The Hardcore Life

Today was a cray-cray day. Mckenna felt like she lost 10 pounds. We did two big hikes and conquered Palo Duro Canyon! Ashley thinks the water tastes like pool water, but dehydration was NOT an option. We did the easy hike in the morning, but as the day grew longer our hamstrings began to burn. According to Mia's pedometer, we climbed 70 flights of stairs and took 21,800 steps and walked 9 1/2 miles. Mia and Mckenna's dolls (Tenacia and Shanaynay) joined us for the amazing adventure. There were some scary parts, but we overcame them just like the Romans overcame Hannibal after he crossed the Alps. We ate lunch and it was awesome, but Mia and Mckenna got their grilled cheese last even though they were hungry like a wolf (owooooowh). After lunch we began our excruciating second hike to the lighthouse formation. We sang our way through the trail. Ashley sang Taylor Swift while Mia and Mckenna layed down some hard core rap songs. Chloe just laughed. The ground felt like powdered sugar and we had to drink H20 every 5 minutes to hydrate because Mrs. Thomson and Coach Cayme thought we looked a bit dehydrated. The trail to the lighthouse was very steep and not stable, but we powered through it while the boys struggled. At the top, Mia and Mckenna decided to go a bit further and Mia's pants ripped as a result of their bravery. Mckenna just laughed. On the way down, Ashley fell and slid down the rest of the way. When we got to the bottom, we were all nearly dead. We hydrated and felt a little better...until we realized we had to walk all the way back to the bus. It's a hard knocked life for us! After a short nap, we headed to the Big Texan Steak Ranch. It was very Texan...they assumed we liked unsweetened (sweet) tea. Tenacia and Shanaynay enjoyed their 72oz. steak. Ashley had to eat a salad and was very disappointed. Chloe moved her salad around and pretended to eat it. Coach Cayme showed Mckenna some scary pictures on the wall on the way to the bathroom. The same pictures made Mia, Gretchen, Jakayla and Kaia cry. Mia was disappointed when her brownie was harder than a rock, but she used it to dig a hole to China. She is currently half way there. Mia and Ashley were nice and bought their little brothers presents from the gift shop and Chloe got a Hello Kitty marshmallow. It was a great day and we are curious to see if tomorrow can top it. Hopefully, Ashley won't eat the horse(s). 

Hey look, Mia's back from Asia! She enjoyed her sushi, Mckenna drew a boat, Chloe danced and Ashley laughed. Good night!

~ Mckenna, Ashley, Mia, Chloe, Tenacia and Shanaynay