I hope that dream comes true!

2.) Today there were 2 deer in my yard! They were Does! They were REALLY big and soooo beautiful! Has anyone else seen any interesting things lately?

BYE FELLOW EXPLORER PEOPLES ♥☺☻♥

~Jayme♥ <<look at the cool shapes I can make!! Woo!

Hello this is Nebraskaboy here. I love exploring new instruments! It is 20 degrees here in Nebraska! It is finally warmer! I hope it will be 40 degrees in March! Well I think HOEC is a great way for ordinary kids to travel to another counrty! I entered this contest because I was inspired by Veronica from the Australia expedation! She is from Omaha, Nebraska! That just proved to me that anyone can win! The contest is almost over! Well not almost but my point is it is in like...... one month and a half? Well thanks to National Geographic who made this contest! Good luck to everyone who entered! I'm crossing my fingers!

this is my first time blogging on this site and i entered the contest for the first time and i cant wait for the judges to announce or even call or post something on the site!!! but the suspense..... its crazy.
-pi

Tigerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgirl13 in,

Ya know what is creepy? I played a fortuion telling game with my sister, and I asked "will I win the trip 2 Peru" like 5 times, AND EVERY TIME IT SAID YES!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone,
I haven't blogged in sssooooooooo long!!!!! I've been so busy. I live in a city so there's not a lot of nature. But I like to look at the plants on people's lawns. Also there's a small lake near my house so I like to look for birds, lizards, squirrels, animal scats, plants, fish, and so much more. My dad and I go fishing a lot so I like exploring the lakes where we fish (don't worry, we do catch and release aka: release the fish back into the water after we catch it). My family also goes camping/white-water rafting. I also go houseboating at this lake in northern CA. So I like to explore a TON when I go fishing, camping, and houseboating. This weekend I just went to a retreat where we stayed in log cabins surrounded by all these ferns, redwoods, and sequouias. It rained a lot too so I got to see all these different sites that had a unique difference from the rain. Luckily I didn't see a mountain lion, but I did see racoons. Also, does anyone know if the original post from Feb. 9 that says 'judges won't be accepting anymore new entries' means? Does it mean like they aren't accepting anymore that have postmark dates that are after Feb. 9, or if they are just going to completely stop accepting entries after Feb. 9 even though they have the right postmark date? I hope they accepted all the entries that had the right postmark date until Feb. 12 like they said they would. If they didn't and mines didn't get accepted, I would be soooooo MAD! I know I had if postmarked either on Feb. 3-4. I hope they at least got my entry and read it. I hope all of ours were read if they had the right date. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ AND LIKE ALL OF OUR ENTRIES! See ya!

Last night we had a blizzard, and we lost power over night! (ya, the lizard was not happy)

Hey everyone!

I agree with you, person234, some people might not even HAVE internet! It doesn't mean their not just as excited as everyone else is!

Wow am I lucky, two beautiful mornings, almost in a row! Wow! Guys it was sooo beautiful! All the snow stuck to the branches and with the sun shining it was GORGEOUS...power outages for 8 days in ice storms (eh hem...like in december...) aren't fun, but mornings like these make up for them =)

*Every cloud has a silver lining*

~Jayme

Hi guys and girls! Luckstomper here,

This morning was one word AWESOME!!!!
I saw a fox trot across my (snow covered) lawn!!! It was awesome because I used to have lots of foxes that would live in this rock pit (where their den was) and ever since I started to play down there they moved out. So it was really nice to see them come back!!!

Oh ya, does anyone blogging watch The Amazing Race? If you don't it's on CBS on 8:00 on Sunday nights. Any who It's this race with 11 teams who compete in a race that takes them all across the world, everywhere! When I watch it all the challenges they take are things about that country's culture! It's a wicked awesome show and you should watch it! Also my vacation has come to it's end!!!! :(

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Hey guys :)

i'm getting more and more nervous every day! how long do they take to start calling the last 20 finalists? i'm so scared!

Shabamm they don't call they 20 finalists they only call the 12 winners and they don't call 'till April. Did you read the rules and all of them.

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Hey everyone!

Yeah I watch the amazing race!! I would LOVE to go on that show! Not necessarily to win the million dollars (although it would be nice) but travel ALL OVER THE WORLD! that'd be soo cool!

I am sooo nervous too! I keep thinking I;m going to miss the call (IF they call me which I hope they do!) Do you guys think that they will show up as National Geographic on caller ID or unkown name? 'cuz we don't pick up the unkown names! AHH! Oh I hope I get picked! I REALLY REALLY DO!

That's funny that you're ending your vacation when I'm starting mine! Too bad I have 4 projects to do! (ugh, enjoy your time in middle school guys...well at least the sciences classes and the band(s) make up for the homework! mostly.)

HOPE TO SEE YA ALL IN PERU! THAT WOULD BE WICKED AWESOME!!

~Jayme

tigerrrrrrrrrrgirl13 in,

The snow is like 7' deep in our yard NO KIDDING (I meshured!)

Don't worry jazzbird, they leave a message every time someone doesnt pick up!!!!

There is no snow here and the tempature is always in about the 40's. So not too cold but not warm enough either!!!!

Hey guys, it luckystar, but I got a new username that fits me a little better. Softball is the coolest sport ever!!

I watch the Amazing Race!!! That IS a really cool show. I love the way that it shows you cultures from all over the world!!

I have been seeing Peru everywhere!! I've seen it in magazines, on T.V., in my books! Now that I entered the Hands-On Explorer contest, I just keep seeing Peru everywhere I look! I want tot win so bad. The culture in Peru is just so different from ours, winning would be the perfect experience to learn more about different cultures!

Well, I have to go! PEACE OUT!!

-H.M.*

IM PRETTY SURE THAT THEY CALL THE TOP TWENTY TO SEE WHO CAN MAKE IT TO THE TOP TWELVE. WOULDNT IT BE TERRIBLE IF YOU GOT OUT IN THE LAST ROUND........(THINK TIME)

Hey Y'all, Abbie here!

For the kid that wanted to know if there were any Pennsylvanians, Ben and one of the teachers both are from Pennsylvania, and both went to Aussie with me last summer.

You guys must be excited, because some of you write nearly everyday.

Abbie

Hi everyone especially Abbie!

I'm positive that they call the 12 winners not the top 20. Because in the rules it says if one of the winners does not reply to their message in three days their spot goes to the next person in line. Also what do mean by "wouldn't be terrible if you made it in the last round?"

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

When I was in it they called the top 25.

Abbie

Hey People and Abbie!,
I thought for the finals they interview the top 25, and there are 15 Grand Prize Winners that GET TO GO TO PERU!!!!! Awesome. Can you help me clear this up? If there are 15 winners, it gives us a better chance to win! Good luck, and keep waiting and hoping and preparing for that call from a Nat Geo judge. I really want to win this ssssssssssoooooooooo bad and I hope we all do well!

Hey everyone! and Hi Abbie!

Yeah, I think they call the top 25, and then interview them and THEN pick the top 15. If they don't reach you to do the interview, then they pick another one! I'm soo afraid that I'm gonna miss the call if they call me! I REALLY hope they at least call me! It would be AMAZING! I started to count the days, but hey, if you're gonna count the days it makes it go by slower AND it's not gonna make it come any faster so you should take the time to enjoy today

well that's my little bit of wisdom for the day...lol

PERU PERU PERU

~Jayme ♥☺☻♥

yep, they call 25 and then 15 make it.
Abbie, I hope you don't think we're too obsessed. Don't worry, we're not.:)I guess people didn't do this last time?

In the rules it doesn't state WHEN the judges call.

I'M SO NERVOUS!

I really hope we get called and interviewed, and then finally, hopefully, WIN! It would be so amazing to win this trip. I really want this soooooooo bad! Oh well. I'll just go with the flow. Whatever happens, happens. Good luck to all finalists. Keep hoping and believing that you will get a call any day and that you actually WIN! I REALLY, REALLY HOPE I, AND MANY OF YOU OTHER BLOGGERS WIN! I REALLY WANT TO WIN THIS TRIP TO PERU! IT WOULD BE SOOOOOOO AWESOME TO EXPERIENCE PERU'S RICH, UNIQUE CULTURE, HISTORY, AND ENVIRONMENT/NATURE/WILDLIFE! IT WOULD ALSO BE SOOOO AMAZING TO GET A CHANCE TO EXPLORE AND LEARN ABOUT A DIFFERENT, UNIQUE PLACE WITH NAT GEO PROFESSIONALS AND OTHER EXPLORERS PASSIONATE ABOUT EXPLORING LIKE ME! PLEASE LET ME AND OTHER PASSIONATE EXPLORERS WIN THIS CONTEST!!!!! THANKS!

Hi everybody!! Hi Abbie!!

Wouldn't that be sad if we got into the top 25 and then didnt get to go? Oh! That would be so terrible!! But hopefully, that wont happen. Wishful thinking!! I heard about this study where people pick something they want, and then those that thought about what they wanted the most, actually got it!! so keep thinking about Peru!!

