Day #4 (1/9/14) – Guess the Animal
We decided to head over to the coast of Gabon during the evening after dinner to find this famous animal. They are known to surf in the ocean here! We were in luck!! We’ll give you three clues as to who we saw and you tell us who it is!
Who is it?
–Ellie and Edmond (check out our Facebook page later for a fun video of this animal surfing)
Day #3 (1/8/14) Off to Africa
Well the deep freeze that took over much of the U.S. almost derailed our trip completely! We hopped aboard the E & E plane and made our way to Gabon where will be for a few days. We have set up camp next to a lake. We decided to spend the day looking for a fun little fish. Edmond grabbed his snorkel (Elephants don’t need them) and took a dip. The lake was very murky and dark, but we had such fun looking at all the inhabitants. After swimming for a while we finally found the little fish we were looking for, the elephantnose fish! This little fish is so fun!
Their range and habitat: lakes, rivers and ponds in West and Central Africa.
Their length/weight: up 9” long. Their status: Common
They are carnivores (they eat other small fish).
Elephantnose fish have very large brains. They brain body size ratio is almost the same as humans.
Elephantnose fish are very intelligent and playful.
They have a long appendage on their chin that they use to find prey in the mud.
Elephantnose fish have weak electrical system to help them get around the dark waters they live in. (Don’t worry we didn’t touch one).
They have poor eyesight.
What a wonderful day! I am exhausted. Edmond is cooking up oats and hay stew for our dinner. We had such fun meeting the elephantnose fish! I really wanted to compare my trunk to his barbell, but he didn’t seem to want to do that! It’s time for dinner at our camp! Tomorrow you’ll have to guess the animal we met! See you then!
-Ellie
Day #2- Delayed
Well the bad news is our trip was delayed due to cold weather; the good news is that we decided to bundled up and spend our day talking to some animals in our neighborhood. We went out and met a squirrel, a crow and a cardinal. The cardinal sat down and talked to us about helping out wild animals during the winter!
Us: How is your day going Mr. Cardinal?
Mr. Cardinal: It is cold Ellie and Edmond; very very cold. There isn’t much food out.
Us: Oh goodness! Winter must be hard on the wild birds and other animals.
Mr. Cardinal: Oh it is! Not only is there not much food, but we have to find a nice place to keep warm.
Us: A bird’s job is never done! Do you have any tips for our readers on how they can help you get through this cold weather?
Mr. Cardinal: Oh yes! Put out bird food- suet is really good and cheap!
If you have a bird bath that is frozen over, break the ice!
Put out containers of fresh water!
Scatter nuts about for the squirrels, they don’t hibernate!
You can build a habitat with rocks or sticks and leaves.
Leaving your garden in a natural state helps reptiles, birds, insects and
mammals.
You can leave out clean bird feeders with yarn in them. Birds use this to help
build nests and shelters!
Us: Wow! Those are some great tips! We are going to the store right away to get some! We’ll leave it out for you and your bird pals!
Mr. Cardinal: Thank you! So nice chatting with you! I must fly off and find a warm spot for the night!
Us: Good luck!!
We had such fun going to the store and getting bird seed after our chat with Mr. Cardinal! We came back to HQs and put it out! Then had hot cocoa inside! We’re keeping our hooves crossed that the winter weather passes and we can get on with our adventure!
-Ellie and Edmond
Welcome to the all new EllieandEdmond.com! We’ll be taking a year long journey around the world and we hope you will join us! We’ll be meeting animals, talking about fun science and writing about our adventures in our journal. We’ll be adding sketches, maps and interviews. We Are Family and Crafts will be back along with new features, such as Word of the week and the University of E & E! We hope you like the new 1st person format that we will be writing in! Some days our entries will be written by Edmond, some days by Ellie and some by both of us!
Pack your bags, your imagination and your love animals and join us on this wild ride around the world!
