The next thing we did is we realized how late it was. So we decided to go to Little Caesars for some pizza because it was already dinner time. We had problems deciding what we wanted, and once we got it, we realized that it was going to be a 45 minute wait, and we thought it was gonna be more like a 10 minute wait or something like that. So we played a bit more Bee Swarm Simulator while we waited. And near the end, I was like, "Am I going to hear the beeping soon?" And as I thought that, a couple minutes later, the timer went off. So I think that was cool.

On my bus ride home, I like to go get onto a stop before my bus stop and try to get to my bus stop before my bus gets to my bus stop. And like, once, I got off at like the first stop -- my bus stop is, like, the fourth stop. It was so funny because I just took a picture of the bus and, like, I flipped it over. I also got off -- I also got off at like, the third -- no, the second stop. And I was able to get to my stop before the bus. Like, the first few times I did it, my bus driver was like, "What are you doing?" And I'm like, "I know my way home." And then now, he's, like, just waving at me every time I do it.

Today, I'm talking about a party we had at our house. First of all, we cleaned up the house for multiple days, it’s because our house is pretty big. And the people -- there was going to be people here, so we wanted the house to look extra nice. We also said the party was going to start at 2, but only one person came and -- but most of them came at 3:30. That's pretty far apart from 2. And also we played a lot of games. Like we played 31, a card game. We also played Mario Kart and raced around for a little bit. We also played on the Atari, playing games like Missile Command and stuff like that. And we also played Super Smash Bros all night long. There were some games outside and a lot of little kids were just like, throwing like bean bags at each other. And I mostly just stayed inside, because I was like "I do not wanna get into that." Like, even if it's fun, I don't want to get into that really. Um, but I just mostly played video games when nobody else was playing inside. And also dinner was pretty yummy. There were hamburgers and hot dogs, chips and vegetables, but I only had a hamburger and a bunch of chips. Because those are what -- a few of my favorite foods. And that mostly wraps up our party that we had at our house. So, yeah. Bye!

What is the closest that you have ever been to a hot air balloon? Um, so in Bay Harbor, this town -- it's kinda -- it's like kinda part of Petoskey. It's really close to Petoskey and sort of close to Charlevoix. Every year they have this hot air balloon festival where all these crazy hot air balloons come and they fly them. So sometimes they have like teddy bears and different types of food, and it's just so crazy to see all the hot air balloons in the air. Um, so the closest that I have ever been to a hot air balloon is most definitely at that festival. Um, so we always go on my uncle's boat and that is where we, that is where we -- that is where I had my closest meeting with a hot air balloon. So probably like directly above me was probably the closest I have ever been. Unless I was like on a plane or something and a hot air balloon went by. Never seen that happen, but you know, it could've happened, so. But I'm pretty sure it was during that festival when I was on my uncle's boat.

"Have you ever been up to a creek without a paddle? What happened?" This is actually a really, really funny and recent experience. Okay. So in some of these past recordings I've talked about like my experience going to the cottage with my entire family -- uh, my related family on my dad's side. And so we were out there paddle boarding, uh, because the place had left us with three paddle boards, two paddles. Um, and, so we were just paddle boarding. So we used all three paddle-, we used all three paddle boards, right? And just on one paddle board, we had the -- we used kayak paddles instead of an oar. Um, but so, so we were all paddling, uh, like two on each, one had three. And my cousin thrust the paddle down into the water to see if it'd come back up and it came right back up, right? And he kept doing it and doing it. And he was on the paddle and he was doing this in the lake. And one time it did not come up, so he jumped into the water and he could not find the paddle. And it wasn't the kayak paddle, it was the oar. And so there were two paddles -- so now there were three paddle boards, only two paddles. And we had like connected our paddle boards, right, but then ours got disconnected. So we were just out there. So then we took it and swam with it to try to get there, um, but it was a long process because we did not have the right tool. Because we needed three paddles, and we only had two, right? Because of that experience. So yeah, in that situation, we were up a creek, literally, without a paddle.

So, I don't know how I still remember the story, but back when I was in, like, kindergarten, there was these pair of school headphones, and they were, like, on the ground. And they were in my hands because I was gonna use them. But then this kid came up to me and he cut the wire off the headphones, and then he told the teacher that I broke them. So then I had to go -- then, so like, back in those days they would give you, like, the report, and I got a frowny face since I did that or whatever. And so that was the only time I've ever gotten in trouble. I think. Yeah. And then me and my mom had to go buy a new pair of headphones. And I got completely thrown under the bus, and I told my mom that 'cause -- and then the teacher found out, like, "Oh, yeah, it was the kid." Because the kid was like a really bad kid, and she knew I was a good kid. So she put two and two together, and yeah. And now she's one of my favorite teachers. Coincidence, huh?

