Quaranteened

Man, it has been a long time since I blogged. Happy New Year! By the way it’s 2021 and the world is in total shambles. I cannot believe that it has been almost one year of Covid. So as a way to feel better, I decided to continue doing my old blog “What’s Up, Dock” for fun.

Even though I have been on a big hiatus, I can’t wait to write stories about what I find interesting every day. I was so busy that I had to take most of the year off. Last year was really bad in some ways but really good in some ways. Even though we were in lockdown and I have been in virtual school, I managed to still get good grades. I was also in three virtual productions and got to make friends via Zoom. The productions I got to be involved with were an Edgar Allen Poe anthology called "Shuddersome" with NCT, and "Quranteened" and "Stories" with Theater Bug. "Quranteened" (pictured) actually got in a few film festivals.  Acting is something I am really into and I can’t wait to get back to do some cool auditions in person. I could be the new Leonodo Decaprio for pete’s sake.  Ha Ha Ha! 

Though I am happy, America is still kind of in a rough spot right now. We are still divided about the results of the presidential election and don’t have a  handle on the pandemic. To add to this mess, my hometown had a really horrible year too. Our friend Grimey’s music venue was damaged by the tornado.  Downtown Nashville is messed up due to the bombing from Anthony Warner, the man who died while blowing up Second Avenue. Despite this, I am still doing fun, safe activities like distancing with my grandfather and going to Cheekwood to see the lights. 

I really hope that all of you have a good start to this new year. Wear a mask, distance and be safe, and I hope that we can have a huge party without masks to celebrate it being better later this year!

Being Qurantined

What is up with the Coronavirus, are we living in an alternate reality? In a weird way, It
is kind of like I was preparing for this staying at home thing for a while. In the fifth grade,
 I got diagnosed with something called PANDAS and I am not talking about the cute little bears. PANDAS is a misguided autoimmune response that makes some kids not feel or act like
themselves when they are exposed to an illness like strep and can cause anxiety about school.
 Even though I think I am growing out of it and feeling a lot better now, I decided to be
 "homebound" for my freshman year of high school. Doing my school work from home is more relaxing for me and in some ways, it is working out really good because I am getting all A’s. But, I haven’t been able to do some activities like being with kids my age at school or being in school plays like when I was in “Annie” in middle school. I was planning for this spring
to be my big comeback for being social but then the Coronavirus came in and ruined my plan. I have
already been spending some whole days at home so, like I said, I have been practicing this
home thing for a while. Ironically, this quarantine is a chance for us kids who are stuck
at home to connect online, like through Zoom or Facetime or whatever because we are all in the same boat and we are all in this together.

What is the greatest Disney Remake?

Disney has been killing it in the box office, with its remakes of classics like The Lion King and Aladdin making over 1 billion dollars. So, I thought it would be fun to review every Disney live action remake (not including Glen Close's 100 and One Dalmatians and the 1994 Jungle Book) and see which one is the best.

Let's see our Nominees:

Alice in Wonderland

(Even though it acts as a sequel to the original 1951 film)

Maleficent

(AKA the Wicked of Disney Remakes)

Cinderella

The Jungle Book

Beauty and the Beast

Dumbo

Aladdin

The Lion King

Notes:

• I didn't choose Christopher Robin because it is a part of the timeline to the other Winnie the Pooh films.
• Pete's Dragon was originally a Live action/Animated film. I'm reviewing all films that were all animated. That's the same reason why I'm not putting Marry Poppins Returns on the list because it is a sequel and is not totally animated.

8) Dumbo- This is only because I haven't seen this movie

7) Aladdin- I don't like the movie's tone because I cherish the original Aladdin so much 

6) Alice in Wonderland- Good film, still it's a little dark
5) Maleficent- This film has the same flaws as Alice in Wonderland

4) The Lion King- This film is so epic, I still see some flaws like the expressions of the characters and the shortened Be Prepared.

3)  Cinderella- Great Remake because of the performances, set design and the deeper connection between Cinderella and the prince.

2) Beauty And The Beast- I love this retelling of this timeless classic

1) Jungle Book- Action packed and awesome.

