Poor Elmo! Everyone was ready for the big hike through the park but him. Susie Jones, age 4, from Phoenix, Arizona, found Elmo sitting sadly on the steps of 123 Sesame Street.
"What's the matter, Elmo?" asked Jen, swinging a backpack.
Elmo sighed. "Elmo is supposed to bring 10 sandwiches on the hike, but Elmo isn't good at counting to 10."
"Come on, I'll help you," said Jen. "Larry, Cathy and April always help me when I need it. That's what friends are for!"

With help from Jen, the sandwiches were soon ready and everyone set off on the hike. As they hiked, they heard a loud growl.
"Yikes!" yelped Bert. "Bears!"
Ernie laughed. "Nope. That's just my tummy telling me it's time for a snack." His tummy growled again.
"Who has the backpack?" asked Jen. "There are snacks inside."
"Elmo has one backpack," said Elmo, as Big Bird pulled some apples from the pack. "Yum, yum, two apples. One for Elmo and one for Ernie's hungry tummy."

The path led to a wide stream.
"Watch me!" shouted Prarie Dawn. "I won't get wet." She jumped across the brook on some stones.
"Elmo can you count the stones?" asked Jen.
"Yes, yes. Three stones." Elmo hopped across. Hop, hop, hop.
Pop, pop, pop! Three heads popped out of the water.
"Look Elmo," laughed Jen. "Those stones were really turtles!"
"Elmo can count turtles, too!" said Elmo. "One, two, three!"

In a sunny spot beside the brook, Jen spotted something else for Elmo to count. "Take a look at those bumps on the log," Jen said.
"Ooooh. One, two, three, four lumpy bumps on a log," counted Elmo. "Four bumps that look like..."
Ribbit, ribbit, croak, croak! The four bumps jumped away.
Jen grinned. "Four lumpy frogs like bumps on a log! Larry, Cathy and April would sure like to see those funny frogs."

When they reached a bright green meadow, everyone ran and played in the long grass.
"I spy five things, Elmo," Said Jen. "Can you guess what they are?"
"Where? What?" said Elmo. "Elmo sees lots of things."
"I'll give you a hint," said Jen. "The five things I see are little and green and squiggle a lot."
"Okay, Elmo will look for five little green things that squiggle."

"Hey Jen! Elmo saw five little green, squiggly caterpillars," shouted Elmo.
"You're getting very good at counting, Elmo," said Jen. "Listen, can you hear the knocks?"
Tap! Tap! Tap! Elmo listened carefully. Tap! Tap! Tap! "Elmo hears six knocks."
"Yes!" said Jen. "See, high in the tree, six birds pecking away."

Next, Jen and her friends hiked to a small waterfall. Jen picked up a shiny pebble and tossed it into the pool beneath the falls. it landed with a mighty splash. K E R P L U N K!
Elmo gathered seven stones. But, before he could pitch the first pebble, some fish popped up and yelled, "Hey, cut that out!"
"Whoops! Sorry, you guys." Jen gulped. "Uh, how many fish do you see, Elmo?"
"Eight fish," said Elmo. "Eight ANGRY fish. Let's get out of here!"

"Do you want to play a game?" said Jen as they hiked through some tall pine trees. "Let's see who can find the most pine cones."
Elmo looked the hardest. He found more than all the others.
"Elmo has nine! Nine pine cones." Elmo groaned. "Help! Elmo can't carry nine pine cones, Jen."
"Don't worry, we'll help you plant them so they'll grow into trees," said Jen. "Nine pine trees are almost a forest."

By now, everyone was hungry. Jen picked a picnic spot and said, "Let's eat!"
Big Bird poured the lemonade. Ernie and Bert passed out cookies. Prarie Dawn unpacked grapes.
"My tummy's hungry again," said Ernie. "Where are the sandwiches, Elmo?" I hope you brought a lot!"
"Elmo and Jen made ten sandwiches," said Elmo. He counted them out slowly. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!"
"Ten sandwiches sure is a lot," said Ernie, munching happily.

"Congratulations, Elmo," said Jen. "Today you counted one backpack, two apples, three turtles, four frogs, five caterpillars, six birds, seven pebbles, eight fish, nine pine cones, and ten sandwiches, all by yourself."
"Jen is right," Elmo said. "Elmo DID count all that."
Jen smiled. It'll be fun telling Larry, Cathy and April about the fun stuff you counted when I get home to Phoenix, Arizona."
"You can tell them one more funny thing Elmo counted," giggled Elmo. "Look Jen! One sandwich being carried away by ten ants!"