Montezuma Castle National Monument~Camp Verde, Arizona

One of the things we have been able to do since we have been in Arizona is visit a very old castle that is actually a cliff dwelling.

It is in a National Park and we were able to do fun things to earn ranger badges first:Then we walked down to see the castle. This does not look like any castle that I have ever seen before. How about you?It was built by the Sinagua Indians. There name means without water because they had to farm in an area that doesn't have much water. They built this castle about 900 years ago and left it about 600 years ago.

Here is Abby to tell you what she thinks about it:

Grand Canyon National Park~South Rim

This is Show Family 2 reporting from Arizona. We were able to visit the Grand Canyon National Park the other day!

It is one of the coolest things we have visited so far. It is so huge that you can hardly believe your eyes when looking at it. It is 277 river miles long, up to 18 miles wide and a mile deep. It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Here is Auburn telling you about it:



And here is our dog Ace:



Lesson Plans/Unit Studies
Official Site of Grand Canyon
Activities on how to become a ranger
Lesson plans about TGC from K-12

Books
Hey Ranger!

More information
Lost in the Grand Canyon from PBS
National Geographic

Games
NG presents The Grand Canyon for Kids

Elk at the Grand Canyon National Park

This is Show Family 2 reporting from Arizona. One of the places we have visited while here is the Grand Canyon. We saw some elk while visiting here.

Elk are one of the largest species of deer and one of the largest mammals in North America and eastern Asia. They live in forests or on the edge of forest. They eat grass, plants, leaves and bark.

Here is a movie we took of one of the elk we saw:



More information about elk:

National Geographic

Lesson Plans/Unit Studies

Curriculum about elk
Too many elk? lesson plan

Coloring Pages

American elk
Elk coloring page
E is for elk page
Yellowstone elk page

Children's books

Ella, the elk

Squirrel at Grand Canyon National Park

This is Show Family 2 reporting from Arizona. Another animal we saw while visiting the Grand Canyon was the squirrel. Our niece Mikaylah was able to feed one by hand:





Squirrels are one of the most successful animals when it comes to learning to live together with humans. They mostly live in trees. They eat plants, nuts, fruit and some flowers. Sometimes squirrels try to move into people houses and have to be removed. I think they are so cute. Do you like squirrels?


More facts:
National Geographic

Games
Squirrel escape
Squirrel maze

Arts and Crafts
Nutty squirrels
Many squirrel crafts and activities
Pine cone squirrel craft

Coloring pages
Multiple pages of squirrels
S if for squirrel page

Books
Scaredy Squirrel

Arizona~Grand Canyon State

This is Show Family 2 reporting live from Arizona. We are here visiting for about a month.
Here is the state flag:
Arizona comes from two Papago Indian words meaning "little spring" or "young spring".

Arizona is home to many Indian cultures such as the Apache and the Navajo. Arizona has the largest Native American population of any state. More than 14 tribes are represented on 20 reservations, including part of the Navajo Nation, which is located in the Four Corners region of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.

Spanish treasure seekers from Mexico arrived in the area in the 16th century, thus establishing Mexico's claim to the area. The area was ruled by Spain until Mexico won its independence in 1821. Mexico ceded the territory to the United States as part of New Mexico during the Mexican-American War of 1848. The Gadsden Purchase, an area south of the Gila River, was added in 1853. Arizona was organized as a territory in 1863 and became the 48th state in 1912.

Arizona is full of beautiful natural attractions like the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest. It is also home to the old London Bridge.

Major Rivers: Colorado River, Little Colorado River, Gila River, Bill Williams River

More info
Desert animals
Desert plants
The Sonoran Desert

Coloring Pages
State bird and flower

Arts and Crafts
Desert Diorama

Clemmons Educational State Forest in North Carolina

This is Lauren from Show Family one reporting: Last week we visited North Carolina on our way back home from Florida. While there we visited Clemmons Educational State Forest.They had rattlesnakes and copperheads in glass containers. The copperhead was pretty, but scary.They had a mole snake that was bigger than the container it was in.

We did some hiking there and I was worried about ticks. We did not get any ticks on us though.

Disney Fort Wilderness Campground in Florida

Hi, this is Lauren from Show Family One reporting. We took a trip from Virginia to Florida last week. We stayed at the Disney campground. We love the Disney campground. It has horses and golf carts that you can rent. On the last day we rented a golf cart. (This is a picture of my uncle and cousins when they rented a golf cart there:
We put our dog Coby on it and he barked up a storm. A little boy saw Coby and acted like he was in awe of him because he thought he was so handsome. My Aunt Dot and Uncle Fred came to visit us and she asked if Coby were a girl or a boy. My mom laughed and told them he is a boy.

We did not go into Walt Disney World this trip, but we did swim and they had a big water slide that even the adults could slide down. My brother Josh rode on it but they had to turn the jets off when he rode on it. We swam almost every day we were there and we got sunburned more than we got tan.

We went to the beach twice when we were in Florida. I swam out really far. I was nervous because they had a lot of jelly fish there, but I didn't see any. We didn't bury each other in the sand because my Dad doesn't like sand. We had fun!