So, when you need to think about a perfect Disney remake, think of the 2016 Jungle Book film.

My Gatlinburg trip

I went to Gatlinburg last weekend, and I had a whole lot of fun there. We went to the Smoky Mountains to celebrate my eighth grade graduation.  Our trip was originally scheduled for Memorial Day weekend but most of the cabins were already sold out. That was okay for me because I went to a waterfall with my friend Foley instead. Anyway, we left on the Thursday of that week to begin our fun adventure in Gatlinburg with my dog Daisy. It took 4 hours to drive there, as the cabin we stayed in was in the far east of Tennessee.  When we went to the cabin I was in shock because there was a beautiful game room upstairs and a hot tub on the balcony. The game room featured pool, air hockey and an old arcade machine featuring vintage video games like Donkey Kong. That same Thursday night, Mom and Dad took me out on the Gatlinburg strip. I saw Blake's Shelton's restaurant Ole Red there, which sister location in Nashville I been to. I ate at Mellow Mushroom and just walked around the strip. The Next night, I went to the new Dolly Parton dinner show, Pirates Voyage, near the Island at Pigeon Forge. It was exciting and the food was delicious.  There were great acrobatic tricks like in Cirque Du Soleile and spectacular special effects coming out of the water. I got a cool pirate souvenir cup also, when I ordered a non-alcholic cocktail.
The next day was my Dollywood day, as it's a thing people traveling to Gatlinburg usually do.  A new land called Wildwood Grove has just opened and features attractions including the dragonflier, a suspended roller coaster. I was a little afraid and I didn't do that one. My favorite rides there were the Thunderhead (voted one of the ten best wooden roller coasters in the country) and the log flume. I just read that Dolly Parton doesn't go on any of her rides at the theme par. I don't blame her but I conquered my fears and rode rides that I was afraid of.      

You should really check out the new attractions at Dollywood!            

Movie Villain Fights: Maleficent VS Hela from Thor Ragnarock

Today we're gonna compare two mistresses of evil: Maleficent VS Hela. They are both very similar and are some of the darkest female antagonist of all time. (Sorry Proxima Midnight).  Lets now battle them head to head to see who is the better villain, as the first installment of my Movie Villain Fight Series



  Villain #1: Maleficent

         
Home: Forbiden Mountain

Pets: Diablo (raven)

Minions: Goons

Children: Lilith Page (Once Upon a Time)

Killer: Prince Phillip

Species: Dark Fairy

Love Instrest: King Stefan (formerly)

Abilites: Able to cast Magic spells, Shapeshifting into a fire breathing Dragon

Voice: Eleanor Audley

Portrayed by: Angelina Jolie
                                   

           

     















 Villain #2: Hela

Powers: Able to conjur weapons from thin air; can destroy power weapons like Mjolnir

Homeland: Asgard

Family: Odin (father), Thor (half-brother), Loki (adopted half brother), Mother (Unknown)

Place of Banishment: Hell

Job Titles: General of Odin (formally), Godess of Death

Killed: All of the Valkires except the woman who became Scrapper 142 on Sakaar, the Warriors Three

Pet: Fenris

Killer: Surtur

Featured in: Thor: Ragnarock

Played by: Cate Blanchett



Conclusion: Hela is a better villain because she is more powerful.

My Current Year

Hey Guys, I've had quite a year so far. First, I went on Spring Break to go to Florida (Orlando and West Palm Beach. It was super fun and exciting for me. I saw my grandmother and more family in West Palm Beach.) I went to Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando. During that portion of the trip, we stayed at the B-resort, a hotel located close to Disney Springs. (on Disney World property). There was a cool star wars VR experience at Disney Springs, so me and Dad checked that out.  I went to Miami, also. There we ate at this authentic cuban restaurant, which kid of reminded me of Waffle House. I really want to go check out Miami again, because I only got to walk around South Beach. (Maybe during another cruise?)
 I also went to a lake house in Tennessee recently, thanks to Mom's friend Erin for inviting us. We spent about 1 hour on the lake (center hill lake). There is also a hiking trail about 15 mins from the house, so me and mom gave it a try. We almost got lost also, from there being no other human beings on the trail.I am excited about some things this year including my middle school graduation, a trip to New Jersey and more. I will make blogs about it this summer.

