During Spring Break 2000, we visited New Mexico. We toured Carlsbad Caverns. I wrote a report as part of the requirements for a badge. Click here to view the report in Powerpoint format.
During Winter Break 1999, we took the train from Elkhart, OH to
Croton-On-the-Hudson, NY. This page documents our trip along the
Hudson River. We also visited the von Stuben House in River Edge,
NJ. Here are also some pictures taken there. Click
here.
Rather than add this at the end (the rest of the material is in
chronological order beginning in 1997), I thought I would add Rebecca's
storty she wrote last night (Dec. 22nd, 1999) right here. Both kids
are anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival, but this piece is consistent with
Rebecca's love of geography and different cultures.
One day a girl named Rebecca decided to travel around
the world. It was Christmastime. First she went to Sweden.
Rebecca stayed with a Swedish family. On St. Lucia Day one of the
Swedish girls she was staying with dressed up as St. Lucia. The girl
was named Kirsten Andersen. On her head she wore a wreath with seven
candles. Kirsten also wore a white dress with a red ribbon.
That morning Kirsten brought breakfast to her family and Rebecca.
Next Rebecca went to Poland. In Poland she
stayed with the Nadwodny family. Rebecca helped the Nadwodny children
make paper chains to hang on their tree. She also helped paint eggs
and put them on the tree.
After leaving Poland, Rebecca traveled by plane
to Italy to visit the Romeo family. On December 23rd, she and the
Romeo children dressed up as shepherds and traveled from house to house
singing and telling the Christmas story.
Sicily was the place Rebecca went to next.
She stayed with the Livicari family who lived outside of Palermo.
It was December 24th so they ate no breakfast or lunch. In the evening
they gathered around the manger scene (the Precipio) to pray and sing.
After praying and singing, the Livicari family and Rebecca sat down for
a feast in honor of Jesus’ birth.
The next country Rebecca went to was Greenland.
It was Christmas Day so Rebecca and the family she was staying with went
from hut to hut singing Christmas songs to all of the villagers.
On the day after Christmas Rebecca traveled to Holland.
She stayed with the Masten family. Rebecca and the Masten family
heard lots of Christmas music to greet Jesus. Choirs and music groups
sung and played musical instruments.
The last country Rebecca went to was Scotland.
She went there on New Years Eve. Rebecca stayed with the MacDonald
family. They gave presents to each other and celebrated by having
a party.
Rebecca returned home to celebrate the Feast of
the Three Kings with her own family. They celebrated by going to Mass.
The children received gifts from the Three Kings.
Rebecca’s Year-End ABC Verse
A is
for the angel which we put on top of the Christmas tree.
B is for the blueberries
we picked in July.
C is for Christmas
which is coming soon.
D is for doll which I
got at my birthday party in August.
E is for the Easter egg
dye that Jennie got on the ceiling.
F is for first grade
that I started when I was five.
G is for grapes that my
brother loves.
H is for the horses which
are on Chincoteague Island.
I is for ice and
snow which we saw from the Snow Train.
J is for Jesus who
was born in Bethlehem.
K is for kazoo which I
play at night.
L is for lemon meringue
pie that I love.
M is for Mary, Jesus'
mother.
N is for Navidad which
is Spanish for Christmas.
O is for "open" which
my brother says when he wants candy.
P is for Paulette who
is my cousin, along with Jennie, Joey, Erica and Alicia.
Q is for the quilt that
I sleep under at night.
R is for Rebecca Elisabeth
which means Bound, Consecrated to God.
S is for second grade
which I am in now.
T is for the toys which
we will get for Christmas.
U is for University (Michigan
State) which is where Mommy and Daddy teach.
V is for Valentine's Day
which was in February.
W is for Williamsburg,
the town that Felicity lived in.
X is for (St. Francis)
Xavier who loved Jesus and was sometimes called the Apostle of the Indies.
Y is for yellow which
is the color of lemons.
Z is for the zoo
in Paramus, New Jersey which I visited with Grandma and Grandpa and my
cousins
.
Here is a version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" that Rebecca and I wrote in Dec. 1998.
