5th Grade

Don’t you love the feeling on a summer night when you don’t have to shower, do home work, or go to bed EARLY?

As I lie in bed thinking about my dream vacation I fall asleep…

After a while I wake up and think that I should get up because I have a big day ahead of me. So I get up and get dressed. Before you know it we were out of the house, and on our way to Boise. As I get on the plane I find my seat, sit down and fall asleep. I wake to the sound of “thank you for flying with us.” My family called a taxi and we arrive in Rome, Italy. It was finally time for the moment I have been waiting for, for many years, DINNER. I had the best dinner I had ever had, my favorite Italian pasta dish. I felt like I was in heaven and I realized I didn’t have to cherish every bite because I was going to be here for 2 MORE WEEKS!

I wake up from the drool on my pillow in my bedroom in Sun Valley Idaho, to realize it was all a dream. Even if I don’t get to go to Rome, the best part of summer vacation is not having to take a shower or doing homework. And, oh yeah, I don’t have to go to bed early.

Could you imagine getting on a plane in Boise, Idaho and flying to Boston, Massachusetts and playing hockey with two of my friends from 8:00 to 12:00 and then 1:00 to 3:00 every day for a week? Well, I could. I could imagine skating down the ice with a puck and getting totally laid out. (Getting hit head on and landing right on my back.) That would be my dream vacation.

Imagine millions of birds chirping, all different sounds enveloping you in a sweet symphony of notes. The trumpeting of elephants in the distance add to the choir, the tigers volunteer their voices as well, along with the hippos roaring out loud bringing more to the band. Finally, the frogs singing the song of the wild make an end to the orchestra of the rain forest. Imagine climbing to the highest tree in the forest, looking down at the canopy, at the birds that welcomed you with their beautiful song. Gazing down at the shining flowers covered with the morning dew, awaiting the sun to arise and start the day in the jungle anew. And as you sit in the old tree and watch that orb of pink and golden light come over the mountains to the east, and as you watch, you can feel the jungle waking from its deep slumber of the night. This would be my dream vacation.

Hearing the wind pass around me falling,falling down 13,000 feet, 10,000 feet, 5,000 feet and at 2,000 feet I pull the cord. All of a sudden the wind stops and I feel a jerk and I know that my parachute has opened and I am not squashed into a pancake. I would land in Maine and from there go to meet my very good friend. Spending a few days in Maine, sailing, playing and goofing around would add to the perfect vacation. Then from there I want to go to a tennis and baseball camp. After that, playing with my family and family friends in Hungary, Greece or even Italy. When I get back to the States, I want to hang with my family and relax back home to the best place to live and vacation: Sun Valley, Idaho.

I would swoop through the air like a bird looking for its prey. The wind would slap me in the face as I tried to go faster. I would fly over chairlifts frozen in time as I paraglide over the sleeping mountain, Baldy.

For my summer vacation I would like to go paragliding on Baldy. I would paraglide over the deserted mountain looking for any sign of wildlife. I look at the green pine trees, as they wait for their snowy blankets of winter to hug their prickly branches.

I would fly over the bowls with the sun warming my face giving me a sunburn. I start my descent spiraling into the parking lot. Clouds of dust puff up from the ground as I land in the lonely lot. A car pulls up next to me. As I hop into the front seat, I smile as the car drives away from the mountain.

Imagine seeing miles and miles of a great summer in front of you all in one small place. Kenya boasts an abundance of wildlife. From lions to leopards and buffalos to rhinos and elephants, there is amazing wildlife almost everywhere you look when you’re on a Safari in Kenya.



The celebrations are amazing to watch with people welcoming you into their world with music and dance that it so inviting. The beating of the drums tingle your body and make you feel like you belong. 



Some people are more fortunate then others. I would feel so fortunate spending my summer vacation in Africa.

