Pony Rides

Violet got to ride the ponies at Griffith Park this morning!  Unfortunately, it ended up not being a very nice outing, because Violet was really sad/tired for most of it.  She is so good-natured almost all the time, especially when we are out doing something, so it really threw me off when she didn't behave herself today!  I guess everyone has an off day once in a while.

The morning started out great.  We were supposed to meet our friends there, three other moms and their little girls, but we were the first ones there.  The pony rides only cost $3, and Violet was SO excited when she saw the ponies, so I decided to let her ride twice: once by herself, and then again when her friends got there.  

Well, she loved it!  It was the funniest thing to watch, because they just put tiny Violet on the saddle, slapped the horse on the bum, and off they went!  The track is pretty big, and no one walks around guiding the horse or anything!  It made me a little nervous, but Violet was so happy and excited the whole time!  On the second lap around the track, the horse stopped walking for quite a while before a worker noticed and told him to get moving again, and Violet just sat up there patiently, looking around!

Then all the problems started.  When Violet got off, she wanted right back on, and I told her we had to wait for her friends.  Well, one of our friends got lost and didn't get there for about another half hour, and Violet threw a tantrum almost the whole time we were waiting.  Then, when all her friends were getting on their ponies, Violet suddenly clung to me and scream-cried that she couldn't ride the ponies.  I was so surprised that she was scared after she loved it so much the first time!   However, later she told me that she didn't want "the man in the jacket" to put her on the horse.  So I don't think she was scared of the horses, just the worker who helped her up, and I'm sure they would have let me do that if I'd asked, but I didn't realize that was the problem at the time.

After the ponies, we went to another part of the park where there are a bunch of old train cars you can play in and around.  Violet loved them, but by that time she was ready for lunch and a nap, so we headed home after just a few minutes of playing at the trains.  But not before getting this cute pic of the four girls together!