Dock

Happy 2019!

I had a great New Years! First off, my dad was out of town-he was in Vegas, so I had five days as the "man of the house". We hung out with some friends, boardgames and dinner with friends and hikes. I went record shopping with my mom for my new record player that I got for Christmas. I got to check out all the cool record stores like Grimey's, Third Man Records and McCays. I also went to the "world famous" Bluebird Cafe with my mom and G-Bob to my "Uncle" Don Henry's songwriter round for his birthday. It was my first time to go which was a big deal. Mom sang one of her songs that she wrote with Don which was amazing. I behaved so well when I was there, since the Bluebird is a listening room and their motto is "Shhhhh"!
On New Years we (me, mom and G-Bob) went out to dinner at a fancy place near downtown (in the "Gulch") called Sambuca. It was cool because they sat us at a fancy booth near live music. There was a jazz/blues band. We had four courses. My dinner there was a lobster bisque soup, bleu cheese salad, steak and shrimp and a desert sampler platter. I personally think that Sambuca is an awesome place to go for New Years Eve.  Afterwards we went to my grandfather's house where we played my first boardgames of the year, Facts And Five, and watched the New Years celebrations and spent the night because it was so late. Our dog, Daisy, stayed there too.
I really started the New Year off with a bang. I will blog much more this year. My resolution is to just be very happy. And I hope you have a good new year too!

Gaylord Opryland- birthday/travel blog

Hello, My name is Braddock Havey and my family took a trip to Gaylord Opryland in Nashville. We got there at about 12:30 because we weren't in a huge rush to go to the Hotel. It was my 14th birthday/X-mas gift! I went there because there is a new water park that opened there called Soundwaves. I took a friend named Foley there too. Our room was in the Garden Observatory which is a lovely atrium. It's a lovely view at night because there were beautiful lights, families walking around in matching pajamas  and carolers (Christmastime) singing. Anyway, my parents took us, me and my freind, to the waterpark and it was so much fun. If you go to the arcade located downstairs (The Basement) go there before you go in the water so you won't be wet and cold. We could find seats by the pool easily because the waterpark is designed to be a VIP package  if you get the package and stay in the hotel.They have lazy and rapid rivers there which were truly awesome.   Foley was truly obsessed with it, he doesn't like to do slides. I LOVED the slides! The wave simulator was totally worth it! They open up the simulator so only one person can go on it. I didn't even wipe out. Then, we went to an awesome pizza place in the Delta atrium.You need to go eat early because it's really busy during the holidays. We were tired of the waterpark so, we grabbed some dessert and watched a funny movie. Foley and I really had a great time!


Check out the pics below. I had the best birthday ever! (I didn't even tell you about the other things I did- Sperry's fancy restaurant with grandparents from New Jersey, went shopping and got some cool jackets, got highlights. went to a fancy sushi place in the "Gulch" called Virago with my parents and G-Bob and went to a Christmas concert at a church downtown where we got to hang out with friends backstage and the McCrary sisters even sang happy birthday to me!)

Happy Holidays!

