Since this was a class project for elementary school, we created a journal that could be read to the class by the teacher. Here it is:
Hi! My name
is Flat Kenzie. I am visiting my
grandfather and grandmother in Longview, Texas.
I call my grandpa Gran, and my grandmother Bibi. We are going on a trip to Fredericksburg and
Glen Rose, Texas. We hope to see lots of
wildflowers and interesting things.
Before we left, I went to the beauty salon with Bibi, because we had to
get pretty for the trip!
We went to visit
my great grandmother and great grandfather before we left on the trip. They are 83 years old and live in Longview too. We had lunch at Panera Bread and it was a
really good place to eat.
Before we left on our trip, I went to the zoo with my
cousins, Konnor and Shawn. We saw lots
of different kinds of animals.
My favorite was the giraffes. They have really long necks!
There were lots of
pretty birds. They were very colorful!
Finally
it was time to leave on our trip. Gran
and Bibi have a motorhome. It is like a
big bus and I got to ride in the driver’s seat with Gran. We
drove to Fredericksburg with friends. It
was a long way there. Fredericksburg is
a very old town that is in the central part of Texas, not
too far from Austin, the Texas state capital.
If you don’t know where it is, have your teacher show you on a map. It’s a fun place to go!
We went to a RV
park where lots of motorhomes and travel trailers of all kinds stay. We met lots of people who live in states like
Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin where it gets really cold in the winter. They come here to live in the winter and go
back to their homes in the north during the summer time. They are called Winter Texans because they
spend the winter with us in Texas.
We met lots of
nice people and did lots of fun things while we were there. I got to go clogging with Mo (on the right) and Brenda. They like to clog, which is a kind of dance. It was brought to America a long time ago by
the Scotch and Irish peoples who settled and worked in the coal mines around
Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio.
While we were at
the park, I also played cards with friends.
The name of the game is Screwy Louie and was lots of fun to play.
Shhhh….don’t
tell the other players what I have in my hand!
On Easter Sunday,
we went to a church in Fredericksburg with some of our traveling friends. It was a good service and lots of people were
there with us.
After church, we
had a potluck lunch with other people staying at the park. Everyone brought something to eat and we all
shared our food together. There were
lots of good things to eat!
I was so happy to
meet Jake Burton. He is 95 years old and
a World War II veteran and survivor of the bombings at Pearl Harbor. He was a pilot in the army and was stationed
at the army base in Hawaii where lots of airplanes were destroyed by enemy
bombers. Jake and his generation are
very important to us because they kept the world safe and preserved the
freedoms we enjoy in America.
Jake
bought a flagpole and an American flag for the RV park where he lives. He is very patriotic and a true American
Hero!
While
we were in Fredericksburg, we saw lots of pretty wildflowers. Bluebonnets
are the Texas state flower and grow wild along the side of the road.
We also saw lots
of cactus. You have to be very careful
with cactus because it has thorns and will stick you!
We
also visited the LBJ Ranch, the home of former President Lyndon Johnson. He was president of the United States during
1963 through 1968. He grew up close to
Fredericksburg and had a big ranch there.
He often went back while he was president to visit, work and relax. The home where he was born, the building
where he went to school and the old family farm buildings are there now.
This is part of the ranch where President
Johnson lived grew up and lived.
This is one of the
old farm buildings. They still use the
farm and raise lots of different animals there.
There were real chickens in the chicken
coop!
This is the old
school house where President Johnson went to school. They all went to school in one room!
This is the house
where President Johnson was born.
While we were in
Fredericksburg, we visited a wildflower seed farm where they grow lots of
pretty flowers. Gran liked to find a
place to sit while Bibi and her friends looked and shopped.
We ate at a famous
place in Fredericksburg called Hondo’s with all my new friends. The food was good and they had a real band
that played music.
I even made a new
friend named Jack. He is a blue heeler
but some people just call him a “cow dog.”
Jack is very smart and has won lots of ribbons and awards doing competitions
where he competes against other dogs.
After we left
Fredericksburg, we went to a campground along the Brazos River, near Glen Rose,
Texas. Dinosaurs used to live in the
area where the city of Glen Rose is now.
They have found lots of dinosaur tracks that turned into fossils. Fossils are like rocks that have imprints in
them. They have found lots of other
fossils too, like plants, trees and even human footprints! You can see these displays at the Creation Museum.
We had a really
fun trip and got to see lots of interesting things. We met new friends, did fun things, and saw
pretty flowers. Some of the prettiest
flowers were closest to home! We saw
pretty red clover and pink Indian paintbrushes near Gran and Bibi’s house! I love spring time with all the pretty
wildflowers that grow beside the roads!