The Twelve Days of Christmas at 727 Linden Street
On the second day of Christmas Santa brought to Beck, two chapter books, and La La, the teletubby.
On the third day of Christmas Santa brought to Dad, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La, the teletubby.
On the fourth day of Christmas Santa brought to Mom, four cappuccinos, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La, the teletubby.
On the fifth day of Christmas Santa brought to Jeff, five red trucks, four cappuccinos, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La the teletubby.
On the sixth day of Christmas Santa brought to Beck, six American girl dolls, five red trucks, four cappuccinos, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La the teletubby.
On the seventh day of Christmas Santa brought to Dad, seven good nights of sleep, six American girl dolls, five red trucks, four cappuccinos, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La the teletubby.
On the eighth day of Christmas Santa brought to Mom, eight finished papers, seven good nights of sleep, six American girl dolls, five red trucks, four cappuccinos, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La the teletubby.
On the ninth day of Christmas Santa brought to Jeff, nine lego blocks, eight finished papers, seven good nights of sleep, six American girl dolls, five red trucks, four cappuccinos, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La the teletubby.
On the tenth day of Christmas Santa brought to Beck, ten violin lessons, nine lego blocks, eight finished papers, seven good nights of sleep, six American girl dolls, five red trucks, four cappuccinos, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La the teletubby.
On the eleventh day of Christmas Santa brought to Dad, eleven lectures written, ten violin lessons, nine lego blocks, eight finished papers, seven good nights of sleep, six American girl dolls, five red trucks, four cappuccinos, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La the teletubby.
On the twelfth day of Christmas Santa brought to all, peace on earth, eleven lectures written, ten violin lessons, nine lego blocks, eight finished papers, seven good nights of sleep, six American girl dolls, five red trucks, four cappuccinos, three cookies, two chapter books, and La La the teletubby.
The following is a story written by Rebecca. The requirement for a Language Arts homework assignment was to use a certain number of pronouns (e.g., he, she, they) and possessive adjectives (e.g., him, her, their) in a story. It is her recounting of the movie "Prince of Egypt", written in January 1999.
The Prince of Egypt
I remember when my cousin and I went to go to see
The Prince of Egypt. It is a movie about Moses. Yocheved and
Miriam bring a basket to the riverbank. Inside the basket is a baby.
She puts the basket in the river. Yocheved sings a lullaby. The queen
finds Moses in the Nile River. She brings Moses to the palace, thinking
that he’ll live with her. Moses grows up.
One day Moses challenges Rameses to a chariot race.
They destroy much of the kingdom. The Pharaoh gets very mad at Rameses
and says that they can leave. Rameses and Moses go to a room.
Moses sees the magician. Moses throws water at them. Rameses
dumps more water on them. Moses tells Rameses that they forgot the
banquet. Rameses says, "Father will kill me". They step into
the place where they’re having the banquet. Rameses names Moses Chief
Architect. The magicians present him with a girl named Tzipporah.
She tries to hit them. Moses grabs the rope she is hitting them with.
He lets go and she falls into some water.
Later that evening Moses follows Tzipporah into
Goshen. He tumbles upon some slaves. Miriam tries to tell Moses,
"You’re my brother." Moses gets angry with her. He goes back
into Egypt and sees a hieroglyphic wall. He has a dream. Finally
Moses finds out that Miriam was telling the truth and that he’s an Israelite.
Moses finds Seti, Rameses’ father. He asks him if he really killed
the newborn Israelites. Seti says, "Sometimes sacrifices must be
made." Moses says, "sacrifices?"
Another day Moses is walking in Egypt when he sees
an Egyptian beating an Israelite. Moses kills the Egyptian.
He goes to Midian. A camel pulls Moses out of the sand. He
holds onto the camel. The camel drags Moses to a well. He falls
into the well. Some children tell Moses that they’ll try to get him
out of the well. Then Tzipporah helps. When she sees that it is Moses,
Tzipporah lets go of the rope and Moses falls back in the well. Finally
he gets out. That night Jethro and his friends dance around the fire.
Jethro is singing a song.