January 5th, 2014- Day #1: Getting ready for our trip
Whew! What do an elephant and horse pack for a journey around the world? We have been planning this trip for months and we are finally ready to get on the road. We’ll be traveling by plane, train, boat, submarine, helicopter, hot air balloon and numerous cars and trucks! We’ve made lists and checked them and rechecked them. We’ll be in many different climates and habitats, from deserts to the poles. So what should we bring? We sat down to discuss what to put in our trunk (large box) not Ellie’s nose! Here are our lists!
Clothes:
o Parkas
o Gloves/Mittens
o Scarves
o Winter hats
o Ear muffs
o Snow shoes
o Safari hats
o Sunglasses
o Scuba suits
o Goggles
o Swim fins
o Rain jackets
o Wellies
Supplies:
o Mud sunscreen
o Climbing gear
o Binoculars
o Canteens
o Compass
o Backpacks
o Night vision goggles
o Notebooks
o Cameras/Chargers
o Tents
o Sleeping bags
o Walking sticks
o iPads
o Pens/Pencils
o Passports
o Hay snacks
o Carrots
o Apples
o Grass bars
o Playing Cards
o Matches
o Head Lamp
o Pocket Knife
o Hoof Wamers
We think we have all of our supplies ready! We sure hope we haven’t forgotten anything! Good thing we’ll be coming back to HQs during the weekends! Ellie has worked very hard to plan out what we need. Edmond packed all the snacks! We’ve been checking out the map and deciding what animals we want to go find this week! Thursdays will still be guess the animal! It looks like we’re going to Africa this week to find a tortoise, a fish, and a goose! We’re ready for our year of adventure! Til tomorrow when we are in Africa…
-Ellie and Edmond
HAPPY NATIONAL BIRD DAY!!
We’re celebrating birds today! Who loves our fine feathery friends? We do! We love the small ones, the big ones and all the ones in between! One our resolutions this year is to do more bird watching. We want to learn as much about them as we can! So what makes a bird a bird?
Birds come in bright colors and more muted colors. They can live in large flocks or be solitary. They are very intelligent (just cross a crow and see what happens). There are so many reasons to love birds! Tell us why you love them! We’ve made a coloring sheet for you to enjoy and celebrate National Bird Day! And if it’s winter in your neighborhood- don’t forget the birds! Those little guys will be looking for eats, so throw some out for them :)!
SEA TURTLE COLORING SHEET!
We’ve got a sea turtle for you today! We left the shell blank so you can make it what species you like! Will you make a Leatherback, Green, Loggerhead, Kemps Ridley, Hawksbill, Olive Ridley or Flatback?
Share your art with us!
OCTOPUS COLORING SHEET!!
The new format is coming Monday- until then here’s another coloring sheet! Share your art with us!
BEARS COLORING SHEETS!
As we get ready to ring in the new year and work on the new format we wanted to give you guys some coloring sheets! First up: a bear and a panda bear!
As always- share you art with us on Facebook or Twitter!
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
WE HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING IN OUR ADVENTURES THIS YEAR!
We’re off til next week, but there will be trivia on Twitter and Facebook Thursday and Friday!
NARWHAL ORNAMENT!
We’re making a clay narwhal ornament to add to your tree!
Materials:
· Sculpey Clay (grey, white or yellow, and red)
· Ribbon (not shown)
· Paper clip or skewer (not shown)
Instructions:
1. First role the grey into a tube shape.
2. Then sculpt the tail.
3. Role two balls for fins. Shape into triangles and attach to the body.
4. Roll a tube of the white or yellow for the tooth.
5. Shape into a point and attach to the head.
6. Role a red ball and then shape into cone for hat. Then attach to head.
7. Take your skewer or paper clip and poke eyes and draw mouth.
8. Poke a hole through your Narwhal.
9. Bake your Narwhal according to package directions.
10. When cool- poke ribbon through hole in body and tie a knot on underside of Narwhal!
The Adventures of Ellie and Edmond 