My cruise trip 2018 - travel blog

Cruises are considered to be one of the most ultimate ways to go on  a trip. I went on a cruise to Cozumel on Royal Caribbean and let me just say, it was so, awesome. First, the port of call was Tampa and let me just tell you, it was so foreign like. The Westin was a great place to stay before a cruise. It has a great restaurant, that we went to after our flight got in and it has astounding calamari. You should also, take a trolley ride in Tampa because it's free and a great experience to see some historic sights like the aquarium and Ybor City. Some advice about Ybor City: you should always look for roosters when you take walks. There is also a great breakfast/gelato place near there that's good if you're going to the airport or taking a cruise called Fast Jacks. We took a lift and I just want to give a shoutout to the car we were in , before going on the ship. There is a great service they offer on the ship by taking your luggage out of your car/hands and taking it straight to the room.You should charge your phone before getting on the ship because it takes about 45 mins. to board the ship.  Me and my parents adored the buffet because it had an unlimited selection of food during our meals. You should go to Park Cafe for a late night snack because the buffet closes at 10. The shows on the cruise line are very amazing too because the have Vegas style acts preform every night. One of the acts was a juggling/acrobats duo and they were the highlights of the theater The Main dining room was pretty nice but, you should never go there more than 2 times b/c it gets a little boring. There are a few specialty restaurants that you can go to like Chef's table (gourmet) and Izumi (Japanese). Our first stop was Key West and it was so exotic and tropical. Hemmingway's house is so awesome because you can see the influences to his books and have an entertaining time with the tour guide. Their famous "Most Southern Point of U.S" is always crowded but still worth it for your Facebook page. selfie. I drank from a coconut and it makes the bottled versions way more futuristic. When you're back on the ship; a 30 min. nap is worth it before your dinner. Teens will also be excited because they have a free arcade night sometime on the cruise (selected games only). The captains gala/ body flop contest were two highlights of days at sea. It's tradition to decorate your room. We took magnets since the walls are magnetic and hung a pirates flag. We also had a balcony and saw dolphins swimming. Day 4 was in Cozumel. We woke up and went straight to the boarding area. You should never eat at the American restaurants in the port because you are in a foreign country...whats the point?! In Cozumel we went to this beach experience called Chakkanaab where we signed up for this dolphin encounter. We didn't swim with them but it was still worth it. They were very nice. We ate lunch there and it was really awesome. We also went snorkeling. It was really hard for someone who doesn't know how to use the mask.  Then it rained so we shopped for souvenirs. (Note: always be careful in a souvenir store because you break it you buy it!) Night 5 was fun because I had a fun dinner wth my teen friends from the teen zone. I really want to take another cruise with my family again, but I want it to be seven nights instead of five! I will hopefully have more travels to write about soon!

MY MAINE TRIP

I just went on an awesome trip to York Beach, Maine. I was there with all of my Havey family (Like cousins and grandparents). On my first  day we flew to Boston, Massachusetts. My Uncle Jay picked us from the airport. He and my Aunt Siobhan (Irish, I originally spelled it  like it sounds, "Shavan") were throwing a big party at their house near Boston in Glouchester. We stayed at a B&B in an old house called the Sally Webster Inn about 15 minutes from Jay's house in Rockport which was a seatown. I saw Nannie at their house too.We said goodbye and went to Salem before our "Maine spot".  Salem is known for being the place where they burned people they thought were witches. The museum we went to there was very interesting because they told us the history of witches in depth. We then went to our house in Maine which Grandee and Pepe got which was very nice. In York Beach in "Short Sands" there's a very cool arcade there called the Fun-O-Rama very near the cold beach (the water is freezing!). My favorite things to do at the arcade were skeeball and the gypsy woman (was like Zoltar in the movie "Big") . I got the rare 100 points while playing skeeball 4 times during my visit and it was awesome. I went to a place called Goldenrod's there which had salt water taffy, fudge and other types of candy. I loved the beach there but the water was very cold (#sickbro). One day I was at the beach for two hours and I was almost frozen when I got out of the ocean, my hands were tingly. I still loved bodysurfing though. At the house there was a dock on the river/bay and a big backyard and a fire pit where we made s'mores. We rented kayaks there and did it almost two times a day. There was a restraunt near by that we really liked called Cape Neddick Lobster pound.We took a day trip to a place called Oqunquick where we took a nice hike that went high above the cliffs and we also went to the beach. A really fun thing we did was an amusement park called York's Wild Kingdom. My favorite thing there was the go-karts. I got a tempoary.tattoo of a shark there, I really liked the family time there because I rarely see them. I really liked seeing my cousins, my Aunts, my Aunt Allison's fiancé and grandparents. A beautiful thing we did there was seeing Nubble Lighthouse and having ice cream nearby. On the way back our flight was delayed so we explored Boston where we saw graves of some historic people like Paul Revere. I really liked it and I encourage you to go to the coast of Maine.

