HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!!!

Sock, Lola & Monkey Soaking Up the Sun in Florida on December 4th, 2011

Lola & Stitch "out and about" in Toronto, Canada on September 1st, 2011 (that's the CN Tower in the

background which is the TALLEST "free-standing" structure in the Western Hemisphere

and it serves as a telecommunications hub).

Well it was truly an exciting year, and I'm happy to bring my family back to the place that it all started.  It was exactly one year ago that Mom & Dad adopted me from this Cracker Barrel in Kissimmee, Florida and my life and adventures truly began.  I really have been "There And Back Again," haven't I. 

We're all grateful to our friends who during the year took us to really cool places and let us do wonderful things.  We went to Mexico, Las Vegas, baseball games, down to the Jersey shore (thank goodness we didn't run into Snookie and her housemates though), Massachusetts, Niagara Falls (both NY and Canada), Toronto Canada, and even on a big cruise!!!  And finally after completing my journey back down to Florida this month, I'm now back home where I belong.

Mom told us that she's about to begin another "Teen Winter Reading Club" in a few weeks and she's going to let us be a part of 2012's teen & "tween" events.  YAY!!!!  We're all really looking forward to joining the fun again and hope you'll all come to check us out.  Keep posted for more updates and adventures!

See you soon,

Sock

HOLA AMIGOS! QUE PASA?

That's Me and My Buddy David.  Do You Like My Sombrero?



Here I Am With David's Younger Sister Grace.  She's So Awesome!!!



Ole!!!  I'm Performing a "Mexican Hat Dance"

Hola Everyone,

Boy did I have a great time down in Mexico with the Yi family last month.  We had SO much fun and hopefully I'll get to travel with them again very soon.  Here's some facts that I learned about where we were staying.

The pics are from down town Playa
del Carmen, México on July 18, 2011.
*Fact's*
1. The state is Quintana Roo.
2. It's in the Yucatan peninsula.
3. The capital is Chetumal.


Hasta Luego,
Sock

"YMCA FUN"

Hi Friends Monkey Here,

On Tuesday, July 26th we were at the YMCA going swimming.  We had such fun because there were water slides and a whirlpool. Also before you go in the whirlpool or go on the water slides you have to pass the swimming test.  For the swimming test you have to swim 1 lane.  It's really fun.  I hope you can do that to.                                         

Gotta Go,                                               
Monkey

NEW FAMILY MEMBERS -- YAY!!!

Hi everyone,
Wow!  It seems that there were some pretty BIG happenings while I was on vacation with Stitch in Mexico.  Guess what!!!  I have a new brother AND sister.  I heard through the airwaves that Mom & Dad adopted two more sock monkeys and their names are "Monkey" and "Lola."  I'm just getting back from Mexico and can't wait to meet them.

But alas, Stitch and I will have to wait?  What's this?  They've already been "checked out" of the library?!?  AWWW!  I don't want to wait.  Mom, how could you?  Oh well, I can't wait to hear about their adventures too.  But it seems some adoring fans of mine and Stitch's are already lined up to "check us out" too.  Wow!  This is too cool!  She sent me a couple of pictures of the two of them that I'd like to share with you also. 


So now this won't be just mine and Stitch's blog.  You'll be reading about Monkey's and Lola's adventures too.  Mom hasn't seen Stitch and I yet, but I'm sure that she's excited and hopeful that the family that we went to Mexico with will return us on time because she probably misses us A LOT (who can blame her). 

Later Dudes!!!
Sock & Stitch

HOLA AMIGOS! I'M ON MY WAY TO MEXICO!!!

Yay!!!  Last week I got "checked out" and went to a softball game in Woodcliff, NJ and now I'm on my way to Mexico.  Can you say quesadillas and tacos?!?  I can't wait.  I hope I get to see some ruins from the ancient civilizations that once lived in Mexico, as well as the beach of course.

Oh well, I'll blog about my trips when I get back.

Hasta luego,
Sock

I'M WAITING............

Hi-dee-ho!

Oh please will someone talk to Mom to "check me out."  I mean the library is really cool and all, but I'm really itching to go out exploring again.


Thanks,
Sock

ANCHORS AWEIGH!!!

