Independence Day!

Wow - the last day of GKC - 2009! It is hard to believe that it is already here.

Seems like just yesterday we were meeting in Benjamin.

Charlotte chose her color guard and was pretty proud to do so.

We spent the morning setting up the Big Top,
in rehearsal for the Greatest Show on Earth and
preparing our snacks to sell -
PEANUTS.. POPCORN... COTTON CANDY!


We were all so happy to see moms arrive for lunch!

Celebrating Charlotte's birthday!

She loves her new Bitty Baby, with back pack and clothes!

Circus Time!

Send in the clowns!

Tight Rope Walker Holly Grace and her spotter, Grant!

Charlotte rides a tricycle across the tight rope!
Be careful, Baby!

Lion Tamer, Grant arrived with his Lions!

He has trained them well!

Charlotte needed a "mommy break"!

Magician Jack and his assistant, Will!

The Human Cannonball...

Return from the safe flight!

The closing Ceremony!

Take a bow!

Fireworks are loud!

But oh so pretty!

Charlotte and Uncle Cory!

GKC - Day 7

Over the coffee cup...

Brock was up first this morning and had coffee with PawPaw!

He had some questions that needed answers!

"Why do snails have a shell that they can't come out of?"

"Do worms live under a house?"

"How do moths find the cabin?"

"What are chairs made out of?"

Why do you ask so many questions?

Circus easy readers and coloring books were

a fun activity for a rainy morning!

Grant and Holly were good readers!

We decided to dip some pretzels.

Mitchell and Brock were first.

It was really fun, but so hard not too eat them as fast as we made them!

Lunch on the front deck was fun.

We had corny dogs and squeeze cheese!

There were lots of fun and funny designs.

Grant and Holly take a turn at dipping pretzels.

They decided that it is a fun thing to do!

It is Brock's turn to feed the birds!


They were very hungry.


He allowed Will and Jack to help.



Hauling...


rocks and firewood and kids!


More road construction.



Walkie Talkie Commandos and a glass of wine!

PawPaw is so creative!

Life is good!

Cory and his boys.

Cory arrived this afternoon

and we look for the moms for lunch tomorrow!

GKC - Day 6

Letters from home are so important!

It was a busy day!

Starting with the breakfast buffet - an unending success.

Mountain appetites are huge!
Work and play were scattered throughout the day.
PawPaw, Jack and Will made an emergency trip to Angel Fire this afternoon for chocolate syrup. Oh, and gas for the 4 Wheelers and to pick up the wood splitter at the Camerons.

Don't worry - there are no plans to use it during GKC!

An early morning work project is moving rocks off the new road!

Time for a break!

Holly and Charlotte brought water.

Is this really child labor?

OK , it is not all work!

Moving and stacking firewood can be fun!

Wow - just look at those piles!

The flag ceremony was held a little late, but

Mitchell was so excited to be "in charge"!

Off to Coyote Creek again on 4 wheelers for a picnic!

Brock and Charlotte found a perfect rock!

The littlest fisherman.

The littlest fishergirl.

Will and Jack are on the hunt!

They found one again and trapped it.

This seems to be working better than bacon bait on a string to bite!

What is Grant doing?

The splits?
The crawdad crawl?

Or just getting the water out of his boots.

Mail Call!

Brock and Charlotte and their letters!

He is one excited boy!

Mitchell is proud!

Holly is watching the Strawberry Ice Cream!

Yummy!!!

Brock sees the baby birds!

There is a nest with four babies.

We watched the momma feed them this morning!

Grammy and PawPaw have never been this close to an active nest.

Brock was responsible for the campfire story.

We never understood the story, but we were very entertained!

One tired grandson!

Me, too!

Good night!

GKC - Day 5

Wet! Wet! Wet! It has been a very wet day and even with no rain! I wonder if the moms sent any white socks - all I can find are a dingy gray, but I do have mostly all pairs.

The breakfast buffet was again a huge hit and it is so surprising what kids will eat when offered a choice. Biscuits, sausage, fruit, breakfast cake and cereal (listed according to popularity).

It started out as a fun outing to the Hacienda Hurt in Tre Ritos. The Hurts are friends who needed a light fixture finished. So, off we went. Mickey handled the fixture while the kids and I had a picnic lunch on the front porch. Then, off to the stream behind the cabin...

Charlotte was a little timid about the "pool".

Hers doesn't have fish in it.

Will found some nice solitude for crawdad fishing.

Brock was being careful not to get too wet.

Then Jack, Grant and Holly made their way across the stream to Will.

Holly decided take a shortcut to come back across and Grant was there to help.

She slipped and panicked and thought that she was being swept away!

Grant pulled her out, but she was really scared.


PawPaw came to the rescue.

See no evil. Speak no evil. Hear no evil.

Grant, Holly Grace (wearing PawPaw's dry shirt), Mitchell, Charlotte, Jack, Will and Brock.

We enjoyed the wet outing!

Meanwhile, back at Coyote Creek, we found a much slower,

more shallow stream that we are all more familiar with.

As if we had not had enough water today!

Why do all little boys want to throw rocks?

And all little girls are very cautious?

Will and the crawdad bait.

PawPaw is always there to help with the pole.
We caught one crawdad. Jack and Will found one baby and picked it up! It is about 1 inch long.

Not quite enough for the crawdad burgers they wanted Grammy to cook for supper!

We had to substitute beef trail burgers, instead.

It is in a bucket and seemed to survive the trip up the mountain

hanging off the rear of the 4-wheeler beside the exhaust pipe.

Holly was the fire builder this evening and had a lot of help!

Mitchell told a fascinating campfire story complete with dances.

In fact, he was not even still long enough for a good picture!

We had a fun, tiring and wet day!

Luckily, jammies were all dry, because nothing else was.

Wet, muddy and dirty shoes on the deck, not to mention the feet, legs, arms and faces have us thinking seriously about that outdoor shower by next summer.

I think it would be a very good investment!

Good night from the tired campers.