Dad has been coaching me for the Longhorn football season...
helping me get accustomed to wearing eye black,
and teaching me how to make the Horns (sometimes it takes a minute to get it perfect).
My parents are reminded every day that I am a Big Girl now... like when I throw my Snow White purse over my shoulder and say "I'm going to the grocery store to get some milk", or "I'm gonna take the trash around". The funniest was tonight when I looked up with my Very Serious Face and said: "Mom, you need to calm down!".
When they aren't laughing at me, my parents are pretty cool about going along with all of my projects, like giving Dad a makeover.
The best part of being more grown up is that I get jokes now, and I can say funny things on purpose to make Mom and Dad crack up. Mom says we have to work on something called "manners for a lady"... like when I toot, I'm not supposed to laugh or yell "I tooted!"; I'm supposed to say "Excuse me". 
Even though I am very busy being a Big Girl now, I still reserve the right to be the same sweet baby who needs a good cuddle once in a while.
Today was my first gymnastics class, 45 minutes in a super fun gym. At home I love to climb, roll, and jump off furniture, so Mom and Dad thought I might like a formal class.
In my 2-year-old group, our Moms take us through each station while we learn different skills.
I did the circuit twice, then decided that the trampoline was my favorite... so I broke away from the group to go back! I would jump down the trampoline, laughing hysterically, then run back to start over as fast as I could. 
Mom was cracking up at one point, when I turned around to look at myself in the mirror and said "Name is Kelsey!", then jumped off in a wild frenzy. 
The best part was the big foam pad at the end, where I could launch myself off the trampoline and land in a big laughing heap. I can't wait for next week's "nastics" class! 
I love it when Dad gets to stay home from work! Today we spent an awesome Monday at Busch Gardens checking out creepy monitor lizards, 
splashing around in Elmo's World,
and drinking my first Slushie!
Dad was pretty juiced up after drinking his Slushie... he started showing off his new "Jersey" pose. Mom said he may start putting mad gel in his hair and get an Elmo tattoo. 
The most hilarious part of the day for Mom and Dad was watching me watch the monster roller coaster, Shiekra.
They thought it would be too scary for me, but I LOVED it, especially the big splash! 
We hopped on the train just as it started raining, a perfect time to see all the animals on the African safari. 
Our last stop was the gorilla exhibit, an attempt at therapy to help me move past The Incident at the Chattanooga zoo (a big gorilla gave me a heart attack when he walked right up to the glass). First, we made nice with the baby gorillas in front... 
Then we snuck up on the sleepy Daddy gorilla...
Nope, NOT READY. 
We got over the scary gorillas when we saw the cutest thing, ever: sleepy otters! 
Dad said it was a perfect holiday for him, especially at the end, when we camped out to watch Finding Nemo. I wish every day was Labor Day!
Dad is out of town this weekend, so Mom planned a fun Girl's Day. First, we went to the mall for a haircut (and lollipop!), then we had lunch at Chick Fil-A (nuggets! ice cream!). It was too rainy to go to the pool, so we decided to get a bird feeder to put in the back yard. Mom said later we can paint "See Rock City" on the roof. 
We hung it up and sat in our chairs with big glasses of lemonade. Then, we looked around for the pretty red, blue, and woodpecker birds that live in our trees. But, who showed up? The stinking squirrel!
I let him know right away that he was NOT invited to the party ("No squ-lul! Not for you! Is for baby birds!"). We had to stay alert, chasing him away all afternoon. Mom said I will be a good hall monitor one day.
While we were on squirrel patrol, Maggie caught a possom (Ick! I thought they were nocturnal!). It didn't want to play with her, and kept hissing. It was so yucky. Mom had to get a shovel (why do these things happen when Dad is out of town?) and move it to the garbage can. She thought it was dead... but apparently it was just "playing possom", because it ran away when we weren't looking! Maybe Maggie will find it again later.
