Summer Break Adventures

The Misses and I have made a friend in the garden. She loves to be outside, and loves being with children. She is retired and fills her days with all kinds of interesting activities. The Misses ADORE her!

She had called while we were at church on Sunday. It seems a neighbor had given her lots of tiny plums, more than she and her husband could eat before they spoiled. She offered some to us, and we jumped on the offer. As a result, the Misses and I ended up at her house on Sunday afternoon, and what an afternoon it was!

Out friend and her husband collect old cars, have a pond with a canoe and zip line, and they sip around the yard in a golf cart. We even went into the woods in the golf cart, and went up and down hills that I wasn't so sure about! It was fantastic. The Misses and I had a great afternoon.

We saw our friend today in another one of her favorite settings. She volunteers at a local horse stable, helping out with trail rides, birthday parties, and general care of the horses. She new the Misses like horses, and arranged an adventure for them at the stable. We were able to ride a horse for an hour with her help. She worked with each of the Misses individually, and even got me up there again.

I think the best part of the whole visit was getting to get up close and personal with a one week old foal. Her back was almost as tall as the Misses' heads! She was a very sweet little thing. The funniest part was when she started licking my jeans, then Miss S's shirt. It really tickles! I guess all babies learn about their world through their mouths. This pretty much made up for the moment when the foal literally pushed Miss S out of the way to get to our friend for more petting. I wish my camera had been faster, or that I had taken some video because it was all so cute!

Now I am listening to the Misses play with their horses in the playroom. The horses are going somewhere, and have to pack their carry-ons for the horse plane. There is a baby horse who is training to be a work horse (just like the horses we met this morning). And they made sure that they packed carrots and the camp songs. I love it when their real experiences become part of their pretend world.