My Bucket List

April 6, 2020 by bonjouramigoblog

If you can’t tell from the title, this is my bucket list! I made two, one when I was three and this one! My old list is on my mom’s blog, The Working Mom’s Travels. Now, without further ado, my bucket list!

Go to Australia. I would like to go with my mom and see ALL of the animals. Or, at least, all of them that I can. I would like to see all the sights I can see and do all the things I can do. And of course, I would write about it!

Go kayaking or canoeing. I’ll probably have to wait until I am older; nevertheless, it sounds fun. My mom has canoed and kayaked a lot before, so I’m sure she can teach me!
Drive down Route 66. Being the history nerd I am, this is kinda expected! It’s packed full of history! I’d like to go with my entire family. It would be a giant road trip!

Work for NASA. (Preferably an astronomer) Working for NASA would be amazing! I am obsessed with astronomy and science. This is something I really want to do!
Go to Britain. I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan so it’s natural I want to go to Britain. I would go with my dad because he also likes Harry Potter. Hopefully, over the summer we can go as a summer vacation!

Become a successful author. I have plenty of ideas for books and I love to write!
Have a long and successful life. There isn’t much to say about this one. I want to travel the world with my family, have a successful blog, and just have fun! I want to complete everything on this list, my old one, and do many other things.

Thank you for reading this post. I sure loved writing it! I really hope that I can complete all of the things on this list and that it might have inspired you!

P.S. Sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while. 5th grade is demanding with homework and such, and I do a lot of other activities. Now that school is cancelled (I trust that you know why) I have a lot of time on my hands so I will be trying to catch up on my posts. I hope that all of you are healthy and doing well. Stay home and stay safe. ( And sane!)

My favorite things to do in Gothenburg, Sweden

January 15, 2018 by bonjouramigoblog

WARNING: The following content may cause you to book a flight to Sweden ASAP!

For this adventure, I will list my favorite things to do in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Celebrate Sankta Lucia

In Sweden, Sankta Lucia is a very important saint. If you are in Sweden on the holiday, which is December 13, you should attend a Lucia concert. We went to the Lucia concert at the Gothenburg Cathedral. During the concert, many kids stood on the altar holding candles. The girls wore white robes and the boys, known as Star Boys, wore pointy hats with gold stars on them. There was one girl who stood out; she is known as “the Lucia”. She wore a crown of lit candles on her head and a white robe with a red sash. All the kids, except Lucia, sang many songs in Swedish, including “Sankta Lucia”. I loved the concert because it was beautiful. Also, my name is Lucia so I felt like a princess, like the concert was for me.

Universeum

The Universeum is a big museum in Gothenburg. There are many fun things to do there. There is a big rainforest habitat with all the animals that live in the rainforest. There is also a space exhibit where I learned what it’s like to use the toilet in space. There is a large space for hands-on activities. I built a model Ferris wheel and then a giant castle in the block pit. I also made my own fidget spinner with the help of a very nice Swedish boy who volunteers at Universeum. There is also an aquatic area where you can see different sea creatures. You can walk in a tunnel that goes through the aquarium and there is a giant shark that swims all around you. I had so much fun at Universeum!

Liseberg

Liseberg is an amusement park. In the winter, it turns into the largest Christmas market in Sweden. There are little stalls where you can buy all sorts of things and places where you can stop to get a snack and hot chocolate. Some of the rides are still going during the Christmas market but we only shopped. We took a boat ride to Liseberg and when we arrived, it started to snow. There is also an outdoor ice rink there. Mommy rented skates for me and I skated through the snow. It was like being in a snowglobe!

Eat at Espresso House

There are many Espresso House locations in Gothenburg and we visited quite a few of them. It is a coffee shop where you can also get hot chocolate, breakfast, and lunch. They have very good food and my favorite was the chicken caesar wrap. It even had quinoa in it! The hot chocolate is really good, too. They put whipped cream and marshmallows, and a chocolate drizzle on top. I definitely recommend going to Espresso House for a snack and to warm up in the winter.

Haga

Haga is a historic neighborhood of Gothenburg with many shops, cafes, and restaurants. It is very nice and it has cobblestone streets and a lot of old buildings. We visited on a Sunday and many of the shops had stalls and tables set up outside on the street. It was like being at a market. That’s where I found a small Lucia doll to bring back home for my Papa. On one of the streets, someone turned vents on a building into little troll houses. They were so cute!

The above list contains only some of the things you can do in Gothenburg. There is a lot more to do but I will leave it to you to find even more fun!

How I became a travel blogger

March 18, 2017 by bonjouramigoblog

Hi, this is Lucia! I’m sure for a while you’ve been wondering how I became a travel blogger. Well, if you were, this is the post for you!

