Our Adventures!

Keenan had to write an essay today, and I thought it was worth sharing! I still don't necessarily agree with the whole "format" writing thing that is taught these days, but I understand that when they are tested on it they have to all write the same. We sort of deviate from that a bit. He obviously has some things to learn about paragraphing and things like that, but he has come a long way from his first essay this year.

Enjoy his personal narrative paragraph.

Barr Trail

“Ahhhhhhgggg! Stupid game! Just when I almost win, something happens!” My mom said it sounded like we needed to plan a day tomorrow that didn’t have anything to do with computers! “We need to do something for exercise tomorrow, how about swimming?”, nagged my mom, again with that exercise thing! “All the pools are too expensive and the YMCA is a letdown”, explained Conner. “I know! Hiking!” I exclaimed. “Great idea, how about Barr Trail?” suggested mom. “Sure”, we all agreed. The next morning, after my dad left to slave away at work all day, we got our water, lunch, and snacks ready to go. We all piled in the car and took off. When we finally drove into Manitou, the place was packed with people, all kinds of people! It took forever to arrive at the trail head through all the traffic and people walking every which way. Finally, we started up the trail, up, and up, and UP! I kept stopping to rest and whine, because I thought I couldn’t do it. Then we saw a poor bedraggled little 6 year old boy who had wiped out and torn up his knee and his face after climbing all the way up the incline. He was being so tough that I started to feel a little stupid about the way I was acting! I took off and got way ahead of mom and Conner, and wouldn’t you know, I got in trouble for breaking that safety rule about staying where mom could see me. But I have to admit, it just felt great to take off and do it! It took us 2 ½ hours to arrive at the 4 mile point but it only took 40 minutes to walk and run back down. It was almost 2:30 when we got to the car and Manitou was almost deserted! We stopped and Sonic and purchased ice cream to help us cool down before we went home. We had an amazing day after all, even though I complained a lot at the beginning. I cannot wait to try it again, and this time I won’t have a negative attitude at the beginning, just focus on having fun!