Teaching Tommy to Ride His Tricycle

I decided I was going to help teach Tommy to ride his tricycle.  After strapping on my helmet, I decided that we needed to do some tree climbing first.  

We didn't get all that far.  

He did a pretty good job, but can barely reach to push the peddles all the way around.  He quickly became frustrated, and tried to just walk it around on his tiptoes.

He was then distracted by duck chasing.  OK, I was too. 

Back to the Reptile Zoo

We took Mom's friend Sarah to the reptile zoo.

I told her she had to meet my good buddy, Charlie the gecko. 

We got to watch them feed Charlie.  He eats baby food mixed with special reptile vitamins.  I never knew we had so much in common.  

First Swim Lesson

I had my first swim lesson today at the city pool.  There were 5 kiddos in my class.

That's my teacher, next to me, showing us how to practice our kicking.  

She helped me with my arms while I did all the kicking...

And helped me float on my back, and told me silly jokes to make me laugh.  

I loved it!  





Mom thought it was funny that this was the way she got us from the shallow end to the deep end.  We would all hang on to her and kick our legs, and she'd walk down into the deep end.

I was so excited to be in the water on my own!  While the teacher was helping the other students, I would go underwater while hanging onto the wall, making Mom freak out because I would stay under for so long.  You can see me doing it at the beginning of this video.  Also on the video is me floating on my back (with assistance), playing ring around the rosey, picking up a ring from the bottom of the pool, and jumping off the platform.  I'm a happy little fish!

Birthday Party on Horseback

My friend Sophia from school had her birthday party at a stable!  After Mommy and I peeked through the stable, we got to horse around at the craft table.  See the cool barn scene I made?

But what we really all wanted to do was ride some horses!  This one, Sunny, was my favorite.

I wasn't scared at all, even though she was pretty big.

Channeling my inner cowgirl.

Here I am giving Sunny a pat.

I rode Rusty, the smaller pony, too.  Hi, Mom!

Wait, is this thing in reverse?

Look Ma, no hands!

Here I am sitting side-saddle princess style!



You can see me learning to turn my horse in this video:

And here's a nice hug for my horsey.

 

We also got to give the horses some treats.

Then we broke a piñata, and got treats of our own!





My good friend Camryn and I compared our loot...

And then dug into the cupcakes!  What a fun party!  I already told Mom this is where I want my 5th birthday party.  She said something in response, but it was grumbly and under her breath, so I'm not sure what it was.  

Children's Discovery Museum

We went to the Children's Discovery Museum in Palm Springs.  They had so many cool things to do there!

Tommy loved this magnet wall for holding kitchen utensils.  Mom's thinking of getting one at home.

We both loved the veterinary clinic.  Here Tommy examines a lizard...

 And I helped examine a kitty and then get it into its carrier.

Where else do you get to paint a VW bug? 

We had fun building ball ramps from PVC pipes...

And digging for fossils.

We are paleontologists!

 Then we made some pizzas in the pizza shop and kitchen.  You can see me barking orders at my underlings, then putting the finished product in the oven, and serving it to Mom.  

Tommy did some grocery shopping while I made pizza, 

Then we made our way through the rope maze before leaving.  What a fun place to play!

Palm Springs Zoo

We took a trip to the desert with Daddy for his work conference, and rode this camel the whole way there!

OK, not really, but we did have fun riding it at the Palm Springs Living Desert Zoo.  We also fed the giraffes...

And rode the endangered species merry-go-round.  Tommy loved riding the rhino...

And I liked my sweet little deer.

We brushed some goats and sheep in the petting area...

But Tommy's favorite thing there wasn't the animals. It was this HUGE model railroad.  I thought it was pretty cool too, but he was transfixed!

 Aren't we sweet little hatchlings?

We also saw a really cool wildlife show.  This African cat is called a serval, and this is a giant porcupine.  It was cool to see these animals so close up.  We also had an owl and hawk fly right over our heads during the show!

At the end this very well-mannered parrot told us goodbye.