Hot summer fun in Rhode Island

To Downcity and an Open Air Market

My host says there's an old saying in New England: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute and it'll change." As cold and wet as my first day was, my second was just as HOT and sunny! The thermometer read 100 degrees in the sun. Wow! Since the bus was free, my host took me out on an adventure. We went to downcity Providence and visited an open air market. It's a community arts and crafts fair where people sell their home made items.

I wanted to buy this cool hat but it was too big.

I want to grow an herb garden.

After the market, we went to the huge mall to cool off. We took a skybridge from a hotel to the mall and I could see a whole lot of the city from there. Providence is the capital and largest city in Rhode Island. It is a mix of old (it was founded in the 1630s!) and new.

You can see more of my adventures in my photo album .

I'm in Rhode Island now!

Hi Rhode Island!

I arrived on June 6th and I made two new friends right away. Their names are Susanna and Coconut.





It was too cold and wet to go outside so we sat on Susanna's bed and played zoo.

Looking Beautiful!

Sadly, I haven't been able to go to any interesting places yet. The price of gas is just so expensive. :-( Today, I was able to go outside for a brief photo shoot. I wore the most beautiful black and white dress ever. Here are the pictures...

Finally Arrived in East Virginia!

I traveled in East Virginia today after traveling across the state from Northern Virginia. It wasn't a very long trip compared to the other ones that I have been on. Here is a picture of me with everyone at my host's house...


Here is the link to the album of my arrival...http://picasaweb.google.com/E.Kaitlin/NoraSHere

American Girls Go Green!

Lindsey and Emerson would like to interrupt Traveling Nora's blog to bring you a little Earth Day message...

One day, Lindsey found Emerson surfing the web. "Hey, Emerson!" said Lindsey. Emerson looked up from the computer. "Hi, Lindsey. Happy Earth Day!" Lindsey looked puzzled. "Earth Day?" she asked, "What's that?" "Well," Emerson began, "its a day to celebrate the things we can do to care for our planet."
"Care for the Earth you mean? Why? How?" "That's pretty complicated", sighed Emerson. "Take this website, wecansolveit.org. It exaplains all about global warming: how the weather is changing, and there are food shortages, too much water some places and not enough others, and..."
"Global WARMING?" exclaimed Lindsey, "That sounds terrible! What about our vinyl? We'll get all melty!"
"Lindsey, it's not like that, it's just..."
"I don't care, just tell me what we can do to solve it."
"Well now you're talking! Let's start with food..."

"The biggest thing we can do to help the earth through our food is to EAT LOCAL." Check out local farmer's markets or Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs where you live. Eating local food supports local farmers that are more likely to use sustainable growing practices, and cuts down on fuel used in production and transportation. It's often healthier for you too. " "That's great," said Lindsey, "but what if you can't find a local grower?" Emerson smiled. "Why not grow it yourself? Even up north here we are already seeing things like spinach and sorrel coming up. Here, try some!" "Yum!" Lindsey loved the taste of the fresh sorrel--much better than grocery store salad greens! "What about people who don't have a lot of room to grow things though? Maybe not even a backyard they can dig in?" "Well it doesn't take too much space, Lindsey. Raised beds are a great option--just set down a frame, fill it up with dirt and compost, and a little space like this can provide 50 pounds of vegetables quite easily!" "Cool," said Lindsey "uh, did you say compost? What's that?" "Compost is a great way to reduce waste while creating a natural fertilizer for your gardens. You can put all kinds of things into a compost bin: vegetable peelings, fruit cores, and other food waste, lawn clippings and raked up leaves, and all of that "waste" becomes a great resource!"