-H.M.*

woah! thats really cool that if you think it the most you get it...well then i think we may have a better shot then we thought!

ugh, you know how I said I liked snow? Well i do dont get me wrong BUT NOT WHEN IT KEEPS MAKING THE POWER GO OUT...luckily I didn't lose mine but most of my friends did! And we're supposed to be working on a project which we can't now cuz we need their software...

ANYWAY

PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU!!!!!!!!!

I had another dream about it, but in this one I didn't win, but all the winners had to gather at my house before they left..it was sad, but cool that i got to congratulate the winners...but then i woke up =/ haha!

~Jayme

JazzBird you're so lucky that you have dreams, because every night I try to have a dream about winning but I never have one! UGH! Any who JazzBird its funny because although our states neighbor we have different climates and weather. Why I say this is because ALL of my snow is MELTING FINALLY while you're still getting snow! It got up to 60 degrees today!!!! YAY!!!!

Also I learned something new about this contest, it's that they cal the top 25 kids not the 15 winners that me soooo nervous when I heard that! But on the bright side I thought I was going to miss MCAS (a HUGE test for kids in Mass. that we have to take in the spring that we have to do from grades 3-12) also a really fun field trip to the beach if I won the trip, but then I found out that I wont miss it all of that is two weeks before the trip. So that made me a lot happier!

Well that's it for now!!! PEACE MY PEOPLES!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)
P.S. Go Peru and I'm gonna try again to have a dream!!!!

Hey everyone it's Nebraskaboy! Wow some of you live in the most amazing places. Seeing foxes and deer a lot would be very cool. Here in Nebraska we don't have deer, but we have rabbits, prairie dogs, skunks (to my disgust), and lots of birds. The tempreture today was 25 degrees and it was snowing lightly. I want to say WOW to all the people who blog everyday! I have a quetion for Abby. Were any of the people mean on the HOEC?

Haha, luckstomper if you TRY to have the dream, it won't come! I know it sounds silly but I always have dreams about stuff that I think about a lot but don't think about having a DREAM about...its confusing and hard but it works....

just try to focus on something else a little bit...

thats how i started having dreams partly in french, i thought about it a whole lot but never considered dreaming about and all of a sudden i was talking french...weird

anywho...PERU PERU PERU

haha! now neither of us will dream about it tonight because we both just thought of it! man! =( oh well maybe tomorrow!

~Jayme

Oh im SO excited!!! When im in school i get bored and start wishing that i had a time traveler so i could go into the future and see if we (as in bloggers and people who want to blog) won! Oh im SO excited!!! PARTY ON EXPLORERS!!!!

Jon, you are so lucky!! While you were waking up to 60 degrees, I woke up to 17!!! AND it snowed today!!

-H.M.*

Hi everyone! Luckstomper here,

Hey, JazzBird what happened your name isn't showing up again, are you signing on with harleycat again? Or is JazzBirdExplorer not showing up. <-----Anywho if that was true (haha that rhymes LOL) their computers just must not like you and your name LOL but I don't think that'll be the case.

And Softballstar21 I wasn't really "waking" up to 60 degrees i probably was waking up to 40 (finally that hasn't happened in a while) and when I get home around 3:15"ish" it was 60 degrees (also a first in a while, and when I say in a while I mean like October!)

Also JazzBird sadly like you said in your last blog I didn't have a dream probably because I was thinking about it ALL day. Also how is it possible to NOT think about the trip?????? When it's only 37 more days (basically a month) till they pick the winners?! Oh ya, a new AMAZING RACE is on this Sunday!!!! I want Margie & Luke (the deaf one) to win, they deserve it and it would prove that deaf people can do anything!!!!!!

Anywho.........PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU (g, wonder where i got that from??????)

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)
P.S. I'll never have a dream about winning but oh well!!!!!

Jon, you are SO LUCKY!!! There is like 2 inches of snow on the ground! I've had one dream about HOEC. But it my dream I won and they changed the rules so only 3 people could win and you could make up your own story. I was happy for the 3 winners, but sad that I didn't win.

In CA, the it's been about 57-65 degrees. We have a wet kind of cold so it's chillier than in the snow's dry kind of cold. my uncle from Alaska came down to visit. he usually goes jogging in -3 degrees weather up north, but the wet cold was so chilly, he usually didn't want to leave the house! his visit was also really cool because he showed us all these pictures of bears, moose, caribou (aka-wild reindeer), foxes, and soooo many other animals, critters, and birds. i want to explore Alaska sooooooo bad! i wish i wasn't in a city. but i still find a lot of neat things to explore in/on sidewalks, at close by parks, lakes, ponds, beaches, and more!

Oh! Time travel sounds like so much fun! But I wouldn't go to the future, I would wait for the surprise. Instead, I always wanted to go BACK in time. Back to ancient times. I would solve a bunch of mysteries! Like who put up the statues on Easter Island, and how people even get there (did you know it is the most isolated island in the world?? More than 50 miles of water in every direction!! How the heck did people get there?) Or I would find out who designed Stonehenge. Even today, the sun still lines up with the stones. OR, I would figure out who that Mayan mummy is. You know, the female one with tattoos all over her body. She was buried with over 40 spear throwers. Even the strongest and best of their warriors were only buried with 3 or 4. Who was she?? ANd guess what?? Her tomb, where she was discovered is in Peru!!! I wonder if we'll get to go see it!! That would be so cool! Then I could learn more about her and try to figure out who she is.

-H.M.*

correction, she was buried with only 23. But that's still a lot!!

-H.M.*

Maybe they thought she was a goddess. That would explain why she was treated better than Kings!! I'm sorry! I just can't stop thinking about her!! We always thought that men were dominant in Moche culture, so why was this WOMAN treated like goddess?? (maybe because they thought she was one). You guys have to look her up!! I want to hear your theories!!

-H.M.*

Geez you guys! There's nearly 30 more comments from the last time I was on here! I've been kinda busy lately...

Can you believe its already been a month since the contest closed? I know I say it a lot, but it really is going by fast. My birthday's coming up already, so it makes it seem to have gone by even quicker!

There seems to be a lot more bloggers lately, so good luck you guys!

*%*$$Chance$$*%*

i have no idea how cold it is but there is a dusting of snow (in Virginia) and i have soccer and lacrosse today I do a lot of sports. Also i love to horseback ride. What sports do you do???-IB

GRRR why isn't my name showing up?????

well anyway this is JAZZBIRD and it was about 36 yesterday, and today it is about 18, but it is supposed to be colder tomorrow and snow a foot and a half =P The snow part is good because im gonna go over my friends house and sled because when we explorered her backyard yesterday, waaaay back are these GIANT dirt mounds! im talking 40 feet high here! They're AMAZING! so we were climbing on them and planned to sled if it snowed =D ( so hopefully there's no school, even though we've had waay too many snowdays...we're already going to school until June 26! oh well...we will still have about 2 months of smummer...we go back to school August 28, anyone know how many days that is?)

~Jayme

Hi everyone! Luckstomper here,

JazzBird are signing back on with harlycat again? Because your name isn't showing up again! LOL! Or wait let me guess now this name isn't showing up? <----If that is the case they just might not like you or their computers don't, but i highly doubt that's the case, but you never knoooow, anything is possible. And like you said in one of your last blogs I didn't have any dreams about winning the trip to Peru because I thought about it during the day. Oh ya how is it possible not to think about it when its only, one....two....36 more days (basically a month) till they pick the winners?!

And Softballstar21 I didn't "wake up" to 60 degrees like you said I woke up to about 35 degrees, and gradually got warmer and by the time i get home, (around 3:10"ish") it got all the way up to 60 degrees. Also a ton of snow melted!! YAY!! But guess what? The weather is just teasing me now, because every time we get a hot day (like 60) the weather decides to gives a lot more snow! So today Sunday the first they're saying not a lot of snow but there is going to be snow, and then they're saying tomorrow we're going to get 12-15 inches of snow!!!!!!! And to top it all off it's going to snow on Tuesday too, so looks like I'm staying home on Monday from school!!!!!

Anywho.......PERU PERU PERU (g, wonder where I got that from???)

There's a NEW THE AMAZING RACE ON TONIGHT!!!!!! I absolutely love love love love that show sooo much. They're going to Romania next on their trip(race) around the world. The teams I want to win is Margie and Luke (the deaf one), and Tammy and Victor (the two lawyers and brother and sister) Also a new LIVING WITH THE MACHIGENGA is on tonight. It looks like a really good one.

Well that's all for now!!!! PEACE MY FELLOW EXPLORERS

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Abbie here,

Don't be too nervous you guys! I actually remember entering and forgetting about it; and during spring break last year, I got a call, and they told me that the next morning they would interview me! That's when I got nervous!! I didn't want to be one of the ten people eliminated.

Abbie

ok this is jazzbirdexplorer, but my name stopped showing up! so now its jazzybirdexplorer, not that different...

ITS SNOWING!!!!!!! yessssssssss

LET IT SNOW LET IS SNOW LET IT SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW

PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERU PERUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

~Jayme

Hey it's Nebraskaboy! Jon you are very lucky! It's extremely chilly outdoors and snow is rested on the ground. I've had one dream about HOEC. I won but for some reason they changed the rules after they called me so that there were only 3 winners and that the story was made up. I know, strange dream.

i hope i get called to be interviewed and make it in to the top 15 !! i think it's great that they even have a contest like this.
dreaming of Peru!

