Friday, July 26, 2013

From the Jelly Belly Factory to Napa Valley


Now we were at Napa Valley, but before that, we visited the Jelly Belly Factory. For ones who don't know  what is Jelly Belly is, it is a really nice jellybean company, but some look alike but taste really different.

Behind this welcome sign, those are all grape trees. You do not see any grapes because it is not the right time to harvest them. If you come up close to them you will see many green, not ready to harvest grapes. September and October are the right times to harvest grapes.



Photo by Echo (my mom)



Here is how it looked like when we saw them:

Photo by Echo



Photo by Echo

The best looking winery to me was the Castello Di Amorosa Winery. It looked like a castle and it even had a fake doorway that you use a strong chain to pull up!

That winery was the best looking winery. The best winery tour is the tour at the winery called the Robert Mondavi winery. I don't have a picture of the real life place, but I searched up the logo for the winery.


Photo from Google Images


One winery that is the prettiest is the winery called the Jacuzzi Family Vineyard. What I thought was pretty about this Vineyard is that there was a lavender (flower) patch!

Photo by Heather



We went to lots of wineries and vineyards until it was time to leave. It would take about six hours (not with breaks) to get home.



Have you ever visited Napa Valley?


If so, have you ever gone to one of the wineries that I gone to?


If you haven't, which winery do you think you would like to go to?

Thursday, July 18, 2013

My Trip to the Jelly Belly Factory!

Now we were at the Jelly Belly factory and there are some jellybeans that I have to introduce to you. Some taste really different but look the same. Those are the bad ones. Some are Juicy Pear and Booger and Buttered Popcorn, Moldy Cheese, and even Licorice and Skunk Spray! The worst one that I think is really disgusting is CENTIPEDE! The flavor that taste like Centipede is Strawberry Jam. There were also some recipes and the recipe will tell you the name and show you how it looks like and you will find them and put them in your mouth and taste them! I think the recipe idea is real neat. Don't you?


Photo by Jeffery (my dad)




Photo by Echo (my mom)

Here are pictures made out of little tiny jellybeans! Who knew that you could make art out of jellybeans? The one to the left is Ronald Reagan, one of the jellybean lovers!

There were tours and you get a paper hat. Sadly, we went on a day when they were not working so we did not see them make jellybeans. Now we began our tour:

First, we saw lots of bags of sugar and corn corn starch. It also included corn syrup. There are other ingredients, but those are the main ones. 

Second, our tour guide showed us some movies like how to make a jellybean and all of the machines that you use to make jellybeans sugar! Some are called belly flops because they are not in the right shape.

Then our tour guide gave us free samples for each step of a jellybean, like when it was not polished. It was very bumpy. That's because it is covered with sugar. It tasted the same though. 

Next, we watched some videos about polishing the jellybean and our tour guide gave us a polished jellybean that was all finished. 

Finally, our tour guide gave each person a bag of jellybeans and that was the end of our tour.

Clearly, making a jellybean  does take time!



After our tour, we went to the shop. I brought a sour pack of jellybeans and my brother brought a mini pack of jellybeans. His had some disgusting ones. Before we checked out, we went to eat some samples. There is a kiwi one that they said is really hard to make, but taste exactly like kiwi. I got some samples of that. I also got samples of tutti-frutti and a bubble gum.

It was not long after we came. There were menus and there were actually menus of different languages! Some of the languages were English, Chinese, Arabic, Dutch, Spanish, and more. Inside the menus were information about jellybeans. The information was mostly about how they look like and what are the names. There is also recipes and in each menu. Some are different kinds and some are the same.

We left the Jelly Belly Factory and now we were going to leave to Napa Valley now!


Have you ever visited the Jelly Belly Factory?


If so, did you go on a tour when they were actually making jelly beans?


If you haven't, have you ever heard of the Jelly Belly Factory?

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Birthday, America!


Ideas and facts from Mrs. Yollis and Wikipedia 



America's birthday is on July 4th which is Independence Day in America! 

On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This document was announced America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.



Photo from Mrs. Yollis


Independence Day is commonly celebrated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches, and ceremonies.


Last year and the year before, I celebrated July 4th with a nice barbecue with some of my relatives and the fireworks from a school with my neighbors. This year, I will not be having another barbecue and I will always be watching the fireworks as long as I don't move. Instead, I celebrated by going to a splash party and got a sparkly dog tattoo. It was all very fun and exciting! There were stands that you could win prizes and I got three of them. I also got a bow n arrow balloon.

I did not get any photo of the fireworks because I could not get a quick shot of the fireworks. Nether did my mom because the fireworks were appearing and disappearing every time we tried to get a shot. 

Here are some ways to respect the flag:


  • Do not wear a flag, wear the colors
  • Never step on a flag or leave it on the floor
  • Pledge to the flag every day with your right hand over your heart. Here are the words:

"I pledge of  allegiance to the Flag of the United states of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

  • The flag should never be hung upside down unless there is a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or propriety.  
  • Do not use a flag as a target.


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What did you do on July 4th?

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