Stitch and I at Castillo San Cristobal in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Still at Castillo San Cristobal in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Stitch and I had fun making friends with a seagull in St. Thomas

Still in St. Thomas.  We had a cool balcony where we could sit and relax each day.

Stitch and I were saying goodbye to St. Maarten as we were leaving port.

Stitch and I were watching the sunset while leaving St. Maarten

This was our second day out at sea.  It was really cool, but I shouldn't have watched

"Titanic" a few days before we left.  It was really eerie to think that we were out on open waters

with NOTHING around for hundreds of miles.  OOOOHHHHH!!!

Hey Everyone!

Ready to hear about my latest adventures???  Well even if you're not, I'm going to tell you anyway.  About a month ago, Mom and Dad took me on a really awesome vacation OUT OF THE COUNTRY!!!  Can you believe that?  They even needed to get these things called "passports" and I had a great time making fun of their pictures to identify them (shh... don't tell them I said that).  Tee hee!!  I don't know why, but they didn't make me get one.  Oh well, maybe next time.

The cool thing is, we didn't fly but instead we "sailed" out of Bayonne, NJ.  The folks were really happy that they didn't have to go into NY to get to the ship.  Oh, and don't call it a "boat."  It's a "ship."  My grandma & grandpa on Mom's side went with us, and since grandpa was a "Navy" man, I thought he was going to feed me rotten bananas when I called it a "boat."  I like grandpa though and he told me all about how he served on a submarine in the Mediterranean many, many years ago.

Like I was saying, we sailed on a ship called "The Explorer of the Seas" which is part of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.  Mom said I could take a buddy with me, so I brought Stitch.  I was going to bring him anyway, but he can sure be a pesky little thing and kept bugging me to take him.  It was okay though because we didn't go anywhere without each other, and had a lot of fun. 

Overall, the trip was fabulous!  But I wish we had more time to sightsee on each island we visited.  I'll name them in the order we reached "Land Ho!"  First we sailed to Bermuda.  It took us about two sailing days to reach the island, but we made it through "The Bermuda Triangle" A-Okay obviously.  Mom had been there already but Dad hadn't.  She filled him in on a lot of the historical things that unfortunately he wouldn't get to see on this trip.  The water looked amazing and I really wanted to go swimming, but we didn't have enough time.  Note to self:  Ask Mom & Dad if we can go back someday.

Day 3 -- 6:00 PM -- We're on our way to our next destination

Day 4 -- STILL SAILING

Day 5 -- 12:00 PM -- We arrive at our next island destination

This island that we visited is a little tricky.  You see, although it's all technically one island (meaning all one piece of land), two countries actually own and share it.  So that's why I'm saying that we visited two islands or two island nations.  Our ship docked on the Dutch side of the island called St. Maarten, but we took a bus tour which also brought us to the French side of the island called St. Martin.  I know, tricky huh!?!  One island, but two capitals.  I'm not telling you the capitals because that's one of your summer reading club challenges!!!  HA! HA! HA!

Even though both sides of the island do speak English, I'm glad Mom didn't make me get off the bus in St. Martin because I would really have had to know some French.  Both countries accepted the U.S. Dollar, but St. Martin's (French) main currency is actually the "Euro."  Again, we didn't have much time to explore.  But overall it was nice to visit.  Now back to the ship.

Day 6 -- 8:00 AM -- We arrive at our next island destination

Now this island, both Mom & Dad really enjoyed and said they would LOVE to go back to.  Not only is there so much history there, but the beaches and views were spectacular.  Stitch and I even had fun feeding some seagulls off our stateroom's balcony.  The island I'm talking about is St. Thomas.  We took an awesome bus tour and our driver gave us a lot of historical background.  One of the things he pointed out was "Drake's Seat."  Did you know that Sir Francis Drake was actually considered a pirate?  Apparently Drake used this "seat" as a lookout point to spy on ships coming through the channel.  This way he and his men could pillage them and send back their "booty" to the Queen of England.  Continuing on our tour, our bus driver asked us if we knew which islands are the four "U.S. Virgin Islands."  Can you name them?  He stopped the bus and was able to point out some of them to us of in the distance.  Then showed us spectacular views of several beaches.  One in particular "Magen's Bay Beach" which is on the north shore of the island, is considered one of the top ten beaches in the entire world.  Oh, if only we had more time!  Note to self:  Ask Mom & Dad if we can visit this island again very soon.