One day Moses is taking care of Jethro’s sheep.
One of the sheep runs away. Moses follows it. He sees a burning
bush. God says to his, "Moses, Moses, Moses." He says, "Who
are you?" God answers, "I am the God of your ancestors. Go to Pharaoh
and tell him to let my people go." Moses tells God that he shouldn’t
be the person to free them because he used to be against the Israelites.
The fire goes all over where he is. Then it went away.
Moses tells Tzipporah that he needs to go back to Egypt to free the
Israelites. She goes with him. When they get to Egypt Moses
tells Pharaoh to let his people go. Pharaoh says he won’t.
Moses throws down his staff and it turns into a snake. The magicians
turn their staffs into snakes too. Moses leaves. Later Moses
tells Pharaoh again to let his people go. Later Moses finds Rameses
in a ferry. Again, he tells him to let his people go. The Pharaoh
sends his people to kill Moses. Moses puts his staff into the water.
The water turns into blood. The people run back to the Pharaoh.
The Pharaoh says no every time Moses tells him to let his people go.
There are lots of plagues.
One day during the plague of darkness Moses sees
Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s son comes into the room. Moses tries to
tell Pharaoh what is going to happen that night. That night the Israelites
paint their doors with lamb’s blood. They eat bitter herbs and unleavened
bread. At nighttime the angel of death goes into the Egyptians’ homes
and kills their first born sons. Rameses is covering his son in a
white cloth when Moses enters the room. The Pharaoh tells Moses to
leave and to take his people with him. Moses tries to touch Rameses.
Rameses screams.
Moses and the Israelites go. When they get to the Red Sea they
see that the Egyptians are after them. They say to Moses, "we are
very scared." God puts a pillar of fire in front of the Egyptians.
Moses puts his staff over the water and sticks his staff in the Red Sea.
The water parts and they cross the Red Sea. The Pharaoh’s army follows
them and starts going through the Red Sea. Moses stretches his staff
over the Red Sea again. The water falls on the Pharaoh’s army. Moses
sees something in the distance. Could Rameses have survived? Moses
says, "Goodbye, Brother".
The End
This report was written by Rebecca in April 1999 while we were in New Mexico.
The Roadrunner
The roadrunner is in the order Cuculiformes.
It eats rattlesnakes, lizards, grasshoppers, crickets, tarantulas, mice,
fruit and seeds. It lives in grasslands, deserts, open woodlands,
and brushy areas.
The roadrunner hardly ever flies, but is very
good at running. It can run about 15 miles per hour. It has
a long tail and long legs. Roadrunners have a blue patch behind their
eyes. They have crests on the top of their heads. They have
a brown back and a pale front. Roadrunners are 20-24 inches long.
A long time ago roadrunners would run on the road near horse-drawn
carriages. That is how they got their name.
This story was written as a homework assignment for Spelling (Spring 1999). The assignment to use the spelling words (underlined) to create a story. So here is Rebecca's story about a trip to Ghana.
Our trip to Ghana
One day we decided to go somewhere for vacation.
After scrubbing the floor, wrapping Christmas presents and
going sledding, we went to the airport. We planned
to go to from Madagascar to Ghana.
The next morning we went back to the airport.
After putting our luggage on the conveyor belt, we went outside.
There, we spotted our plane to Ghana. We boarded it.
While we were sitting on the plane we drew
pictures of what we thought Ghana looked like. Jeffrey got tired
of sitting and drawing pictures, so he hopped out of his seat and
starting running down the aisle. He tripped and started
screaming. Finally, Jeffrey stopped screaming when Mommy picked
him up. He got back into his seat. Right after he got into
his seat, he dropped back on the floor. Luckily, the plane
was just landing in Ghana.
Jeffrey and I got off the plane. Daddy got some suntan lotion
out of his backpack and rubbed it on us. We got in a taxi
and went to the beach. Jeffrey and I had fun swimming in the
Gulf of Guinea and digging in the sand.
Our Hike in Madagascar
By Rebecca Masten-Davies
Jeffrey and I live in Manakara, Madagascar.
