4 Wheels 4 Girls

On Thursday, March 10th, it was cold, wet, and rainy as we headed out to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. When we got there, it was still raining. We went into the lobby to get our tickets for the movie and the museum. We walked around and explored. The movie was about how the KY Horse Park began. Then we went to the museum.

Statue of a Horse

We saw skeletons of prehistoric horses and how they evolved into modern day horses. In the arabian horse exhibit, Greta led me through windy halls until we got to a room with a game we could play. We got a card and put it on the screen of an “oasis” thing. All of a sudden ten horses appeared. You could pick a horse, choose its name, and go on adventures with it. I played over and over and then me and Greta found the rest of our family. We rushed outside to tell Stella about the game. We all played it.

They have big geese in Kentucky

After that, me, Stella, Ana, and my mom went to the Hall of Champions. In there, we saw some horses. Two were named Funny Side and Cigar. We went back to the lobby and looked at the gift shop. When we left, the rain turned into snow.

We left Lansing on Monday morning, March 7. We went to visit our friends–Emma, Noah, and their parents, Scott and Beth–in Indianapolis on the way to Louisville, KY. We ate dinner downstairs in their basement, and when we finished, we hung out with them. Before we left, Beth gave me a water-color pencil set and an artist’s bag (thank you so much, Beth!). I use the pencils all the time, and I’ve already drawn and painted lots of pictures. It was really nice to see Emma and Noah.

Hello Indiana!

Then we drove down to Louisville, and me and my sisters fell asleep. When we got there, everybody was asleep except me. I was only half asleep. I heard Daddy say, “If anyone has to go to the bathroom, come now.” I pretended like I was asleep so I wouldn’t have to get up out of my bed. I didn’t know exactly where we were, but in the morning we were at my grandparents’ house!

One more post regarding our three-week stay in Lansing, IA. We spend many hours at the Lansing Library whenever we are in town. This visit was no exception–the cozy library was a favorite spot for reading, working, schooling, and occasionally napping (it was just me doing the napping). Greta even did some volunteer work, helping them transfer their catalog into the computer system.

Hanging out at the library.

Thanks, Lansing Library.

When we were kids, one of our few and favorite treats were Mom’s cinnamon roles. It has been year’s since she has made them but the day before we left Iowa I asked and she agreed to do her best to remember how she used to make them, and to teach me and the girls her magic.

Learning How to Make Grandma's Cinnamon Rolls

We mixed up a huge mound of dough, let it raise, punched it down, and let it raise again. Stella, Ellie, and Luciana helped us role out the dough, spread the melted butter and cinnamon, and role it all up in a nice even roll. Missing the kind of the string she used to use to cut the dough, Grandma taught us how to cut the dough with a scissors and to make nice even rolls. We then baked them up and frosted them. They were as delicious as I remembered them being!

On Wednesday, March 2 2011, we went to a circus in LaCrosse, WI. I went went my friend, Nell, her mom, my sisters, and my mom. When we got to the circus, we saw elephants, tigers, and ponies.

Here is a dancer on an elephant

You could ride on elephants and ponies. Me, Nell, Stella and Ana almost got to ride an elephant, but the line got too long.

We had to wait for about half an hour for the show to finally start. Suddenly the lights went out and a lady walked out in a light, fluffy coat. She was the ringleader. First she told us her name and then she told us some tigers were performing. When the tigers came out, Nell hugged me really tight and told me they scared her. Then the tigers started performing. They jumped over fences and they rolled over and did tricks.

After the tigers, there was a woman on the moon. She would do handstands and cartwheels on the moon. The lady on the moon would jump and twist and twirl and glide on the moon.

Out on stage walked a very funny looking clown. He had a stuffed elephant. The ringmaster gave him some more stuffed animals. The clown decided to play with his new toys and he got bored with all of them except the elephant. The clown had no clue how to get the elephant to start working. The ringmaster told him he had to wind it up to get it to start. He put it on a rail and it started walking. Then it stopped and fell over. He wound it faster and faster each time, until it broke. The clown cried huge tears that rained on the crowd. Then, to our surprise, out of the stuffed elephant costume jumped the cutest little dog.

I had a great time at the circus and I hope we can go again next year.