You have probably heard about the couger infestation in Michigan. They're everywhere. Every time I go outside I run into one of those big cats. So finally we had enough. My mom and dad took us to Florida for Christmas vacation and to see our extended family. We saw You-ve and Oye, Omar and all our other 57 cousins, aunts and uncles. It was great fun. And tomorrow we will head home. Back to the cold and snow of Michigan and all those awful cougers. 

Three weeks ago we went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City. Boy, did we had fun. We swam and swam and when we were finished we went back and swam some more. Grandpa says he might take us again on Josh's birthday. We all went to the lodge except for Dad who had to work.  I'm sorry he couldn't come. We had a great time, but it would have been better if Dad was there also.

This year my family and I went to Florida for Christmas vacation. we stayed with my aunt and uncle in Homestead. they live deep in a cave in the side of a mountain. About the third day we all became sick with food poisoning. Probably from all the bat guano that kept falling on our heads. For five days we suffered stomach problems and were too sick to do much of anything except run to the bathroom, complain, and go ballroom dancing (my favorite dance was the Tango). finally I suggested we go to a medical person and take the cure for our illness. My mom threw us all into the trunk of the car and drove us to a brujarista (a witch doctor). she made a magic burrito for us to eat. It contained the tail of a newt, the leg of a frog, and the tongue of a dog. It was delicious and tasted just like chicken. A week later, we all felt better, and so we returned to Michigan and the beautiful weather of the north. that's when I had my encounter with a cougar, but that's another story.

My grandpa and I spent the afternoon making trails to ride our 4-wheelers on. He has a piece of equipment called a drag-harrow that he pulls behind on a 4-wheeler. It has spikes and it tears up the woods pretty good. It makes great trails through the forest and we have a lot of fun riding on them. We have named most of our trails. We have trails named: Erik's Bumpy Road, Joshes New Path, Guinea Hen Run, Peacock path, Monkey Trail and Papoose Pass. Riding the 4-wheeler is one of the most fun things to do.

Today is my grandpa's birthday. Happy birthday, Papoose.


Erik  

A varmint has been getting grandpa's birds. It got two baby peafowls, a young guinea hen, and a chicken. We don't know what kind of varmint it is. Kevin thinks it's the black fox we've seen a few times hanging around. Josh says it's a coyote or a racoon. I think it's a chupacabra. Grandpa went out and bought a Have-a-Heart trap. He thinks we'll catch the varmint. I asked him if he caught the thing if I could poke a stick through it. He said "no." He told me we need to respect all life. We will take it far away and release it in the wilderness where it can make a new life.

Erik