And More Catching Up

Sept. 23rd - Bill's Birthday

Bill hit the Big 47 this year! He does not seem that old to me, but that could be due to the fact that he still acts and thinks (for the most part) like a 12yr old. In a good way. I had a busy day that day (garden in the morning and dance class immediately after school) but I still managed to bake him a cake (made with beets; we liked it - thumbs up!) decorate the dining room as per our tradition for the girls, wrap his gifts, and make his requested dinner: roast chicken, garlic roasted potatoes, & "something green." I found a new rub recipe for chicken, and luckily it took five hours to cook the chicken, so I could put it in the oven and head off to school to pick up the girls for dance class. We all liked the chicken ... another thumbs up!

Poppa stopped by to deliver gifts for Bill before heading off to his antique tractor club meeting. Annika asked him to stay for dinner, and he did! It was great to see him and share Bill's special day.

Happy Birthday Bill! Love Ya!

September 27th - Horse Farm and Birthday Party

Saturday morning Lauren's Brownie Troop had a really fun Horsing Around Day. One of her troop-mate's families owns and shows horses. They offered to have a day of learning all about horses for the girls, and I mean all about horses. It was really a packed and informative day.

They started out learning about different breeds and their functions, colors of horses and their basic parts. Then they learned some basic horse safety rules. Next we went to the barn and saw the horse trailer, the tractor (a John Deere, Lauren happily pointed out) and tack.

They learned about the food a horse eats, and were able to climb in the hay mow. This brought back many many memories for me! There was a contest to guess how many bales of hay were in another barn, and I quickly estimated how many wagon loads it was, then figured out it was about 350-ish bales of hay. I was correct!

After playing in the hay they each got to help muck out the stalls. (Oh joy!) Lauren thought it was fun, and she was the only one that made sure each and every bit of poop was in the bucket. Good kid!

Now it was on to grooming the horses; this is where Lauren fell in love with the animal. (good thing Annika was not there! Oh would that have been, uhh, influential on her horse love affair!) So the animals were saddled up and then the girls got to ride them. First we went to the round paddock, and just walked in a circle. Then the girls voted and were able to walk through an obstacle course (led by a parent, of course.)

Lauren did really well; she kept really good posture for most of the time she was in the saddle. She even figured out how to get up and off by herself. It was a long 6 hours of horse fun, but really it was a great day. I think the girls all learned quite a bit about the huge responsibility of owning a horse!

Erin's Birthday Party

So after, and I mean immediately after, we dashed to my niece's 6th birthday party. It was a half hour away, and we left 10 mins before the party started. We missed a cool, guided nature walk, but we caught up with them in time to go into the animal sanctuary and see the rabbit, iguana, and rat up close. Then the girls were able to smack the spider pinata and have bug cake. I wish I had a photo of the cake, because it was cool!! Oh well, missed that opportunity.

We came home from the party tired, but full of good memories. It was a wonderful day!!