Tess loves to tell jokes. Here is her current favorite!
There were two nuns driving through Trannsylvania when Dracula appears in the road. The one nun says to the other, “quick, show him your cross.” So, the other nun rolls down the window, leans out and shouts – “Get out of the road, you toothy git!”
Hey folks, Olivia here again.
I want to talk a little about the care of dogs in the summer. Texas, as we all know, gets very hot and most people understand they should not leave their dogs in the car, even for a short time. But they might not think about all the other things you should do in the summer.
1. Make sure your dogs heartworm, flea and tick medication is up-to-date. This is when little critters are at their worst.
2. When you leave for the day you might be tempted to turn the air-conditioner down to save money. Please remember your pets are still in the house and are probably wearing a fur coat – keep it cool for them.
3. Always leave out more water than you think they will need.
4. If possible, walk your dog early or late, not in the heat of the day. This, of course, is better for you as well.
5. If your dog becomes glassy eyed or lethargic take it straight to the vet.
This has been a public service announcement. Thank you and goodbye.
Hey Guys, Olivia here with some interesting info on llamas.
If you have read Operation Golden Llama, you know llamas feature heavily within the book, although, to be honest we are never sure whether we are seeing llamas, alpacas or baby llamas.
I hate to admit it, but before going to Peru, I didn’t really know too much about llamas either, and definitely couldn’t tell them apart from an alpaca. Of course, Lissy told us they could grow up to six feet and spit up to eight, but that didn’t come in too handy when trying to identify them.
Since then I’ve done some research and here are three sure fire ways for you to tell the difference.
1. The ears. Llamas have very distinct banana shaped ears, whereas alpacas have short pointy ears.
2. From the side llamas have much longer faces which have little hair, whereas alpacas faces are kind of squished and have a large tuft of hair hanging from their forehead.
3. Llamas also are about twice as big as alpacas. Alpacas can weigh up to 175 pounds, llamas up to 350.
The following information won’t help you identify a llama or an alpaca, but is kind of fun to know.
Llamas were bred primarily as a pack animal whereas alpacas were bred mainly for the soft fibre they produce which comes in more colors than any other animal used for fleece, twenty-two to be precise.
Despite the size difference, alpacas produce far more fleece than a llama due to the denseness of their coats.
Alpacas are, on the whole, shy, quiet animals that are very intelligent, easy to train and like to belong to a herd. Llamas are far more solitary animals. Both animals are kind, curious and gentle, however alpacas are more skittish and llamas tend to be mellower and easier to bond with.
Tess wanted to contribute to my blog. She thought a list of her favorite foods would be a good start. So here, in no particular order, is Tess’ list of favorite foods, as dictated to me.
1. meringue (preferably with strawberries on top)
2. cotton candy
3. ramen noodles
4. curry (but not beef – you will find out why in India)
5. spaghetti – the longer the better
6. perfectly pink strawberry ice-cream
7. English sausages
8. double bacon cheese burger
9. chops, pork or lamb, doesn’t matter
10. anything pink
Hello, my friends.
As you can imagine, I am becoming quite an expert on packing for international travel. I am, therefore, going to share my fabulous knowledge with you all, because that’s just the kind of girl I am.
Firstly, if you’ve never traveled out of the country before, don’t worry. It’s easier than falling off a llama (which, as it turns out, is pretty easy). As long as your family doesn’t abandon you once you get there (a different blog post altogether), you’ll be fine.
When my cousins and I first started boarding airplanes I had no idea what to pack and so I took everything – big mistake. Less is definitely more. First of all you have to carry this stuff and wheels on suitcases only take you so far – you still have to lift it. Secondly, there’s always lots of fun stuff to buy when traveling and you want to make sure you have room to bring it all back.
So, you may ask, how do you fit a week’s worth of fabulous clothing into a suitcase without having a complete meltdown? Just follow Cagney’s Top Ten Tips on Packing and you will be good to go.
1. Check the weather – if it hadn’t been for Mrs Snoops, the whole bunch of us would have taken summer clothes to Peru in June – big mistake. Just because it’s 100 degrees in your hometown, doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same where you are going, especially if it’s in a different hemisphere.
2. Make sure you have a sleep mask. Jet lag is a bore and you will wake up and want to go to sleep at the most inconvenient times. Also, for some reasons, the further north you go in summer, the longer the days. When it’s not dark until gone ten and light by 4:30, a sleep mask can come in mighty handy. My personal favorite is purple, padded and plush with the words – “wake me and I’ll bite you” on it, but anything will do in a pinch.
