Gargoylz Blog » Arabella

Max nearly deafened me when I told him what the awesome surprise was.  He was coming on holiday with me! 

And here we are, staying in a caravan right next to the beach.  It’s great.  We’ve got sand and huge waves – and some gargoyle friends of course. 

Yesterday we entered a sandcastle competition. Max and I made a superspy motor launch with shells for the missile launch buttons and seaweed for missiles – it made Arabella scream when we launched it at her.  The gargoylz all got together behind a rock and made a sand church which they decorated with sand models of themselves.  While we waited for the judges we had ice cream and Azzan got covered in it.  (He got overexcited and melted his with his flames.)

At that moment we saw the judges coming.  The other gargoylz hid but Azzan tripped!  He rolled over and the sand stuck to the ice cream on his stone.  He looked like a sand dragon.  He just had time to sit up with one paw in the air when the judges arrived.  And we won first prize for him!  The gargoylz were really cross until they realised what the prize was.  Free ice cream for the rest of the holiday.      

Bart has a holiday joke for Abel. 

Q. What do trees wear at the seaside?

A. Swimming trunks!

We go back to school next Wednesday, worse luck.  But we have a plan.  Every time we see Mrs Hogsbum we’re going to lean to one side and hold our noses!  We’ll never let her forget her holiday trip to Pisa.


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6
Aug
Teddy Bears’ picnic…

Posted by Max

Unfortunately Ben wasn’t fast enough hiding from Arabella and her five zillion and three photos of the dolls’ museum even though he hid on the top shelf of the airing cupboard.

Anyway he soon recovered when I told him we were going to spend the whole of the next day in my garden right away from his annoying sister.

However, I’d forgotten that my annoying sister would be around.  When we got outside, ready for a game of superspies, Jessica had taken over the whole lawn with a yucky teddy bears’ picnic and told us to go away and play indoors. 

We were about to spray her with water from the hose when Mum saw us and made us sweep the patio – and she said she was going to keep an eye on us.

We were just thinking that this wasn’t going to be a fun day after all when a pair of stony ears popped up from a pot plant.  It was Zack, and Neb was with him.  We pretended to be polishing the pot and bent down to tell them all about Jesscia taking over the garden.  Zack and Neb grinned at each other so we knew they were going to do something cool.  Zack disappeared and Neb blended with the patio stones.

When Jessica went inside to get more juice, her teddy bears began moving about.  She couldn’t believe her eyes when she came back to see Grumblytum on his head, Sleepytime Ted up a tree and Mr Fuzzyfur with his head through a hole in the fence and the others were all in a heap on the shed roof.  And half the picnic had been eaten.  She let out an ear-splitting scream and told Mum that we’d done it!  Of course Mum knew it wasn’t us as she’d been watching us making a beautiful job of the patio.  Jessica was so cross she started taking her bears inside.  We helped which made her even crosser and then we had a great game of superspies.   It’s extra good when you’ve got two vanishing gargoylz!

Bart has read a teddy bear joke in a book.

Q. What do you get if you cross a skunk with a teddy bear?
A. Winnie the Pooh!

Oh dear he’s just made one up one of his own.

Q. What do you get if you cross a bottom burping gargoyle with a teddy bear?

A. Barney the Pooh!

I’ve thought of another trick I can play on Jessica.  Going off to get tin foil and a plunger!


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30
Jul
Amusement park disaster!

Posted by Ben

We were so excited about the amusement park.  My mum took me and Max while his mum took our annoying sisters, Arabella and Jessica to a dolls’ museum – glad they didn’t get the tickets mixed up!  Of course the gargoylz sneaked into the car as well.

We’d just arrived and were making for the Cliff Drop Ride when disaster struck.  Barry Price, also known as the Basher, codename: School Bully, came round the corner.

He got in the queue behind us and dropped ice cream down our backs while we waited for our go. (Luckily it was a hot day)  Then he pelted us with peanuts when we were on the airplanes. We got our own back later though – thanks to the gargoylz.

We all climbed aboard the Supersonic Speedcoaster – the one that turns you upside down and has 15 twists. As the ride began, Cyrus sang quietly into Barry’s ear. He fell asleep straight away and missed the whole ride. And it was awesome. We were nearly sick it was so great. When we got to the end Barry woke up and couldn’t understand why the man was telling him to get out. Barry insisted the ride hadn’t started yet and had a tantrum. In the end his mum had to drag him away.

We had a wonderful time after that. The gargoylz’ favourite was the storybook slow river ride. While the boats went round they all hid among the exhibits. We heard lots of happy kids coming out talking about the stony models that squirted their parents with water! Gargoylz’ tricks are awesome!

Uh oh! Arabella’s coming. I bet she wants to show me all her photos of the dolls’ museum. Boring. Got to hide! 


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The trick on Arabella was footballtastic! Zack went invisible and signed her up for the school 5-a-side tournament and she had to play football all day. Mrs Hogsbottom wouldn’t listen when she said it wasn’t her writing, and anyway she’s not called Smelly Arabella. (Zack got over excited when he wrote it!)

