Jacob won a prize in a colouring competition.

The prize was a trip to school in a Rally Car.

Patrick Malley the Rally Car driver drove Jacob to Elm Park School. Patrick made the car noisy, everyone stopping to look at Jacob. Jacob loved his ride it was cool.

All the children got to look in the car at school.

Sam was lucky to sit in the car too. He enjoyed this.

Repco who sponsored the competition gave Jacob $200 for Elm Park School.

Everybody wished Patrick Good luck in his racing.

They went to Disneyland.

They met Mickey Mouse and Goofy.

It was fun riding in the car with Goofy.

Selena decided to take Sam for a ride in a little car.

They liked Disneyland.

Selena enjoyed dressing p in her Mickey Mouse ears.

They got very tired but they had a great time.

Hope you are ready for the race for life…get your running shoes on.

Claire

Sam and the family flew to Christchurch which is in the South Island of New Zealand. Then they drove around the beautiful South Island in a camper van. Here they are inside the camper van, Sam is meeting a new friend, one of Hannah’s teddies. Hannah has her colourful jersey on as it is getting cold in New Zealand now.

It was autumn and all the trees were beautiful colours.

On the west Coast Sam went on a helicopter ride to visit the Tasman Glacier. It was very scary, but the glacier was very beautiful.

In Kaikoura on the east coast, Sam went Whale watching with Hannah’s Dad and her big brother Campbell. The boat was very fast. He wasn’t keen to swim with the dolphins though as he doesn’t like getting his fur wet.

You can see Sam enjoyed whale spotting, but he decided to stay safely on the boat as they were very, very big.

Unfortuately this was to be Sam’s last holiday with Hannah as his special friend Hannah died on May 12, just a week short of her sixth birthday.

Sam and all Hannah’s classmates and friends at Elm Park School will miss her.

Jose-Philippines will now be part of the MinLand team in delivering children’s books to remote communities and poor children in the Philippines.

Jose promises to send photos of his activities in the Philippines.

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The San Jose Episcopal Day School has been donating Children’s Books and other learning materials to Move On Philippines for the benefit of poor children in remote, poverty stricken and conflict affected areas in the Philippines. Mindanao Land Foundation is Move On Philippines’ partner in the Philippines.

The next morning Ella’s Mummy (or Mommy) woke me up early and gave me a Jumper (or Sweater) to wear for School Uniform. The children at Ella’s School Heritage House have to wear a uniform.

Ella was feeling better and ready to show me her School and her friends. We rode on her special bus. I sat on her lap as she sits in a chair with wheels. Ella can’t use her muscles to walk very well. It was good fun sitting on her lap as she gave me lots of hugs. I told her that her aunt in Jacksonville had asked me to send her lots of hugs and kisses!

Ella showed me this special chair. It tilts back so that you can sleep in it if you want to.

It was time to go swimming! I thought it would be too cold for me as I am so used to hot weather in Jacksonville so I was asked to be the life guard.

I could tell that Ella loves to swim. When Ella likes something she will lift her eyebrows up. Ella doesn’t talk like I do she has her own special language. She smiles with her eyes.

I was given a drink in a really cool cup. It was very easy to drink up that yummy juice. I didn’t spill any of it.

I played with all of Ella’s friends and we all had a turn with this bubble machine. The best part was about to happen.

Happy Birthday Ella! I was so glad to be invited to Ella’s ninth Birthday party at school.

Ella had nine candles. We all sang Happy Birthday. It was the same tune and I knew all the words. The cake was a delicious Chocolate Cake. I had to have a second piece!
After cake Ella played with the sensory toys. She loves feathers.

As the weather was so nice we went outside in the pretty garden to have water play. I loved sitting on Ella’s lap as she kept giving me hugs. I think she liked me being with her on her Birthday. I will go back for a visit when I go back to England. Ella’s teachers are very kind.

My name is Peppa and I am very excited to be joining all the Teddy Bears around the world! I belong to a little girl named Mozart who is traveling around the world, so I am seeing lots of fun places.

She turned 7 this past fall when she was in Austria. Guess where she found me? In Vienna, Austria at the oldest zoo in the world! Mozart loves Panda bears and there was a new baby panda at the zoo which she really liked. You can see pictures here. She could not take that baby home with her, but when she saw me in the gift shop, it was love at first sight!

I will share more about our travels to many countries later, but right now we are in Spain, so let me tell you about our life here. Do you see the RV in my picture? That is our home in the spring, summer and fall! When it starts getting to cold and rainy in Europe late in the fall, we head to the deep southern part of Spain called Andalusia because it is one of the sunniest, warmest, happiest places on earth.

We live in a village house in a tiny white village located between Malaga and Granada. This is Mozart’s second winter here, so she knows all the kids. She is bilingual in Spanish and English. She homeschools in English all year long, but when she is in Spain she goes to the local school where the teachers do not speak any English. Most of the other kids only speak Spanish, but a few are from other countries, so speak other languages, including a few from the UK who speak English.

Other wise the children learn most of the same things that you do. They like to play and jump rope at recess. They like to take field trips. They like to learn about everything and have fun. Here is a picture of Mozart’s class.

Mozart plays the violin and the piano after school. She practices the violin before school and walks to the other side of the village with her mom or dad on Thursdays for her lesson. On Tuesdays she takes a piano lesson from her teacher who lives far away in Chicago. He teaches her over the computer with skype. Mozart also uses her laptop to see and talk to her Grandma and friends in California via webcam free calls. Here is a video of Mozart playing her violin in many of the countries she has visited:
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Andalusia is famous for a very ancient dance called flamenco. Mozart loves flamenco and she gets to wear high heels and a fancy dress. She does flamenco lessons on Monday and Wednesday and also walks to her lessons for that with one of her parents. This is a video of her doing flamenco at a performance last year.

Andalusia is also famous for it’s festivals. There are many exciting festivals and Mozart and I love them. Here are two videos showing the two different festivals. The first one is

Thank you all so much

From Eddy in Bideford Devon England

I was an honor to be present at the wedding of Lisa and Neil on February 9, 2008. I looked so handsome dressed in my tux. Lisa  asked me to greet the guests as they arrived for the ceremony. I joyously sat on the sign in table and watched as each guest lit a candle and wrote a wish for the bride and groom. I  met so many new friends that Saturday morning. I even dusted off my dancing shoes and had fun dancing to the latest tunes with Emily and Mary. While every one was dancing and having a good time I couldn’t resist tasting a piece of the wedding cake. Cheese cake with fresh strawberries, my favorite! It was nice to be included in such a memorable occasion.