Yes, Sofia is only four and she has Spring Break. When I was four ... I played with a string and a button (I'm not even exagerating). Technically, Sofia's Spring Break from Challenger preschool was last week. When I told her she didn't have school that week, she was very dissappointed and almost tearfully declared that she would miss Ms. Heather if she didn't go to school. OK.
The weather wasn't that great last week and being that I didn't even know it was Spring Break until the Thursday before, we had no real plans. We spent some good relaxing time hanging out at home and playing on the new playset. Yesterday, we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point with Aunt Becky, Ethan, Lydia, Amelia, and her friend. The weather was mild and the animals were happy to be fed by children. Some were very active. It looked like they were getting their shots. The kids just thought they were very animated with their presence I guess.
Sofia and friend Ethan saying "Hi" to the cow
Sofia did quite well riding the pony without assistance of any kind. Luckily there are less witted people, apparently like myself, always around her to conveniently step in and wait in line for her as she frolics about unable to stand still in one place for more than a second or so. Halfway through waiting in line I suddenly remembered there had been a pony incident last year resulting with a small injury, shrieking, crying and demanding to get off the pony. The pony must have been falling asleep on the job and he started walking to close to the metal bar and managed to wedge Sofia's leg between his body and the bar squeezing and scraping her leg.
Anyway, I asked Sofia if she remembered anything about that from last year. At first she didn't seem to, but slowly I think she started remembering. The memory was selective enough that she only appeared to remember factually that there was an issue but not any feelings that went along with it. I was glad, that there was no residual trauma of any kind.
Still, being the fore-thinker and avoider of preventable problems that I am, I tried to point her in the direction of a bigger pony that would be high enough that the bar wouldn't be at the level of her legs or body. Ironically as I watched her riding with the big smile on her face, I realized she was on the same pony. Still, I was quite pleased and proud at her resilience over last year's pony incident; how she wasn't one of those overly sensitive children crying with any ridiculous and irrational perception of danger. After leaving the pony ride, we headed over to the chickens and roosters. As Sofia was cautiously feeding them, one of them let out a big crow (I guess) and scared the holy crap out of her. She ran off screaming like a lunatic. So much for my little moment of pride and celebration.
I renewed our subscription to Thanksgiving Point for this year as I expect I'll be taking the kids there fairly frequently. It's close by and they offer a small variety of different things to do; my favorite being the gardens. I never tire of that. Coming back for the first time in the Spring is always a refreshing treat. We went there with Abuela and Autumn for the Tulip Festival last week and had lunch in the secret garden. This year, it appears they used my generous donations to expand the Children's Discovery Garden with some hands on activity areas. Both Sofia and Marcelo were all over it.
Since the fountains are not on yet at the Noah's Ark, our first stop was at the bear cave. The entrance has steps and I had Marcelo in the stroller so I told her to go in and I'd meet her on the other side. I reminded her and reassured her that the bear wasn't real and added, that you really can't get close to real bears because they would eat you, for good measure. You know, just in case she comes across a real bear; I'd want her to know what to do. So she went in but was a little too afraid. It's not really the bronze bear that's scary, it's the bear noises that make you feel like there's another bear hiding in there somewhere. It is pretty dark. (It's only illuminated in the picture from the flash of the camera). So here she is after I coaxed her to mount the bear, nervously looking behind her shoulder for the mama bear.