One day we decided to walk 350 miles to Morombe. It was early in
the morning when we arrived in
Morombe. We were exhausted! We set up our tent. We
laid down and went to sleep for a whole day and a night. We got up
in the morning and ate coconut.We
began our hike to River Mangoky. Mommy and Daddy took our camera
and our lunches. Jeffrey and I carried the rowboat. When we
got to River Mangoky we ate peanut butter sandwiches and drank milk.
After lunch Mommy, Jeffrey and I got in the rowboat. We rowed the
boat along the shore. On the beach we saw kingfishers eating
fish. We also saw two men on canoes. Then Jeffrey and I picked
up the rowboat and our camera. On the way back to out tent we saw
two lovebirds. The lovebirds were in a Baobab tree that grew
along side of the trail. We gave them some seeds, fruit, and flowers.
It was time for supper. We ate grilled cheese
sandwiches. After supper we drew some pictures of Madagascar, lovebirds,
and kingfishers on poster board. We cut them out and made postcards.
We wrote letters to our friends on the postcards. Then we went to
sleep because we were very tired.
The
next day we went to the rainforest. We saw a chameleon. Jeffrey
did not know what it was. So he said, "What is that?" Rebecca
knew, so she said, "That’s a chameleon, Jeffrey!" We saw lots of
ferns. We could not see the very tops of the trees. We saw
some lemurs playing in the trees. Then we ate lunch. We ran
around the trees and saw lizards and mice. Then we went home and
ate supper.
The next day we woke up. We were all
ready to begin our hike to the Indian Ocean. To get to the
ocean, we had to cross the desert. The desert did not have many trees
in it. We saw little chameleons. There were a couple cactus
and Jeffrey almost touched one, but Rebecca said, "Stop Jeffrey, those
are cactus. They’ll prick you." Jeffrey responded, "Uh-Oh, thanks
for telling me, Rebecca!" He accidentally touched the cactus and he screamed,
"OW! Those are porcupine bushes!" We checked Jeffrey’s finger
to make sure that he was not bleeding. He was not bleeding, but we
picked the thorns out of his fingers. We walked on. We saw
some wood lying near the path. We decided it would make a house.
It was almost nighttime so we went to our house. We ate a supper
of sandwiches and ice cold water out of the stream that flowed past our
house. For dessert we had dates. Then, we had brought some
paper and crayons, so Jeffrey and I drew some pictures of what we saw in
the desert. We were very tired so we went to sleep.
In the morning we woke up and had a breakfast
of granola bars and juice. We walked outside. We were close
to the Indian Ocean. When we got to the ocean, Jeffrey played in
the water. I looked for sand dollars, starfish and seashells on the
shore while Mom rested in the sun. I had found two sand dollars,
one starfish and five seashells. There was another girl playing on
the beach. We became friends. The girl’s name was Toamaa.
Toamaa lived near our house. My Mom, Toamaa and I went snorkeling
together. We saw a blue, yellow and white fish. It was
beautiful! We were very wet once we got to the shore. Then
Mom and I walked back to the house we had built. Toamaa went back
to her house. When we got home we changed our clothes.
I walked over to Toamaa’s house. I asked Toamaa’s Mom if Toamaa
could go with us on the rest of the trip. She said yes.
So Toamaa packed her things for 
camping.
When she was done, we walked back to my house to get my Mom, Dad and brother,
Jeffrey.
We packed our things and started walking
to the mountains. It was a very, very, very long and tiring walk.
When we got to the mountain we built a hut out of wood. Then we went
to sleep for two days and two nights. After we got up we ate a breakfast
of pineapple, bananas, pomegranates, watermelon and mangoes. Then
we slept until dinner. We had oranges, grapes, yams, pineapple and
watermelon for dinner. After dinner we started to climb the mountains.
They were high. We couldn’t spot any animals so we slid down the
mountain. In the morning we walked Toamaa back home. Then we
walked back to our home in Manakara.
Pax Christi International National Catholic Reporter
Interesting links according to Rebecca:
Beanie Babies 
American Girls 
Interesting links according to Jeffrey:
Thomas the Tank Engine