Barney has insisted that I give you the recipe for Crackolates.  He says they’re drainpipingly delicious and should be eaten at least once a week.  So here it is.

Crispy Crackolates

Makes 12

Place 12 paper cake cases in muffin tray or on baking tray.

You will need a grown up to help you and -

  • 50g butter
  • 4 tablespoons golden syrup
  • 100g good quality dark/plain chocolate
  • 80g cornflakes
  1. Put butter, syrup and chocolate in large saucepan.  Warning – syrup is very gloopy!
  2. Melt it all very carefully over gentle heat until it’s mixed.
  3. Remove from heat and stir the cornflakes in well.
  4. Place spoonfuls of the mix in the paper cases. Leave to set in fridge.
  5. Eat from the fridge as soon as you come in.  Store in fridge. Crackolates keep for a couple of days – but we bet you won’t have any left. We didn’t.

Azzan says you should eat them four times a week! Jelly says every day!

The gargoylz were very excited yesterday.  They’ve been visiting lots of schools and the children have sent photos of the gargoylz models and pictures they’ve made.  They were amazing.  Toby flew up and decorated the church ceiling with them which really scared the vicar who rushed out in the middle of his sermon shouting ‘monsters!’

We’ve got Sports day on Tuesday.  I bet the gargoylz will do something to make it fun.  Can’t wait to see what.


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Posted by Max Black

Bart’s spiders in the sleeping bags trick was great! Bart burped his spiders and then we all hid nearby and listened. As soon as Arabella and Jessica got into bed they gave a shriek and flapped about so much that the tent collapsed on top of them!

On the way home we stopped for a picnic by a church. When we got the food out half of it had gone and everyone thought Ben and I had eaten it. We said it wasn’t us (which was true), it must have been rats (which wasn’t true but it made Jessica squeal). We knew who’d been at the picnic hamper really – the gargoylz.

 Then we lost Bart and our parents were telling us to hurry up and get in the car. We couldn’t go without him and we guessed that he must be in the old church.  So we told our mums and dads we had to have a quick look around the church.  We said it was for a school project. (That always shuts parents up.)

Time for secret plan – Find Bart.  We took all the gargoylz with us and started searching inside. Then we heard gargoyly chuckling coming from the font. And there was Bart having a bath.  But before we could get him the door at the back opened and the vicar came in! Bart just managed to climb on to the end of a nearby pew and freeze like a statue. We quickly pretended to be admiring him. The vicar was really surprised to see Bart there. He said he didn’t remember an ugly statue like that being in the church yesterday, especially a wet one. Toby whispered from the rafters that it wouldn’t be there tomorrow either and we had to make sure we didn’t giggle till the vicar had gone. Zack wanted to pop invisible and trick the vicar by ringing the church bells but then Arabella shouted that we were going so we had to rush back to the cars and make sure all the gargoylz got in the boot.

We’re looking forward to tonight. Straight after school we’re going to watch the first match of the World Cup!  South Africa v Mexico.  We expect all our readers will be watching too. And tomorrow it’s England’s first match – Goaltastic!


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Posted by Ben from Sunnybrook Campsite.

It’s raining this afternoon so we’ve come to an Internet café to catch up with our blog. Our mums and dads are writing postcards and Arabella is teaching Jessica how to make friendship bracelets. (Yuck!)

We’re having a great holiday. This campsite is awesome. There’s an adventure playground and a swimming pool. But best of all, Max and I are sharing a tent.

It’s a bit crowded as the gargoylz have all come with us and they insist on getting in our sleeping bags at night. Gargoylz don’t get cold but Rufus explained that they want to do the whole camping thing properly.

Toby’s just popped up from under the table. He’s reminded me to tell you about the fantastic trick we played on our pesky sisters.

We told them that there was a haunted toilet on the campsite. Of course they didn’t believe us so we dared them to go and look. Neb was already in there, using his special power to blend in with the background. As soon as the girls came along he made ghostly noises, flapped the lid up and down and flushed the chain. They screamed so loudly we had to put our fingers in our ears!

Something completely amazing is happening next Friday.  The World Cup is starting!  Poor old Bart thought that the World Cup must be an enormous cup of tea and we had to explain that it was in fact the best football competition in the history of best football competitions. 

Anyway, it looks like the rain’s stopping so we’re off to have a match in the mud. Off home tomorrow – worst luck, but tonight Bart’s going to burp spiders into the girls’ sleeping bags! Awesome!


4


We had a gargoyletastic weekend! We got the gargoylz together in my bedroom. Rufus, Jelly and Neb – our new friends – had some great ideas for pranks to play. The trouble was they started arguing about which one to do first. And they were so loud that my annoying sister Arabella came storming in to tell us off. For one horrible moment we thought she was going to spot the gargoylz.

