Freddy's First Game of Hopscotch

My dog, Freddy, really thinks it is great that I am trying new things lately.  He has been begging me to try something new.  On our walk today we noticed some drawings on the blacktop.  There were two colorful hopscotch games some children had drawn earlier.

First, I explained to Freddy how to play.  He was so good!  

He flew through the first set of squares with no problem.

Next, he waited for directions on how to read number words.

Last, he needed a rest.  He was so tired from playing twice.

I hope you've been getting outside to play this summer!

A Busy Night of Work

Ms. Tricarico with Chef Paul Liscio at La Casa Bianca Restaurant in Whitehouse Station, NJ.
www.lacasabianca-whitehouse.com

When I was 16 years old I started to work at a restaurant in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.  I only worked on the weekends, because my parents wanted me to make sure I got all of my school work done after field hockey or lacrosse practice on school nights. I was lucky enough to not only work with my best friend, but to make new friends while working with others.  Getting to know the customers was such a fun time for me as well, because I am always interested to hear what I can learn from others.

I worked at La Casa Bianca Restaurant each summer and when I came home on each break from college.  I continued to work there a couple of nights a week even when I became a teacher, because it felt like home to me.  I moved pretty far away from the restaurant a while ago, and I was no longer able to keep working there.  I do not get the chance to visit as often as I would like either, which makes me a little sad.  Life is busy.

Yesterday I got a message from Chef Paul, the owner of La Casa Bianca.  He told me that he could really use my help for a busy night.  I was so excited to go back to help out.  It was a wonderful night! I was able to help out while seating people, pouring sodas, making cappuccinos, waiting on tables and helping out others.  It was a super busy few hours.  I was zipping around so quickly in and out of the kitchen, patio and dining room.  I forgot what hard work it is to be in a restaurant!  

At the end of the night Chef Paul made me some dinner.  It was about 11:30pm!  Everything he makes is delicious!  I have never met another Italian chef like him (or another chef like him at all really).  I did not pick something off of the menu. I simply told Chef Paul what kinds of things I would like in my pasta dish, and he whipped it up.  It was better than I could have imagined, and it was so nice to sit down and fill my belly after such a long night of work.  Thank you, Chef Paul!

A Treat for My Feet

Today I had ice skating class again.  I am the only grown-up on the ice on Thursday nights.  Skating around with all of the children makes me so happy, because it reminds me of being with my students.  I have even made friends with a four year old named Isabelle, who was scared at first to be on the ice by herself.  She has been so brave and we have been encouraging each other to practice before our lessons.  

I had no idea that tonight I would be tested on what I had learned so far.  I have a coach all to myself, so all of the attention is on me the whole lesson through.  She had me skate forward and backward in straight lines and then in circles.  She also had me spin and skate on one leg at a time.  My coach was proud of me for trying my best.  She said that I am ready to move on to learn new things in the next level up!

I decided that I do like ice skating, and I think it is great exercise for my leg muscles.  The skates that I use from the rink hurt my feet.  After practice and my lesson today, I decided to take the gift cards from my AM and PM classes to buy new ice skates tonight.  There is a store at the rink called Sports Plus Pro Shop.  A really nice man, Mr. Chris, took his time to make sure I got skates that fit me well.  We picked some figure skates out, and then he used a special oven for ice skates to heat them up.  When they were warm I slipped them on and they hugged my feet perfectly.  He sharpened the blades on the bottom.  They are now ready for me to wear on the ice.  Thank you so much to my thoughtful students for the gift cards.  I enjoyed treating myself.

Dinner in the City

Tonight I went to New York, New York.  First, I drove my car to Jersey City, New Jersey to meet my friend, Ms. Debbie.  She is also a teacher in an elementary school.  We took the Ferry right across the water to New York City.  After our short trip across the water, we took a taxi to a restaurant to meet up with some other friends.  New York City has so many restaurants to choose from.  We all had a wonderful dinner while laughing at each other's jokes. Afterwards, we went to get cupcakes around the corner.  I usually love cupcakes, but I was so full from dinner that I could not eat it!  I will save it for a snack this week.

Breezy Beach Day

I finally had the chance to go to the beach, but guess what?  The weather was 70 degrees and breezy. It was a little too cool for me to go splash around in the ocean.  Besides that, the sun decided to hide behind the clouds for part of the day.  Luckily, my friend thought of some great ideas to make sure we had fun.

We decided to take a ride to Cape May to get 

some exercise while climbing all the way 

up to the top of this lighthouse.

This is the ferris wheel on the boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey.  It was my first time on a ferris wheel.  I enjoyed it.  It was a little cloudy, but I still had a great view of the beach!

Have you ever been to the boardwalk before?  We treated ourselves to some delicious dinner after playing skeeball and arcade basketball.  I need to practice at skeeball to do a little better next time.  

