Happy Fourth Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our fabulous four-year-olds! The girls are very excited to be four, and were thrilled to have an action-packed day dedicated to celebrating! We started out at the zoo, making sure to hit the elephants for Izzy and the Komodo Dragon for Abby. The meerkats were very active, giving the girls lots to talk about.

We spiced up our birthday visit with three "extras" at the zoo.... giraffe feeding, a ride on the carousel, and a special 4-D movie of Animal Planet: Pole to Pole.  The girls appreciated them in that order, the movie being a little graphic (a Great White Shark attacked and ate a sea lion in 3-D, and then splashed us) and a little too real for Izzy who grabbed my hand and said, "Momma, I don't want it to get me, too!" We talked it out and shook it off after.  Abby informed us that she really liked the shark, but didn't like that he ate the sea lion.  Circle of life, girls, circle of life.

On the way to the African Forest, we stopped for a little bongo session.  The rhino exhibit was under construction, but the girls were almost as excited to see the construction workers and the earth-movers as they were to see the rhinos.

Giraffe feeding is always a highlight.  The girls did a great job, not dropping or pulling back the lettuce when the giraffes approached this time. They smiled and giggled and talked about the long purple tongues; I love seeing their exuberance over this kind of thing!

We very rarely ride the carousel at the zoo, but since they were primed for rides after Sea World, and since there wasn't a line at all, and since it was a special birthday celebration... their pleas won me over.  Izzy chose the giraffe and Abby the zebra.  

Coming out of the African forest, the girls started to show signs of fatigue, so we made a quick sweep of the primates, monkey-ing around a little with the orangutans...

...and finished up with the vastly expanded elephant exhibit on our way out.  It was a GREAT day at the zoo!

The girls had a LONG nap, waking up after Dan got home, just in time to get ready for birthday dinner at their favorite restaurant, Spring Creek BBQ, where they ate their favorite (brisket, okra, and mac'n'cheese) and were treated to some birthday ice cream.  Mmm-mmm.

After dinner, it was off to the races! Or, more precisely, off to the Bay Area Equestrian Center for their very first horseback riding lessons! We've been prepping the girls for a "very special birthday surprise" for the past few weeks and had the "big reveal" at dinner.  They were so, so excited and were all smiles and amazement as we strolled through the stalls, taking in all of the horses.

The lessons started with the instructors teaching the girls about brushing the horses and cleaning their hooves.  The girls were very attentive and willing to take their turn at equine care.

Izzy wasn't so sure about wearing a helmet at first, but warmed up to the idea quickly.  All smiles for the full thirty minutes... can't put a price tag on that! 

The girls were very strong, carrying their own saddle pads and saddles from the tack room to their respective mounts.

The girls had an incredibly good time.  We got a groupon for four lessons each and the girls are already putting lessons on their internal calendar, asking if they can do this EVERY Tuesday.  We shall see, girls, we shall see.

We took some videos of the lessons... I'll try to edit and upload soon for your entertainment!  :)