3. Take one spectacular outfit. Just in case you bump into a glamorous movie star who invites you out for dinner – hey, it can happen.
4. Do not carry anything sharp and pointy onto the plane – they get very upset about this.
5. Don’t forget your chargers and adaptors. Weird thing about other countries, they don’t have plugs that look like ours – that was a bit of a shock.
6. Lay out all the outfits you want to take. Make sure your pants and tops match, there’s no point bringing your fabulous lime green top halfway around the world only to realize you have nothing to match. Pack your favorite outfit first and then keep going until you have one outfit for every day – no more. Jeans can do double duty for two outfits, if you are pressed for space. Don’t forget your PJ’s, a sweater and, although it pains me to say it, sensible shoes.
7. Take something to do for the downtime – which there always is when traveling. Aidan brings books – of course. Lissy is inseparable from that darn laptop and Tess – duh – brings food. Just make sure whatever you bring it’s not too bulky or heavy, or if it is, it’s edible.
8. If you’re going to England – take an umbrella.
9. We cannot always choose who we travel with, so bringing ear plugs to drown out your travel companions constant information dump is always advisable.
10. Finally, don’t forget to mark your luggage really well. After several hours in the air, the last thing you need is to have problems identifying one of the gazillion black suitcases gliding around the carousel. I’m not going to go over the top like Tess – whose baggage, as you can imagine, is hard to miss, but subtle is not the way to go either. A bright ribbon attached to the handle in your favorite color is always a good start, or a luggage label with an unusual design. My luggage label states – BACK OFF MISTER, THIS IS MINE! Subtle, but effective, I find.
Hey guys, Aidan here.
I was lucky enough to get an early copy of this fun-packed story, the perks of having an aunt who writes books, and devoured it in a couple of days. See below for, what I hope will be, the first of many reviews, this summer.
“Now wasn’t a time to be normal. Now was a time to be infamous,” states the clever and mischievous Jackson Greene, and so he goes on to prove in Varian Johnson’s new summer read, The Great Greene Heist.
Jackson Greene, an eighth grade pupil at Maplewood Middle School, is far from your ordinary student. With past misdemeanors, such as “ Blitz at the Fritz”, “Shakedown at Shimmering Hill” and “Mid-day PDA” we can only guess at some of the scrapes Greene has previously instigated, as well as wish we all had such a prankster at our school.
However, Jackson is a really likable character and, with his trademark red tie and a penchant for the good things in life, he cuts a dashing figure around campus. In fact, his mistrust of the cafeteria food is one of the standing jokes that run through the book.
We learn early that Greene has left his life of crime behind, but when Gaby de la Cruz’s run for student council president is derailed by the highly irregular, last minute nomination of Keith Sinclair, Jackson’s curiosity is raised.
Whereas Gaby is interested in having more computers, boosting spirit week participation and acquiring a larger selection of organic food, it seems Sinclair has no platform of his own, and is only running in order to slash the budget to such organizations as the botany and tech club. When it looks like even the principal is bent on deception, Jackson realizes it is time to come out of “retirement” and lend a helping hand.
The Great Greene Heist is a fabulous romp of a book with a wonderful diverse cast of characters, and not only the main protagonists, but also with references to peripheral characters such as Mrs Kai, Naomi, Marcelo and Manuel. I know from my cousins how important it is to read books where you can identify with the main characters, and I think this is one such book that will happily appeal to many.
This is a really fun summer read from a local Austin writer. Looking forward to the sequel if for no other reason than finding out what Greene’s father, brother and grand-father have been up to – allegedly.
Happy reading, folks.
Aidan Puddleton
We’ve had lots of readers asking for more info on our family, so I decided to do a series of interviews so you can learn a little more about us.
Our family spends a lot of holidays together, so I thought I’d start by interviewing them to find out which holiday they liked best.
Aidan
L. Aidan, what’s your favorite holiday?
A. I really like Christmas, we have a big family and we all get together and play games and all our dads cook – that’s always fun to be around. Plus, your dad always sits by the fire and reads us Twas The Night Before Christmas. Course, I’m a bit too old for that now, but it’s still kind of nice.
L. I like it when he reads The Pirates Night Before Christmas.
A. Aaargh!
Olivia
L. I was a bit shocked when Olivia told me her favorite holiday, but it soon become apparent why. Olivia, what holiday do you like best?
