Cave Exploring

When we were hiking in Sedona today we went to a Native American's cave where they used to live. There was black ashes on the ceiling from the fires they had to keep themselves warm and for cooking their food. You had to duck down because it was a cave. It was not tall at all. If you were very, very tall you would not fit in unless you ducked really down because it was not all at all. Then me, and Papa and John headed back home but then Lucas and Marie were standing out on their balcony and they said we could come in and have some cider. We went in and sat by the kitchen and they gave us some cider and then we sat down by Papa and got a Haunted House book and I read it to John and Marie. Sophie, Mom and Dad went and hiked farther and we thought we were beating them home because we did not see them anywhere but we saw people we thought they were them but then we thought they were not them because there were only two people. They were already home with their swimsuits on ready to go in the hot tub. So we joined them. Lucy

Hiking out Grama and Papa's Backdoor

Yesterday I went hiking with my dad, Lucy,and John. We were in my grandparent's backyard. They live in Sedona, Arizona in the winter. In the summer they live in Cando, North Dakota. Well, like I was saying we were going hiking. They have red rocks in their backyard. When we went hiking we stopped at a few familiar rocks to take pictures. On our way home we went through a wash. There were lots of rocks in the wash. Lucy and I found this cool cave on the wall of the wash. (Bottom Left) Well, actually I really found it, but we both used it to scare my dad and John. We also found a smaller cave before we found this one. I really want to get to the top of the red rock mountain this year but I probably won't able to. Up in the mountains there are two caves. One is bigger than the other one. The smaller one is higher up than the bigger one. John thinks it's a mountain lion's cave, but it's not. Papa and my dad just think it formed over the years and it's not been lived in or being lived in ever. I don't know what I or Lucy think about it. I like hiking in Sedona, AZ. Sophie

Cactus by John

(Disclaimer: This story by John contains more fiction than fact. It’s up to you, the reader, to discern truth from fiction..)

I fell into a prickly pear and I had to put lotion on and a bandaid. And we were in Sedona. And we saw a mountain lion’s sleeping in his cave. And suddenly that mountain lion woke up and went after us. And then more mountain lions came after us. And then suddenly coyotes started coming after us. Then none more things came after us but then suddenly we saw something in the mountains. And it was a bear. A grizzly bear. Then it was good because they all ran away. And then we stopped hiking. John

Floam Disaster

Grandma Bev and I bought Floam for the kids – thinking it would be a wonderful crafty kind of toy. The kids saw it advertised on TV quite a while ago, but this was our first experience. Things didn’t work very well for us – we were all sticky messes as were our shirts, the floor and the kitchen table. The worse though were our hands. At one time Sophie, Lucy and I all stood over the garbage trying to rub off the Floam. It was at that point that Grandma commented this could be a new form of torture – stick someone with Floam and they’ll work for eternity trying to get it off their hands and every other surface. Marci

Here’s what Lucy and John had to say about it…
Floam is really really sticky – you do not want to get Floam because if you get it it will stick on you always and when you try to make a snowman it will melt. It’s so sticky that on the directions it says it won’t make a mess and it’ll just be fun, but guess what – it was really a mess and it wasn’t that fun. Lucy

You can not make anything out of Floam and if you mix colors it doesn’t get the right color you want it. John

Fruit Trees

When we were in Mesa, Arizona we picked lots of grapefruit and oranges off the trees in my grandparents’ backyard. John was the one who picked the most grapefruit and he ate the most. He always put a little pack of sugar on the grapefruit. Sometimes we shared and then got more and then shared that too.

This morning Lucy found a little lime that hadn’t turned green yet

and Grandpa James picked an orange for my mom. I like picking fruit from the tree. Sometime I make orange juice and grapefruit juice for my mom. Sophie

Saguaros

Saguaros are prickly. They are green and full of juice. Birds like woodpeckers live in them. Every year they build a new hole to live in - they do not use the same hole they had. It takes 75 years to make a sagurao's arm. This picture of the saguaro is in my grandma's front yard - it has at least four holes in it. Lucy

Animals on the Corners

While we were in Arizona Grandma Bev, my Mom, Lucy, John, and I went down to a children's musem thingy (Arizona Museum for Youth) and got to make a paper skateboard, ride a pretend non-moving motorcycle, decorate a white car with magnets, and take lots of pictures. Once we were done we walked to Quizno's and had lunch. Grandma Bev and John were done first. They went outside to the statue of the polar bear and her cubs on the corner. On the picture to the left you see me on the mama polar bear's back. But if you ever come to Phoenix, Arizona be careful because the statues are slippery.

There are more than one statues and they're not all animals. We went to three other ones that were a rhino, a collared lizard, and a boy lion. I want to do this again sometime. Sophie

Birds

Morning doves come to Grandma Bev and Grandpa James' house everyday and come to all their birdfeeders. They have six birdfeeders if you include the grapefruit one and the liquid one. Even parrots come some times. They like the one out back by Grandpa James and Grandma Bev's office. The parrots come not often, but some times. The morning doves come mostly by the kitchen window to that birdfeeder. It's green. Every day the bird feeder runs out and me and Grandpa James and Sophie go out to fill them. One time we only filled the one out front by the kitchen, but today we filled all four seed ones. The liquid one didn't run out and the grapefruit one didn't run out because we ate lots of grapefruit. The reason why is because after we eat grapefruit and pour out most of the juice there may be some juice left so we put it outside for the birds. Lucy

Brain Quest for the Car

On our way to Arizona my mom, dad and I played " Brain Quest For The Car" I read the questions and they tried to answer them. Most of the time someone got it right, but sometimes I had to tell them the right answers. First I just read questions about the states we were going through or were going to go through,but after a while I started to just go straight through the deck in A,B,C order. We still haven't finshed all way through the deck yet, though.( I don't think we're even halfway.) We had fun and learned a lot too. I think we're going to play it on our way to Sedona (We're in Phoenix right now.) and on our way home to Grand Forks. It is fun to play Brain Quest for the Car. Sophie

Create It!

Today we went to an art place called “Create It!” There we painted pieces of ceramic. In the photos below it shows us painting the pieces we made. John made a pirate ship, with help from Mom, for his special birthday plate. Lucy did a snowman for hers – she had help from Mom too. I made a flower on mine and I had a tiny bit of help from Mom and the lady that was there. I want to go there again sometime. Sophie

Sunflower Birdfeeder

Today when we were in Arizona me and Grandpa James and Sophie hung up the sunflower birdfeeder. We gave the birdfeeder to Grandma Bev for her birthday. We were hoping that the birds would come. Lucy

Welcome to the GKids Blog

Here we go - we're off and running with tales of our adventures as we visit grandparents and take trips with our parents. Enjoy our commentary and pictures.