Published Author

During her first year in elementary school K-bao made significant progress with her writing, to the point where she officially "published" several short works. Near the end of the school year, the K-folks spent a morning at K-bao's school learning a bit more about her journey as an author. She has come a long way from the when she self-published her first book in late 2014.

The works pictured above include a narrative of her first soccer game, a spooky story about an evil witch, a poetry anthology, and most recently a non-fiction work about her favorite animal, the horse (in a 3-way tie for first place, along with ponies and unicorns).

For the book about horses, K-bao had to spend some time researching her subject. In the process, she learned about the physiology of the horse (205 bones!) as well as distinctions among breeds. (By the way, the reader with a long memory might recall this early post in 2009, when K-bao was first exposed to horses. Clearly her interest has grown quite a bit since then.)

Naturally, the fact that K-bao loves to read has been quite helpful in her overall progression. Over the past year she has devoured countless short chapter books about detectives, rainbows and fairies, ponies and other related topics. It is also certainly true that K-bao's school and first grade teacher have actively fostered in K-bao's class a sense of authorship and a pride in writing.

Horsey

Despite having spent virtually no time around horses her whole life, and K-Pop's careful avoidance over the past seven years of all things related to that dreaded franchise My Little Pony, K-bao has now determined that her favorite animal is in fact the horse. In fact, she made horses the subject of a recent first-grade research paper. During her research period, she educated her family on facts such as the differences between pygmy horses and shire breeds. This weekend the K-folks finally decided to give her a little hands-on data to supplement her book knowledge.

K-bao had her first real riding experience at Five Brooks, a stable north of the city in a little town called Olema. She got to ride her very own horse, a feisty gal by the name of "Mac."

Here a ranch guide named Jordan leads her out on Mac to the trail.



Coincidentally, sister C-bao, who wasn't quite old enough for an independent ride, got a chaperoned ride on Mac's twin sister, Tornado.

Mac was a bit of a stubborn one, and after some misbehavior, the guides decided they had to tighten the reins a bit, so to speak. Entirely apropos symbolism, thought K-Pop approvingly from behind. (Notice the blue rope being held by Jordan in the below video)



 A couple of times the group broke into a steady trot, which K-bao had to admit afterwards was a little jarring. But overall,  K-bao handled the 45-minute trail ride like an old pro, even digging her heels in a few times to urge Mac on. "Go, Mac, go!"

Lemos Farm

K-bao was out at Lemos Farm @ Half Moon Bay this past weekend. Among the activities offered was pony riding, which was a first for our little one. Some action shots above and below.

Here you can see her petting her pony and waving to her fans.

Golden Gate Hike

K-Mum and K-Pop took the little one on a hike in the Golden Gate National Recreational Area today. Here is the Hu family posing on a little bridge. Our excursion was notable for (i) its brevity, related to (ii) our fear that she would unceremoniously do her business halfway through and we would be forced to lay out the changing pad amidst the thickets in the wilderness and expose her diminutive derriere to the glaring sun and gawking fellow-hikers. Luckily she spared us this adventure.

(By the way, the astute reader may have noticed that there's been a certain theme running through these first three posts. We will try and report on other matters, naturally, but really at this stage of parenting our lives are pretty much dominated by the few, basic rhythms of life - sleeping, eating and expelling. Not much going on with the first, and other than a freezer full of breastmilk, not much with the second either. So guess where all the action is. )

We did come across some nice horses during our hike. K-Bao did not appear to have much interest, gazing as much at the grass as she did at the horse, but here we've recorded the moment in case she turns out to be some magnificent equestrian in the future in which case we'll point to this day, this moment as the source of her love and inspiration.