In my dream vacation, I would be listening to the galloping of zebras and the chirping and honking of the birds and the sounds of all of the other wildlife in Africa. We would see baby giraffes, with their golden yellow coats and their beautiful spots, trying to stand up on wobbly legs in the African savannah. We would pass a pack of lions hunting down a herd of gazelles. The pack runs down two gazelles. You feel the African breeze blowing through your hair as you pass over the savannah.



On our drive we would see a herd of hippos bathing in a watering hole. They are all slippery and wet and look like you would fall off if you tried to sit on them. Their coloring is like a rain cloud mixed with dirt. One of them comes out of the water and rolls around in the mud. Another hippo in the water opens its mouth really wide and shows you its massive menacing teeth. 



When the Safari is over we sit in our tent and watch the African sun go down while the birds fly home to their trees and all the animals go to sleep waiting for a new day to come in the morning.
This would be my dream vacation.

Imagine playing paintball all around Sun Valley with only your friends and no one else around. That is how I’d like to spend my summer vacation. With 18 of my friends we would go around town shooting each other with paintballs. This whole game would last about a week. We would stay in buildings, cars, stores and tents. That’s how I would like to spend my summer vacation.

Imagine racing down a mountain at 60 miles per hour and flying off jumps. Well that is how I want to spend my summer vacation. I want go to South America and do ski cross. The country I want to go to for ski cross is Argentina. Ski cross is racing down a hill with four people and going off jumps. There are some giant jumps in ski cross.



To get to the top of the mountain I would ride on a horse. After that I would travel to Canada and do skier cross. In Canada I would go to Vancouver and do ski cross. When I was done skiing in Canada I would go to Switzerland. In Switzerland I would eat Swiss chocolate. That would be my dream vacation.

Sitting in the sun, rocking back and forth, still sticky from the salt water on my skin, hearing the waves crashing on the boat, I feel exhilarated by the images and sounds going through my head. I’ve still got that feeling of having a mask on my face.

On shore I spend my time hearing the chirping of birds, watching bananas and coconuts falling from the trees and feeling the sand in my toes while watching children run in and out of the waves.

Then I gaze at the beautiful last rays of the sunset, slowly descending over the horizon of the salty sea. I get back on the boat and I get into my bed and slowly get rocked to sleep by the subtle rocking of the waves. Falling asleep, I think about getting up in the morning and doing all this fun again. That would be my dream vacation.


On shore I spend my time hearing the chirping of birds, watching bananas and coconuts falling from the trees and feeling the sand in my toes while watching children run in and out of the waves.

Then I gaze at the beautiful last rays of the sunset, slowly descending over the horizon of the salty sea. I get back on the boat and I get into my bed and slowly get rocked to sleep by the subtle rocking of the waves. Falling asleep, I think about getting up in the morning and doing all this fun again. That would be my dream vacation.


Can you image standing on top of peak in Bariloche, Argentina? The only way to get to the top is to take a helicopter. The powder is three feet deep and up to your neck. Imagine jumping off of 20-foot cliffs and landing in a white wonderland, then making it to bottom and going home. The next morning we would take the helicopter to ski the Andes of Chile. While in Chile I would like to ice hole fishing.
Next, on my dream vacation I would fly to Florida for alligator action. There I would like to hunt alligators with my brothers and dad. That would be so exciting. I wonder how they taste. That would be the last thing I would do.
Then I would go back to Idaho and soon go back to school. I would dream about what could have happened over the summer.

Imagine snorkeling in the Caribbean, swimming through schools of fish and seeing the many different colors and shapes. All of a sudden you see a huge sea turtle with algae and a little sucker fish attached to its shell.

You swim down to the sea turtle, try to touch it but you are too scared because you are too afraid of scaring it away. You wonder what the sea turtle has seen in its long life.

I swim farther out into the ocean and I look down and I see starfish. There are big ones and little ones. I swim down and gently touch a starfish. It is very squishy to the touch and I leave it alone. I see beautiful coral and remember that it is alive. It would be my dream vacation to have this experience.