Cuddles, the programming cat

Hi readers! So, in addition to being a therapy cat, my sweet kitty Cuddles also wants to be a programming cat!

Sorry about the pic quality. It's hard to take a snapshot of
a cat in front of a computer screen!

He does this EVERY TIME I work on a program, which gets in the way quite a bit. This cat...

The beach!

Hi readers! I just got back from the beach yesterday. It was AWESOME. My family and I spent three nights in a lovely hotel with a great view of the sunset. On the first day, we went to:

The ring game, where you try to throw a
metal ring on a hook.

• A "beach barbecue". It's not actually on the beach, but you can go without a shirt and shoes and it's no problem. They also had delicious pulled pork sandwiches, crispy chicken chunks, yummy corn nuggets, and scrumptious deep-fried green beans (!!!!). And tangy lemonade. And orange soda, and...you get it, right? 

Our sodas, and an advice-giving napkin box

• The beach, of course! I tried boogie-boarding, and went out into the waves a bit, which was awesome because you can sort of jump over the waves that are about to break but hardly ever crash onto you. Maybe this description doesn't do it justice. The amazingness of the experience is hard to express.

• A place with flavorful homemade ice cream. I decided on Almond Joy, which had almonds, chocolate, and coconut instead of Almond Joy pieces. It was still good, though! Kathy got a sugar cone heaped with vanilla butterscotch ice cream and covered with sprinkles. Mommy ate an ice cream that looked like regular old chocolate, but it also had quite a bit of chili powder added! Daddy tried "Absolutely Nuts", which was caramel ice cream with, well, lots of nuts.

Kathy, in ice cream heaven.

That's all I can remember of the first night, but stay tuned for another post! --Taryn

Programming

Hi readers! I've recently started learning programming with Khan Academy. It's really fun. I can make the computers do whatever I want!

Here are a few of my favorite self-made programs:
House
Fish Tank
Colorful Rotating Squares (my dad actually made this one)
Translucent Bouncy Balls
Number Analyzer 
Color-changing Raindrops

When I use my apps, I've actually started thinking about how the makers created it. Like with a baking app, I'm thinking, "Oh, there's an array* of tiles here, and when you tap the bottle of vanilla, it's drawn multiple times over and over to follow your finger".

Programming is AWESOME! I hope you try learning it. --Taryn






















*An array is an ordered list.

Cuddles the therapy cat

Hi readers! Mommy is training our fluffiest, most attention-loving cat, Cuddles, to be a therapy cat. A therapy cat is a cat that gets taken to hospitals or senior living centers so the people there get to pet a cat.

In order to be a therapy animal, your pet must: 

• not be too scared of loud noises
• be neatly groomed and have its nails trimmed
• be willing to let people other than the handler pet it
• react calmly (no hissing or spitting) to light ear tugs, gentle tail tugs, etc.

Anyway, as part of training, Mommy has to get Cuddles used to wearing a harness and being walked on a leash. So we take him outside, and walk him up and down the sidewalk in front of our house. He really likes it--in fact, as I write this he's staring out the window, meowing!

I got some pics:

Starting the walk

What's this?

I'm just going to eat it. Yum...

Cuddles' point of view

No, I'm staying here. You can't make me move!

You made me move.

I hope you liked the Cuddles pics! --Taryn

Happy birthday, Taryn's Travels!

It's been a year (well, a year and a day), since I started this blog! Wait, a year? Really? Time goes by so fast! Hmm. At this rate, I'll be twelve in no time. (Yay!)

Oops, getting off track. Click here to read my very first post. Wow...a year already...

My Minecraft ice castle

Hi readers! A few months ago, I built an ice castle, modeled after the one in Frozen. I emailed several photos of the castle to Miss Dawn, and upon her request, I'm writing this post about it. Well, actually, I'm just putting some pictures up...you know what I mean, right? 

The front view of the castle

When you walk inside

The snowflake design in the upper floor

The view from the balcony

If you're wondering why the ice doesn't melt, it's because my castle is made of packed ice, not regular ice. Packed ice won't melt when exposed to light, and it still has the same slippery effect as normal ice! 

I hope you enjoyed the tour! --Taryn