Hi People/Explorers/Bloggers!
We actually reached 100 posts! Woo-hoo! Go us! I really hope I win this contest and I get to meet a lot of you other people who blog on this site (that means you would have won too if I happen to win and I see you peoples)! Oh, and 'softballstar21', I thought that tattooed mummy was supposedly from the Moche tribe. An ancient civilization that ruled over northern Peru. I'm pretty sure if was the Moche and not the Mayan. But you were close (they both start with 'M'. LOL)! The Mayan actually lived in Central America in countries spaning from Guatemala all the way down to northern Panama. Panama and Peru are also separated by the large South American countries of Ecuador and Columbia. Have you guys seen the movie, Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor? At the end it says mummies were later found in Peru. Maybe they'll make a movie on Peruvian mummies! I really want to win this trip, and again I hope many of you win too. Please let I and the others WIN!!!!! Thanks NG! FYI, Grace blogged on her original post! See ya, keep hoping I and you win!

Hi everyone! Luckstomper here,

Guess what? Well you know how I've been telling you guys that it's been getting warmer here like in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Well I don't think mother nature likes us because she just poured 15 INCHES OF SNOW ON US!!!!!! Ugh!!! It's like she thinks we're her little doll set, and by accident (I think purposely) she spill a bag of sugar on us, right ON US!!!! And this isn't the first time this has happened it's like the fourth time in this year! I just want the snow to go away!!!!!! WAHHHHHHHHH!!! Oh ya, cause of all the snow we have no school so as of today we're getting out on the 18th of June! When this is only our 4th snow day. And during Christmas break we took off two more days (the ones before Christmas Eve Mon. & Tues.) So that added on to our end of school date. So let me get this straight, if we used all our snow days (5) we would get out on the 17th of June, and we have used 4 snow days (counting today) so we are supposed to get out on the 16th right, but no to save energy our school took off two more days, the Mon. & Tues. right before Christmas Eve. So add on to our original 16th of June and you get the 18th! Now you ask why is the 18th such a bad thing well in previous years we have gotten out on the 9th, 10th, and 11th. Well there's nothing I can do about it now, **SIGH**.Did anyone watch the AMAZING RACE last night? It was actually a pretty good one! But sadly I DIDN'T watch LIVING WITH THE MACHIGENGA. But oh well. Oh ya another thing about the snow (besides that I hate it at this time of year) is that it's sooo pretty! It's like we're inside of a snow globe literally! With the snow covered trees, houses, etc. Well wish you guys lived up here to see it but then again you don't let me say that better you DON'T want to experience this much snow! Well that's all for now! Hope hear from someone soon! PEACE MY FELLOW EXPLORERS!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

P.S. Softballstar21 you were the 100th person to blog on this blog! I don't think in the history of this website there was a blog with 100 posts so Congrats I guess!

P.P.S. I like how you guys are calling me JON! Cause that's who I am! So keep doing it!

P.P.P.S.Now I think THIS is my all time longest blog/post EVER!!!

P.P.P.P.S. Sorry this is sooooo long but wat' ev', right?!

That would be softballstar21! Yesterday I went out to expore my backyard and I climbed up this tree and the very was beautiful! But I got to go to school now. Bye! Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

its soooo cool that we learn about what the weather is like all over the country!! Here in New Hampshire it has been about 36 degrees for the last 2 or 3 days, today it is about 34 and there is ALMOST 10 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND!!!!!! We're supposed to get 16! I"M SOOO EXCITED! no schooool! (that's on top of the 4 inches we already had!!!) YAY! i love snow...

anyway, look my name is showing up! its jazzy bird now! yay!

~Jayme

Tigerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgirl13 in,

I have had 1 dream about HOEC, but NOT a good 1. The dream went like this:
I was sick and lost my voice so bad I could not TALK. Then, The phone rang... and I (tried) answered it. It was the HOEC judges calling to interview me, BUT I COULDN'T ANSOR ANY OF THE QUESTIONS! SOOOOOOOOO SAAAAAAAD!!

I'm not going to come here for a few days. I'M GOING TO TRY TO FORGET!!!!!
so, goodbye for now. Lets see if it works.

Hey softballstar21, Today is really cold...1 degree when I went to school. We still have quite a bit of snow. We actually went snowmobiling over the weekend. That is a great way to see animal tracks and animals if you are lucky.

YEAH!!!! I GOT THE 100th BLOG!!!! THAT IS SO COOL!! Sorry, I really don't mean to brag, I'm just really proud of myself

Oh! And Shastasteph, you were right. It was Moche. I was recalling off the top of my head so I got it wrong. When I looked into it later I remembered it was Moche. So who do you think she was?? It's such a fascinating mystery (to me at least. I'm kind of a history geek)

Wisconsinchica, that is so cool that I found another person from Wisconsin!! Wouldn't it be awesome if we both won?? I think we would be the first from Wisconsin... GO CHEESEHEADS!! Oh yeah, it is so cold here!!! I fell on the ice this morning when I was walking my dog. It really hurt!!

Well, I have to go. Peru, Peru, Peru, PERU!!!!!

-H.M*

Thanks soo much for the encouragement Abbie! That makes me feel a lot better that i wont miss the opprotunity if I don't pick it up on the first call!

Jon you are soo lucky! Out of school on the 18?? That's never happened to us! I think the earliest was the 19th in fourth grade....This year we get out the 26 or the 27, but i'm pretty sure the latest we are allowd to go to school is the 30th because of teacher contracts...its all because of that ice storm...we lost power for almost 9 days, but the schools have genorators so I think that they should have had school to give the kids a place to go! Better than sitting around in a cold house! We had it easy, we only lost it for 9 days, some people here had no power until Christmas! Imagine waking up christmas morning with no lights! =(

I can't believe that it has been a month since the contest closed!

I went sledding today (like I mentioned earlier) and I cracked my sled =( well at least I didn't hurt myself! It was sooooo steep that the landing (on a pebble go figure) actually broke the sled! Ohw well, its still possible to use it so it doesn't matter that much, better to have a broken sled than no sled!

sorry this is so long!!!

~Jayme

p.s. congrats softballstar21, your the 100 BLOGGER woohoo!

Hi everyone & Abbie (thanks for coming on again Abbie)
You people are sooooooo lucky to have snow in your area. In California's coast we only get rain.... lots and lots of rain. Today, we had some pretty strong winds too. It was blowing so hard it knocked a ton of garbage bins over! We get a lot of knocked over bins and rain during this time of year. Also, when you have snow it's probably easier to see the imprints of animal footprints (one of the many things I like to look for). When we get the rains they wash out all the imprints. :( However, the mud it creates on the dirt areas in the city kind of preserve new footprints too. It all kind of balances out in the end so that I still have a whole bunch of things to explore. As for the temperature, we've been having a constant 62-65 degrees. Not too bad. Oh, and luckstomper/Jon, are you a boy? For some reason I thought you were a girl for the longest time. I'm really sorry if I made that mistake, but I know now! I don't have any dreams about the HOEC Peru trip, but thoughts of it do pop-up in my head at random times. Of course, I do think of it on my own, but I haven't had any dreams. Oh well. I really hope I win the the HOEC trip to Peru, and I really hope I can meet some of you people! It would be sooooooo awesome. And *'Abbie'* The NG HOEC judges ARE really nice! I always thought the whole NG staff was nice too. Keep hoping you get picked, keep up in school, and most of all..... KEEP EXPLORING!!!! I hope I get picked and many others on this blog get picked along with me too!!!!! Good luck (me and all others)!

*Abbie* (your name in stars looks really good! LOL!)
If I get picked to be a finalist, I really don't want to be one of the 10 eliminated people either! I'm in it to win it and to have the joy of telling how I passionately explore my world :)! I think everyone else doesn't want that to happen too. I really hope all these things come true (they'll probably come true in order): I get a call from an HOEC judge and he tells me he's going to interview me as a finalist!!!!! (either that minute or another day), the/a judge(s) interview(s) me!*!, the judge(s) think I should be one of the Grand Prize WINNERS (Yeah!)!!!!!, the judge(s) secure my spot and declare that I'm one of the Grand Prize WINNERS!!!!! (happen please), I got a call from an NG HOEC judge!!!!! (my heart would be racing), the judge tells me I'm one of the lucky 15 who gets to go to Peru with NG people, 14 other winners (maybe you people), a new camera, and experience a trip of a lifetime! Woo-hoo! Yeah! I really, Really, REALLY hope this happens to me and to many others on this blog! I really want to win this sooooo much! I'll just be patient and hope for the best! You must have been so excited when you got that call Abbie. Good for you for winning a trip of a lifetime to Australia! I REALLY want to win this trip to Peru!!!!!