We decided to give the tickets we won to a little girl who was looking at prizes.  

It always feels good to give to others.

Would you like to read about the boardwalk?  Here are some fiction stories from the library:

What "A Great Adamsville Day"!

Each morning on the announcements during the school year we end with "Have a great Adamsville Day!"  I miss hearing those words over the summer, and I miss being at school to see my teacher friends, my students and my students' families.  Today was a special summer day.

I was on my way to the eye doctor, and I got a message from my friend Ms. Grande.  She thought it was the perfect day for a swim with Dr. P and Mrs. Smith.  I couldn't have agreed more!  What a fun time we had in the sun talking about how excited we are to get back to school.  Ms. Grande was an amazing cook on the grill and helped to feed our hungry bellies with delicious hot dogs and cheeseburgers.  She is always so caring and helpful to others.  We all had such a nice afternoon together.

I had to leave to get ready for a party.  On the way home I stopped by school to drop off some things my mom had bought at Target for my classroom. (Thanks Mom!)  I checked my mailbox, and GUESS WHAT???? FINALLY...My first letter of the summer!  I skipped out of the school and raced to my car to open the envelope.  Inside was a beautiful drawing and a wonderful message about Juan's summer. It totally made my day.  Thank you so much, Juan!!

Later that night I went to dinner with about 15 other teachers from our school.  We were celebrating Mrs. Rabinowicz's retirement.  Mrs. Rabinowicz has helped so many children in Bridgewater so they can speak more clearly and can better understand when others are speaking.  She is one of the best speech and language specialists I have ever met.  Not only is she talented at school, but she is also a great friend to all outside of school.  Celebrating with many of my teacher friends was an amazing end to a great Adamsville Day.

Soon I will be planning a trip to the beach with Mrs. Barone.  I can't wait to see her to ask how her summer is going.  I bet she has so many stories to share about the baby!

Climbing High

I think by now my students all know that my favorite field trip is to The Big Apple Circus each year! The acts are always so wonderful and inspiring.  I have always thought it would be an amazing feeling to fly through the air while trying out the trapeze.  I know that I can do almost anything I put my mind to, so I thought about how I could become strong enough to try out the trapeze.  I decided that I need to make sure my arm muscles are stronger so they can hold on and keep me safe.

While searching for fun things for my students to do over the summer I came across an interesting site. The site was for somewhere called The Circus Place.  Since I absolutely LOVE the circus I clicked on the link right away.  I learned that not only are there classes and parties for children, but they have classes for adults too!  I signed up right then to take aerial classes each week until September.

Aerial performances can include silks, ropes and trapeze.  This is only my second week, and last week I learned how to climb the rope and the silks  I can climb and hold on with one hand.  Today I worked on the trapeze to learn how to get on the right way, get off the correct way and how to do four tricks.  Our teachers make sure that we know how to be safe.  They also make sure that we all stretch and do exercises to make our muscles stronger each time we come to class.  It is a lot of hard work, but it isn't anything that I can't do!  I will just keep listening to my teachers and will keep trying my best. With practice and patience I will continue to get better.

What act would you do if you were in the circus?  Leave a comment and let me know.

Check out The Circus Place in Hillsborough, NJ to see what classes they have for kids.

http://www.thecircusplace.com/

Here is a woman who has been practicing for a while now on the silks...

Miss Fix-It

Well, I finally did what I said I would do on my July 5th post.  I fixed my bicycle.  All it took was a little time and some tools.  I have a lot of tools in my house, because I love to fix and build things.  Did you know that about me?  I especially like to fix up my house and like to even help to build houses.  I have worked on quite a few houses with an organization called Habitat for Humanity.  Habitat for Humanity helps families who have trouble buying a house that is already for sale.  The families are given help by volunteers to build a safe, new home for them to live in.  Habitat for Humanity helps people all over the world.

This was the day I learned to frame a house.  Framing a house is like building its skeleton.

A Girl Scout troop was so nice to bring us lunch for the afternoon!  They were such fun kids!

Cleaning up is always a part of the job.

I'm way up on top!  See me?  That scaffolding was up so that we could put the siding on the house.
Siding is like skin for the house.

    

You know the lady with me!  It is Ms. Arora!  We had just gotten done installing the opening for the attic.
I was so proud of myself for building it all on my own.
Ms. Arora was such a great helper when it came time to lift it into the ceiling!

Here are some activities for you to practice building.  Enjoy!  Send photos of your creations and I will post the photos on the blog.  You can even build with Legos and share those pictures too!

Build a Model House Activity

Make a Gingerbread House on a Rainy Day


Here is the link to our local Habitat for Humanity chapter in case you would like to learn more about the organization.  They have built homes in Bridgewater in fact!  I was so happy to be a part of that project as well!

