Grampy is taking Grandma-ma to a museum

Hello my raviolis. Today grandma-ma is getting on a plane and flying to Boston to meet Grampy.  He is going to take his favorite mermaid to a special museum.

It is the Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Massachuesetts.  Grandma-ma is very, very excited about taking a trip to this museum. I have never been to a whaling museum, have you?  There will be lots of whale bones and paintings and even scrimshaw.  I will take lots of pictures and post them for you. 

So have a wonderful day my ravs and look for grandma-ma's posts this weekend.  Lots of love and whale kisses. Grandma-ma

Word of the Week Wednesday

Hello my Wednesday raviolis.  Today's word of the week is in honor of a wonderful summer pastime...

"camp"

Yes, camp...everyone loves to summer "camp" whether it is in your own backyard.

 or even in the house like a ravioli I know.

You can go on a big camping trip like the Aurora raviolis went on this summer.

One of my favorite ways to "camp" is a day camp over the summer.  When Grandma-ma was a little girl, she spent two weeks at a nature day camp in Minnesota.  She loved it and got to walk on peat bogs and see carnivorous plants and leeches.  We pressed wild flowers and identified them and put them in frames.  We roped off small areas of ground and labeled everything we saw in it and counted the many creatures.  It was lots of fun. 

So, remember to use the world "camp" in three sentences today.  Here is grandma-ma first sentence:

I learned how to make boondoggle crafts at the day camp in New Jersey.

Have a wonderful day my raviolis.  Grandma-ma loves you.

Look! It's a real mermaid.

Look, can you see her?  Can you see the little mermaid in the clear, blue water swimming.  She must have come to the surface to see the land world. Shhhhh, let's not scare this pretty little mermaid away.  Do you think she will want to swim over and say hello? 

 I hope so.

Did she?  Is she here?  Did the little mermaid come over to the edge of the pool to say hello to us? 

YES!!! She did.  Yippie!!!

What a pretty mermaid. Can I come swim with you?  Love grandma-ma.

It's HOT HOT HOT outside

Hello my roasting raviolis.  It is hot hot hot outside and everyone is trying to find a way to cool off. Check out these fun photos of animals trying to stay cool in hot temperatures.

A cool fan breeze always feels good.

Even polar bears like swimming in refreshing water.

This sweet boy keeps his water bottle handy, even when he is in the pool.

Smart doggie.  I would sit in the pool too.  He looks very happy.

Even a big moose wants a dip in the pool on a hot day.  He needs to make room for the squirrels.

Nothing refreshes like an ice cream cone.

Or a frozen fruit pop.

Stay cool my ravs and have a wonderful Friday.  Grandma-ma loves you.

Word of the Week Wednesday

Hello my Wednesday Raviolis.  Today is word of the week Wednesday and today's word is:

"patience"

This is a good word.  The word "patience" means the quality of being patient, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like. To wait for something while you work for it, or it comes to pass in its own time.

A man and his son waiting for fish to bite.  It takes patience to wait for the fish to take the bait, but what fun it is when you finally hook the fish.  A bonus is the time spent waiting for the fish as you can talk about the day, your dreams and things you like and dislike with your friends or family.

.

A group of kids waiting in line to get on a ride at the playground. All are waiting nicely and waving to the person taking the picture. This is a good example of patience too.  The ride they want to play on is worth patiently waiting to get on it.

Now can you think of another word that sounds like "patience"?  I can. 

Here is a hint:  The Aurora raviolis mom takes care of "patients" every day.  Did you guess correctly?

Patients are people who are seen by medical staff.  We have all been a patient at sometime in our lives and that includes our pets too.

So today, please use the word "patience" in three sentences. Here is grandma-ma's first sentence:

It took a little patience to lay quietly on the sea floor with my camera waiting for this little yellowhead jawfish to come out of this sand hole.

Because grandma-ma waited quietly and patiently for him, she was able to snap this neat picture for you.

Have a wonderful Wednesday my loves. Grandma-ma

Cookie cutter sandwiches

When grandma-ma was a little girl, her mommy would take out the cookie cutters and make cookie cutter sandwiches for summertime lunch fun. 

Because my sisters and I and all of our friends were busy running and biking and swimming and playing dress up,we would often want to have little sandwich picnics during the day.  My mom would make bologna sandwiches and cheese sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and even little "devil" ham spread sandwiches  on fresh bread.  But then she would turn them into fun little "tea" sandwiches by using different shape cookie cutters.

Here is a tea sandwich that is a star shape.  There are two pieces of meat and some cheese in the middle.

I like these fishie shaped sandwiches too.  They have cheese, egg salad and lettuce. They sure look good, don't they?

But this pictures is my favorite sandwich using a rabbit cookie cutter.  Do you know how they did this?

If you think  you do, leave a comment to tell grandma-ma.  It's not hard to do.  Look carefully to see what they did to do this.  Somebody made a sandwich puzzle.  Have a wonderful day my ravs.  Grandma-ma loves you.

Kota goes for a ride on Sunday

Hello my raviolis.  Grandma-ma has been very busy these last few days and hasn't posted on your blog.  Even Kota was missing me, but tomorrow, Kota goes for a special ride with grandma-ma.  When we wake up tomorrow morning, I will get dressed and get in the car.  Kota will hop in the car with me and go for a ride. 

Kota and I will take a drive to the Einstein Bagel Shop up the street from my house.

Einstein Bagels makes the best and freshest bagels you can find in the south.  I pick up fresh bagels on Sunday morning to make Grampy a special breakfast.  I usually get Assiago cheese bagels and potato bagels.  They are sooooooo tasty.