Hey, its shabammm :D

so, is there anywhere on this site or does anyone know how many entries they got this year? ohhh... i try not to think about this contest too much so I won't have my dreams crushed or anything, but it's so hard! i'm a good writer, but i don't know if i picked a very good example of exploring :O and i think that's the most important part.

since, like, everyone is telling about where they're from (idk why, but it's cool), I'm from Minnesota. it's freezing, and i'm just waiting for spring! i love snow, but only for the first, like, three months. haha but i saw a fox in my backyard yesterday and on the way to my grandparent's just this morning i saw 5 hawks next to the highway within a half a mile! that's unusual, here in the suburbs :)

Hey, have yo guys ever thought about studying abroad?? It would be so cool! I'm saving to go when I am a sophomore or junior. It's only for people who are really serious about discovering (and learning about) the world around them. I want to go to someplace that still hasn't been influenced by western culture, like Thailand. Any who... I looked into studying abroad in Peru. That way you find out all sorts of info about their schools and what teens our age do in their spare time. You also learn lots about the culture. Try it!! I learned so much and I feel way better prepared for if I win!!!!!

-H.M.*

Hi everyone! Luckstomper here,

Stashsteph to answer your question, yes I am a boy. I'm not offended really I mean really we're talking over a website. And half the reason why I put Jon above Luckstomper is to indicate myself as a boy. And the other reason I put JON is because I wanted to make a cool signature!

Also i made me much more happier that when Abbie said the judges called her a day in advance for her interview.

Stashasteph and other people who live in an without any snow, let me tell you this, having snow is fun and gorgeous at times, but I say this I think I say this for ev'ryone who has snow, SHOVELING!!! The worst thing about snow. It just sucks the life out of you and puts you in a bad mood and all. Sothat's why you don't want snow. And Nebraskaboy one quick question. You say you have no snow where you live, yet in Veronica's (the person who inspired you) winning picture there was snow on the ground.

Also guys guess what?! You know Jazzybirdexplorer your fortune said that you will go on a great trip. Well about nine months ago in May I got a fortune cookie. And that fortune cookies fortune said these exact words,"Good news will come to you from far away." I've kept this fortune since then and put it in a glass jar of sand on top of the sand. At first I thought this fortune meant my up coming trip to Antigua (a Caribbean island) but then I realize it said good news will come to you from FAR AWAY, and I found out about that trip from my parents now from far away. So I have kept this fortune. Now I think it means the judges calling me to interview me for the trip or even to congratulate me saying I have WON!!! That's way better than any stinkin' dream don't you think?????

Well that's all for now! PEACE MY FELLOW EXPLORERS!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Hey guys,I know this is so old, but I'm still really excited... Every time I think about Peru I get this wierd feeling in my stomach...is that good or bad? Because i'm starting to get worried. Anyway just keep yourselves busy and the time will keep flying by. Guess what? This has nothing to do with Peru but, I have my Science Olypiad competion next week!, maybe some of you guys are in that, it's really fun. Last year our school placed 10th in the state of PA.
Talk to(or See?) you later
Grace

Hey everyone!
I just LOVE this blog! It's awesome being able to talk to all of you and see what it's like to explore and live in different part of the US! Softballstar21, I'm sure you knew what civilization it was. You were probably so excited about telling cool info about a Peruvian mummy that your fingers typed the wrong civilization. No worries. It was a good reminder of the mummy though. So thanks for bringing it up!

As for who I think she was, considering all the stuff she was found with I think that she is a warrior princess leader. Because she was both royalty and a warrior I think she got special treatment. She possibly may have been the next heir for the Moche, but maybe she died in battle although there was no broken bones or anything. She might have also done some great, heroic deed. Thinking of an explanation for her tattoos took me a long time. I think that the tattoos might represent her name or personality. Her name might have been something that combines the Moche words for snake and spider, or maybe her name is a type of snake or spider. Since both spiders and snakes have fangs (spider 'fangs'), her name might have had to do with fangs. As for her personality, she might have had characteristics of snakes or spiders. She might have been stealthy like snakes and spiders, or she might have been cunning in battle by hiding in hidden places, and then taking her opponents by surprise. I'm not really sure. It's just what I think. You might think my thoughts are crazy, but I have a wild imagination. I wonder if archaeologists will soon find clues about her and reveal the mystery of her history/story. Time will only tell.

I hope I and a whole bunch of other people on this blog get calls from the judges. I also hope that afterwards, I and others actually WIN this trip to Peru! It would be soooooooo cool to finally meet you (hopefully at least most of you) and learn about how you people like to explore. It would also be sooooo cool to learn about Peru with the NG staff! I want this contest soooooo bad, and I'm sure all of you do too. Good luck. Keep hoping!

The thing that is kind of cool about HOEC, is that they pick countries that you wouldn't think of... you know?? Honestly, how many of you can say that you actually thought about going to the Galapagos Islands or South Africa BEFORE ng kids published it as the HOEC contest?? Actually, I can say that I thought about Peru, but not very deeply. I like that the contest makes you think about parts of the world that you normally wouldn't think about. Don't you agree? That's why I think that in 2010 they will go somewhere far east, like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, or Cambodia. All of those countries have a really rich history too.

-H.M.*

Hey guys!

Luckstomper, I totally agree with you about the shoveling part...we have a 250 foot driveway and before we finally got a snowblower/plow us kids had to shovel it (im one of 4 kids, i'm the oldest) and it was a NIGHTMARE! anyway, thankfully the beauty of the snow makes up for it!

I have a tip for those of you exploring in the snow/looking for tracks...I have found that if you bring a short bucket or other wide item that you can lean on and spread out your weight, you won't go through the snow!! You'll walk right on top, and it won't harm the imprints of the animals! I know this is kind of obvious but I didn't realize it until a month ago when when I stepped through the snow and a whole foot around my foot caved in and destroyed part of the tracks =(

~Jayme

Hey guys!

For those of you who want to get more involved with exploring and your community, try Venturing!

Ventures is a program by BSA (boy scouts of America) It is for girls and boys age 14 to 21 who are looking for more excitement and exploring tips!! I am a girl and I am in it. We go camping almost twice a month. In january we did a freeze out! I slept outside in a tent in 7 degree weather and my pad deflated so I was sleeping on the tent floor! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Anyway, we also do skiing, ice climbing, white water rafting, rock climbing, camping, snowshoeing, hiking, horsebackriding, stargazing (while camping), bike riding AND MUCH MORE! It's awesome and I encourage you to join! This progam I believe is available across the country (and I think in England and other places too)

Think about it!

GOOD LUCK WITH PERU!

~Jayme

Ok. I couldn't stay away!
We had a snowstorm the other day, boo. And I agree with you luckstomper, shoveling snow is a real pain.
@ softballstar21, I never thought of any of those places before either. I think the NG staff does a really good job picking out the places to go. The only reason I had thought of Peru was because my Spanish teacher is there now, working in an orphanage. (I have prabably already said that :)!)
And the other night I was on my mom and dads bed, and there was this really fuzzy brown and white blanket with a symetrical pattern on it and I asked where it was from and my mom said Peru! She said my dad when there in college! *sigh*, the things they never tell me!
Well, some time or another I'm going to go fishing for pictures in the attic!
*Emma*
(I never actually have put my name but since everyone else is I thought you might want to know!)
:) :P :D

shastasteph, I like your theory. It made me retink a lot of my reasoning. If she WAS a warrior, she must have been... amazing. It still doesn't explain why she was buried with 23 spear throwers when even the strongest and most decorated warriors were buried with only 3 or 4. Just the fact that she was a woman is curious. I still think her people thought she was a goddess, which is why she was treated so well. Maybe the goddess of war?? The tattoos were also uncommon. If she was a goddess, maybe she had the same powers as the snakes, spiders, and other magical creatures tattooed onto her arm (or so the Moche thought). You're right though, she definitly had SOMETHING to do with war. That would explain the spear throwers and clubs she was buried with. I don't we have the technology to find out the truth... for sure. Maybe they will by the time we're adults, then maybe I could solve the mystery (I want to be an archaeologist when I grow up)Well, have have to go. Anyone else have theories???

-H.M.*

Hi everyone! Luckstomper here,

Shabammm on this website i positive they don't tell you how many entries were submitted. Except for the South Africa trip they said nearly 4000 entries were sent in! WOW that's a lot!Also I looked read the whole Tattooed Mummy article today, but I had looked at it before just not read it. And guess what only 33 MORE DAYS TILL THEY PICK THE WINNERS!!!!!!! I can't believe it's gone by so fast. It seems as if yesterday was the beginning of December (when I posted the first time! LOL) and now it's the 4th of March wow! And in my school the middle school 6th grade (the grade I'm in) teachers (mostly math) celebrate PI DAY. Pi's first 3 digits are 3.14 or March(3) 14 (14). So we get pie, do all these games and other fun stuff. Also there is a contest where they see whohas the best memory by giving each student the first 100 digits of Pi and who ever memorizes the most wins. And so far I have memorized the 100 digits!!! Go me ah huh oh ya, what now! They are.........3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693
993755820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067! Tah daaaaaa I did this all on memory I didn't look at any sheet or anthing I'M NOT LYING YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!!!! Well anyway that's it for now! Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeee!!!