MY SLEEPOVER AT FOLEY's

I had a big sleepover on Saturday. It was at my friends Foley house. For dinner,We had pizza and ice cream cones for dessert. We watched awesome movies called the Blues Brothers(jazz themed) and Strange Brew(beer themed).Afterwards, we settled into bed and listened to stand up of Bill Cosby.I didn't get good sleep so me and Foley woke up at 5:45 am. We first started our day watching the brilliant comedy piece by Mel Brooks "Blazing Saddles".Then we played an awesome game called Beat The Parents. I needed fresh air so we went outside to walk his two dogs Arrow and Lucy. I had a wonderful experience and I thank Foley and his parents for inviting me.

I will blog soon about my D.C TRIP

THE HISTORY OF DUTCHMAN'S CURVE

I just went to Camp Widjiwagen last week and I really want to blog about it. but it will take a while, so I will save that for tomorrow. But, I'm gonna tell you about something awesome I did today. 

Our friend Betsey Thorpe, who wrote a book, "The Day The Whistles Cried" was hosting a tour of the "Dutchman's Curve" at Richland Creek Greenland. It was about an event that happened 100 years ago (exactly on Monday) when two trains crashed into each other on July 9th, 1918. 

I learned several facts and here they are: 1) Near the same place where it happened 4 kids were scalped by a Native American because their families were taking over their land. 2) More Africans Americans died in the train wreck than white people because they were in the area closest to the front of the train behind the locomotive (the dangerous section). If it was modern day the death's (101) would have been more evenly divided. 3) I asked why they called it Duchman's Curve and our friend David Ewing who was there said that the people who built the railroad/bridge were from Germany and said in their German language that they were from "Deutschland" so the Nashvillian's thought they were Dutch and called it "Dutchman's Curve". It was really dangerous on that curve because the two trains couldn't see each other coming and collided head-on. It was the deadliest train crash in U.S history and it happened right here in Nashville. 

My Grandbobby actually in the 1970's or 80's interviewed survivors who were little when it happened (and old when he interviewed them) and it's very interesting. He put some of the interviews in a song he wrote with friend Rafe Vanhoy that is incredible called "The Great Nashville Railroad Disater" which G-Bob recorded and was also recorded by David Allan Coe. Hre's the link to Grandbobby's version of the song https://youtu.be/7ZauKqf3N7c  Betsey played it at her dinner event last night and some people cried because they heard the emotion in the recordings of the real people involved who were included in it. Grandbobby is donating the recordings to the Nashville Public  Library so people can hear that history.

I'd like to give thanks to Betsey Thorpe, Paul Clements (who led our tour and told us lots of interesting history about the area) and David Ewing.

                 PHOTOS:

    

MY SUPER FUN WEEKEND WITHOUT DAD

Me and my mom had an amazing time together while Dad was in the greatest city in the world (N.Y.C). We had so much fun one whole blog can not even hold my whole weekend of fun. But, I will try to tell some of my highlights of this past weekend in bullet point form

• We went to Bellevue so Mom could do an audition for a show at Chaffins Barn Dinner theater.When we were there, we met up with our adult friend Leslie. We were originally planning to go to Loveless Cafe (copyright) but because it was too crowded we went to a place called City Limits instead.

• I went to a jump place called Above All with my friend Foley.My favorite part of it was the Ninja Course which was a foam pit obstacle area. Afterwards, we went to the Maryland Farms YMCA to make up for a day we went there where it thundered. Foley wanted to go to the indoor pool and I was okay with it because we played aqua basketball in peace.

• I went to Fulins (sushi/Chinese place) with my friend Scarlet and her family. I loved the Godzilla roll because it was fried and my mom is a health mom and we don't usually order something like that. After, I hanged at Scarlet's  house for a few minutes while my Mom shopped at Target. I loved it.

•  I went to a Tex Mex place with my Mom and grandfather called Uncle Julio's. My favorite part of the restaurant was the table side guacamole. Then we went to an iced cream place next door called Jeni's. 

In summary I had a pretty fun weekend. We also went to see the Inredibles 2, but I will save that for another post/review. Next week I am doing camp which is awesome. Now I want to stop blogging for the day and go do something fun. Have a nice weekend, see you next time! 