It all started at my first travel event when I was 4 years old. I saw all the travel bloggers and how much they travel and I thought it would be cool to do the same thing. So, on the way home from the event, I said to my mom, “I want to be a travel blogger like you.” My mom replied, “Oh, when you’re older?” I said, “No, now!”

Here I am, taking photos at the travel event!

When we got home, we told my dad and he wasn’t excited about me blogging because he had safety concerns. But after he and my mom talked about it many times, he said yes.

That is how it all started and I have been a travel blogger ever since!

Awesome Poland and Great Lithuania

December 31, 2016 by bonjouramigoblog

Last summer, my family and I went on an awesome trip. Our first stop: Poland!

My dad, my brother, and I met my mom in Warsaw (she had been in Stockholm). Warsaw was ok. My favorite parts were the old town and the palace. Also, there are so many places to get ice cream!! It was crowded but we were still able to get around and get ice cream.

Old Town Warsaw

Now, how about we go to Krakow?

I liked Krakow a lot better than Warsaw. It wasn’t as crowded and people seemed nicer. Krakow is also a lot prettier than Warsaw. We went to this museum (Rynek Underground) that was really cool because it’s underground. I liked seeing the carriages pulled by horses all around the main square (because I love horses). We also went in a cave at the castle to try to find the famous dragon. But it ended up the dragon was outside and it actually breathed fire! We met up with one of my best travel friends, Pola of Jetting Around. Since Krakow is her hometown, she showed us around. We saw a lot of cool things, including a big head sculpture we could climb in! Anthony and I had fun climbing all over it and it had an echo, too. I also met Pola’s niece, Angi. She is soooo nice and I loved talking with her!

Wawel Dragon & me

Next stop: Lithuania.

I loved Lithuania! It’s so pretty, the people are very nice, and the food is really good. We flew to Vilnius, Lithuania, from Warsaw, and rented a car to drive to the Curonian Spit – but we had to take a boat, too! It was a car ferry from Klaipeda. I thought it was going to be a longer ride than just a few minutes, but it was still cool. Our hotel room in Juodkrante had a loft and that’s where Anthony and I slept. It was so fun! Mommy and Daddy slept in a regular bed downstairs below us. It was like Anthony and I had our very own room, or at least our own clubhouse. We went to the beach in Juodkrante and swam in the Baltic Sea! We tried to make sand castles but it didn’t work out very well because we didn’t have the right equipment. Another fun thing we did was walk through the Hill of Witches. It’s a path through the forest with many wood carvings of characters from Lithuanian folk stories. I thought I heard music in the forest, made by the magical goblins, while we were walking. I called out to them but they didn’t appear. We met new friends in the forest, too, who just happened to also be from Chicago! I loved the Curonian Spit and I didn’t want to leave but we had to go and drive to Vilnius.

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We stayed in an apartment in Vilnius and down the street was this awesome doughnut shop (Holy Donut). The doughnuts were ginormous! I couldn’t believe that I could not even finish my doughnut because I always finish my doughnuts! The best thing we did in Vilnius was go on a walking tour with a very nice lady named Vilija (of Urban Adventures). Vilija spent all day with us and showed us all the best parts of Vilnius. We even got ice cream with her! In Uzupis, there is a swing hanging from a bridge over the river. We walked through the river and all took turns riding the swing. It was so fun! On another day in Vilnius, we visited a toy museum. It was really cool! There were all kinds of traditional Lithuanian games, and even some from when Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union. Mommy and I had a lot of fun playing all the hockey games. Daddy and I played the action video games (which I didn’t really get).

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We had such a fun time on this trip. I love traveling with my family!

Adventures in Maine

July 8, 2016 by bonjouramigoblog

Today I am writing about Maine. I went with my brother Anthony, my mom, and my Nonnie. It was cool! Here are the some of the fun things we did.

We went on a 2-hour boat ride. That was fun! A lot of the time on the boat, it was leaning to one side. It was a schooner, or a giant sailboat. I made a new friend on the boat ride. Her name is Kylie and she’s from Connecticut. We even saw some porpoises swimming near the boat. I was hoping we would see seals, but we didn’t.

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My mom and I went to two art museums. We stayed in Rockland, Maine, and that’s where the art museums are. The first art museum is the new Center for Maine Contemporary Art. We were there for the grand opening but we did not get to see the ribbon-cutting. I still liked the museum. I took pictures with Mommy’s camera of just about everything. The other art museum, Farnsworth, I didn’t really like. Mommy really enjoyed it, though, and even went back the next day by herself.

