We'll see how this goes

From upstairs, Eliana just (politely) shouted, "Can you turn up the music."  I obliged, while furiously hoping it would sets a precedent for future reciprocation of the opposite magnitude.

Presidential Scholar

Eliana has been learning about some of the Presidents at school.  Among the random facts she's spouted during dinner are:

• Obama is the current present.
• Lincoln freed the slaves.  
• Washington was the first.

She also asked, "Does President Obama have slaves?"  I couldn't help but smile at that one.

Spring Break is Over

Eliana: Do I have afternoon enrichment today?
Eliz: Yes, you do.
Eliana: Yay! I get to stay at school for a whole day.

Colorado Springs... Pooper Scooper

Last night we went to feed Jasmine again, and Eliana was once again very excited to clean out her stall! This time I was prepared and got pictures! Here's our little pooper scooper!

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

This is the life!!

From Colorado Springs 2012

Colorado Springs... Garden of the Gods

Yesterday while Barbie had a meeting to attend, Ellie and I took a little trip to Garden of the Gods. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was amazing!

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

Eliana kept talking about how beautiful it was and how neat the rocks looked. I knew she would probably enjoy it, but I didn't expect her to be so enthusiastic! It was wonderful!

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

After we went around the main garden, I realized there was one specific rock I didn't see, so we went off to find it. It is the Balanced Rock. I have a picture of my great grandmother posed in front of Balanced Rock from 1913. Here we were, 99 years later, and I got to take Eliana's picture in front of the same rock!

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

We have been so thankful for beautiful weather here all week and have so enjoyed spending time with Barbie and seeing the sights!

From Colorado Springs 2012

Colorado Springs... Horseback Riding!

From Colorado Springs 2012

Today Eliana got to ride a real horse for the first time! Barbie took us to see her horse, Jasmine, and let Eliana ride her. She is a very sweet, old, horse and was wonderful for Ellie to ride! Meet Jasmine...

From Colorado Springs 2012

And Jasmine's owner, Barbie!

From Colorado Springs 2012

Eliana got to ride around while Barbie led Jasmine.

From Colorado Springs 2012

Ellie even got to ride Jasmine without Barbie's help, and learned how to steer the horse by pulling on one side of the reigns or the other. She had a great time! Ellie decided that she might want to own a horse. Barbie showed her some of the things that were involved in owning a horse, like feeding her and cleaning out her stall. Ellie was happy to feed her, but thought the idea of scooping horse poop wasn't so great. She put on her big girl face, though, and said she wanted to give it a try. As she scooped the horse poop, she talked to herself, saying things like, "This is really gross, but I want to have a horse, so I'm going to do it!" After a while, she decided it was really fun, after all, and even seemed to think that cleaning the stall was more fun than riding the horse!

From Colorado Springs 2012

Colorado Springs... Trip to the ZOO!!

Today Eliana and I went to the zoo in Colorado Springs with our friend Barbie. It was a lot of fun!! We started by feeding the giraffes. How cool is that???

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

We got to ride a ski lift up the mountain, too! It was fun to see the zoo from overhead!

From Colorado Springs 2012

From Colorado Springs 2012

There were hippos

From Colorado Springs 2012

and penguins

From Colorado Springs 2012

I didn't take a whole lot of animal pictures, but Eliana is describing it as "The BEST Day EVER!!"... so I think it was a hit!

Loosey Goosey lost a TOOTH!!

Eliana has had one tooth that has been getting looser and looser by the day. Today it was ready to come out, though she wouldn't let me pull it.

I told her the tooth fairy would visit her. You know, the tooth fairy who comes and pulls out your teeth while you're sleeping.

She told me the tooth fairy wasn't real.

And then while we were eating dinner, she exclaimed, "My tooth!!" and handed me the teeny tiniest little baby tooth! Hooray!!

From Wickland Family Blog

(Historical note: She was crunching into a pickle when the tooth popped loose.)