Day 7 -- 8:00 AM -- We arrive at our Final Destination (no sillies, not the video game) before heading home

Now this was really neat!  While Dad was snoring away, Mom woke up and brought us out on the balcony just as we were docking.  When I looked to my left, I saw this really cool, old looking fort that was up the hill.  Since we had only until 12:30 PM to go exploring, Mom jostled Dad out of bed so they could get going.  Where are we you ask?  San Juan, Puerto Rico.

We disembarked ("got off" for all of  you "landlubbers") at about 8:30 AM (boy Dad is really slow) and started walking north towards the fort.  We got a little lost a long the way because the streets would be cut off by buildings.  Thanks to Mom's keen sense of direction (not only does she love maps, but she knew a little bit of Spanish just in case), we made it to the fort.  This historical, national landmark is called "Castillo San Cristóbal."  Unfortunately we were only able to visit this one landmark because we had so little time (oh, whoa is me) but it was really cool to walk around.  Did you know, that Castillo San Cristóbal is the biggest fortification built by the Spanish in America. It's construction began in 1634 and took approximately 150 years.  The Park Ranger there even told us that this fort was used more for protecting invaders coming in to the city by land.  The other fort that we didn't get to see Castillo San Felipe del Morro, was built to defend against sea attackers.  She even told us about San Cristóbal's most infamous prisoner.  Ask Mom if you'd like to hear that story.  But I'll tell you this much, he was actually a priest!

Another thing we saw a lot of while walking around the fort was iguanas.  I think they're really cool and they look like Godzilla.  It seemed as if they were guarding the fort.  Stitch and I even saw one on top of the fort wall that was looking out at the ocean.  Even with all of the people (and monkeys, and aliens) gawking at him, he did NOT flinch and inch.  Actually, because we were in such tropical climates once we reached the islands in the Caribbean, we were told that the iguanas are "native" creatures on each island.  They tend to keep to themselves and hide mainly in trees (and forts).  Oh well, it's time to head back to the ship.  Even though we had such a SHORT time in San Juan, we all loved it.  I don't need to make a note to myself to ask Mom & Dad to go back.  I already know that they want to.

Day 7 -- 1:00 PM -- SAILING AGAIN

Day 8 -- STILL SAILING

Day 9 -- 7:30 AM -- We docked in Bayonne, NJ


The time went really fast, but overall we had a really great time and I can't wait to go on my next adventures!!!

See you soon,
Sock

I'M OFF TO COLLEGE!!! (WELL SORT OF)...

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry to took me so long to start blogging about my recent trips.  But I wasn't sure how to start a blog, and Mom and Dad have been really busy with work and things around the house.  Mom was finally able to help me get started, so here goes.

A couple of months ago, Mom let this really nice lady "Miss Kim" and her family "check me out" of the library to take me on a trip to Massachusetts to go visit some colleges.  I was already thinking about what fraternities I was going to "pledge" to, but then I realized that we weren't going to look for me, but instead for Miss Kim's son Daniel.  He's a really cool guy, and I hope we can hang out again real soon.

I had a lot of fun just relaxing on the way up, and was even working on my tan.  They decided to put a hat on me so I wouldn't burn.  I think it just makes me look even more "studious" and mature.  Doesn't it?  I really liked visiting the campuses and might like to go to one of these schools when I'm ready (hint, hint Mom & Dad).  Oh Mom.....  Sorry, but Mom just said to me that I better make sure that I get a good job after school someday to start saving up my money to help pay for it.  She says: "money doesn't grow on trees," and "a penny saved is a penny earned."  Geez I love her, but does she always have to be right???

Anyway, don't forget to ask Mom if you can "check me out" too.  I'd like to go on as many adventures as I can and blog about them all summer long.

See you soon,
Sock

AND SO MY ADVENTURES BEGIN!

Yay!!! I'm ready to leave that
"Cracker Barrel" in Kissimmee, Florida

Hi everyone,

On December 4, 2010 I became the luckiest Sock Monkey alive!  My name is "Sock" the sock monkey.  Yeah, yeah I know.  How original, right?  Well I'm kind of a simple guy.

Anyway, this husband and wife came into the restaurant/store where I was living at the time (if you'd really call it living). Oh, I can't tell you how I longed to be adopted, and just find a good and loving home. The stress and depression of being in that place day in, and day out was really starting to get to me.