PEACE MY FELLOW EXPLORERS!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Hi everyone

I am new to the contest and blogging. I am very nervous, but I try not to think about it. I hope I did well. The Peru trip sounds awesome. I wish everyone good luck. Looking forward to hearing from everyone.

;-)

hi lucky duck!

welcome to the blog!

it's so nice to hear from new people!

~Jayme

Hi Lucky Duck!

Welcome to the blog!
It's so nice to hear from someone new!
I think I speak for everyone right?!
And now lilexplorer is not the newby!
FYI everyone lilexplorer only posted once
that's why you haven't heard from him/her
in a long time. they posted on.....the
1st of March which wasn't long ago! LOL!
Well that's all for now!

PEACE MY FELLOW EXPLORERS!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Correction!

Lucky Duck you are the second
newest person to this blog!
Clearly Purple is the newest.
She or he posted in Abbie's section.
On the 5th of March (ahem today).
Well that's all.

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Wuahahahahaha!

Hey Lucky Duck!! Welcome.

I'm so scared for Peru! I've never wanted anything this bad before. And I want it even more, knowing it's my last chance. OH!!! The supense is killing me (well, not literally...yet)

Jon, There is this kids who goes to my school (also named Jon) who is about your age. He's really funny and so are you!! Based on what I know from your blogs, you guys would be really great friends. Just thought you might like to know!!

Well, I have a load of homework, I must go. Bye everybody!!

-Hallie

Oh my. luckstomper you are... quite.... ambitious???? I could never memorize that many numbers! I'm more of a word person. :)
And welcome to lucky duck! you will soon see how carried away we get!!!!!

You guys!!!!
We should start a countdown to April 6th! Whoever blogs on the next day, puts in the next countdown number. You guys in??

32 days!!!!

-Hallie*
(now whoever blogs tomorrow puts in 31 days)

Hi everyone,
I'm kinda new to this. I just stumbled across this!
Wow, we're all really nervous.
Well, anyway I'm from Iowa, the weather yesterday was 62 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So my friends and I went out to pick up litter for three hours straight!!!!!!!!
Mikayla

31 days!!!!!
And hi greengirl/mikayla!
Oh and guys I just realized I made a mistake in my last blog, I wrote "welcome to lucky duck" I meant welcome lucky duck. But you probably knew what I meant.
The snow at my house is melting... almost spring! I hope we all still blog even if other people win, because this is a lot of fun.
Tonight I'm seeing a play called South Pacific. Has anyone ever heard of that. Sorry, I know it's really unrelated to anything... just wondering. Hmmmmm... I don't really have any theories about the princess/goddess/warrior mummy! But I'll think about it. It's an awesome mystery. I remember reding about it in my Dad's national geographic magazine. Anyone else enjoy reading the adult national geographic as well as NG kids? I sure do! I liked the article last year about modern bethlehem, and also that special issue about china. There was a cool one about rickshaw drivers in India. So just saying if you don't already you should check out NG mag for adults!
Wow, this is long!!! But whatever.
Adios fellow explorers!
'''Emma'''

Wow! The weather was awsome in Wisconsin today!!! 60 degrees!! Nearly all the snow is gone too, I hope spring is here to stay!

So.... what else is going on??

Oh, Jon. In my second-to-last entry, I told you that there are "kids" at my school named Jon, But I ment "kid". Just one other Jon. You are so much alike AND close to the same age. It's really funny.

Well, tengo ir como cena. Voy a ecsribir mas tarde. comprendes?? Quien habla espanol? estoy practicando por Peru!! Adios mis amigos!!

31 days!!!!
-Hallie

Hello Everyone!

It was 54 degrees today. All of the snow is melting here too. We have a really long drive way and is a complete mud bog. It is funny to see my dog Missy run through the mud puddles. Tomorrow my family and I are going to tap trees to make maple syrup. It's the weekend and I have NO HOMEWORK!! Whooooooo! :) Thanks guys for welcoming me to the blog.

-Lucky Duck-

Wow. There are so many posts per day! We are all so in to this, it would be sad if NONE of us won the contest. only 31 days left!!!!
(Y)
(.__.)
o(")(")
juju

I feel like all i ever think about these days is Peru. It would be incredible, awesome and indescribable times 5000! I guess even if i don't win, i'll be really happy for whoever did. And i'll be happy that i got a chance to enter this contest. It is so cool that there are so many other kids like me- kids who love to explore everything. Good luck to everyone!!!!!!! today's my little sister's b-day party. 20 little 4 and 5 year olds running around my house... should me awesome:) All my brothers (i've got six....) say that i have no chance of winning, but im so not gonna listen to them. I do have a chance, and so does everyone else!!! Go Peru '09!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN"T WAIT TO FIND OUT WHO GETS TO GO... and wycombestar, i hear South Pacific is a great play, and i love reading the "adult" National Geographic Magazine too ( You're right the China Issue was incredible, and so were the articles you mentioned.)! Oh i just can't wait!!!!!!!!! - Freezing near Boston, although it's starting to get a bit warmer...

i wish i'd known about these blogs a long time ago. I just found out about them a week or two ago. It's so great to see what other kids think about this expedition! It's awesome to think that some of us will be able to go to Peru in late May. Can't wait to find out whose going. And even if we don't win, National Geographic has this incredible program in which high school students can go to different countries like India and explore and broaden their knowledge in different subjects such as photography. So i guess even if i don't get to go to Peru, even though i really, really, really, really want to go, i can always try to raise enough money so that in high school i can go on one of those trips. I love photography, so i'd probably want to go on a trip that incorporates it. i also think that it would be great to go on a service trip to help poor kids. I love helping people, and my brothers went on one to Ecuador, and one to Mexico, and they say that it was one of the greatest experiances of their lives. Wouldn't that be incredible, getting to help people who really suffer a lot, and getting to explore an exotic country? GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everybody, this is Casey from the Australia expedition. I am glad to see that you are all excited about the expedition... I know how you feel! I wish you all the best of luck, except Abbie... just kidding Abbie! To Emma, I have seen South Pacific, too, and it is a really good play.
KEEP ON EXPLORING!!!

tigerrrrrrrrgirl13 in,

I am saving up $7,200 of my money (going to take a loooooooooong time!) to go to borneo with the wwf!! Who thinks I can do it???

This is Nebraskaboy. Jon, you asked me about snow. Just like you mother nature has been cruel to me to! A couple of days ago it was 60 degrees, then it snowed the next day, and now it's POURING! It does snow here though.

Guess what? I just saw some of the most beautiful pictures ever. Just type in "amazon rainforest" in google images and I think there are "42?" pages of pictures of South America. I never really thought about this, but do you think they will give us a tour of the amazon? that would be soooo awesome. Some of the most special and unique species of animals and plants live there. 1/4 of the species of plants on Earth live in the Amazon rainforest. There are so many species of animals living there too, (wait, let me get my encylopedia of animals) including, Jaguarundi, ocelots, Vicuna, guanaco, Boutos (which is a freshwater dolphin), Chinchillas, corucos, jajuars, spider, howler, capuchin, uakari, saki,and titi monkeys,marmosets, tamarins ...(breathe), ...... And hundreds of species of birds and bugs and river otters, not to mention the thousands of species of fish in the Amazon river. Did you know that there are freshwater sponges in theriver like a foot long, and stingrays and electric fish that have a sixth sense where they can use electricity almost like ecolocation?
This is really long but I just had to share some of my inspiration for Peru.

Tigerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgirl13 in,

Ya I read NG for adults, I think NGK is better thou,

Hi everyone! Luckstomper here,

You know what I was just thinking about. Well, it was, you've heard this before if you haven't you know will. So what I was saying that old saying,"Everything happens for a reason." So if you don't win there had to be a reason for it in life. And if you do win then, there has to be something in Peru for you that is going to change your life FOREVER. Not that if you it wont change your life, because it will be the trip of a lifetime. But you know what I mean right?!

Also you how not that long ago I said that every time we get lots of snow melted then Mother Nature just pours all of it back on us. Well you can probably predict whats next. You're right, mostly ALL of our snow is gone! But then I just heard that it's supposed to snow tomorrow, Sunday! Wahhhhhhhhh! Well oh well I'll live.

I other news there is a news there is a new AMAZING RACE tomorrow! YAY! I love that show soooo much! Margie and Luke are still in (that's who I want to win). Who do you to win?
Maybe they will go to Peru this year! Well just a thought!

That's all for now! Byyyyeeeee!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)
P.S. 30 days

Hi fellow explorers,
On Thurseday, my friends and I picked up litter for three hours! We decided to start something called the Greenteam. You could start one in your area, too. Here is some ideas, pick up litter, volunteer, adopt a animal, etc...
Bye,
Greengirl

Hi guys!!!!29 days!
The day before yesterday I found a deer skull! It was in the woods. It even had teeth still in it. Ususlly I find bones but I've never actually found a deer skull.
So.
I checked out some pictures of when my dad was in peru but it was not very fascinating. He didn't go to macchu pichu!It was mainly him just hanging out with friends.
There hasn't been any comments for 2 days now! But I don't think it's cause there isn't anyone commenting it's just because the comments arent going through very fast. But maybe I'm the only one here!!!! MAYBE YOU'VE ALL ABANDONED ME!!!!!
haha, I hope not!
well, I hope the comments get through again... or else no one will even see this... wow that's weird!
'''Emma'''

Yay!!! Just got home from my cello recital. I played "March Opus 5.... something something something...."
He he. It went well. But I was really nervous! CELLO ROCKS!!!!
It is so nice today. About 60 degrees. But yesterday was like 75 degrees! It was so brilliant. Me and my friend went and played in mud!!!! At first we weren't going to get dirty, but then we fell down a mudslide and it was all downhill from there! (Pretend I did not make that incredibly lame joke....)
WELL, bye, can't wait to find out who wins... sigh.
Adios.

