Ponies...

Last night my mom and I took Emily and Jack to Open House at the pony farm where Emily will be going to pony camp this summer.  It might have been one of my favorite adventures we have embarked on yet.  Unfortunately I had a super busy day on Friday and by the time I got home we had to run out of the house and I didn't realize that my camera battery was dead.  So needless to say we have NO pictures of the acutal evening but it was too much fun not write anything about it.

We arrived at the farm at 4pm and met up with some friends of mine who have a daughter Emily's age.  They are going to go to pony camp together this summer so it was fun for the girls to experience this together as well.  As soon as we got there Emily was jumping up and down with excitement.  She was all dressed up in her "Jessie" shirt, chaps and new pink pony boots that we got at Cenex last weekend.  She has been all about cowgirls and ponies lately...something I have very little experience with so I we have been taking some toy shopping trips to Cenex and building up her supply of animals since she really wants to be a veternarian.

These are the chaps I made Emily along with her Jessie doll...

As the ponies came around the corner the kids were fitted with helmets and then mounted on the ponies.  Emily jumped right on with some help from Grandma Emily while Jack gazed on with amazement.  I saddled him up and he grabbed onto the knob of the saddle and away we went.  The girl leading the pony kept talking to him and finally I told her that he was only 20 months so he didn't say too much.  She was shocked since she thought he was three!  Apparently he is the youngest rider they have ever had. We continued on the trail around the lake and Jake kept shouting out, "WOW! What's that?" while Emily was gleefully saying, "This is so wonderful Grandma."  It was so precious.

About two thirds around the lake they dismounted (not a pretty sight for Jack) and we went to some outdoor tents for some hotdogs, chips and drinks.  Jack took off running trying to chase his pony several times so we decided to move on to the next event, roasting marshmellows.  Emily enjoyed burning her marshmellow up while Jack loved the stick or sword as he might have put it.  The fire made me a little nervous with Jack so we headed back to the trail and went to the pony grooming and petting station.  Emily loved this part and could have stayed here all day but Jack was trying to get the saddle to get on the pony the whole time so Grandma Emily took him for a little adventure in the covered wagon to keep him occupied.

After this last event we said good-bye to the ponies and many tears followed.  It was a hard transition to leave but we had an incredible time.  My hope is to get back just for pony rides at least once before the baby comes.  I had no idea that Jack would love it just as much and now I am feeling a little guilty that only Emily gets to go this summer (Jack is too young). 

When we got home they ran around outside for a while and then came inside to settle down, drink vanilla milks, eat popcorn and watch a movie in mommy and daddy's bed.  What a perfect day!