But then it happened! I saw them walking over to the area where my shelf was. I didn't want to get my hopes up too high though. They seemed to be looking for something in particular. I just figured that they were looking for a Christmas gift for a child, and were probably going to pick out one of those cute, little "Beanie Babies." But no, wait a minute! "Do my ears deceive me?" I asked myself. I overheard them talking and I thought "are they really looking for a Sock Monkey to adopt? No, it can't be! Uh oh! I have competition from the other monkeys on my shelf. How do I get their attention? How do I make them really notice me?" "Please pick me, PLEASE pick me" I willed as I crossed all of my fingers and toes...or socks I mean.
I don't know if it was by magic, or just my captivating personality that won out in the end. But that wonderful couple made the best decision of their lives and decided to take me home with them (or at least to the hotel for a few days). I soon found out that they live here in New Jersey, in a nice white house with two young cats that they'd also recently adopted. They're both sweet cats, but YIKES I have to watch out for those claws. It seems that they like me, but not as a friend. Instead, I believe they think I'm some kind of kitty toy or something.

I had been talking with the Mrs. of the house one day, and was thanking her again for bringing me here to hers and the Mr.'s home. First she told me to call her "Mom" from now on, and then she explained to me that although they love their home very much, they absolutely love to get out and travel. She said "now that we have you, we have a cute companion to bring along with us to all of the fascinating places we go to." "OMG!" "This cannot be happening!" I thought. Not only does my dream of ending up in a loving home come true, but now another one of my dreams will come true as well: I'm going to SEE THE WORLD!!!

Here I am on the way to the hotel in Walt Disney World.
Gee Mickey Mouse is swell, but I think Stitch is a lot cooler!

I guess you could say that my life changed forever on that fateful day. No more lonely, boring existence for me. It's my goal to travel to many different places during this entire year! I want to experience as many sights, sounds, and cultures as I possibly can, and then blog about them. That is, if you'll help me like Mom & Dad did. You see, even though they love to travel, they explained that they would need some help to make sure that I achieve my goal. That's when Mom came up with the brilliant idea of asking all of you to "adopt" me too (well, sort of). She figured that maybe some of you would be willing to take me with you when you travel. Please, oh pretty please with whipped cream, sugar, sprinkles, hot fudge, caramel sauce, chocolate brownie chunks, nuts (unless you're allergic to them), and even a cherry on top!!!

The first step is to talk to her about signing up to "adopt" or "check me out" of the Mahwah Public Library for a little bit. She figured that you teens could take me on day trips, mini vacations, or even week long vacations. But in order to do this, you'll need to fill out a "PERMISSION FORM" and let her know when and where we're going on our trip, and when I'll be coming home. And, you'll have to PROMISE that you'll take great care of me.


Here's What Mom Would Like You to Do,
Once You've "Adopted" Me Or "Checked Me Out:"

In order to earn up to 500 points on your "Logs" she asks that while I'm with you, you take at least one picture of me (you can be in it too) with something special that represents where we are. Mom would also like us to gather at least "3" facts about the place that we're going to. If possible, she'd like you to e-mail the pictures and information to her at: jukniewicz@bccls.org.

This information does not need to be sent until after our trip is over. But remember, you won't receive any "points" until she has received everything; including ME! If you cannot send the information digitally or electronically, then she asks that you hand everything in to her when you return me to her at the Mahwah Public Library.
Oh, one more thing.  This year's "Teen Summer Reading Club" theme is about traveling and world cultures (how fitting!) so if you bring back a small item (stickers, postcards, posters) that represents where you've been, then you'll earn another 250 points and small prizes. These items may be used in the "Teen Section," as decorations to help get in the spirit of things this summer.

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DON'T FORGET that you'll be responsible for taking good care of me, and getting me home safely. My Mom's a tough cookie, and she said that if I get lost or I'm returned late, or with "boo boos" then you might not get all of those "points" on your "Log" and might get "points" DEDUCTED.   Or even worse....you might not receive gift cards or other prizes that you've earned!!! Oh, no! We don't want that to happen!

So, if you're interested in having an adventure together then make sure you talk to Mom ASAP. Otherwise, you might miss out on a fun opportunity.


See you real soon,
"Sock"