Kids Blog Post #1

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Finally! Here are the entries the kids wrote and conceived completely on their own. The pictures are all theirs as well, or at least taken directly from their cameras. Enjoy!



Maggie's Blog

Day 12 – Highway after Highway

Another late morning this morning for every camper except for the expert (Daddy), who got up at sunrise, unplugged the RV and we were off! Although the highways were bumpy, some of us deeper sleepers had the privilege of sleeping in to about 9:00 before our groggy faces left our pillows. Another uneventful driving day. Whoop-de-doo. Although loving the open fields, with mountains in the distance, there’s only so much “grass and grain” you can take before it gets tiring.

Billy finally allowed me to teach him the card game that’s called “Rummy” by Daddy and “Gin” by Tommy. Frankly, I don’t know what I’m playing! All I know is that card games + RV = disaster. All I’m saying is that games of “Deck or discard pile?” are not what I intended when I packed the cards. Other than that, though, it’s been great spending time with my family, even though a moose scavenger hunt is not what I had in mind for a family vacation.

But I have to admit it’s been awesome! Today for lunch, we went to “The Griddle” where almost everything on the menu had meat in it. Fortunately, the soup of the day was tomato basil, so I ordered that. To my surprise, I discovered there is a drink called strawberry lemonade, which might be my favorite drink ever! Aside from hot chocolate, of course. Oh, and then there’s milkshakes! Let’s just say it’s up there at the top of the list.

All in all, it’s been a great day and a spectacular trip. I’m looking forward to posting more blogs and sharing our trip with you! Oh, and thanks for all the happy birthday messages – I loved reading them!

Until next time,
Maggie



Billy's Blog

Hi this is Billy Bob Jones. I love animals. Mommy didn’t include a lot of animal stuff in the blog. So I’m here to tell you about it.

I’m going to tell you our first encounter of wildlife. When we arrived at the Flintstones campground we went right to bed. In the morning we ate breakfast and when I was going out the door I thought I saw a rat. Mommy thought about going outside and hitting it with a broom. When mommy was just about to do that it turned around and I noticed that it had stripes on its back. Then we thought it was a prairie dog. Later in the trip I got a mammals book and I figured out that it was a thirteen-striped ground squirrel. Of course we did see prairie dogs later on our trip.

So far Yellowstone is where I’ve seen the most wildlife. As mommy told you on the blog we went on a hike. At the end of the hike I spotted 1 doe. When we got closer we were lucky to see that it had 2 baby fawns. Then on our way to the new campground we saw a lot of people parked by a bridge. We stopped. Mommy got out to see what is was. The person that was blocking my view moved away. Then I saw a giant grizzly bear. That was the 1^st Grizzly bear I had ever seen. We got even luckier. We saw a male Elk. It had huge antlers! We saw a lot- and I mean a lot of bison. In the morning when we were leaving Yellowstone, Daddy said he might have seen a moose or an Elk. We turned around and went back to find out that it was a female Elk. Daddy went out of the RV and went into the woods to get good pictures of it. It started crossing the road, and while it was crossing the road we noticed there was another female Elk. We got tons of pictures of both of the Elk. We drove on, and we saw, in another parking lot, three female Elk just eating grass in front of a building and there was no one else was there to see them. We got lots of pictures of those Elk. And that’s pretty much what we saw at Yellowstone. Oh! I forgot to mention that we saw two herds of pronghorn in South Dakota. If you don’t know what it is, look it up.

In the Tetons

In the Tetons, we saw some wild life. Not as much as Yellowstone, but in number, WAY more! It all happened in one day. The only reason we saw it all is because we went down Antelope Road. We were driving down antelope road and I was the one who spotted two tiny black specks. When we got closer, I got really excited! That was before I realized they were just signs. I was very disappointed. We were almost ready to turn back. But then I noticed two black/ brown specks in the distance. Mommy and Daddy said that they were just signs and that we should turn back, but I insisted that we should see what they were. Regretfully, Mommy and Daddy drove up the road that I wanted them to. As we got closer, we noticed that there were two huge male Bison. Then, we got lots of pictures of the male bison. Mommy and Daddy were about to turn back again, when I insisted we go up the road to see if there are any more. We drove up the road and then we saw the biggest Wyoming traffic jam we’ve ever seen. There were Buffalo crossing the road everywhere! But the real cool thing was that we got to see one hundred and fifty bison and we got to see baby bison. While we were driving back, we saw about twelve people taking pictures of the two bison, and we told them about the herd of bison just down the road. It was funny. On our way back we looked for moose, but we didn’t see any. It was about 10:00 at night. I was very disappointed because I didn’t think we would see any moose. Right when we were about to go into the campground we passed a river. Daddy and Mommy and I saw a moose in the river! I was thrilled! I demanded for them to pull over so I could get pictures. By the time we got there, the moose was gone and we couldn’t get any pictures. I was very disappointed, but at least I saw a moose for the first time. We went back to the campground and had a good nights sleep.