Lindsey was impressed. She and Emerson began walking towards the front yard. Then Lindsey stopped. "Doesn't all of that gardening take a lot of water? I thought water was a bit "earthy" issue too." "It doesn't take too much, but there are things you can do to make it take even less. Using rain barrels is a great way to catch the water that would otherwise run off --often taking icky chemicals with it and polluting lakes, streams and rivers. Plus, it gives you nice soft water for your garden!" "I love this," said Lindsey. "What else can we do with water?" "Simple stuff," said Emerson. "Turn off the water while you brush your teeth, install low-flow shower heads, eat less meat--it takes way more water (and fuel and other stuff) to "grow" cattle than it does to grow veggies... Hey look at this cool car! Speaking of reducing fuel usage: people can take public transportation, ride their bikes or walk, or even buy a hybrid electric car to get around! This car gets 60 miles to the gallon, sometimes more, and saves a lot of money on gas besides conserving resources."
"All that is great Emerson, but what about the kids whose parents don't want to do all of this gardening stuff, or rain barrels or buy hybrid cars..." "Well every little bit counts.", Emerson insisted." Kids can make sure that their family recycles wherever possible. They can re-use packaging materials to send out their AG goodies, re-use boxes to store all of our cool accessories, and when they wear out, throw them in the recycling bin. Then it will get remade into new stuff!" "Now you're talking!" said Lindsey. "What else?" "How about buying second-hand clothing? There's tons of cool vintage and retro stuff out there. A little searching and you can come up with awesome outfits without paying a fortune for brand new clothes that are burning up resources. And when they bring those cool clothes home? Use a reusable bag! It's gross how many plastic bags are clogging landfills and harming wildlife, not to mention using up petroleum. Ew! Reusable bags can be super cute too, so everybody wins. And kids can always ask their parents to check out that website I was on earlier, to find out even more things that they can do."
"Well I'm glad that I learned all of this stuff about being 'green'", said Lindsey. "I would hate for us to melt away in global warming." "Er, yeah...me too. Hungry? We've got some fresh organic salad greens from the farm around the corner!" "Yeah, let's eat!"

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Nora in NY!

I have a lot to share from my Visit to New York!!

It all started when I arrived just in time for Valentine's day! Kit was the first to give me a cute valentine she made all by herself! We became great friends right away!

Samantha and Nellie also had a special Valentine they made for me...

Group Huuuuug!

Then, Kerri showed me something AMAZING! Build-a-bear made had a special raffle for valentine's day, and look who won the associate prize!!

That's one BIIIIG Box! Kit and Miss Woofles the Valentine's day puppy comes to investigate!!


Oh My! A Big Mama Woofles! So big i can ride on her! Kerri's Mama just laughed and asked where this giant doggie would fit in Kerri's little room! I think she's so cute, though!! Her ears and big and floppy and she's so soft! It would be nice to sleep on her! Hehe.


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Today we went on an adventure to a mall that's kind of far away! It's a really pretty mall, though, and i got to watch all the BIG Koi in the pond that's right smack in the middle of the mall!
Some of the fishies were bigger than me! There were a lot of kids around, but i made sure to stay away from them, they were splashing. xP



We also went into the Borders and checked out the American Girl books. I read a book about Mia while Kerri picked up some new Manga.



Stay tuned! There is more to come about my visit to NY! :)

Traveling Nora Returns Home

Emerson, Lindsey and Jess were awaiting Nora's return. Jess pointed out Nora's map in the hallway as she explained Nora's travels.Just look at all of the places Nora went! She traveled to Florida, then to Tennesee, through Georgia and back to Florida, then all the way up to Pennsylvania! After that it was waaay over to Utah, to Colorado, and now she's coming back to Wisconsin! Hey, do you hear barking?

It's Traveling Nora and Earhart! "Hey, guys! I'm home! Just wait until you hear all about my adventures."

"First, allow me to introduce myself!" says Lindsey. "I'm Lindsey, and I joined the girls just a few weeks ago. I came from a great home but I'm happy to join your crew." Nora welcomes Lindsey.
Jess explains: "We've been following along with your travels on your blog, and with this cool bulletin board. Sprout's Mom is still trying to choose photos from your Utah and Colorado travels. It always takes her a long time to pick from all of the great ones your hosts took."

"Well let me show you some of my treasures, then." says Nora. "Look at this great notebook my Florida host made for me. Isn't it beautiful? This doll is from Utah! There's a spoon doll from Pennsylvania but I heard Sprout's Mom grumbling something about having to sew... Anyway, there's Pittsburgh Steeler goodies, this great little backpack... and so much more! All of my hosts sent things like postcards, brochures, and lots of great information about the places I visited! Bird is going to have a great time looking through all of it."

"Check out how my hosts tricked out my traveling box! Isn't it the coolest? I just love how it makes me look like a bonafide jetsetter." *yawn* Lindsey can tell Nora is tired. "Let's get you into bed, Nora." Nora noods sleepily and goes off to change into her pajamas.
"There's just one more thing before we go to bed," says Nora, "I have to say a big 'Thank You!' to all of my wonderful hosts! They were so great to show me so much of their states, and to help Bird not miss me too much, and really learn about all of the places I visited. Thank you all so much."

Good Night Nora! The Sprout and Bird family thanks all of your hosts too. Traveling Nora will be off on her travels again in 2008--and this time, she's going global! Stay tuned, and have a wonderful holiday season!