New Center for Maine Contemporary Art

The food we ate in Maine was AMAZING! We ate twice at a really good restaurant called Claws. It’s a lobster shack off the main road in Rockland. I really liked that they gave us fake lobsters with numbers on them to remember our order number. I also liked when my mom pretended the plastic lobster was a phone! She picked it up and was asking, “Hello? Where’s our food??” It was so funny! After she did it, I did the same thing and this is what I said, “Hello? Hello? Where’s our food? Oh wait, I think it’s for Mommy. No, I think it’s for Anthony!” We had a lot of fun at Claws and I really loved the lobster mac & cheese!

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One of my favorite things we did in Maine was watch the sunrise from the rooftop of our awesome hotel, 250 Main. Mommy woke me up super early so we could go up to the roof and watch the sunrise together. It wasn’t even 5:00am and it was so cold, but the sunrise over the water was SO beautiful!

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I did NOT want to leave Maine. But we had to. It took us two hours to fly there. We actually flew to Boston, and from Boston, we drove to Maine. It took us three hours to drive from Boston to Maine. It was super fun! If you go to Maine, HAVE FUN!

Disclosure: Because Mommy is a really cool travel blogger, she was invited to Rockland, Maine, to stay at 250 Main Hotel and to check out the art museums. She took us with her because – again, she’s really cool. I literally loved Maine and I don’t know what all this means, but Mommy said it’s a law that I have to put here that we received two complimentary nights at the hotel (Mommy paid for the third), and we received complimentary admission to Farnsworth Art Museum. Oh, and all words and opinions belong to me. The photos belong to Mommy.

Fun with my family in Fort Myers Beach

May 5, 2016 by bonjouramigoblog

My family and I spent last Thanksgiving in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. We drove all the way down there from Chicago. Guess what? It took us two whole days to get there! I went with my Grandma, Grandpa, my brother Anthony, my dad, and Nonnie. And my mom but she wasn’t in the car with us. She took a plane. While we were in Florida, it was my Nonnie’s birthday!

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We rented a house for a week. In the house, me and my Nonnie shared a room. My brother slept in the closet! The house was really nice. There was a pool in the backyard! We were also close to the beach. Almost every day, we walked to the beach. Me, my dad, and my brother built a sand castle. My brother destroyed it before we were finished. But we redid it. Once we were done then, my brother knocked it down. The sunsets we saw at the beach were very pretty. We also went swimming in the ocean. Once we got back from the beach when we went swimming in the ocean, I took off my cover-up and went into the pool! We swam a lot while we were in Florida.It was really fun!

For my Nonnie’s birthday, I had a little notebook. I really wanted to get her something so I gave her the notebook.The same day as Nonnie’s birthday was also Thanksgiving. We had turkey, of course. My mom asked me, “If you had one thing to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?” My answer was “broccoli”; it’s my favorite!

My mom took a plane home. I didn’t want her to go because I wouldn’t see her for two days! But she took a plane back and forth because she had to work.

I want to go to Florida again. It was super fun! Hopefully we will go back again this year for Thanksgiving. Maybe we’ll even go to Disney World!

Visit to Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial

June 22, 2015 by bonjouramigoblog

Junior Ranger | Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial

I’m a Junior Ranger! And I have an Abraham Lincoln hat!

On the way back from French Lick, Indiana, we stopped by Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial. It’s also in Indiana. I had my camera and took lots and lots of pictures there. I also took a picture of Abraham Lincoln’s mother’s grave site. Nancy Hanks Lincoln died because the cow ate a poisonous plant and she drank the cow’s milk and she died. Back then they called it milk sickness. A few months later, Abraham Lincoln still missed his mother. But then one day, Abraham Lincoln’s father came home with a new wife, Sarah Bush Johnston. She had the same name as Abraham Lincoln’s little sister – Sarah! There I learned a lot of things. I learned enough to become a junior ranger! Abraham Lincoln’s real mother’s grave was on the top of a hill. After we saw that, we walked down a trail to the farm and we went into the cabin. And also, I got to climb up a ladder in the cabin to see what was up in the loft. That was really fun! The cabin was made to look like the one Abraham Lincoln lived in when he was a boy. It wasn’t the real cabin he lived in, but we saw the foundation of the real cabin. That was pretty cool. And we saw where the fireplace was. The cabin was pretty small. Also on the farm, we saw the woodworking shop and I got to press down the pedal on the lathe. Here is something really funny. When my mommy visited the farm without me, they were making syrup. They set it out of the cabin and a mouse got in it! Mommy told me about that. I also got to see how they cured meat back in Abraham Lincoln’s time.

Nancy Hanks Lincoln grave site | Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial

Abraham Lincoln’s mother’s grave. I took this by myself!

I love Abraham Lincoln so much and it was a lot of fun to see where he lived as a boy. Next, I hope Mommy takes me to Washington, DC, to see the Lincoln Memorial!

Here are some more pictures from there that my mommy took.

Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial

Working the pedal on the lathe

Inside of the cabin

Outside of the cabin

The Scottish festival in Alma, Michigan was fun!

June 1, 2015 by bonjouramigoblog

Caber toss

We went to Alma, Michigan, on Memorial Day weekend. When we got there, we went to the Scottish festival (Alma Highland Festival & Games). They were playing bagpipes and drums. This is what my mommy really loved: the caber toss! It’s when you take a pole and you take the bottom and then you go back a little, then run forward, and then throw it, and try to make it straight at 12 o’clock. Also, we had lunch at the festival and I tried a corn dog. I loved it! It’s not a Scottish food but it was still good. Mommy, Daddy, and Anthony tried Scottish meat pies and they really liked them. But I didn’t like the Scottish food. Guess what? I got a kilt! I wanted to get a kilt after we watched the girls doing Highland dancing. They were wearing kilts and I decided I wanted one. It took us a little while to find one that fit me but Mommy found me a purple one. Even after we had lunch, I tried to do Highland dancing for my Mommy and Daddy and Anthony, and now I want to take Highland dancing lessons!

I really liked the trip to Alma, Michigan. And so did Mommy and Daddy, too. We stayed in a hotel in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. And also we went in the pool and Mommy and Daddy taught me how to swim! It was a very fun weekend and I hope we can go to another Scottish festival soon!

I got a kilt!

All about Abraham Lincoln and Springfield

January 15, 2015 by bonjouramigoblog

I love Abraham Lincoln so much. We went to Springfield, Illinois just for me to learn about him. He was the 16th president. I even got two books about him for Christmas. I think they are very cool. He was a very important president because he was honest and he freed all the slaves.

I was excited to go to Springfield so we could go to the museum that is only about Abraham Lincoln. We saw his cabin, but it was only a statue. We could go inside and we saw a loft and there was an arm hanging down from it. We heard someone snoring and we also found a bed. There was also a campfire. Everything in Springfield was very, very cool. Then we saw the White House and there were lots of dresses, but we did not see Abraham Lincoln in there. We saw the kitchen and everything that was in the White House. Then we went on to the theater where he went and saw a play. Abraham Lincoln was sitting on the balcony. One of the actors, named John Wilkes Booth, sneaked up on him and shot and killed him. That was very sad. Everybody else loved Abraham Lincoln but the people who had slaves did not agree with him. John Wilkes Booth did not like Abraham Lincoln because he freed all the slaves.

Another placed we visited in Springfield was the house where Abraham Lincoln actually lived in real life. We went on a tour there with a National Parks Ranger. We saw the whole house and it was super cool. We also went to the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln is buried. There is a statue there of his face and we rubbed his nose for good luck. It’s made of copper, just like the penny. So many people rubbed his nose that the color wore off and it looks gold.

I loved everything we saw in Springfield. I wish we could go back and see some more.

Wilderness Resort is really fun!

December 8, 2014 by bonjouramigoblog

Klondike Kavern

Wilderness Resort, America’s largest waterpark resort, located in Wisconsin Dells, was very fun and I went down really big slides. But the first times I went down the slides, I was really scared, but then it was really fun. And I just wanted to do it 100 more times – it was so fun! I liked it so much. The blue and orange slides, I could only do it twice. But the purple one, I could go down a lot!

The first times on the lazy river, we went together on the one with two seats. It was me, my mommy, and my baby brother Anthony went on there once. The other times, we went on it separately. But one time, I fell off the raft as soon as I got on. I went underwater and did a flip! It was really funny and I got water up my nose.

There’s a ropes course inside and it was just as fun as the water slides. I got measured but I was too small to go on the ropes course by myself. So Mommy went with me. I was scared on the first one. I took one step onto it and then I was frozen! But the rest of the times, it was super fun. Alex, one of the workers there, helped me and held my hand so I wouldn’t be afraid. He was so helpful.

Ropes course | Wilderness Waterpark Resort, Wisconsin Dells

Mommy & I on the ropes course

Mommy and I rode on the go-karts, too. It was so fun! I’m too young to go by myself so Mommy had to go with me. She did the driving and we went really fast. It was very cool.

I want to go back because it was so fun. And, maybe if we go back, I will be big enough to go on the ropes course by myself – and even on the go-karts. And, guess what? I’m sure you can’t guess so I’ll tell you: At Wisconsin Dells, it was snowing! There was snow on the ground everywhere. I just wanted to build a snowman but we were leaving that morning. Hopefully we can go back in the winter because maybe there will be enough snow to make a snowman, or even snowballs, and Mommy and I can have a snowball fight! I think it would be really fun.

Mommy said she has to say something important here: We were guests of Wilderness Resort for this weekend trip. All words, opinions, and enthusiasm are Lucia’s.