Hummingbirds and Chuparosa

At DBG Seedlings, the topic today was Hummingbirds and the plant they like the most- Chuparosa (which is spanish for hummingbird). The long flowers are tubular so that the hummingbird can get his beak in... past where the bees can go. Hummingbirds hearts are proportionately larger than those of any warm blooded animal and they have to eat every 10-15 minutes. They mostly drink nectar, but they one of their favorite foods is spiders! They eat the spider then take its web to contribute to their tiny little nest so that the eggs and hatchlings don't fall thru. Their wings beat 80 beats per second and their heart rate is 1300 beats per minute when they are active.

We took a long hike looking at the chuparosa-- which grew profusely in the backyard of our old house... as well as everywhere else in Arizona.
Then we made a little hummingbird craft out of clay, glitter, and feathers.

Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show...

We spent the day at the Arabian Horse Show in Westworld. Jazzy ate lots of junk food, corn dogs, candy, and ice cream and got to sit on a calm/smaller version of a horse in the Arab world... along with the outfit:) It was the first time she didn't act afraid while sitting on a horse! I still couldn't get her to smile though. We watched many of the youth classes and had lots of fun shopping. The show seemed alot bigger this year with more horses, one more show ring, and more food vendors of course.

Rabbit and Cavy Show

Today was a Championship Rabbit and Guinea Pig show in Scottsdale at the Jewish Community Center- why there? I don't know other than it was a very big place. There were little pigs and rabbits from all over the country.... but mostly from Arizona. They had all kinds of "Youth Divisions" which said 8 yrs and older.... but when I asked them, they said that really as long as the child can carry the pig or rabbit to the judges table... they could show.

Literally the second we walked in there, we were surrounded by people who wanted us to hold and pet their guinea pigs because apparently they want alot of people to handle them so they get used to it. So, Jazzy got to pet and hold little pigs for about 30 minutes. The lady in the blue shirt, Tamara Wylde, has a little pig farm in her back yard in Tucson. She has 70 pigs in her cooled and heated barn. She breeds and shows. The little 6 week old pig that Jasmine is petting is disqualified from showing but not breeding because of the white strip down her nose. Good grief? Another woman wanted to Jazzy to get in the pen with her pigs and pet them.. and of course Jasmine happily obliged. She raises Peruvian pigs... the long haired version- in her house.
Fun thing to do on a chilly rainy day.

Gadiel's Birthday Party

This morning, we attended Gadiel's (Jazzy's self proclaimed boyfriend) party at the Chandler Fashion Mall. The theme was Thomas the Train. A train for kids runs around the bottom floor of the mall almost continuously. We rode the train for awhile, had pizza and cake in the Food Court, opened presents, and rode the train a million more times:)

Riding the train
Gadiel opening Jazzy's present.... a boy zhu zhu pet
Eating cupcakes

Learning about Lithops...

I had never heard the word before, but there are plants at the DBG that look like rocks... hence the name "lithops". They blend right in with the ground, so we also learned about the word "camoflouge".

Checking out the lithops with Eduardo and teacher Shannon.

Getting ready to go to class.

Watering the radishes that we later ate with our snack.

Learning about camoflouge.

Opening Valentine's Presents....

Jazzy received lots of Valentine's gifts from her Grandma and Vince. Some cute outfits, a recorded book read by Grandma, a puzzle and animal book from Vince. I got a nice Snuggie to keep me warm:)

Vietnamese Tet Party

Every year, FCV (Families with Children from Vietnam) Phoenix Chapter, has a Tet Party. This year, it was at Ellie Ratcliff's grandma's house. We had all kinds of Vietnamese food and made crafts. One craft we did was to color a design with colored pencils, crumple it up, and paint thick coffee over it. This is supposed to make it look old:)