It was a travel-to-home day, and to celebrate, I present the kids and their summary of our mountain trip:
Alex (7):
We went to the sand dunes and we saw tons of tiger beetles and weird bugs that don't live in Amarillo since there's not a lot of sand. We tried to slide down, so I pushed Megan and tried to slide down with her, but not really that much. When we left we went to the YMCA of the Rockies and met our cousins who we haven't seen since spring break.
Joseph decided to go to the bathroom and then he was in there for hours and hours. I kept knocking on the door but he wouldn't come out. Finally he came out and the bathroom was so stinky.
After that we went on a hike to three lakes. One with tons of lilly pads, one with a huge playground we made up, and the third on was really pretty, but then thunder went BAM BOOM. Joseph and I and all the kids ran back. It was fun running, but Joseph said I might slip. So I walked.
When we came back it was pouring with rain. There were thousands of people waiting for the bus. It was so crowed I couldn't even sit down. I needed to go to the bathroom, so I did, but I went really shortly. So did Joseph.
When we finally got back to our hotel called the Twin Sisters Lodge, we went to the Sweet Memorial where we played games. They had any kind of board game except . . . I don't know.
We were going to Human Stratego. I found a starfish in the grass. It was so cool. After Human Stratego we played Capture the Flag with these weird, crazy people that were going fast and they said they were penguins. Then Mommy said to go get them, and she was right. I got one. I tried to get some people out of the jail, but instead I got stuck in it.
After that, well in the night, Mommy and I went on the night hike, and we played a lot of games while the others played Risk. It sounds like a fun game, but Mommy says it wasn't for her. Then when we got back it was late at night, but I was really tired. After that we went to Amarillo and listened to Harry Potter tapes. I really like Harry Potter, but at first I didn't want to listen.
I learned on the night hike when you put your hands back of your ears you can hear backward better. When you put them forward you can hear forward better. A ton of animals do that. Rabbits and a lot of animals, but I don't want to name all of them. Even we can do that!
Megan (10):
The YMCA was fun because we went on a really great hike. We went to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald lake on our hike. Nymph lake had lots and lots of lilly pads, but they seemed abandoned because we didn't see a single frog. Dream lake was my favorite lake. We had a wonderful view of a forest, and it was like a giant playground with tons of boulders everywhere.
After the hike, while the others played Risk, Kathleen and I enjoyed reading on my bunk bed. We read mystery books from the library, and soon we were involved in a bunch of ghost stories.
Alex and my cousin Joseph formed a secret hideout, even though it wasn't much of a secret because we all got to go in it. Then we hiked up to Emerald lake. It was so beautiful. We had a great view of a clear lake and a glacier right behind it. Then we had to leave quickly because it started sprinkling. By the time we got back to the bus stop it was pouring. We had to wait a long time for the buses, but it was a great hike anyway. I really miss Rocky Mountain National Park.
Colleen (12):
First I liked the Great Sand Dunes. They were really neat, except they were really hot. Then I liked the YMCA of the Rockies because we saw our cousins, and we were in the most beautiful place in the world. Well, that's what I think. And we went on a lot of hikes, but my favorite hike was when it was thundering and lighting. It was kind of creepy because you felt like you were going to die any minute. When we got back to the YMCA we were all soaked. That was pretty cool. Then we took showers. I discovered Risk was a pretty fun game, especially when you're from Brazil (only my Brazilian brother Andrew would understand). The end.