Happy Birthday Daniel!

DANIEL THE HOPPING FROG

By

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday to my awesome grandson who likes to run, hop and wiggle.

Your rosy cheeks and great big smile reminds me of the sun when it comes up in the morning.

Once there was a frog named Daniel who lived by a pond with his family. Daniel’s mother, father, brother and sisters liked to sit quietly on lily pads in the sun all day and think deep thoughts. Daniel didn’t like to hold still. He liked to hop and hop and hop all day long.

“Why don’t you hop over here next to me,” his mother said. “Then you can rest a while.”

“Why would I want to rest?” Daniel answered.

“Why don’t stop and think for a while,” his father said.

“Why do I need to think?” Daniel answered.

“Why don’t you snuggle next to me and I’ll read you a story,” his sister said.

“I’d rather be a story,” Daniel answered.

So Daniel hoped and hoped and hoped all day long. It made his mother dizzy to watch him. When Daniel got hungry he whipped out his long tongue and caught a fly.

“I’m the mighty fly catcher,” Daniel said as he puffed out his chest.

Then he hopped and hopped and hopped some more.

When Daniel was bored, he went exploring. He found a dragon fly resting on a cat-tail. Daniel sneaked up next to the dragon fly and whipped out his long sticky tongue once again.

“I’m a mighty dragon slayer,” Daniel said.

One day a boy came to the pond looking for a frog to catch. He brought a net with a long handle. He saw Daniel’s bright green skin sparkling in the sun.

“That is the frog I want,” the boy said.

So the boy sneaked up behind Daniel and swung the net with all his might. Down came the net but not before Daniel had hopped away. When Daniel stopped hopping, the boy tried again and again. No luck. Daniel was too quick for the boy. Soon the boy went home.

“I guess your hopping is not so bad after all,” said Daniel’s mother.

“You are the hopping king,” his father said.

“Will you teach me how to hop faster?” his brother asked. “That boy might come back and try to catch me.”

“Sure,” Daniel answered.

From that day forward, everyone in Daniel’s family took hopping lessons from Daniel. The boy did return again and again to the pond, but he never caught a frog in Daniel’s family.