Tigerrrrrrrrrrgirl 13 in,

29 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey dudes! Its Ibanez Icy in case you all forgot, (I really need to blog more I guess!)...
Well I can't believe it! Only about 29 days until the calls are made. It's crazy, I can't wait!!!!
Its been pretty mild here, just a few flakes, and rain drops, and sometimes the sun comes out. For my 14th birthday I got a new ipod. It's pretty sweet... anybody else like music?

Good Luck/Congrats

P.S. I'll try to blog more!

28 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amazing!
I am ssssssoooooooooooo nervous all I can think about is Peru none stop!
Bye

Peru Peru Peru Peru. Dudes, I went to the pet store yesterday and got fish and realized that all( or most) the fish were from the amazon!!! I also saw green anoles and lizards that I used to play with when I lived in Hawaii 9 years ago. Again, my Science olympiad competition is in 2 days!!! Lots of Fun!

Hey guys
im not accually smart but my friend who is on here all the time made me sign up!
heyyyyyy geekusmaximuS!!
HAHAHA
anywayss to everyone good luck with the contest but i know who will win ;]

hey everyone ~ pi is round .... not square

Well it's cloudy today but not cold. I have spanish class today. Yay... I think.
Greenteam is a good idea. Maybe me and my friend will try! And "dummerchild101".... who's going to win? Did you enter.? And who said pi was square? Me oh my, you are confusing.
And I am actually quite unsure of what you said in spanish, softballstar21.
A loose translation I did without a book or anything, infact I am doing this off the top of my head so some of it will be wrong... but you said:
Well, I have to go eat dinner. And then something about going and writing.... late or something. Then... Understand???? Who speaks spanish? I am practicing for peru. Goodbye my friends!!
How did I do? I actually wasn't sure what that second sentance was, he he.
Hablo espanol! Muy practicando, mi clase de espanol es dos horas! Mi profesora es muy... mal.
No, actually my teacher is not very bad I just am not sure how to say strict!
Well. Bye. I think I've talked too long now and that is not necessarily a good thing!!!

Hi everyone,
I thought it was 28 days till they anounce the winners not when they call. Maybe I just miss understood. Well that is all for now.
PERU!

Hi guys!

Before I say anything about the contest I wanna just say some things about beaches and how they can attack! While I was reading all the new blogs I was watching a show about how beaches are dangerous. One thing is this current in the water called a riptide which is a small current (really strong) that can beat even the strongest swimmers and ca take you out to sea in a matter of seconds! Another thing is these lice that live in the water! And when you go in your bathing suit acts as a net to catch them and they hate being captured so they sting you which can literally make you scratch your own flesh away! Another thing is bacteria called E. something, salmonella, and something else. And it can live in the sand and making a sand castle you could get infected if you inhale it! Which can make you really sick! Another thing is lightning. Yes lightning if you see lightning do the test where as soon as you see the flash start counting if you get 30 seconds or less get away as fast as you can! Because 5 seconds means the lightning is only 1 mile away! And the most highly place this could happen is Florida! Lastly stingrays and jellyfish! They are highly dangerous (not that you wouldn't know) the worst thing to do if you get stung by a jelly is to grab the jelly off, you should get out immediately and put a remedy on it like mustard, vinegar, etc., and if you get stung by a stingray then get out immediately and put the sting in hot water. That's all no that that was long really.

Anywho I'm celebrating PI DAY on Friday! YAY!! And there is a dance at my school this Friday also. And then next week no this week but next is something called March Madness at my school. Where on Mon. and Wed. there are dodge ball games and who ever is the overall winner goes on to the finals against the other winning team and the teachers! How fun would it be to whip a dodgeball at your teacher LOL! And then on Tues. and Thurs. there are basketball games same thing as the dodgeball games except it's basketball. Except the only thing is if you're not on a team you cant go to the games and cheer people on, you can only go on Friday where there will be snacks and all. Maybe all this will pass all my time away and soon enough the winners will be announced!

Also did anyone watch THE AMAZING RACE last night? I kind of liked Amanda & Kris but I was happy Margie and Luke U-turned them. And I felt bad for Luke when he did the unscrambling the letters for one of the most famous Russian play writers, Chekhov. I reallllllllllly want Margie and Luke to win the whole thing, but because they U-turned Amanda and Kris they might have some enemies now.

Also today it snowed,..........A LOT!!! A whooping 5-8 inches of snow! Why does Mother Nature do this? Why, Why, WHY????? Well I guess I'll just have to live with it. I'll probably have snow when and if I go to Peru! It would be wickedly awesome if I got to meet you guys! And Wycombestar the reason why it seemed like no one was posting was because it was the weekend. It didn't really take me long to figure this out, but the people who normally look and read over all of our posts don't work on the weekend they go home for the weekend. And don't work then on Monday there like a billion more posts. Just by looking at the times when they put up our posts I'm guessing they go home at 5pm. Like this post I'm writing right now. Wont be posted tomorrow. But I could be wrong. Well I think this is long enough and I should end this soon, or like now. So PEACE MY PEEPS OF THE USA! (you're not really mine but you know what I mean.

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)
P.S. 28 days!
P.P.S. Can you tell what my personality is like by my writing? Just wondering.
P.P.P.S. Now this is by far my longest post to this date!

wycombestar!!! You play the cello?????? ME TOO!!!! I love it! Lots of my friends make fun of me for it (stinkin band players) but I think it's awesome! I love the overall sound. I have a concert coming up in like two weeks. How did your recital go? Oh... nice Spanish by the way. You should have said "practico espanol mucho" not "muy" (you said "I practice very Spanish", which doesn't make much sense) That's not a very big mistake though. My teacher's not that great either. He spends more time yelling than he does teaching, but oh well!

Ugh! Mother Nature is playing with us! She gave us 60 degrees over the weekend and now she has let it rain snow and sleet for the last two days!

28 days!!! Wow! Less than a month! We've all waited so long and have stayed loyal to this blog. We ALL deserve to win. Good luck!
-Hallie*

Hi

Has anyone seen a picture of the caterpillar that mimics a tarantula as a self defense? It looks really cool. It just snowed and rained last night and now it's really warm right now. I dont know much spanish except hola. HeHeHe.

<>< (fish)

Bye

Casey, I love it when previous winners come on. We here on this blog refer to you as very *special* peope! (in a good way), you are like all legendary!

wycombestar,
Since you brought up your cello recital, I thought I would tell you about this AWESOME competition we have here in Kansas. I is called Music Memory. You basicly have to memorize 16 classical pieces such as Cello suit no. 1 in G major by bach or Carnaval of the animals: the swans by san sans. It is really coll but alas, I know I sound like a nerd.
~Jayhawker~

Hi Everyone!

It's been practically 6 days since I've blogged! So long! All the info you have been talking about is really cool! It's awesome to learn about other places in the US and what's going on in other explorers' lives. *Geokid/Casey* it's soooooo cool that you came back to blog! That makes 3 Aussie winners who blog after the trip!
*Luckstomper*, I'm glad your not offended. And I feel so bad for you and all the other people who have to shovel out snow. Ugghhhh. Must be hard and tiring. Do you sometimes vision-explore while your shoveling? A.K.A.:exploring by just looking around and not hands-on or up-close.
*Softballstar21*, I never thought of her maybe being some Moche considered goddess. Good thinking! It's cool being able to hear what others think about something. Once you here about different ideas, new ideas start sprouting in your head!
*GeekUsMaximus* thanks for listing all the amazing Amazon animals! By the way, did you know I have a pet chinchilla? Her name is Bashful. Chinchillas are very social, active, soft, gentle, energetic, and nocturnal rodents. They originate in the Andes Mts. in South America and were later brought and bred to other continents. They have long tails that help them balance on things such as tree limbs. Chinchillas have very interesting ways of defense. Like many animals, chinchillas can run/scurry/scamper extremely fast. They can also jump very high, and they always land on their feet. Chinchillas may look very fat, but they actually just have a lot of fur. If a predator such as a rain forest hawk (I forgot the species name) just grabs the fur part (the hawk might not know a chinchilla just looks big because of it's dense fur) of a chinchilla, the chinchilla could release its fur and escape. Some other cool facts about chinchillas are that they don't take baths in water. Instead they roll around in special mountain dust to keep their coat clean and free of moisture and oils. Also, a chinchillas fur is so dense that bugs such as fleas can't live in it. The dense fur suffocates the bugs.
Keep hoping I many of you others get a call from the judges! Good luck! Keep hoping! I really want this contest sooooooooooo bad!!!!!

