Penguin visit

Today the penguins from Jenkinson's Aquarium visited Gillian's school.  They visit every year.  Check out some of my previous posts about the penguin visit:  1) 2011 Penguins & Toothbrushes, 2) 2011 Yoshi & Checkers and 3) 2013 Penguins. 

I picked up Gillian from school today. In her cubby was an adorable picture of a penguin. When I saw her I said "I love your penguin! He's so cute!" She said "It's a girl. And a real penguin came to school today! He didn't like his cage. And and....and..." And her teacher interrupted, and said "He was new. He doesn't like his cage and he followed the trainer around the room. He was so cute." 

In the car on our way to get John, Gillian told me more. "They use their beaks when their hair gets crazy! But they don't gots no hair!" I asked "Did you get to pet him?" She said "No! Cause he would bite me!" I asked "So what else to penguins eat besides little girls?" She laughed at me and said "He doesn't eat people! Thems eat fish. And some other stuff. But the boy only likes fish! And him's didn't like his cage. He would put his wings up when he had to go in!" 

When we got home, she posed with her penguin. She decided "Hers a girl. And her name is Sparkle!"

Penguins

I was talking to Gillian tonight.  I asked her if she knew who was coming to school tomorrow.  She said "You?"  I wish I was going to visit her school tomorrow, but I told her no.  And then I told her that the penguins were coming to visit.  Every year, TLC has the penguins from the Jenkinson's aquarium come visit the school.  Check out my first post about John and the Penguins.  It's amazing to see how much they have grown in the past two years!

Anyway, I told Gillian that the penguins were coming to visit school.  She smiled and told me "I'm going to hug them!  But I not going to kiss them!"  I asked her why she wasn't going to kiss the penguins.  She told me "Then they turn to frogs!" 

The One with the Rides

Today we went to Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant.  Gillian and I stopped and picked up Justin, while Daddy, Granddad and John drove right to Jenkinson's.  Daddy and I didn't plan ahead and look to see what time the rides open.  They open at noon and we arrived at 11:30.  So we stopped at Martell's and had some lunch.  Gillian was not happy about having to eat first.  We tried to tell her, "You need to have a full belly before they will let you on the rides."  She didn't believe us, but did sit and eat her lunch. 

The first ride we stopped at was the crocodiles.  John and Gillian were so excited to get on the ride. 

Next, we went to the helicopters.  Unfortunately, Justin was too tall for this ride too.  But John and Gillian happily flew above us.
 

Then we decided to split up.  Gillian and Daddy went to the Elephants and Justin and I went to the Boardwalk Bounce.  Justin was lucky enough to get the whole ride to himself! 

 

John and Justin went to the roller coaster.  Gillian went to the fish. 

Our next stop was the Dizzy Dragons.  John and Justin went in one dragon, while Gillian and I went in another dragon.  We were a little hesitant letting Gillian go with the boys.  I didn't want her to get too dizzy.  She was so excited to be on a ride with Mommy.  I started slowly and she kept giggling and saying "We spinning!" 

After the Dizzy Dragons, we split up.  The boys went to the bigger roller coasters while Gillian and I stuck with the smaller rides.  The boys went on the Himalaya.

 

And then the bigger roller coaster Flitzer.

 

And then the Tilt-A-Whirl.

 

 

 

While the boys were enjoying all the big rides, Gillian and I went on the carousel.  She was excited while we waited in line, but started to cry when I put her on a horse.  She was scared.  But once they rang the bell and the carousel started to move she was so excited.  She giggled and smiled and we ended up riding the carousel two more times after that. 

She also got to try out the swings, the boats, convoy and of course no trip to Jenkinson's is complete without riding the motorcycles.