O. Definitely Valentines.
L. Really? Can I ask why?
O. Sure, for the past three years I’ve sent Cagney prank Valentine cards. She has absolutely no idea!That’s always the best.
L. You know she’s probably going to read this, right?
O. Oh, yeah, probably best not to mention the cards then. I’ll go with fourth of July – lots of rockets.
Tess
L. Tess, do you have a favorite holiday?
T. Yes.
L. Would you like to tell us which one.
T. The ones with food.
L. Any holiday in particular?
T. (after a long pause) Easter. Grandma Callie always hides a gazillion Easter eggs in the garden and coz I’m the youngest she always lets me head into the garden a good twenty minutes before everyone else.
L. I would have laid money on you saying, Halloween.
T. (another long pause). This is not as easy as you made out, Lissy.
Cagney
L. Cagney, what’s your favorite time of the year with the family?
C. September 3rd.
L. Would you like to tell us why?
C. Coz it’s my birthday – duh! It’s the only time I don’t have to share stuff with you lot. It’s all about me, all day. What could be better?
L. Excellent. Oh and just one more thing, Olivia insists you read this blog.
C. Yeah, like that is going to happen!
L. So folks, that just leaves me. I think my favorite holiday is definitely Thanksgiving. I really like how our family cooks together and gathers around the table before eating and tells each other what we are thankful for. Cagney, of course, is normally thankful for her latest pair of shoes, but our moms and dads always come up with really great stuff they are thankful for. We also often have friends spending Thanksgiving with us and Grandma, of course, and after dinner we head to the Middle School field and play tag football. In the last couple of years we’ve played kids against adults. I won’t tell you who wins, but needless to say, we hold out hope that one day, it will be us!
Hi Guys! This is Aidan. As you all know I like to read. In fact I go through books so fast that my mom and dad have stopped buying them for me as we have run out of space. This could be a problem if it wasn’t for the awesome library that is just at the top of my road.
The library is amazing. It’s not stuffy or old. No-one yells at you for talking too loud and they have all kinds of fun activities and author events. As you can imagine – I spend a LOT of time at the library!
Anyhow, Lissy asked if I would like to be part of her blog and so, of course, the natural thing for me to do is to recommend and tell you about some of the books I’ve read lately. I’m going to start with my favorite from last summer – Wonder by R J Palacio.
This book is really amazing. I thought I wasn’t going to like it because the main character is a little different – well, a lot different really. But that’s the whole point of the book.
August, that’s the name of the main character, he doesn’t look like you and me, but it turns out it doesn’t matter because it’s what’s inside that counts.
August is finally going to school after being homeschooled all his life. As if that isn’t scary enough, but when you look like August its got to be terrifying. Anyhow, August is really brave and although there are a few false starts he finally finds some true friends.
I won’t spoil it for you, but you should really get this book. There are some really funny bits (little Tushies) and there are some sad bits as well, but by the end you are really routing for August and his friends. I think, really, it’s a book about kindness and acceptance – go read it and find out yourself. Feel free to drop me a line and tell me what you think below.
Hi Guys, Lissy here.
Welcome to my first blog post of 2014! Since I last wrote, both Tess and I celebrated our birthdays (which are just four days apart) and the five of us had a fun time at Christmas opening our present from Aunt Sam – CIA bracelets that she made for us! See if you can guess whose is whose?
It’s also been a busy time for my aunt, who is now editing her next book set in India. Olivia and Tess say it’s best not to go anywhere near her when she’s working and Tess has asked several times what the word – crisis, deadline and a couple of other words that I won’t mention – mean!
It is the season of giving, and so my Aunt Sam wanted to do something nice for someone and chose a really cool charity to donate money to. The charity is called Half The Sky and I’m really glad she chose it, as it helps lots of little girls in China who have no mom or dad to look after them. Instead, Half The Sky pays for really nice ladies to look after the children and give them love.
Anyhow, I thought you’d like to know that a portion of the sales from Cousins In Action is going to a good home. Check out their website if you get a chance – it has the most adorable pictures on it.
Wishing you all a happy and adventurous 2014.
Your friend, Lissy.
Hi Guys, My aunt’s book is launching this weekend, Saturday, November 23rd. There will be treasure. There will be snacks. There will be llamas! And, I have organized a quiz! Stop by if you can and feel free to wear pink – Tess would love that :O)
11:30am, Saturday November 23rd – Westbank Community Library, 1309 Westbank Drive, Austin, TX.
5 Cousins Adventures 