Gavin's first horseback riding experience

Don't get too excited - that's the one of the only pictures of Gavin and a horse in this post. :) Let me explain...

Jarrod asked me to look up horseback riding places for when his mom was here because he thought it would be something we could do for our anniversary. I called Dinner Bell Ranch and started to ask if they had anything on the property Jackie could do with Gavin while we were riding, and the man proceeded to tell me kids his age ride double all the time. So, we thought we'd give it a try. The whole time leading up to it I was pretty nervous about the whole situation, but didn't really know what to expect.

Once we got there, Jarrod started to get nervous, too. There were no helmets and the trail was up and down a "mountain." We started to put Gavin up with him on the horse and he wasn't having anything to do with it. Jackie was really looking forward to riding, so I told her to go ahead with Jarrod and Gavin and I stayed behind.

So, during Gavin's first horseback riding adventure, here's what we did...

Played with rocks. He loved picking them up, handing them to me, and throwing the big ones.

Look through the fence and saw pretty flowers. Mommy just loved taking pictures there.

Ran up and down a small hill.....Gavin thought this was the best thing ever!

Took a break for juice and a snack in the back of Mommy's car.

Chased one of the dogs that was on the property. Gavin kept yelling, "Beagle, come back!"

Then we finally spotted Daddy, Memaw, and the trail guide coming back! Gavin thought that was pretty neat to hear Daddy call him name.

Memaw had Gavin laughing so hard on the ride home. It was good since it was quite a long drive home!

The beginning of Potty Training

A few weeks ago, Jarrod was getting Gavin ready for his bath. He was undressing him, getting the water to the right temp....clearly not paying much attention. Gavin kept saying, "Pee pee, pee pee" over and over. Jarrod kept responding to him with something like, "Yes, that's your pee pee." Well, what Gavin was really trying to tell him was that he was peeing on the floor.

So, we decided to introduce potty training. He was really excited about the potty seat we got; but this was really the only time he sat on it. And he didn't even pee in it. I didn't like this seat after we got it together, so we took it back and are still on the search for a seat I like. But, in the meantime, Gavin watches a DVD from the library daily called "Go Potty Go!" and constantly walks around saying "Potty Power!" and talking about the potty. Unfortunately for now, he talks the talk, but doesn't walk the walk! :)

Craft Time with Mommy

A few months back, I started following a blog that you have to check out if you have little ones at home. www.littlelearnerslounge.blogspot.com This mom does an amazing job coming up with units for her little girl and shares them on her blog. Of course, about the time I found it was when we were packing up in NY so I didn't feel like I could do anything with Gavin. Since geting settled, we've jumped into weekly units and I get many of my ideas from her. So far we've learned about farms, transportation, and dinosaurs. Here are some pictures from our crafts!

Making our sheep!

Muddy pig time! We painted it with chocolate pudding - which Shirley then ate...

Learning about transportation - here's our stop light.

Painting with cars!

Dinosaurs - this turned out to be a stegosaurus. More pictures to come soon. :)

Tulsa Aquarium

Wow....when I went back to upload pictures, I realized just how much have to post!

A couple weeks ago, we packed up and drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Why? Honestly, because I wanted to take advantage of a coupon at Babies R Us and that's the closest store. Crazy, I know.... But, we took Gavin to the aquarium while we were there. I have tons of pictures - here we go!

At the entrance - I couldn't get him to look at me, so we gave up. This was the best shot. There were several places where he could touch different animals. He wasn't scared at all!

There was one place where he could feed the turtles using a stick contraption. He's checking them out while Daddy got the carrot on the stick.

Jarrod ran around to get his change from the cashier, and Gavin decided he didn't need Daddy's help!

Fun times with Daddy - feeding hungry turtles!

Cheese! That was so much fun!!!

Oooh, wait! What did I just touch???

Wait for me, Daddy! My legs are shorter than yours. :)

Shark Bait!I'm going to jump.....ready, set, go!

What a pretty aquarium! He loves fish.

This door didn't really open, but he was determined to find out where it went.

Pouting - he wasn't ready to leave.

Sorry, babe....it's time to head back home. We'll come back again another time.

Overall, we had a good day in Tulsa. It rained the whole time, so we didn't explore much. The aquarium wasn't spectacular, but it was a nice day trip for Gavin. We don't have anything like it here in NW Arkansas, and you can tell he really liked it. We'll definitely make the 2 hour drive to Tulsa again on a pretty day and see what else it has to offer.