I love you very much!” said Grandpa Albert in a weak voice. Those were the last words that he said to me. He was tired and fell asleep, as I wept by my grandpa’s hospital bed. My Grandma gave me a hug to comfort me.

My Grandpa Albert was the kindest person I know. He helped take care of me since I was a baby and took me to pre-school. We spent time together every week. I loved going downtown with him on the skytrain. (Expo line not Canada line) We would have drinks at Starbucks. Grandpa was always very thoughtful, as he always bought me my favorite, delicious foods like noodles and pork sausages. Some of my best memories with Grandpa was when we went on a trip to the Caribbean. We went swimming, explored the cruise ship and ate a lot of ice cream!

Then one day, when I went to Grandpa’s house, he was in bed all day and Grandma told he was very tired. I sat next to him on the bed, not knowing something was wrong. We went about our usual routine there. He even got up to say goodbye to me before I left. I didn’t think this would be the last goodbye at his house. Later that evening, he went to the hospital.

The evening before my Grandpa passed away, my parents brought me to the hospital to visit him. Tearfully, I told Grandpa how much I loved him and said my last goodbyes. He left the next day. My mom told me he was on his way to heaven and that he will always love me.

Whenever I go to my grandparent’s house, I look around and only my Grandma is there. It makes me feel very sad, like something was missing. I cried everyday thinking of him passing away. Albert was the best grandpa in the world. I know I won’t see him again, but he will be in my memory and in my heart for always.

Have you ever gone hiking on Lake Agnes trail? I was there this summer! At first, my brother Tom came with us, but then after a little while, he thought it was too tiring and went back to our hotel. I thought it was tiring too, but wanted to keep going.

The cool breeze swept through my body as I walked through the forest. There were a lot of other people coming and going, so we had to give them space. I was with my mom and dad. As I walked along the trail, I could hear the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, and the birds chirping gently. I could see the beautiful forest and I could sense the sweet smell of nature.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of rushing water. “It means we’re close to the stream,” my mom said. Then we saw a stream right in front of us. To cross the stream we had to leap over it. I got my feet a little bit wet, but I didn't care.

As we walked along, we saw a line of horses, their riders, and a long trail of horse poop. We walked right past them and I noticed that the air was very stinky. Then I saw it was a big clump of horse poop! I ignored it, but then noticed a lot more clumps of poop. It was everywhere! Ewwwww! I pugged my nose until we were past the poop.

We walked a long way. At Last! The beautiful Agnes lake was right in front of me! But the big lake wasn't the most exciting part… Right along the pathway, there was a huge pile of snow. There was snow! I was too exhausted to get too excited. I lay down on the ice cold snow and made some tiny snowballs. Soon, we had to go back to our hotel. I tried to take a tiny snowball all the way back, but it soon melted. “Oh well,” thought I. “I guess I’ll have to tell Tom all about it. I can't wait!”

Sisters Are Sparklin’… Not!!!

Boy, you won’t want to have a big sister like mine ’cause I’m gonna tell you why.

A few reasons why me and my sister DO NOT get along :

My sister and I argue because I’m annoying and because we don’t like each other much.

We always fight for our toys.

We have fights (I always start them, “Mwa ha ha ha”), sometimes we don’t talk for days.

I kick, punch, bite, and slap my sister and she kicks, punches, and slaps me back.

There’s something my teacher Mr. Hirsch doesn't understand about my relationship with my sister. That’s because in class once he had a “vision”, he closed his eyes and said “Wait…. Elisa and Reina are probably thirty-nine and they are holding hands singing ``I love my sister, she is so funny and she is my best friend-``''AM NOOOT!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, Mr. Hirsch suddenly opened his eyes, jumped and said “Woah, wait I’m in the classroom, where is that grassy meadow full of cherry blossom trees and flowers and Elisa and Reina, huh?”

I wish my sister would disappear or I could be the big sister or at least have a brother.

What a messed up life. I wonder what it’d be like if things were different?

If I were the big sister, I would be taller, smaller, have a bigger bedroom, and have computers, iPad, and iPhones.

If I had a little brother, my mom would be busy with him all day, so I would have free time every day. Also, when my baby brother was older, he would go to my school and I would get to see him all year.

If I had no siblings, my parents would pay attention to me and no one else. I also wouldn’t receive those annoying “sister corrections.” One time, I was writing, and I wrote ‘someone else’ and she said, “Elisa! You wrote ‘someone else’ wrong!” And I was like, “Yeah, yeah.”

Fortunately, when I’m bored, we can play Lego together. I guess it’s a teeny-tiny bit okay having a sister.

Chapter 1

When I was 6 years old, I was scared of swimming in the ocean, because I would always sink. I couldn't hold my breath and I was afraid that I would drown. One day when I was eating lunch at home, my mom came and asked me a question. “Ivan, do you want to learn how to swim to be safe in the ocean?” I carefully thought for a moment. At first I thought NO, because sharks would try and eat me. Then I realized, if I learned to swim, I could be safe in the water. I would learn how to hold my breath, how to float and swim away from the sharks. “Of course, I want to go!” I said. Mom smiled at me, “I know that you can be as fast as anyone else.” “I know I can be better than ANYONE else” I hoped.

Chapter 2

After school on Wednesday, mom drove me to Wayland Sports Centre. When I first came there I was afraid that I would sink, because I didn’t know how deep the pool was. I tried holding my breath underwater for three seconds. I was doing well. I was getting better so I tried my best. I held my head underwater for five more seconds. Each time I held my head underwater I became stronger. After two weeks I leveled up and the moves got harder for me. My hard work paid off. “Wow you are doing well Ivan,” the coach complimented me. I am not afraid of the ocean now. I began to like swimming. When I grow up, I want to be as good as Michael Phelps.

The day I got Kiko was the most important and happiest day of my life because when she was that little, she was sooooo cute! She was tiny. She was as tall as a laptop screen and as wide as two thick books stacked together. Her eyes were big and black, and she had a tiny black nose, with her little tongue sticking out. She was adorable! It was difficult to choose her name because it took a week to decide! My sisters, Catherine and Victoria, and I had to go on a lot of different websites to search up girl names for dogs. We even looked up girl names for babies! We chose Kiko because it is a cute name, which means “be happy and joy,” and it’s from a show we watch called Winx. It was the most important day of my life because I had waited ten weeks to get her. She was in a doggy bag, so I couldn’t see her at first. So, I had to wait for a while until I could see her. When the bag was opened, she stood up and stared up at me with her big black eyes. I was like, “Stop staring at me you cute, little, adorable dog!” I think she was the most delightful dog I’ve ever seen and I was overjoyed.