I was doing some cleaning today and found a book my son wrote last year. His english class had the opportunity to write a book about themselves. The school sent their work in to have them bound in a hardback cover. It was a great project that will preserve memories for years to come. I just want to share a couple of his pages with you. A little side note: I find it ironic that their books were published in the same town that my kids were all born in. Anyhow, he titled his book "Army In Paradise".
The Military
I think the military is a good thing and a bad thing. There are many different things about the military that I like and don't like. I'll start with what I don't like.
I don't like my dad leaving every other year and him being gone for a long time. When he leaves he goes to Iraq and that's not a very safe place. My dad is also always at work and sometimes he has to work twenty four hours straight. When he does that he stays at his company's barracks and comes home the next day and sleeps all day.
I like that the military keeps our country safe. They give my dad a paycheck so we can get food. They gave us a house. I also get to move a lot so I get to see new places. Such as me living in Hawaii.
The military is kind of cool. I like moving around to different places but I don't like that I have to leave all my friends. I think living in Hawaii is awesome though so I'm not complaining.
The worst thing about the military is deployment. When my dad has to leave for a year I don't like it. But when he comes back everybody is happy again. He used to go and not be able to come home on R&R but now he does. When everyone asks me if I want to be in the military when I get older I say no. I don't want to be in the military.
My grandpa is in the military too. He's in the Air Force. He's been in the military for a long time. He doesn't fly planes but it's still cool.
Hawaii
I think Hawaii is awesome. I love to go to the beach and I get to skateboard all the time. North Shore is fun because they have big waves in the winter and Haleiwa is a fun place. The best shave ice is there at Matsumoto's. I always get cherry, apple, and raspberry with snow cap. Snow cap is condensed milk.
I've been to a lot of places on Oahu so I'll tell you a little bit about them. The Pali lookout is awesome. It's on a cliff and there's a very long drop if you look over the edge. It's also very windy. So windy that it took my hat off and blew it all the way back to the parking lot.
Then there's the Punchbowl Cemetery. It's a giant cemetery for people in the military who died. There is a giant building with a statue of a woman on it. There is also a memorial that has the names of all the people who died on it.
Pearl Harbor was a cool place to me. The Arizona Memorial was really cool. You could see the Arizona under you and there were cool fish swimming around in it. There was still oil leaking out of the ship. It is still leaking after being sunk in 1941. It's got a wall in the back with all the names of the people who were on the ship when it sunk. There are almost two thousand names.
In Waikiki there are a lot of things to do. I went there and walked around. There are a lot of shops and malls. Waikiki is my favorite beach too. I go there a lot with my mom and dad's friends. My second favorite thing to do is going to Waikiki at night. There are always people on the streets doing different stuff. There are always mimes and people who draw your face. But sometimes there are more things like beat boxer's or magicians.