Nashville Public Library Reading Challenge

I just entered the #NPLSUMMER reading challenge. You need to read 600 minutes over the summer and you can win prizes through reading or activities like me just now posting this hashtag...even as an adult! It's super fun and if you're in Nashville you should try it too!

My review of "Won't you be My Neighbor'

 Last Saturday I went  to a movie about Mr Rodgers at the Belcourt theatre. I thought it was a quite amazing documentary. I wanted to see Incredibles 2 but my parents really wanted to see "Won't You Be My Neighbor". I am seeing Incredibles 2 on this Saturday with my friend Foley by the way. I'm really impressed how a simple man named Fred Rogers changed history by just being on public television.You see instead of  just singing songs about tying shoes his show actually talked about deep issues in our history. For example, one thing that was a big deal in the 60's was racism and people were doing radical things to keep African Americans seperated. A couple of black people were in a motel pool and a white man put chemicals in it to kick them out. I felt that was a horrible thing and no one should be treated like that. Mr. Rodgers didn't like it himself and did a statement to show how we should treat everyone with kindness. He did it by inviting a "policeman" on the show named Officer Climmens to a wading pool and they had a fantastic time together putting their feet in it. He also was the man who saved public TV. Nixon and his White House buddies were trying to stop public TV from being funded more. They had a big hearing to hear people who don't want their plan for public TV to happen. Mr. Rodgers came there because his life was dedicated to helping kids through public television. Kids needed public tv and so did Mr. Rodgers. His speech was so good he changed the mind of John Pastore who was the one who decided if they'd get the money or not.  If you want to see this press the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKy7ljRr0A . I really think you should see this film because it's really educational and tells the life of a remarkable man.

Recap for most of my week(Mon-Wed)

I would like to share with you what I have done these past few days in bullet point form.

-I went to a jump place in Cool Springs (Above all Extreme Air sports) with my friend Zachary and his sister who was in Annie with me this Spring. My friend's mom suggested we go to lunch at a place around the corner for lunch, she'd never been to that place before but thought they'd have something for everyone. The place was called "Twin Peaks" and it made me laugh when I walked in and saw the waitresses because they were dressed kind of inappropriately for kids but we were already there so we stayed. 

- I had a play date with my friend Foley at his house. We played a game called Beat the Parents which was fun. Mom also wasn't there for most of the time too. It was a good step for independence and I really need it.

-I got invited to the CMT awards by my Aunt's ex boyfriend who's the bandleader of the show. They met at boarding school. I went to the Palm before the CMT awards. We ordered Calamari which was delicious. We also saw a lady we know who is a friend of mom's named Sandra Lee.

The CMA's were hosted by Little Big Town. I met my Aunt's friend and her buddy there who are in town from London.

 I saw Blake Shelton perform there and that was awesome because he's a great family friend and I haven't seen him since I was a baby. He won two awards there too. I also saw Kelly Clarkson and the Backstreet Boys and Chris Stapleton.

 Some of my favorite performers were the newer ones who were on the Ford stage because they were super close to me and I got to give them high fives and fist bumps when they walked by.

                     Here a picture with my "uncle" John Bohlinger (who was the bandleader) and mom and dad after the CMT awards:

Schools out for the summer

I did so much after spring break and there were so many fun things I did.  Instead of doing long paragraphs, I will tell you my activities in bullet points.

• I was in Annie Jr. where I played the apple seller.I tried selling apples to Annie (6th grader Casey Dawson) in the streets of N.Y.C. I loved it b/c it was my first real musical.

• I went to Avengers: Infinity War the same week as Annie Jr.I loved it because it had so many superheroes from Iron Man to Rocket the Raccoon. I also liked that it was in IMAX.

• I went to the zoo with Dad(Mom was in Florida).I saw Peruvian bears and they were very interesting.

• I went to a car show with my pal Foley on Saturday.Afterwards,We bungee jumped at Opry Mills Mall.

• I went to Nashville Shores on Sunday. I did this new thing there called an Aqua Park.My favorite slide was the Big Kahuna

• I went laking with the Cook family.I went tubing with my pal Savannah.I also went to big rocks where you jump.

