Making my First Rainbow Loom Bracelet

Aloha Everyone,

Rainbow Loom bracelets are made with small rubber bands which you weave with a plastic crochet hook using a small peg board.

This product was invented in 2011 and became a very popular activity for little girls that are in grade school. By September of 2013, the manufacturer had sold over 1.2 million sets. Last Christmas we gave our granddaughter a Rainbow Loom set with instruction book and extra rubber bands.

There are so many designs available in the instructional book from easy beginning forms to advance designs. Additionally, you can also find some original designs posted by children and adults on YouTube.

The basic, most simple design bracelet is the one I made with help from my granddaughter.

The three more intricate design bracelets were created by my daughter-in-law who also enjoys beading and she previously made me necklaces and bracelets.

Others were the creation of my granddaughter.

It's always wonderful to learn something new and especially when the teacher is your little granddaughter. It is a great pleasure to observe how she explains the steps and her patience when I make inevitable mistakes as a beginner.

Aloha -- Cathi

Happy 4th of July!

Aloha Everyone,

We began our day by going out for a walk. JJ, our son and I started out together, but eventually J.J. decided to walk at his own pace while my son and I maintained a faster gait.

The area where we went thus morning has some low embankments on one side of the street. Low growth of bushes are perfect for cottontail rabbits warren. This morning we saw at least 20 of them. Most of them heard us coming and they disappeared quickly out of sight. However, one particularly large rabbit just looked at me until I walked within 3 feet to him. At that time, he merely glanced at me and took a couple of hops to let me pass.

After breakfast,my granddaughter and I practiced juggling. She is a determined little girl and feels that we should be making same amount of progress.

My daughter in-law (though I truly feel that both of our daughter-in-laws are like our own daughters) prepared carrot and apple salad with mint as a side dish to hot dogs and steak dinner for the 4th.

For the copy of this recipe, compliment of Jeanne (a family friend), please go to my yoga blog:

www.yogaandmeditationforseniors.blogspot.com

Our 4th of July feast:

After dinner, we settled down to play chess. Our granddaughter loves the game is actually getting quite good at it.

Hope you had as wonderful a 4th of July as we did!

Aloha -- Cathi

Outing to Nobel Park with My Granddaughter

Aloha Everyone,

Nobel Athletic Fields & Recreation Center is one of the cleanest and very spacious safe park located in the University City neighborhood of San Diego.

This 30 acres municipal park is not only children friendly, but also a great place for serious athletes to work out.

Today my granddaughter and I went to the park to have our personal little outing.

The park has an extensive children's play areas, two softball fields, two soccer fields, lots of picnic tables that are shaded, BBQ pits, and basketball court.

There is also a library that offers many enrichment programs for children and adults.

The children's play area is also a popular place for parents to bring their children for "Play-dates'.

One of the exercise circuits for serious athletes.

Here is my granddaughter riding her 'Zuca" which contained our picnic lunch.

Here is me trying to burn off my lunch.

Families often reserve tables or sections of the park for birthday parties.

Aloha -- Cathi

Historical Highway 101

Aloha Everyone,

During the late 1700's, Fr. Junipero Serra began building a string of missions up the California coastline  In order to have a road which wagon can travel, Fr. Sera constructed California's first highway. This was called El Camino Real which translated as "the Royal Road' or "King's Highway". The El Camino Real still exists in many communities but it is now officially known as US Highway 101.

Today, J.J. and I took our granddaughter on a mini adventure in our RV home. We took the freeway to Oceanside then drove back to La Jolla on Historic Highway 101.

Oceanside is an upscale beach community with some of California's widest and beautiful sandy beaches.

Wooden pier at Oceanside is the longest over the water pier made of wood. You can enjoy the 360 degree views of Pacific Ocean.

The name Carlsbad comes from spa treatment at Alt Karlsbad. The water found in 1882 is said to have had similar quality to the water found at European spa called Karlsbad in Bohemia, today in Czech Republic.

We stopped at a charming restaurant complex in Solana Beach for lunch where we enjoyed Alaskan Salmon wrap at Rubio's.

The entire route of Highway 101 is 935 miles. The total distance we drove today was approximately 60 miles. That means we have yet a long way to go.

Aloha -- Cathi

Learning to Juggle

Aloha Everyone

Juggling, based on archaeological evidences, traces back to Egypt almost 2,000 BC. There are also evidences of existence of juggling a in other cultures such as China, Greece, Ireland and even in Pacific Islanders and Aztec Empire of Mexico.

The word juggle comes from the Middle English word ,"Joglen" which means to perform or entertain.

At last Saturday's dinner party, I was introduced to Joe who has a long list of professional and academic achievements plus being a master juggler. Joe told us that he first learned to juggle when visiting Torremolinos, Spain as a graduate students. Joe, as mentioned is an intellectual and a high achiever. He has not only became a master juggler but has taught over 10,000 people to-date on art of juggling.

Here are photos of me learning the basics-- how to drop 3 juggling balls -- from Joe.

My granddaughter and I now each have a starter set of juggling balls we ordered from Amazon. Both of us are eager to learn and get to the next step of how to catch the third ball rather than having them all fall.

Learning something new is very exciting as I am finding juggling to be an excellent physical and mental exercise. Once I have done more practice, I will write how juggling is beneficial to my over all health.

At this time, I am following Joe's instruction on practicing the basic for 10,000 times until my muscle will memorize the moves and my eye and mind will be able to coordinate the juggling patterns.

Aloha -- Cathi