28 days! LOL :)

27 days!
kassen15- it's ok to sound like a nerd because I very often sound nerdy.
i practiced my recital piece so much i can play it with my eyes closed. I don't usually memorize my music but it was kind of hard not to!
Next year I'm trying out for county orchestra, besides the fact that its a really cool orchestra, they travel around the world! They have been to Switzerland, and other cool places. They take a trip like that every year. It sounds like fun to me.
well well well. I am getting so carried away about cello, i forgot about peru! PERU!!!!!
(not anymore!)
'''Emma'''

Thanks for blogging Casey! It's soo cool when past winners share their time to blog with us.

I sound like a nerd a lot too! So don't ever worry about being geeky. On that note (haha that's a pun if you look where this topic started!) I should add that don't worry if the "cool" kids like you or not, because most kids don't actually think too highly of the "cool" crowd, so why would you want to join it???

Emma, good luck with your audition! It sounds like you really love music and I think that's awesome! I love music too! Do you play any other instruments? if you don't (or anyone else not just Emma) then you can try to experiment! Right now I am teaching myself guitar and harmonica, and I am taking private lessons for Alto Saxophone and Baritone Saxophone (same person teaches both, we can't afford TWO lessons! They are expensive!) and my marching band teacher wants me to learn Bassoon! What an awesome way to explore and I am sooo glad that others feel the same way!

Hey guys there have been more deer tracks in my yard! And I went on another hike the other day and found MORE BEAVER TREES (trees that beavers nawed on) but I also found something very strange. Near the marshy part there were a whole bunch of dead tadpoles. These tadpoles were half-developed and about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide and up to 5 inches long. A couple were alive and swam under the ice, they were a speckeled grayish-greenish color, there were probably close to 100 of them...does anyone have any opinions on this weird happening??

sorry this is soo long!

~Jayme

wycombestar, that is so awesome that you play the cello, because I do too!! I love it! We have a concert next Thursday. In my high school, the orchestra travels to Europe every other year. They've already been to Germany, Austria, and Italy. I wonder where they will go when I am old enough to go with them!!

WOW!!! Only 27 days until the winners are announced!!! AHHH! I am SO nervous! I want this so bad! Everyone has to promise that if they get a call, they will tell us okay??

I had my first dream about Peru last night! I was cool, but at the end of my dream there was this flash and suddenly I couldn't remember anything I had done in Peru. It was so weird. I also forgot how to speak English, so I couldn't understand any of my friends (I'm not sure what language I was speaking)

-Hallie*

Hi everyone,
What kind of things do you do when you are not exploring? I play violin and soccer. I write stories and READ. I am a BOOKWORM!!!!!!!!!!!! PERU, PERU, PERU!!!!
See Ya,
Greengirl

I was taking guitar for a while, but I find it extreemly difficult so I stopped. I should probably try to take it again, because it's pretty lame for me to quit something just because it's hard. I just had such a hard time with some of the chords where you have to stretch your fingers really far!
When I'm not exploring, I read and write. I love to read!!!!
ANYWHO... I like to write too. Yes. Well. Ok.
URRRRGGGHHHH!!!! I am incredibly irritated with my math right now.... some inequality thing. I REALLY HATE MATH!!!!!
Anyway. Go Peru!!!!!!!

When I'm not exploring I'm reading, writing, practicing softball, bike riding, roller blading, or working on an art project. I just got this this new idea for a project last night. It involves all these masks (like from a party store). It's really complex, but it's gonna be really cool. In art class right now, we are building mini sets for a play. Then the writing class will write the play for our set

-Hallie*

wycombestar- I play the flute and acustic guitar. I also play a little piano. Peru makes me so nervous!!! My hands are sweaty and they shake and my heart beats faster!!!! I am a type one diabetic and wondered if there were any other diabetics out there blogging. My spring break is next week, and I CANNOT WAIT!!

~Nellie~
P.S. I thought I would tell you about a really funny pun I thought of this evening. My sister was leaving to go to town and its cold here so I said, "Don't forget a pot, because it's going to be chilly!" Get it like chili?!?!
P.S.S. Sorry, all of my friend will tell you that I have the lamest jokes in the world!

hey everyone!

When I am not exploring I like playing music, going outside, etc. I also love playing with my pets! I have a cat, a lizard and a cockatiel. I used to have a senegal parrot too but he had to be given away =(

At this moment, A-jax (my cockatiel...it is a bird) is amusing himself by peeling the sticky notes off the sticky note pad...it is pretty hilarious!

I also don't like math, I am in Geometry right now, so it's pretty easy because I have a good teacher. I have had pretty bad teachers in the past...one of which chased one kid around with a banana, sang during Iowa testing, and lets us watch the show numbers in class because it is "educational"...I did not learn a thing except for y=mx+b (which equals 2 if it is raining outside.) yeeah. But now math is not so bad!

~Jayme

my dad has gone to Peru, but he's a surgeon so he only stayed there for three days to give a talk. i can't imagine what it would be like to go to Peru and not see anything... if i go( like that will happen) I'm probably going to ask him to be the parent who accompanies me, because he loves visiting foreign countries, especially Spanish speaking ones, and cause it would be impossible for him to handle my siblings by himself. I have a dog by the way. His name is Matteo, and he's a Yorkie... omg he is sooooo cute ( yeah i know i always change the subject randomly)!! i love him. I haven't blogged for like a week,(OK five days) but i've been really busy. I'm in my school musical and tech week's next week AGHHH!!!! i have to stay at school until 8:30 on Wednesday, and all i'll say is im not looking forward to it. Well it's all part of a committment i guess, so i wont complain. Not that much longer to wait i hope... GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Guys and Girls!

25 Days Left!!!!!

OMG. I keep thinking the Nat Geo judges will miss me if I get called to get interviewed.The judges are calling Eastern Standard Time from 2-5 P.M. But since I'm all the way on the California coast I'm in Western Pacific Time. The time difference between Western and Eastern Time is 3 HOURS!!! I don't get off school until 3 P.M. and that is 5 P.M. in Eastern Time. I'm always the first one to get home so no one would get the call. :( I hope they leave a message. That would be a lot easier for me. I don't even have spring break for about another 2 weeks! I REALLY WANT TO WIN THIS TRIP TO PERU SOOOOOOOO BAD!!!!! I hope I can meet you guys on the trip too. Good luck!!!!! I HOPE I WIN!!!!!

Hi everyone what's up. I hope you all had a great day! I know I did!!! Not that much longer until some of us get that call.... we have to keep our hopes up!!
~Monica~ be happy:)

hey guys. I'm so tired. I can't stop thinking about Peru.

If I don't win, I won't really know what to do. Peru has given me something to look forward too, and to hope for. If I don't win, my life will just go back to the way it was. I guess I won't be devastated (because I know someone got the trip of a lifetime), just disappointed that my life is exactly how it was before. No turned corner, no change for the better, just... average. That's one reason I want Peru, or rather, the reason I need it.

My other reasons are that traveling has always been my passion. I want to grow up to explore the whole world and study it's languages and cultures. Peru is an amazingly wonderful way to get a jump-start on my dream. I want to go through life and never stop learning, never stop exploring, and never stop asking questions. When I see something, I don't want to just accept it, I want to learn about it. I have to starting asking "why?" a little bit more, and then, when I am faced with an opportunity, I have to learn to ask "why not?" My biggest fear is to grow up to be a narrow-minded person, who never looks at the whole picture. One of those people who just excepts things and never thinks they're wrong. I WANT to be wrong, thats best way to learn. That's why I want to travel, because it's one of the best ways to look at the whole picture. Those are my reasons, what are yours?

-H.M.*

Hey Everyone!

The days are winding down. Only 24 more days until the winners are announced!

Good luck! Keep hoping for that call (preferably the one that says you won, but the call for getting interviewed works too! for now that is)! Remember to be calm when you talk to the judges even though you will probably just be really excited about being a finalist. I really, Really, REALLY want to be one of the lucky 15 Grand Prize Winners who win the 2009 National Geographic Hands-On Explorer Challenge Contest to Peru!!!!!

Hey guys!

