Their own personal playground

After we spent all day on horses, we (somewhat uncomfortably after riding that long) rode for a few more hours in the car and made our pilgrimage to Nana and Pop's house. To tell you how much my children loved it there, Kaitlyn asks daily when we will be going back.

No joke. Its getting a little old :p

What did we do what there, you ask? (Because I know you were going to ask that) Multiple things. Umpteen things. A gazillion things! But, mostly, we hung out together and let the kids play in the back yard. It was like their own little safe world out there. They loved it, I loved it.... We were both in a mostly mosquito free heaven.

First, follow this sequence of pictures, and tell me if you can guess what he is going to do...

Love that cute face :)

Well, didja guess? Didja? Didja?!?!

He loved going down the slide. And as long as I had Pop out there to follow him around, I loved him going down the slide too :) Life is so much better when you can sit on the screened in porch and have someone else chase your kids, don't you think? :)

Doah! Little bit of traffic at the end of the road.

Looks like it got a little bit congested. :)

I love his completely oblivious dimpled grin. I mean, seriously, this kid has no idea he is about to be pelted in the back of his knees by his cousin and older sister.

Cheese!

Kari is such a good helper. I think she really enjoyed this.

My turn!!!

This is one of those classic moments. Pop taught him to do this, and the kids loved it....

Where's Bob Saget and my $10,000 when you need him?!?!

Kari's Horse

The first thing we did when we got there was to see if the kids could ride alone. That way we would know if we would all go out, or if we needed to take turns. Kari gleefully volunteered to go first. This is her climbing up onto the horse. The owner/rancher's first rule was you have to get up on the horse yourself, or you don't ride.

So proud of herself up on the horse!!! She still looks a little bit uncomfortable,

but if you look at the pictures, that will change by the end of the day.

Riding around in the small arena. Getting the hang of things.

Still love that beautiful background.

Getting better. And very happy to be on a horse!

This is later in the day. In the big arena. By herself.

We didn't let her go out in the land, but she rode in the arena by herself for a good 30 minutes.

She is much more confident also. I love this picture! :)

Still going. Nothing outlasts the Energizer Bunny!

Love this face. And that happiness. She is a cowgirl through and through!

Kaitlyn's horsey :)

I don't think I can get enough pictures of this child smiling.

While on a horse.

Because that would just be illogical :)

This is a picture of her, by herself in the small arena. We determined she wasn't quite ready to do it by herself, but it was a great confidence booster for her.
She rode with me out on the land, but then her Super Fabulous Aunt
was nice enough to walk her around the arena.
And around.

And around.

*Please forgive me Super Fabulous Aunt, for putting up this picture. But, I just can't help myself.... it is so cute :) Also, for the record, I am pretty sure you are smiling at your own child, not me.... :)*

In motion. In case you needed it :)

Get Ready

I am not above taking a week off the computer. For doing un-computer-y things. However, that isn't what this last week was for. We took our last "during the school year" vacation and went up to VA to visit with my in-laws, culminating in my 10 year high school reunion. While I failed to take any pictures of my fellow classmates, I did enjoy the visit :)

However, the week leading up the reunion, I am loaded down with pictures. So, prepare yourself for a picture over load, the likes of which you may remember from my last vacation. :)

We left Friday after hubby got off work, loaded up the chillens, and drove all night to get to my Sister in law's house. She was nice enough to give us the morning off (as the children had thankfully slept a majority of the time up) and we just relaxed for the remainder of the day. However, the following day, we took everyone to go horseback riding at this little ranch up in North Western Virginia.

Just look at the scenery! The weather was great also! It couldn't have been a more perfect day.

I will have to say that this was my most enjoyable horseback riding experience.

I am no horseback riding expert, but with a hubby like mine,

I have had several opportunities to stop and smell the manure :)

(translation: nose to butt trail rides).

This time was different in that the owner of the horses first

gauged our ability to ride and feel comfortable while in the arena.
Then, he set us loose on his 400-something acres to fend for ourselves. This picture is my darling SIL tending the children while hubby and I went out for a ride by ourselves.

I have umpteen pictures of both the girls on the horses. So much so, they

will have to each have their own posts (I told you to be ready).

However, this is after hubby and I got back. We let Dylan sit on the horse.

He wasn't exactly sure about it at first. However, before the afternoon was through,

he didn't want to get off his either.

Like father like son. Thankfully, however,

hubby didn't fall to the ground kicking and screaming :)

So True!

Biker babes

Hubby has had a thing for motorcycles. And it was a blessing when we only had one car, and when he was going to school. Parking at the university was also much much much better for a motorcycle than it was for a car. We have assorted pictures of Kari on previous motorcycles of hubby's. But, for some reason, none of Kaitlyn. And I could tell you why we don't have any of Dylan... Cuz, the motorcycle has been out of commission for a bit.

Hubby got out the current model to work on it a bit the other day, and Kari the elephant (that child never forgets) immediately asked if she could ride it like she had before.

What one child does, the others must also.

3 R's

I recently had to clean off a book shelf. Ironically, it didn't hold books. I was using it in the kitchen as a pantry until we could get my dream kitchen built. Since, we have semi started, I am taking things easy and have started the clean out process slowly. As is always the case with kids (at least my kids) anything new/different is a potential toy. And this is no different.

But it got me thinking: I have wanted to be more environmentally friendly,

and I think this is a great place to start.

Step 1: RECYCLE. I am recycling this old book shelf and turning it into a bedroom for the kids. They seem to like it. They seem to fit (sorta). I figure it is a great use of resources.

*This picture is very Brady-esque to me :)

Step 2: REDUCE. By letting the kids sleep here, and in turn keeping this in the kitchen,

I have reduced the number of bedrooms I need in the house from 3 to 1...

That's a significant difference, my friends.

*Please notice Kaitlyn's dolls have a space all their own :)

Step 2: REUSE. Since there are 5 shelves, I can reuse this again and again if I choose to have more kids... Well, I can only have 2 more kids, but that would be plenty in my book.

Nevermind. They can still find ways to annoy each other.

Maybe it's not such a great idea after all....

Cheese

Cuteness overload! Say Cheese!

Sorry. Don't know why this one is sideways. You'd think I would know better by now....

Trial Run

I got this costume at Sam's Club.

As you can see, Dylan was super excited to try it on.
Turns out it was too small for his torso. Fit well in the arms and legs (which I did "measure" in the store) but poor kid couldn't move his head....

I tried to distract him to get a decent picture before I returned it....

Didn't work so well.

Poor kid and his curly feet.

Oh well, they are still some pretty cute pictures.

Need I say more? :)