Note: This is a good story, which is why we decided to feature it even though there are some issues with the audio quality. Tell us about a time you fell down, and you got right back up. Okay, so, for this event, I'm not sure if I necessarily got right back up. But -- so I was doing a triathlon with [sister's name], mom, and dad. So my mom and dad were doing the biking portion. [Sister's name] -- it mighta been [sister's name] and my mom or just [sister's name] -- were doing the swimming portion. And then me, my dad, and [sister's name] were doing the running portion. And it's like two miles to a 5K. And so I was running like on rocks. I don't know why we were running on rocks, but I just know that I was. And I tripped on the rocks and I had a big like bloody knee. And I decide, you know, I'm going to keep running/walking. Well actually I got a few -- 'cause I was like I'm not gonna get a bandaid until I get back. So I run/walk. We might've cut a few corners 'cause I was running with my dad. But I didn't give up. 

At this house they have four cats actually. And surprisingly enough, one of them's name is Pickle. And Pickle's a really nice cat. It's like a white and gray cat, very friendly. But I have a story about Pickle. And it started maybe a couple of months ago. I don't know, it was in 2023. So Pickle literally came to my house, a couple houses down. That hou- -- the cats at that house are kinda just allowed to wander wherever they wanna go. So that's pretty normal, but I think they come back for, like, their dinner or something. I don't know. So, the cat, Pickle, wandered over to our house and the weird thing is for a while, the -- this cat didn't have a collar. So me and my dad thought that it was just a stray cat. And so my dad -- we gave it some milk. And then, maybe like a month later, we actually learned that milk is not good for cats. Um, but yeah, at this time we just thought this cat was a stray because um, it was like, yeah, it just didn't have a collar. But in the present, it only got a col- -- Pickle only got a collar like, um, maybe a month ago. I don't know. Yeah, and Pickle really likes me and my friend. We like to pet him a lot.

“Have you ever written a letter to your future self? What story would you tell them if you were writing one right now?” I have wrote a letter to my future self. Actually, I think it was on New Year's about two years ago, I decided to write letters to my future self for like the next 14 years. ‘Cause -- you know, like all the way up until I was in college in like 2034. So I wrote letters to my future self then, but you know, those future letters are still not there. 'Cause like a few days later, I forgot what I wrote and I wanted to read through them all, so I just ripped them all open and wrote them -- and, uh, read them. So yeah, that did not last long whatsoever. “What story would you tell them if you were writing one right now?” Um, I would tell my future self, "Life's going great right now. Sports are going great. Your friendships are going great. Um, and I would say {blows raspberry}. "Know that sports own a special place in your heart, and without them you're a completely different person. So continue to do sports because that keeps the you -- that keeps yourself you. So just continue to do the things that you love. And make sure to make time -- and make sure to make time to just, you know, take a break, have peace with yourself and do something you truly like to do. "Because if you're focusing too much on school work right now, you're not having any fun. You're not truly yourself. So, schoolwork is a priority, but sometimes you have to take breaks, or else your mental health is not going to be good. So just keep handling things and doing things you like along with the schoolwork that needs to be done." So I would probably write that letter for when I was in college, because I know there's a lot of work that goes into college. But I feel like my future self needs to know to still make time for things that I love to do, so that's what I would say.

I failed at making cookies and they're like -- so I, I thought -- cuz for some reason I was just craving cookies, right? So then I went to make the cookies. I did all the right ingredients and I looked up, like, how to make sugar cookies cuz I was gonna make chocolate chip, but we didn't have any more chocolate chips left, so I just made sugar cookies. And so I looked up how to make sugar cookies, but, um -- so I added all the right ingredients and I added all the right amounts, but something was wrong. I think it was the flour. I think I didn't mix it well enough, cuz there was still chunks in it. So when I rolled them into balls and put them on the, on the pan or whatever, they were like bubbling in the oven like i- if -- it looked like boiling water, but if they -- if the water were cookies. So they were like boiling and then when I got them out, it was all just like one cookie, like one really hard cookie, and half of it was burnt, and half of it wasn't cooked at all. And it was just really bad.