Tommy's Blog

My mind is a blank, as my mind is a blank.

I tried to write, but my mind is a blank.

My mind is a blank, my mind is a blank.

I tried and tried, but my mind is a blank.



Sean's Blog

Before we had the RV, the hotel pool was too cool for swimming.





That's it for the kids. Bye!

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Photos

Cowboy Billy
Billy pic

Ground Squirrel
Billy pic

Ground Squirrel 13-stripe
Billy pic

Standing Ground Squirrel
Billy pic

Bison
Billy pic

Brown Bear
Billy pic

Elk
Billy pic

Male Elk
Billy pic

Reindeer
Billy pic

Mt Rushmore Rainbow
Billy pic

Mom & Dad
Billy pic

Old Faithful
Billy pic

Gibbon Falls
Billy pic

Momma Deer
Billy pic

Baby Deer
Billy pic

Yellowstone Canyon
Billy pic

Yellowstone Drive
Billy pic

Maggie's Birthday boots
Maggie pic

Flintstones
Maggie pic

Bedrock City
Maggie pic

Fred Flintstone
Maggie pic

Comments

[Deborah]

I love your blogs and pictures!
Hey kiddos! It's so great to read about your great adventures! It cracks me up, how things I saw in your personalities years ago are evident in your blog posts today. I'm happy that you guys are all having such an exciting, scenic adventure as a family. Thanks for posting the pictures! And Maggie, you are growing into such a beautiful young lady! It makes me want to cry, seeing you so close "the teenager zone"! haha (It might also make me feel a little old.) Billy, thanks for talking about the animals. I especially like that cute little ground squirrel! My baby girl and I had fun spotting ground squirrels outside in Michigan a couple of weeks ago. Tommy, I understand the "mind is a blank thing". That's why I'm about to go to bed! haha Sean, I'm glad you had so much fun swimming! I bet you're having lots of fun exploring the country in the RV now. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again sometime, and introducing you to my husband and "miniature girl". :) Love, Deborah

[The Other Baldwin Family]

Just Kidding Around!
What is going on with you guys?!?! It looks from these pictures and stories, that Maggie has been placed in jail for possibly not enjoying a meat product at some location, Tommy's blank is always on his mind, Sean has now turned to a life of crime after his Sheriff job didn't work out, and Billy has been adopted by some guy named Bob Jones!?!? Tell your parents to get these things straighten out at once!!! .......Also, please tell them what great kids they have and how special each of their stories and pictures were to enjoy. Thanks for sharing!!

[Grandma]

I sit here, after reading your blog on my computer, look out my window and think again of all the wonderful things you are doing and seeing. I tell Cappy about all the animals with their huge antlers, and I show her Billy\'s pictures. She barks once at the striped squirrel, sniffs at Tommy\'s Grizzly Bear, really. really warns me about Sean robbing the bank, and has absolutely no reaction to Maggie\'s beautiful pictures of the Sunset at the Grand Tetons. I think she agrees with Maggie that, after a while, the grass all looks the same! I finally give her a treat, and settle back to enjoying every one of your moments for myself! I guess a dog is still a dog! It\'s been so great following you, and I hope you will still have a little room in your memory drive for the bottom bunk mate! I can\'t wait for you to tell me about your speedy saucer rides, your hikes, your views from the sky, your \"close encounters\" with big eyes, claws, antlers, and the nose of a friendly horse! You are all doing so many new things! I climb, hike, run, swim, jump, scream with you all --- and then I collapse! Where does your mother find the energy to make her fingers go at the end of the day?! And how does your father open his eyes to the road at dawn?? Youth is such a sweet thing! However, To share your energy, excitement, and wonder touches the spark that still smolders in these old bones! The warmth is so special. Thank you! But I still get COLD on those ledges! Be careful, and know I\'m thinking of you all. Love, love!