Back in April my mom, dad, and I started my garden. In May we planted lettuce and spinach.We mostly weeded in April and May, but now it looks a lot better. This is the day we went to the garden and got to work.

After we got the soil ready, we took the seeds and spread them in straight rows and covered them with soil. We put them in about an inch according to the packages.

One of my favorite things to grow is herbs. Even if you don't grow a vegetable garden you can always grow a herb garden if you like different flavors and spices. My favorite thing to make is herby potatoes.

(that will probably be my next blog post) 

After a while my lettuce started growing! We already made a couple of salads out of it. Maybe I could make my own salad dressing! Hmm...

We also planted tomatoes, thanks to our friend Dave who gave us lots of plants. We already have so many blossoms! My favorite thing to make with tomatoes is fresh salsa. We make ours with tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, and salt.

I was thinking that a garden is a great family activity. Plus it's a great workout! It hurts. If your family doesn't agree, you try it for yourself. And if you try it, you too may be rewarded with an out of control sage bush! Yay!

Peace out!
Trinity the amazing :D

I started Irish dancing when I was three. Irish dancing is very important to me. I love doing it. It's hard to find sports I like because I'm not that competitive. This is me at four, dancing at the Hibernian club in town.

Irish dancing is a big part of my life and I hope to make the highest rank soon.There is a girl who is only twelve years old in the highest rank! One thing I like about Irish dancing is sharing it. At six years old Rowan stopped Irish dancing so I found new ways to share it. I started to teach Pallas and she started at three too. That's me in my costume at 5 yrs old in a crib with Pallas.

My favorite way to share my talent are shows. After my first St. Patrick's week "round up," and my confidence was up, I really started trying harder.

At the age of six I graduated to the next harder level. In my first show at that level, I got to do bang, which is part one of treble jig, while the rest of my level didn't.That was then I knew that Irish dancing is what I want to do. That's me in my intermediate level costume at six.

This year, I worked harder and got to do 'jump' in all of the shows. I hope to work ever harder this year so I can dance in all the dances.

This is jump. I'm at the far left. Enjoy! Listen for the beats made by our hard shoes!

Peace out.

Trinity
(Irish Dancer) :D

For my birthday this year my family went to Chicago. We got to ride the overnight train to get there. When we got to the train station we found out we were delayed 3 hours! When the train was ready we hopped on at 4:30am. This is us waiting on the cold windy platform. But the train had comfortable seats and pillows. Right away I fell asleep. In the morning it was my birthday! We got breakfast and I opened my DS to find out my mom and dad bought me the harvest moon game that I wanted. It was awesome. Rowan and I played on that for the rest of the ride.

Pallas and I loved taking in the great views. Finally we got to Chicago and got off the train.

When we got there we were super hungry so we went to a place that is owned by the Cheesecake Factory, Grand Luxe. They had amazing food, but my favorite was desert. My parents secretly ordered the make-your-own cupcakes for us. They brought our cupcakes and a birthday pastry for me that said "have a grand day!" with lots of whipped cream. I enjoyed both of them.

Then we went to The Shedd Aquarium with lots of animals and things to do. First we went to a dolphin show. Then we saw all kinds of fish and sea animals.Then we went to the arctic area and guess what, MORE PROBLEMS! We saw the penguins and then Pallas saw something--a submarine for the kids to play in. She would not leave so we stayed there for ten minutes then left. Pallas was sad so to cheer her up we went to the 'rivers by you' area and there was a camping set that you could play in. You could go canoeing or sit by the fire or even make breakfast! 

This is outside the aquarium. We took some pictures of us to share the memory.

On Saturday our Aunt Kerry came to Chicago and we went shopping, went out to dinner with some new relatives, and watched the golden globes together!

We went to dimsum with our Aunt Kerry too.The food was really good. My sister tried some kind of inside part of a cow and chicken feet. Gross! It took Pallas a long time to fit that dumpling in her mouth. ;D

I loved Chicago! We even got to meet long lost family! I hope I can go again! Maybe you should take a visit too!   


Peace out!
Trinity :D

Struthers Library Theater in Warren, Pa

In October my family headed down to Warren, PA to see a play called The King and I. We went to see the play because our great friend Ellen was the lead in it! She was I. We drove to the theater after some good pizza at her house. At the entrance we looked at a map and decided to watch from the balcony. As you can see, it was an amazing view.

As I was admiring the room I looked up and saw a beautiful chandelier in the middle of the room.I lit up the whole theater. It definitely caught my eye.
(there is also a view in picture #1) 

Of course we were dressed up, but as always Pallas went a little farther.She kept asking to go up to the top row, and as always, she got to go up.

Watching the show was fun. We got to sit in the first row of the balcony! The play was about a English teacher goes to a new faraway place to teach. Well...there is a king at this place and the king has strict rules. and the teacher is helping them learn her ways but the king does not approve and everyone in the room is wondering: Will she leave?

The show was awesome! After the show I ran down to the stage to say hi to Ellen.Then sadly it was time to go.I loved the play and want to go back.


Peace out! :D,
Trinity

One of my favorite things to do in summer is to go blueberry picking at Childs Blueberries up on a hill near us. At Childs, I pick out a blue bucket and we walked down by the pond to the field along a beautiful row of flowers. 

The blueberries looked great. At Childs they have different kinds of blueberries from around the world on each row. Each one tastes different but I know Jersey blueberries have three kinds...super sweet, sweet sour, and super sour.

There are no chemicals, so in the fields we pick and eat. Rowan just eats.

The best place to tickle is in a bush of mostly ripe blueberries. Tickling blueberries is when you wiggle your fingers so they break off and fall into your bucket. Otherwise we just pick. Sometimes me and Rowan find a place with shade and pick. Rowan...just eats!