Go Yankees!

Ms. Tricarico with her dad and brother.

This past weekend I went to Baltimore, Maryland.  Baltimore is a good meeting spot for the people in my family who live in Virginia and the others who live in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  We have been planning this trip since last summer.  Most of my family members happen to be Yankee fans.  The New York Yankees played baseball against the Baltimore Orioles this past weekend.

I really love visiting the ballpark.  A ballpark is another name for a "baseball stadium".  My favorite memory of the entire school year was when so many students came out one night to watch baseball with me.  The Somerset Patriots have a great ballpark to visit right near our school.  It is fun to spend time with friends and family while cheering on a favorite team.  Many ballparks have some foods I like to treat myself to once in a while too.

Camden Yards is the name of the ballpark where the Orioles play in Baltimore.  Thirteen of us met in Baltimore to have fun together: my two sisters and their husbands, my niece, my brother, my mom, my dad, my uncle, my aunt, my cousin and her friend.  We had great seats in a shady area so we would not get too hot.  We all whistled and cheered loudly for the Yankees...except for my cousin Brittany.  She happens to be an Orioles fan.  We think it is ok to pick whatever team you would like to cheer for, so we were ok with that.  The Yankees ended up winning, which was a wonderful ending to the game.

Have you been paying attention?  How many states has Ms. Tricarico visited so far?  Leave the correct answer in the comments and I'll send you a postcard from my next trip!

Soccer

It was a fun few weeks while watching some soccer on TV.  I do not usually watch soccer games, but I know that so many of my students enjoy soccer.  I thought it would be a good chance to get to know more about the sport while watching the games.  I can see why all of the boys and girls in kindergarten like it so much!  The soccer players I watched on TV during the World Cup were amazing athletes. The World Cup is a soccer tournament where many games are played between teams from countries all over the world.  It takes place every four years.  This year it was in Brazil.  Team Germany won the trophy.

Here are some books about soccer that you may like.  Some are fiction and some are non-fiction.  Tell a grown-up which ones are which and tell them why you think so.  You can then go check them out at the library!  

         

Slip Sliding Away

When I was in 6th grade, my best friend Ms. Eleanor and I began different hobbies.  I began horseback riding more often and she began to ice skate a lot.  I still do love to ride horses when I have the chance, but I always found ice skating to be fun.  Ms. Eleanor was a very good teacher, even as a kid.  She enjoyed showing me everything she was learning.  She even had ice skating birthday parties where I could practice!  I have always thought that it would be neat to take ice skating lessons like Ms. Eleanor.  

Many people do not think about ice skating during the summertime, but I think it is the perfect time to go! On hot days I like to cool off, and stepping onto the ice certainly helps me to do that!  I decided to begin ice skating lessons last week.  Ice skating is great exercise for my leg muscles.  I am going to keep practicing so that I can get better.  Wish me luck!

If you are looking for a good way to cool off on a hot day, I think you should try ice skating!  Let me know if you do!

Here are some books about ice skating.  There are even more than these at the library in Bridgewater!

  

   

Breakfast and Bicycles

My brother and I had a nice time in Philadelphia.  We ate some delicious dinner outside along the canal, and we drove to Fairmount Park in Philadelphia to lay out a blanket to watch the fireworks.  The Independence Day fireworks started at almost 11 o'clock last night, so I got to bed pretty late.  Freddy, my dog, helped to wake my brother up this morning to let him know I was ready to eat some breakfast.  We walked down to a part of Philadelphia called Manyunk.  Right there on the Main Street was a wonderful restaurant that we had been to before for breakfast.  It's called Winnie's Manayunk.

The restaurant let us sit down at a table outside in the sunshine with Freddy.  All of the people sitting around us had two things in common.  They ALL thought Freddy was just the CUTEST dog in the world, and they were all cyclists.  A cyclist is someone who rides a bike.  Not only does this wonderful restaurant serve amazingly delicious food, but they also welcome dogs and feed hungry cyclists who have biked all the way there to eat.  They even had a sign up to let the cyclists know that they would be happy to help them if they were thirsty, if they needed air for their tires or if they needed to lock their bikes up to be safe while they were eating.

As we ate, we saw hundreds of cyclists ride by.  It made me think about what great exercise it is to ride a bicycle.  Have you been riding your bike at all this summer?  Mine has been broken for a while, but I think that maybe it is time to try and fix it up.  I will go to the library to find some books about how to fix my bike.  How about you go too?  Here are some books you may like.  Some are non-fiction and tell facts about bicycles and others are fiction to tell made-up stories about characters with bicycles.

Remember, ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET WHEN YOU RIDE YOUR BIKE!  It is the law for children under the age of 17 to wear a helmet in New Jersey!  Please stay safe. I care about you.