Project Alphabet

Yesterday, I completed one of my most ambitious projects. We have an extremely long puzzle (it runs the length of the room) consisting of an alphabet train. Each letter is a train car containing an animal whose name starts with the letter of the alphabet on the train car. While I've built this with Mommy's help in the past, it's always seemed like too big a job for me. Well, now that I'm 5, no job is too big. I managed to get the whole thing done and then surprised Daddy with it when he came home from work. I'm very proud of myself.

Weekend Update

It was a very busy weekend for Daddy and me. On Saturday, Daddy arranged a playdate with Roxy. She is 7 years old (just turned 7) and lives about a mile down the road. Her Daddy is one of the professors in Daddy's work. I wanted her to come over to the house to show her all the great Christmas presents I got. We played the Cars racetrack game, Balloon Lagoon (a huge hit), and Hullabaloo (another huge hit). We also had a lot of fun running around and playing in the stuffed animals.

It turns out that Roxy can read all sorts of things. She read Stanford University on my Daddy's sweatshirt and several other things. I pointed out that I can't read and then listed the many exceptions to the "rule" from objects lying around the house including the words on, off, go, stop, and so on. Daddy thought it was odd how many words I can read for a person who can't read.

On Sunday, Daddy and I went out to play golf with Miguel (another of Daddy's work friends) and his little boy Vasco. I won the golf match thanks to an unprecedented streak of 6 consecutive holes in one. Daddy finished first among the grown-ups but didn't play especially well.

New Lines on the Island of Sodor

After staying in a configuration that Daddy cooked up (after photographing the arrangement at Barnes & Noble) for more than a year, Mommy and I decided that the track layout for Thomas and his friends needed a new look. She flipped over the surface of the train table to reveal farms and meadows and we went to work on the new arrangement. It took awhile but it's really nice. One of the big highlights is the two story train station. Using the big bridge, we were able to set it up so that passengers can get on and off at the lower station (located on the ground) as well as a higher station located on the bridge.

Fore!

Today was a really fun day. We spent the day getting ready to go golfing. In the morning Daddy and I practiced making shots in the back yard. It was the first time I took out my new set of golf clubs. Daddy got me these when I was only 1 (it was a great sale), but, since they were built for guys aged 5-8, they sat in the garage until I got old enough. Well, having turned 5, I'm now old enough. Anyway, I teed up the ball and whacked it with my 9 iron. (My set includes a 5, 7, and 9 irons as well as a "big dog" [driver] and a putter.)

In the afternoon, we went to Daddy's usual golf course and played 9 holes with his friend Miguel. It was great fun. I got to tee off from the red tees (the blues are a bit further back) and I got to do lots of putting. I'm getting much better at all of these things. I made a number of putts. But best of all was my drive off the 9th hole. I managed to hit the ball almost 20 yards! I then kept whacking at the ball and managed, after several shots, to advance the ball almost 120 yards down the course. I even managed to find a nice pink golf ball on my travels.

I love golf!

Playing the Ponies

As you know, I really like My Little Pony stuff. One of my favorite things to do is to make up stories about the My Little Ponies. Often in these stories, the ponies go to parties or have concerts with lots of fireworks. I like to jump around and pretend to be one of the ponies. Usually, Daddy is not too interested in doing My Little Pony stories, but today he made one up. Here it is:

It was an exciting day in Ponyland for today was the day of the great pony race. All the ponies gathered at Pony Downs and the betting was early and furious. The three challengers were Dipsy Do, Twinkle Twirl, and a Pegasus Pony. The steward had to remind the Pegasus Pony that no flying was allowed. "How about just a little flying?" the Pegasus asked. No flying or you'll be DQ'd said the steward.

The three ponies began trash talking. "You're going to spend the whole race looking at the little heart thing on the back of my hoof" Twinkle Twirl said to Dipsy Do. "Well, you're going to be looking at my pony behind with all the little sparkly stars on it" replied Dipsy Do. The Pegasus kept away from the others and plotted how to sneak in a couple of brief wingflaps during the race.

Finally, it was time for the race to being. The ponies were loaded into the gates, trumpets blared, and they were off.

Daddy then called the race in the style of what he told me was legendary race announcer Dave Johnson. It was an exciting race with many lead changes and lots of jostling on the rail.

"And down the stretch they come!" Daddy cried. Dipsy Do managed to just sneak past Twinkle Twirl while the Pegasus finished a close third. All the ponies with the winning betting tickets crowded to the window.

Pinkie Pie was especially delighted for hitting the Exacta. A $2 ticket paid $30.58. Sweet Sparkle, who dropped a c-note betting on Pegasus to win, tore up her ticket in disgust and uttered an epithet about sending the Pegasus to the dog food factory. Still, the ponies agreed that it was a wonderful day at the track.

The End

Ice Skating

As you know, I first discovered the joys of ice skating in Washington, DC. Well, it turns out there is a seasonal ice rink in Walnut Creek too. Today is the last day it is open. Yesterday, was a suitably wintry day (it was unusually cold here---only about 40 degrees), so the whole three family took a trip to the rink. As first, I was pretty scared and clung tightly to the sides of the rink. After a while though, I got more sure of myself and eventually skated to the center of the rink. By the very end, I wasn't holding Mommy or Daddy's hand at all and kind of skating around a little bit myself.

Meanwhile, I've decided that Daddy is the fastest skater in the three family. He zoomed around the ice when not holding hands with Mommy and I. Mommy is second-fastest, though Daddy and I did manage to catch up to her near the end of the skating session. Mommy is a lot better at skating when she has boots that actually provide ankle support. Her first pair were kind of like sneakers and she couldn't skate on these at all. Ice skating is fun.