Guess what?! I had the best night/day of my life yesterday! The reason why is because one yesterday was PI day for our school! And oh ya, you know how I proved to you that I memorized 100 digits of PI and there was a contest on PI day to see who memorized the most numbers of PI well,.......I WON!!!!! They gave us our own mini pie too, I wanted to get apple, but someone took the last one! So I got pineapple! It was soooo good, and the way our teacher had us pick our pies is she stood at the door and had a box right after lunch and we would take a number, and then she said we were going backwards, and guess what number I was?! NUMBER 3!!!!! So I was practically last! :( And another reason why this was the best night was that it was our March Madness Kickoff Dance! And it was by far the best dance yet! I was soooo close of getting the girl I like but was to nervous to ask her, and people were trying to get her to dance with me but I don't really think they ever did. And finally the last reason why this was the best night was because I finally had a DREAM ABOUT WINNING! It went like this......So I was called by the judges to go this place (don't know what it was called) on Saturday. So I did, and when I got there(I was alone, I mean like no parent) they greeted me and brought me inside. Inside there was this hill in the back with inclined ramps with steps on them and right below the steps there were numbers (1-5) there were 5 ramps (makes sense 'cause there are 25 finalists) And there was 1 BIG step at the top of the hill that had number 1 on it. Then on the left there was this pond with nine ducks in it, there was also stairs going up the wall to the top of the hill. In front of the stairs there were large cylinders. Then on the right well i didn't see the right side. So when everyone got there they started. At first they started asking us random knowledge questions. And I answered a lot of them! Then they asked us what do you think the inclines are for? I answered that and said," Well if you're put on one you have a better chance of getting in than someone who is on five." And then they said yes, and the big step was for the person who the best chance of winning than ANYONE else. After that the lady told us what the ducks were called but I forget now, and then told us to go up the stairs to the hill. Those stairs were slippery (I fell a few times LOL) But when we got up there they told us to get back down (don't know why). When we got down they told us to get into these 25 large boxes. And then one by one they took someone out and blindfolded them and put them in either room A or B. Then took us out once everyone was in the rooms, and put us in lines A or B based on what room we were in. Still blindfolded, we couldn't see anything. Then they said take of your blindfolds in 1...2....3!!!! And then they said said quickly, LINE A IS GOING TO PERU! And I was in line A!!!! Then I woke up well that's it for now! PEACE MY PEOPLES OF THE WORLD!!!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)
P.S. 23 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's pi day Luckstomper! Yay, it was actually my algebra teacher who brought it up, we watched a movie instead of going over our homework so I guess it was fun, we don't celebrate like your shool does though.
Guess what, I know i've mentioned it a couple of times already but I'm really excited! On wednesday, our school had it's Science Olympiad competion with (32?) other schools in the region and placed 1st for the first time in history!!!! As an idividual I had 3 subjects to compete in, anatomy, ecology and bioprocess, in which I got two gold metals and one silver! (I hope you don't think I'm bragging, I'm just pumped!) You guys should get into this if you aren't already, it looks really good on collage transcripts besides the fact that it is really fun. Also about what you were talking about a few days ago, it's okay to be a geek or a nerd or a dork, like i always say, Gates was one too, look where he's at. Hence my name, no offence to anyone when I say Geek "US" maximus.
P.s. don't forget to celebrate pi day at 1:59 pm, even though this won't be up by then. Sorry this is so long. PERU!!!!!

Right now I am incredibly nervous because I have an audition for a play, and I have to sing and I have a cold so my voice is messed up, and i can't really sing all that well in the first place.... sigh, if there were anything that I wish I could do it is sing. When it comes to abilities, I mean. Well. At least I can write. SINGING CANT GET ME TO PERU CAN IT???? NO I DID NOT THINK SO.
sorry. :) just a little anger fit.
24 days!!!!

hey guys!
Its interesting how many of us play guitar! I too play guitar, and a little keyboard...
I also: skateboard, play basketball, read, write a bit, listen to music, and hang with friends. WOW that's a long list!

I really hope I win this trip, it would be so cool to go to another country, not to mention seeing the crazy animals that live there! Plus, it would be rabid to go on a plane! If you've never been on one, it would be one more cool thing you get to do, even if it isn't as cool as everything else!

Peru Peru Peru People!

I'm freakin' out about this, dude!!! I even wrote a song about!! Here it is...
I wanna go to Peru... I want to go to Peru... I want to eat some of their food... I want to eat even more of their foooooooo-oo-ood... Yeah... I'm pretty hungry, and I guess I'm ready... If I don't win... i think I'll swallow my bed.... YEAH MY BEEEEEEEED!!! YEAH.... MY BEDDDDD!!!!!!!!! YOW!!!
Thank you. I plan to write more songs. Till, then I'm gonna keep eatin' my waffles. I like food.

Only 24 days!!!

It has gone so quickly, but it still isn't moving fast enough. I want that call more than anything (I already told you why). If anyone gets a call, they promise to tell us about it right?? Good luck to everyone. I know one of us will get it, I just wish I knew who. Again, good luck to all!

-Hallie*

Only 23 days left everyone! Keep hoping for that/those call(s). I want to win this contest and trip to Peru soooooooooo bad! Good luck!

23 days.
Well I just wanted to point out that we are half way through the month of march. sigh that does not make me happy.

What's happening people!

22 days left and I guess none of us have gotten an interview call yet. Keep hoping you'll get that call and end up winning! Maybe the judges are still reading and deciding on the entries. I commented for the 23rd day countdown but I guess it isn't up yet. OH well.

I really hope my entry got there in time. If you read this original post be the NG Kids Team it said no new entries were going to be accepted, but it was posted on February 9! I really hope NG either accepted all entries received by February 12, or I hope they received my entry by Feb. 9 or whenever they stopped accepting entries. I know my entry had the right postmark date though. I really hope they received, accepted, and really liked my entry. Good luck to everyone else. I REALLY WANT TO WIN THIS CONTEST, CAMERA, TRIP TO PERU, AND EXPERIENCE SSSSSOOOOO MUCH!!!!!

Hi everyone!

I want to point out one thing. We are almost at 200 posts! Thats pathetic! That's how obsessed we all are with this contest! But what the heck! I'm supposed to be doing my homework right now, but I'm not. And right now in school we are learning about Ancient Greece (or Hellas) and our teacher divided us into 5 groups and gaves us each an ancient greece city-state name! I'm Athens. And when ever we do a test or project we add all of our grades together and we get an over all score and at the end of each phase (7 phases) we add all of our overall scores together and get an overall overall score and last phase my group won and this phase we are winning by a lot! Well I just thought I would let you know!

Oh ya! I had ANOTHER dream! Here is how it went. It's really weird. So all the people who won went to this huge meeting. And we were allowed to wonder around the place. And while I was wondering around I found this room. And inside there was a whiteboard and on that board there were names of the winners and so I looked at it and I didn't see my name I was very disapointed. Bu then I looked very close. My name was written very small at the very end of the list. I was sooooooooooo happy! Sadly I forget what happened to me next but hey I basically had two dreams in a row. Well by i gotta start to do my homework before my mom who will be home any second so by! PEACE OUT!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Woah, luckstomper/jon, that was REALLY long!!!! But it sounds like you had a great time!
20 days left... YIKES!
I really want to go to Peru.

Hi, I'm kinda new to this whole thing. BUT I REALLY WANT TO GO TO PERU!! sure hope mines good enough!!

In my History class, we are studying the establishment of the Constitution as well has Congress and the branches of government. It's not my favorite subject because it has very little to do with history. We did ancient history in 6th grade. That was my favorite because we studied ancient Greece, Egypt, Italy, and China. Ancient history is my passion, I want to be an archaeologist when I grow up. Thats why seeing Machu Picchu would be a dream come true for me.

20 days left!!! We should start getting calls any day now. Oh my gosh!! Thats such a scary/exciting thought!

-Hallie*

Ugh. I'm getting so impatient. The suspense is killing me. I wish they would just announce the winners already. Even if I don't win, at least I would KNOW I'm not going to Peru. Thats what I hate the most: not knowing. But I must be patient!

-Hallie*

I'm so nervous they have already called the winners. I hope not!!!!!!! It would be cool if they just tell you who's in the top 20.

Hi everyone! Luckstomper here,

Flowers225 just to clear some stuff up for you, they don't call the 15 winners. they call the top 25. And they don't call anyone until April. Just thought I would to tell you!

Today I had DRAMA after school. We're doing I Never Saw Another Butterfly. It's all about the Holocaust with the Nazis
and the Jews. If you're a sixth grader and you get in one of our school competion. YOU ARE SOOOO LUCKY! And I'm a sixth grader and I'm in it for sure. I found out today. Well gotta go eat dinner now BYE!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

It was so nice here in Milwaukee today!! 70 degrees!! My mom, sister, neighbor and I all went out for ice cream. I hope it stays this nice! Yeah spring!!

-Hallie*

Hi Everyone! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Only 20 more days until they announce the winners. I'm getting a little more nervous everyday. I really hope I get the call for the interview, and then I hope I get the call saying I've won. I really want to win like everyone else. I want to win this contest/trip sooooo bad!!!!! Good luck!
My grade celebrated Pi Day too. We got the winners today and I came in 2nd with 178 digits memorized! Woo-hoo. I hope everyone had a great Pi Day! We had no school on Monday (yeah!) so we didn't get the results until today. As a prize the other winners and I got a yummy piece of apple or cherry pie. I had apple with cinnamon sprinkles. Yum!
Keep hoping for those calls (one for interview and one for finding out you've won)!!! I really want to win the 2009 Nat. Geo Hands-On Explorer Challenge!!!!!

Hi everyone! Luckstomper here,

I can't write long cause my bus comes in like 7 minutes. So here it goes. Well I just wanted to tell you that SPRING starts on Friday believe it or not! And well that's about it really! Only 19 days!!!!!! OMG!!!!! Well PEACE OUT MY PEEPS!!!

~~~~JON~~~~
(luckstomper)

Hi,this is my first time writing an essay i didn't even know there was a blog!

Welcome to the blog luckystar101!