But what does this have to do with Kota?  Well, Einsteins Bagels has special bagels for dogs.  They make a chewy and crunch bagel and Kota loves them. 

This is what the doggie bagels look like.  So tomorrow, Kota and I will go to Einsteins and pick up bagels for grampy and one doggie bagel for Kota.  Have a wonderful Saturday my raviolis.  Grandma-ma loves you.

Ravioli birthdays

Hello my raviolis and especially my birthday ravs.  Yes, two of the raviolis have birthdays this month and close to each other.  One ravioli lives in Aurora and the other lives in New York.  In fact, today is the New York ravioli's birthday and we want to wish our "5-cheese" ravioli a Happy Birthday today.  In honor of our birthday ravs, I have posted several princess cakes to celebrate.  Which is your favorite?

The Princess's in the castle looks very nice.  I like the pretty lilac roses on it.

Everyone loves cupcakes and I think this is a pretty princess birthday cupcake tower.

Wow, a pair of princess's as birthday cakes.  I know a 5-cheese rav who loves Snow White and let's not forget our Aurora ravioli...why there is a Princess Aurora cake too.

What a clever cake with a pretty puffed pillow and crown to eat.  I like the wand and the slipper to.

But this cake, by far is my favorite.  It is a huge, big, tasty princess tower with pretty flowers and butterflies.  You could eat cake for a week and still not finish it all. 

Wishing you both the happiest of birthdays and good wishes.  Love grandma-ma and grampy.

Remembering Peaches

Hello my raviolis.  Some sad news to share with you.  Peaches, Aunt Renee's cat has gone to heaven.  Miss Peaches was with Aunt Renee for 10 years and she received her from a friend when she was a little kitten.  She would run around like a little wind devil getting into everything.  She loved to snuggle and be brushed. 

Peaches taking a snooze.

Peaches looking up with her big green eyes.  Peaches was the softest cat Grandma-ma had ever seen.  She was like a big ball of fluff.

Peaches watching TV with Aunt Renee.  They both liked to watch the Golden Girls together.

Peaches had the pinkest feet you ever saw.  She was such a good girl and she loved Aunt Renee.  We are all very sad that Miss Peaches is no longer with us.  Our hearts hurt and we cried.  It is sad when we lose our pets because they mean so much to us.  They make us laugh and they are always happy to see us.  Give  your pets a nice rub on the head and tell them you love them.  To live with pets is a wonderful gift as they teach us so many things about friendship, unconditional love, teach us responsibility and they make us laugh.  What good things they give us.

Grandma-ma's favorite picture of Peaches.  She is looking at a window.  Such pretty green eyes and big white whiskers. 

Love to you all my ravs and remember to be thankful for your pets.  Grandma-ma

Slo mo bubble break

Hello my raviolis.  I just found this nifty little video of a bubble being broken in slow motion. Isn't it neat the way the bubble breaks from the entry of the stone and then sort of opens up all around to its end.  When we see a bubble break it is instant and it looks like it explodes from the center.

I love to see how these things work and by slowing the process down you can see how it is done.  Love to you all.  Grandma-ma

Word of the Week Wednesday

Greetings Wednesday raviolis.  Today's word of the week is a big word with lots of meaning...it is:

"Performance"

This big word can be noun, which is a person, place or thing.

A ballet performance.

It can be an adjective which is used to describe a noun.

A "performance" bike.

The word "performance" means...the act of performing; of doing something successfully; using knowledge.  I like this word.  It is a large word that has 3 syllables or "breaks" when you say it.  You perform when you play a sport or do your homework.

 

We want our performance to always be good because we want to succeed in what we choose to do.  If you like to lay lacrosse, you want to perform well.  If you want to be teacher, you want your school performance to be positive.  Sometimes our performance isn't so good.   We may not have studied as hard as we should so we don't achieve our best grade.  Our performance suffers and then we have to go back and repeat the same work in order to get it right.  This is okay, this is how everyone learns.  Even grandma-ma still does homework because she likes to learn.  Somethings will always take some extra study time but they are usually worth it in the end.  So remember to use the word "performance" in three sentences today.  Here is grandma-ma's first sentence:

"The little league team performance was the best this year as the team worked hard to excell in their performance."  Did you see that grandma-ma used the word twice in one sentence?  Now that is good performance!  Love to you all.  Grandma-ma 

Fireworks!

Hello my raviolis.  I  hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July with lots of good food, good weather, lots of friends and family and especially the Fireworks.

Did you know that fireworks were invented in ancient China in the 12th century to scare away evil spirits.  Did you know that China is the largest manufacturer and exporter of fireworks in the world.

Did you know that there are 19 different types of fireworks effects with neat sounding names like Peony and Cake and Horsetail and Fish?

Did you know that Maura and Brian have gone to fireworks competitions while living in Japan? What fun that would.  Grampy and Grandma-ma have a pair of photos that Maura took of fireworks displayed in our bedroom.

Did you know that there are only two ways to display fireworks...ariel and ground.

Here is the setup for a huge ground display before they are shot off.  It looks like a big toy to play with.  It looks really neat and has lots of moving parts.

This is what a ground display looks like from behind when it has been set off.  Lots of noise, smoke and light. 

You can make your own fireworks on the computer screen.  Click on this LINK and you will go to a fun page to set off your own fireworks.  Turn on your speakers so you can hear them shoot off too.

Have a wonderful day my raviolis.  You are all my holiday firecrackers!!! Grandma-ma