• I finished 7th grade and also got the best smile superlative and the Big Heart award at school. This makes me happy because the school recognized me for being kind which is important.

The things I did the past few months were awesome and I'm looking forward to so many more exciting adventures this summer. I hope you guys have a great summer too.Stay Tuned for more reviews & reports. Here are some pictures of stuff I did.

 

Spring Break 2018

My family took a trip to Florida last week.  First we went to Tifton, GA to some Quality Inn which I went to last year coincidentally. One of the main reasons I went to Florida is to see my relatives. First we went to West Palm Beach where I saw my Grandee and Pepe. I also saw my Aunt Lisa and Cousin Grace and Aunt Jo, her son Joe and his son Jack. Grandee lives two blocks from the beach club at the Hilton and I got to go there to swim at the pool, have Virgin Pina Coladas and boogie board in the ocean. I got  a little bit of a sun burn there but it was fun. We also went out to dinner where I saw my third cousin's Mia and Michaela. We also had an Easter party and we went to an Easter Mass.
I then went to Orlando where my family rented a condo. It is at a new place called the Grove, which just opened a water park called Surfari. On the first night there I went to Disney Springs and I had a fantastic time there. I went to a place called Splitsville where I bowled. I also went to the Mravel store there where I turned into Star Lord thanks to photo technology. Then I saw my mom's cousin, her daughter, and her boyfriend and his kids. We all played at the waterpark together, the older kid and I did the surf simulator together, we did slides and the lazy river and then all went to dinner together at a great restaurant called the Columbian. Unfortunately my dad was sick with bronchitis, but the next day me and mom went to Epcot and Animal Kingdom. My favorite rides at Epcot are Spaceship Earth and Soarin'. I was a little afraid of Soarin' at first but mom helped me conquer the fear and I was glad I did because it was amazing! Then we ate in "Italy". Then we rushed to Animal Kingdom where we met a nice family on the shuttle from Britain. We rode a banshee on the "Flight of Passage" ride with them and it was awesome! I really loved the trip and it was one of the best trips in my life.

March for our lives

I wasn't at the march myself today because I have a school dance tonight and also I was getting a little bit of anxiousness about running into people I know unexpectedly. I have a big fear of that and I need some support for that. If you don't know what happened today i'm gonna tell you. There was a big march called March for our Lives all around the country because on February 14th, there was a horrible shooting in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 people. What happened was really sad because a lot were teenagers who have innocent souls and should always be safe at school (and the teachers should be too). The teenager survivors from Parkland really don't want shootings like that to ever happen again ever so they helped organize the march. They also started something called the School Walkout day that I participated in in the parking lot with kids at my school. Millons of people came to the march today to show that we should have stricter laws about things like assault rifles. The teenager survivors are starting  a movement to show how they should finally have those laws. I hope that their inspiring march makes politicians make and enforce laws that will make schools safer.
#marchforourlives #kidslivesmatter

Dock goes to the Globetrotters

I went to the Harlem Globetrotters yesterday. First of all my dad was working for the Globetrotters doing PR event work so we rode downtown with him. Since we got there early me and my mom went by the Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame nearby in the Music City Center and saw my grandfather's exhibit there which showed his Time Marches On handwritten lyrics with mom's frame she collaged for him and a touchscreen of his life and music interviews which was awesome to see. You should go check it out if you are ever downtown.
Then on the way to Bridgestone I saw ladies in what you call a pedal tavern where they pedal while having a good time- they were probably bachelorettes or on a girl's trip. I took a picture with them and they all smiled cause I'm a cute ladies man, haha, and I took my picture with them.
And now to the main event, the Harlem Globetrotters. We met my friend Foley and his mom there and it was funny and fantastic. I liked them because unlike regular basketball they do tricks and comedy. I like when they pretend to throw gatorade at somebody but it turns out that the liquid is actually confetti. They did other cool segments too like when one of the players sang "Hello" from Adele and turned down the lights and had us all turn on our cellphone flashlights which looked like a concert. I like their mascot Globey who was really funny. It was fun. I got my picture made with Ant, a very hilarious Globetrotter.  And the next time they are in town (or if they come to your town) I  really recommend you go see them.