Max quickly stood in front of Rufus, and Neb used his special power to blend in with my duvet. But Jelly was so alarmed that he turned into a ball of gloopy jelly on the floor. Arabella stepped right in the middle of him with her bare feet. It was so funny to see her slipping about trying to get him off – and she got even more annoyed when we started laughing.

Then we got going with our pranks.  We played loads but I’ll tell you about the best one.  Mum and Dad were sitting in the garden having a drink.  Neb used his secret power to blend in with the grass and went over to them.  He sucked up all the tea in their cups when they weren’t looking and put muddy water in instead.  They both took a big gulp and spat it out all over each other.  Trouble was, they heard Max and me laughing and thought we’d done it.

I’m writing this on Arabella’s laptop as mine’s gone funny ever since Bart burped spiders on it. It’s gone to be fixed. Arabella doesn’t know I’m in her room. Or does she? The door’s opening. Help!


2


Blog writer: Agent Neal

Max’s dad wasn’t too pleased when he had to change all his clothes because they were covered in milk and cornflakes. I don’t know why Max got into trouble. After all, he only gave his sister the rubber egg.  It was Jessica who hit their dad with it.

Talking of sisters, we played a great trick on my sister, Enemy Agent Arabella: also known as Manic Monitor.  Arabella snitched on Max and me just because we were doing an experiment at school. We wanted to know whether Mrs Hogsbum’s prize cactuses would grow better if they got fed on custard. They didn’t – they went floppy and died.

Mrs Hogsbottom didn’t listen when we said it was an important scientific experiment and she made us water all the plants in the school. It took ages.

So we decided to get our own back on Arabella. We asked Ira to rain on her. Then we hid and watched with Eli and Cyrus. It was awesome! As soon as she stepped out at playtime Ira flapped his wings and a little black cloud sprinkled drops of cold rain on her head. She started screaming. Mrs Plod, one of the dinnerladies, came up to see what all the fuss was about and Arabella complained that it was raining and said everyone should go in. Mrs Plod looked up at the blue sky and told her not to be silly. When she’d gone, Ira flapped his wings again! This time Arabella was soaked. She bellowed for Mrs Plod and got told off for pouring water over herself. Eli and his snakes laughed so loudly I thought we’d get found out.

I’m writing this on the classroom computer at lunchtime. I think I can hear Miss Bleat coming. I’ll hide in the stock cupboard. She’ll never find me there.


6

29
Jan
The photo trick!

Posted by Max

Hello, Agent Black reporting!

Remember Ben and Azzan’s photo trick?  It should have been awesome.  All the pictures went up in the hall before school. Soon there was a deafening shriek. We put our earplugs in and rushed into the hall on our superspy propelling machines – codename feet. Arabella was yelling her head off because everyone was laughing at her picture. That is until they came across this really gruesome child holding a watering can over his head.  It was voted most ugly.  And then it turned out that Arabella had brought it in and it was Ben!  We had to hide in the boys’ toilets until the mocking stopped.  Barry the Basher Price was the worst.  He’s been on about it all week.  Until today.

Today I took my telescope (best Christmas present in the history of best Christmas presents) into school. Ben and I hid behind the bins with Toby and Zack and poked it over the top. We took it in turns to spy on Lucinda Tellingly picking her nose. But then the Basher snatched it and ran off! He was about to use it as a cricket bat when Zack popped invisible and snatched it back. It was great seeing the look on the Basher’s face when the telescope danced off in mid-air. He didn’t eat any of his chips at lunchtime. He just sat there muttering about the Telescope of Terror.

We’re going to play with the gargoylz all day tomorrow. The choir will be practising for a wedding in the church and Toby says he’s got a spectacular trick to play on them.

We’ll tell you all about it next time . . .


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22
Jan
Soaptastic superspy!

Posted by Ben

Hi! Ben Neal soaptastic superspy here.

Remember Miss Bleet’s lunchbox and us swapping the grated cheese for grated soap? Well, Miss Bleet foamed at the mouth all afternoon. Mrs Hogbum thought she had some dreadful disease and sent her home before we all got it. Trouble is, the trick didn’t work quite as well as it should have done because Mrs H. took us for the rest of the day and said ‘outrageous’ two hundred and fifty-seven times.

Azzan is helping me go through some old pictures of me as a baby. (It’s very kind of him but he’s singed half of them!) We’ve got to take one of our baby photos into school next week for everyone to guess who’s who.  Azzan has just found a gruesome picture of my sister Arabella when she was one. She was so ugly!  Of course she’s even uglier now.

 Anyway we’ve thought of a cool trick.  I’m going to take the picture of Arabella in.  No one will guess it’s me because it isn’t!  And if Miss Bleet complains, I’ll just give her my innocent wide eyed smile.  It worked on Mrs Simmer today at lunch – she gave me extra jam on my rice pudding. 

Can’t wait to see Arabella’s face when she catches sight of the photo in the school hall.  Must remember to take earplugs to school on Monday so I can put them in when she starts shrieking. I’m off to phone Max and tell him all about it.

We’ll report back to you all next week . . .


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