I don't stay in shade for long. I try to keep moving for more blueberries. Rowan and Pallas like to stay there...and eat.

Rowan and Pallas kept eating but thanks to me and mom we got a lot. We kept on picking and picking and picking! Me and mom started picking the green ones out. And Rowan and Pallas...well...they kept eating!

We weighed the blueberries and got bottles of water. It didn't cost much.

On the way home Rowan and Pallas kept eating, and I did too :)



Peace out! Trin :D

Beef n Barrel, Olean, NY
A while back me and my mom went to the Beef n Barrel for a lunch date. I ordered french fries, of course. They were wonderful! They're crunchy on the outside, floury on the inside with the exact right amount of salt.These fries are on our top ten list. We also had chicken wings. I like their wings because they have so much flavor, a little bit of spice, and they are very tender too.  

Then I had beef--it was amazing because it was so tender too. My mom had a salad. She really enjoyed it. Then we used two spoons on a Wonderfully Wicked, which is a brownie delight sundae. It has vanilla ice cream with hot fudge, whip cream, and most importantly... BROWNIES! My favorite. I loved spending time with my mom. Stop on down at the Beef n Barrel and get yourself a good meal!

Peace out! Trin :D

Having a garden is a big challenge. All the weeding and watering is fun, but my favorite thing about gardening is harvesting! Here I am, harvesting a summer squash.The plant is very delicate so you have to twist it and it will come off. So far I have harvested about 12 summer squash and zucchinis.

Here is Pallas and me in the garden after I harvested. Pallas has a very cute smile, and I have a bright YELLOW smile :D.

After that they had to cut up my YELLOW smile :(. It will taste yummy though. Me and Pallas were messing around but here comes the fun part!

First we need to make the breading.  For the breading you will need a lot of brown rice bread crumbs, a little garlic powder, and a good amount of real parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt.

Use a little bit of olive oil to coat the zucchini slices. Mix together the breading, then take the zucchini slices and push each one in the breading. Make sure you get both sides!

All of us love the summer squash so we all helped out. After you're done breading, put them on a pan (like rowan did) and bake! Mom says about 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

Mmm... don't they look good? They're really soft and sweet on the inside and crisp on the outside. Go ahead and try it at home and we will come up with more zucchini recipes.

Hope it made you have a bright YELLOW smile!

Peace out! Trin :D

Kale is one of the healthiest things you can eat. I've never really been a salad person, but once I made kale salad I was interested in what other things you can make with kale. I'm the chief gardener, but I like to take my sisters on tours and let them help. I like to explain how everything works. My little sister (Pallas) comes out to see what I'm doing in the garden and so does the cat. That's Pallas with some swiss chard.

Harvesting is one of the best parts of gardening. Even though it's simple, it's fun too. I love the way kale feels and looks. It's like five leaves layered together. In the salad we put a little mix of every part of the kale--the stems, leaves, and even the flowers. But make sure that you get everything that might be bad for your salad out. Like snails.

Cutting and washing is very important. When you cut it (or tear it) you want to make sure that it is bite size and not too big or too little.The first time I made this was with my aunt Val (that's her in the picture, visiting us from Washington state last week.) She's interested in gardening too. I followed her instructions carefully. Take your time to cut. Sometimes you could miss a leaf. When you wash your kale let it soak in the water so the leaves get softer and the dirt falls off.Then put the kale into a salad spinner or just dry it yourself. Once you dry it, it will be time to make the salad dressing.

It was my first time making salad so I didn't know what salad dressing I liked, but my mom knew I liked malt vinegar so we tried that. We used olive oil, Season All salt, a little pepper, and the vinegar.We mixed it in a bowl and poured it all over the kale and let it set overnight.

So what else can you make with Kale? I love my mom's soup. She likes to put kale in her soups. Yummy! You can also make kale chips. I wonder how they taste? We're going to try them soon.

The next night at dinner I tried the kale salad and fell in love! Everything tasted so good! Kale salad is now one of my favorite foods. Go try it for yourself and grow a garden.

Peace out! Trinity :D

Attard's Restaurant, Olean, NY
Attard's french fries have always been number two on our top ten french fry list. It's true they are one of the best. Last time I went to Attard's I was visiting with my aunt Toni and uncle Larry.When the waiter came around take our orders for appetizers I was looking at the menu and saw garlic fries. The waiter didn't take my order sinse I was a kid, but lucky for me my mom wanted some too. When they came we looked in shock.They looked so good. I was the first one to try one. It was a perfect mix of garlic and french fries.(I really do love my garlic and french fries). They were crispy and airy. I love them. Surprisingly the garlic really sank in.   
Peace out! Trinity :D 

A few years ago we started a garden with our family friend Dave. I planted many different things such as potatoes,tomatoes, eggplants, and much more. But this year I planted herbs. I never planted herbs before. It's kind of cool--there are so many! Basil, parsley, cilantro, oregano, and thyme are some examples. But if you're going to garden you're going to get dirty.

For me I got very dirty because it just rained, but I would do it on a cool, sunny day. If you buy herbs from a store, you have to dig a deep hole and get dirty! An easy way to get the the plant out of the pot or whatever is holding it is to squeeze it twice upside down, put your hand on the top of the soil, and let the plant drop into your hand.

Gardening for me is one of my favorite things to do. Doing herbs is fun because I get to plant them and then eat them. (I sometimes don't get to plant some because Dave plants them when I'm not home.) But I love everything you do in gardening, even weeding. There' s no better vegetable or fruit than ones you grow yourself. And I say try it! It's something really fun to do. :D

Peace out! Trinity