Flo.

Chapter 2

My parents arranged my birthday celebration to be at our ranch so that the other kids and guests could ride the horses. My sister Luci was so excited about riding the horses that she gave her favorite bow to me as a present. My younger sisters Hattie and Harriet kept following me around, asking me if they could ride the horses as well. They said that Lucille had been telling them that they are too small to ride the horses, so I told them they could ride the ponies. My party was really fun, all my friends and family came! But there was one incident that kind of ruined my party. You see, my parents had a beautiful cake made for me. It was a huge castle-shaped cake and it really went well with my party dress. I felt like a beautiful princess. When everyone was singing to me and my dad was lighting up the candles, out of nowhere a football hit my cake right in the middle. It was knocked down to the floor and my cake was ruined. Apparently, Otto thought it would be a brilliant idea to aim for my cake. Uncle Angus and Aunt Ophelia apologized profousley for Otto's actions. Meanwhile, Otto did not think he had done anything wrong. So my uncle and aunt had to take him home and grounded him because he stood firmly that hitting my cake was an absolute banger because his aim was so good. Other than that incident, I still had so much fun. My friends and I rode the horses, played tag and had a race on the field. Everyone enjoyed my Grand aunt Amelie's equestrian performance. Luci even asked me if she could perform on my next birthday because she says she and her horse Timber are getting better. Luci only started riding last year and, as Grand aunt Amelie says, she is good for her age.

After the party, Grandpa Andrew and Grandpa Ronan helped dad carry all my presents back to our ranch house. Grandma Gene, Grandma Aliénor and Nana brought my sisters and I to the house. Mom had to bring Grand aunt Amelie to her car because the party made her tired. Before she left, she gave me her gift and gave me a big hug. We all gathered in the living room and they all watched me open my presents. They all ooh'd and ah'd at all my presents. My presents were all pretty and I loved them all. Nana did in fact give me eleven chocolate. Otto left me a gift, it was a rock wrapped in a gift wrapper.

School started a week later. We are enrolled at Harbor Bay but we have classes at home for three hours a day. An assigned teacher comes over every school day to teach my sisters, Otto and I. The reason why our parents opted for this was so that we could be able to practice our instruments and train for our sports activities. Otto comes over everyday for lessons because Aunt Ophelia and Uncle Angus don't want him to feel lonely. Our day starts early, by 6 am we are all ready to practice our instruments. I practice my piano pieces by myself. Sometimes, Nana comes over if not dad or Mr. Roux assists me with my lessons and practices. Mr. Beauregard comes over to give lessons to Lucille (violin) and Otto (viola). Ms. Bellamy gives cello lessons to Hattie and she is smaller than her cello. Mrs. Connolly gives harp lessons to Harriet, who like Hattie, the harp is bigger than her. After two hours we start our academic classes. After class, we have our lunch then proceed back to practicing our instruments. After an hour, we get ready for our respective sports training. I head to the school track for my track training, Luci heads to Grand aunt's ranch for her equestrian lessons, Hattie heads to the tennis court for her tennis training, Harriet heads to the skating rink for her skating lessons and Otto heads to the country club for his polo training. People often ask our parents why us children are put through this schedule. You see, our family has a deep history of playing classical instruments, both my mom's side and dad's side. Our family was known to produce the finest musicians. Us grandchildren, according to our grandparents, must uphold the family name, continue the legacy and use our God given talents. We don't complain because we have all been born with an attraction to classical music. Otto, Lucille and I have started touring with our classical group. It is a group composed of children that goes around the world to perform classical music and this usually happens during our school breaks. This is an opportunity to show our talents to all the people in the musical world and who knows, we might get the golden opportunity to study in a great school or to be mentored by a great musician or maybe join a great orchestra. My dad and mom, Uncle Angus, were part of this group and they went on till they were in college. Nana and a group of parents formed this group. It was a really fun experience and I am looking forward to our next tour. Soon, Hattie and Harriet will be joining as soon as they are older. On the sporting side of things, I love to run and my parents noticed that I was quite fast. So one summer they placed me in track training for kids. I fell in love with it and never stopped since then. I know I am only eleven, but I already have a goal and that is to compete in the Olympics. My parents saw my potential and how happy I was doing it, so they invested in my training. Last season, I managed to break my previous record of four first place finishes in seven competitions with eight podium finishes in eight competitions with six first place finishes, one second and third place. Luci, on the other hand, had always had a fascination with horses. Grand aunt Amelie owns an equestrian academy and we would always be watching the competitions they compete in and the shows they hold. Grand aunt Amelie saw Luci's interest and had her take lessons. Grand aunt Amelie is so proud to have her taking on after her. It is hard to get Luci back home after her lessons because she just would not get down from her horse, Nova. Hattie grew up watching Wimbledon matches with my parents and Grandpa Ronan. My parents and Granpa Ronan always watch the tournament and they would leave us kids at Nana's house while they're gone. Hattie loved to stick to my mom, so my parents would take her with them or else she would just cry the whole time. She fell in love with tennis and had started lessons when she turned four. Harriet, on the other hand, enjoyed skating every time we went to the ice rink. My parents enrolled her for lessons and the coaches have been praising Hattie because she has the potential of being the next figure skating sensation. They also love that Hattie does not behave like a typical three-year-old. She does what she's told, she isn't afraid of falling, focuses and never gives up. This year she will have her first competition and she's very excited. Her coach had to carry her out of the rink because she would not stop skating. She thinks she'll be competing in the Winter Olympics this year. Otto has just recently started playing polo and he is very determined to play for the national team. I keep reminding him that he is only eleven and he had only started because he keeps getting frustrated that he still isn't good enough to play with the big guys. After our training, Otto and I goes to Nana's house for additional practice of our instruments for an hour, then we have dinner. After that, Nana drives us home then we rest. People can not believe that such young children have so much discipline.