Valedictorian Speaks Out...

It would appear that this teen from New York did some studying "outside of the box". I am pretty sure John Taylor Gatto is not on most High School "Required Reading" lists. Read her "out of the norm" valedictorian speech!

If you are moved by Erica's speech and you haven't already seen the film Race to Nowhere, you might find it worth a watch. It will be officially released this fall.

Photos ~by Micayla

I recently got a camera! Here are a couple of my favorite pictures that I took:

Allie took this one of me and Gracie..........................

One day I may post some of my artwork or photos on this site: www.redbubble.com (you can sell your work here as prints or notecards).

Two Tiny Turtles

Nate now has two tiny friends, Joe and Frankie, his box turtles! They are both uber adorable, and about the size of a silver dollar (or a large brooch)! If you'd like an easy cute pet, our neighbors have 2 left! Grab 'em while ya can! Here is all the info regarding their habitat, and what to feed them etc...

Habitat:

While they are small they live in a container (outside during the day and inside at night because of the nocturnal creatures that might want them for a meal). In Joe and Frankie's container we have soil, moss, a small shallow container for water, a plant, a rock and a hollowed out log. Right now they are a year old; once they get big enough they will be set free to roam in the yard.

Eats:

Right now they are primarily carnivores. They eat mealworms that we bought at the pet store (we feed them one each daily) and we toss in pill bugs from the yard for them to hunt down in their habitat. As they get older (we are told) they will become more omnivorous, eating fruits and veggies such as bananas, apples, and green leafy things. And when they are eventually released into the yard they will help us keep our gardens free of snails and slugs!

Frankie is the smaller, brighter colored turtle, and Joe is the big one.

Their habitat (can you spy Frankie and Joe?).

~written by Carly

Remote Reporters for Spatulatta

So a couple weeks ago my friends Katie, Meagan and I spontaneously decided to do a Spatulatta (a kids online cooking show that I have enjoyed watching for several years) cooking show! -Last year they published my story on their website, and told me that I could do a video for them if I'd like. We made BBQ Chicken Pizza! Annndddd, Spatulatta liked it so much, that they asked us if we'd like to be official "Spatulites" who do a cooking show from CA once a month! =D We are SO excited!

Here is the link to Spatulatta where we are featured:

http://www.spatulatta.com/remote-reporter

And the clip on YouTube! the recipe is under "info" on the youtube site...

HOT Rocks!

Nate said, "This is more fun than drawing on paper!"

Nate had a blast coloring hot rocks recently. We got the idea from this great blog:

A Magical Childhood.

Then we found the same idea in this fun book on Summer Crafts.

If you'd like to try it, here's how:

Find a smooth, fairly flat rock and put it in the oven at 450' (we used a toaster oven) for about 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove the hot rock (place on a heat-proof surface) and color with crayons (we discovered it helps to remove any paper on the crayon first). Use crayons that aren't too small because they can melt fast! Be careful not to touch the rock with your bare hands!

Nate's rock was steaming when he first started working on it and he loved how the waxy crayons melted and sizzled. The rock retained the heat for quite awhile; he was extremely careful and knew to touch the rock with his crayons only. Fun stuff!

Summertime cherries!

Last week we took a mini road trip to Leona Valley to go cherry picking at the 5 Star Ranch. The car ride was worth it though; the ranch had Bing and Rainier cherries, and both were delicious! We left with around 12 lbs. of cherries and probably ate at least another pound our two while we picked.

At home we made cherry pie and chocolate chip cherry ice cream. Yum!!

We had a ball making the ice cream. We used this basic vanilla recipe and added chocolate chips and cherries.

(If you are interested in cherry picking, plan a date soon; the season won't last much longer).

Science Center!

Soooo....yesterday we went to the Science Center up in LA! It was pretty awesome. We saw The Ultimate Wave Tahiti3D IMAX movie featuring Kelly Slater. The movie talked about the history of Tahiti, surfing, and how waves are formed. The 3D effects were astounding; grab that fish! It was neat to go underwater and see the coral reefs and natural marine life. It's pathetic that lots of the coral reefs around the world are being destroyed by global warming and humans. BOOOOOO. Anyhoo, the flick was a hit, and we recommend it for all ages!

After the movie, we explored the new exhibit Ecosystems. It was great (although many unexpected guinea pigs roamed the premises)! They have a two stories with ten different "zones" our favorites were The Poles and Deep Sea Vents. There was so much information, we didn't even get to visit all the rooms! I'll explain a bit more about these "zones". They are rooms with various hands-on activities, animals, and boards that hold much information....



FUN FACTS:

*Did you know that there are deep sea vents, some called "Black Smokers" and one called "The Lost City" because of it's Grecian architecture?



*By 2020 four different dams in the Klamath River (we visited it on our road trip last year!) will be removed!



*Turtles store their pee for long periods of time so that when they're roasting in the desert they can have a cool drink to beat the heat (no, they don't actually drink their urine, the liquid just gets absorbed into their bodies:).


*Honey Ants store nectar in their abdomens and get so bloated that they can't even move! Workers can grab a snack on the go.

*Did you know the color black absorbs much more heat than white; also snow reflects more sunlight than sand which are two reasons why the polar regions are so cold.

We had a terrific time learning about the different ecosystems! It's amazing the amount of life that thrives in the various systems. Go check out Ecosystems at the LA Science Center today!

~written by Carly