Wednesday, June 30, 2010

GKC - Day 5

Due to an accidental oversight,
Mitchell's night night was left
in the basement in Amarillo.
It wasn't pretty.
He had tears
and genuine sadness.
But, he had a good attitude 
and was tired enough to fall asleep.
This morning, we had a celebration!
It included lots of congratulations
and the special plate!
He was pretty proud.

It was cold here this morning at 49!
Too cold to play outside
and the Direct TV was out.
So, after a filling breakfast buffet,
everyone found some entertainment.

Some card games and
some card tricks!

As the temps rose,
it was time for the flag ceremony.
Well done, color guard!

The hunt
resulted in a dead chipmonk.

I took a short hike around the driveway
with my little friends
and we found Holly Grace
in the tree house
and Grant
riding.

After lunch,
we opted for a special rest time
Some napped better than others.
Brock, Charlotte and PawPaw
are really good nappers!

The ride to Coyote Creek required
a challenge to upgrade.
Will and Jack upgraded to PawPaw's 4 Wheeler.
Holly Grace was upgraded to being
the only rider on the blue 4-wheeler. 
Grant was upgraded to the 250.

Coyote Creek is always fun.
The boys immediately look for crawdads
and they caught one!

Brock explored.

With five 4-wheelers,

we are quite a convoy now.


Our cowboy supper-
Frito Chili Pie (made in the bag)
and salad.  Quick and easy clean up!
This reminds me of high school football games!
The kids thought it was fun.

Movie night is...
High School Musical!
It was enjoyed by all!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

GKCDay 4 - Travel and Toyotas!

Breakfast of Champions!
Honey Nut Cheerios and milk,
topped with ice cream!
it's worth getting up!


Headed to the mountains!
By the way, the NM Travel Center
now has picnic tables! 

Charlotte said in the car today that she
is never ever coming to the cabin again.
Her response to why?
Because it is just too far!

Speaking of distances, 
my Land Cruiser turned over 300,000 miles
on the trip today!
My only acceleration problem
has been my own heavy foot! 
Yep, I am sold on Toyota!

We are finally here!
These boys love the 4-wheelers!
And the girls do, too!
More mountain fun tomorrow

Monday, June 28, 2010

GKC - Day 3





It was so nice not to have a definite schedule!
We arrived at Panhandle Plains Museum
about 10 AM.

There was such excitement!
It's really nice to enjoy your cousins

and puzzles...




teepees..

car races...

phone calls..

cooking..

riding..


sand branding..

banking..

WHAT?

It's the gang, again!
teaching

organizing..

and firearms.

There truly was something for everyone!


Palo Duro Canyon,
here we come!
We found a great picnic spot
with a better food selection!
Ropes are necessary
for rock climbing!



My kitchen helper.
Good night!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

GKC - Day 2

A little addendum to yesterday.
When we were at the Big Texan,
we heard someone say,
"Mitchell, what are you doing here?"
It was Mrs. Myada,
Mitchell's teacher last school year!

I can't believe that I did it again!
I did not replace the card
in my camera last night
and discovered it missing
this morning at Alibates.

OK, move on...

You know that it is going to be a
good day when your cereal
arrives in ice cream cone shaped 
Longaberger
with a scoop of ice cream on top.
yummmm!

We had little time to get things
together this morning
because of the 10 AM tour
scheduled at Alibates National Monument
near Lake Meridith, a little more than an hour away.
hurry... hurry... hurry
no good!
But, we arrived a few minutes early,
 with just enough time for
a little snack and potty break.

Alibates is a flint quarry.
We took the one mile hike to the quarry.
The ranger was an excellent guide.
All the kids walked on their own.
Grant carried a backpack
of water for everyone!
We had perfect hiking weather.  

This picture is from my phone
and I am grateful to have it!
The kids were very interested in
the flint and the insects!
Mitchell desperately wanted to
catch a grasshopper in his hat!
One finally jumped on the rim,
but not inside.

We got stamps for passports.

Others on the tour were extremely
interested in Grandkids Camp.
We always generate lots of
interesting questions from strangers.

There was a nice picnic table
in the shade at the headquarters
that we took full advantage of
for our lunch.

Lunch.
It had been an unusual morning.
It is not easy to get out of the house
with seven kids, people!
And at 8:30?
Are you kidding me?
All this to excuse our lunch debaucle. 
What is a PBJ without the J?
We substituted bananas!
How do you eat pudding cups
without spoons?
We found nine plastic spoons
in the console of the truck!
We had no chips
because we did not refill the basket!
Tomorrow, we will have a better plan.
But, no one left hungry
and we are very grateful for the improvisions.

Now, on to the waterpark,
Treasure Island at Sunray.
We had a great afternoon here.
It is a small waterpark,
designed for families.
 We were able to sit
in the shallow water and
watch all seven kids
play on the pirate ship,
dive from the board,
or slide down the long, twisting slides.
Brock and Mitchell were constantly on the slides.
Will, Jack, Holly and Grant were everywhere,
especially diving
and Charlotte played with us 
and any of the big kids who wanted
to take her to the pirate ship. 
It was fun and relaxing.

We decided on the campfire cookout
because the afternoon was so comfortable.
Carefully laid, it was a one match fire.
This is team work,
but sometimes,
it is just nice to play alone for a while
on Grammy's kitchen floor.

After a hot dog cook out,

S'mores are the perfect dessert.

More adventures tomorrow!