Horses, Horses, Horses, Horses

That's a line from my favorite movie, Sleepless in Seattle and it does pertain to my blog posting today... the horses part.

Last week we had the pleasure of having a play date at my good friend Amanda's farm. I always loving going out there... something about the peacefulness of the country coupled with great conversation always draws me there.  I always come away scheming just how we could possibly find ourselves a place out in the country... I love the quiet!  The kids play great too and always have a fabulous time!  Mason and  Spencer met in a kindermusik class when they were nearly 3 and Clover and Hudson are just a month apart.  So they have all been little playmates for a while.  We just wish we got together more often... time seems to move too quickly.

This time Amanda was able to take us out to see the animals since we had nice weather. Spencer got to hold a chicken which he thought was great! Then Amanda introduced us to the horses. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that this is the first time my kids have been around horses!

Amanda is so patient with the kids and so great with explaining everything to them.  She does it all with a smile and a giggle...  In photos she is always smiling because when she is with kids she IS always smiling.  I've never seen my kids stand so still while receiving instruction! She explained why you don't stand behind the horse and not to startle the horse. She showed them how to brush the horse and what she does to clean their horse shoes. She took each of the kids for a little pony ride around the horse area. She explained to them how to get the horse to go and what to say to get him to stop. They LOVED it. I was actually surprised Hudson was willing to get on the horse since he's usually pretty timid. Finley even sat on the horse for a minute and it was so cute... I wish I had gotten a photo. When we sat him down he instinctively started rocking as if he were a rocking horse. Absolutely adorable!

The boys did don their cowboy boots and cowboy hats for our trip to the farm. They are always so excited when we're going there and immediately go and grab their gear... so cute!

We look forward to many more fun times with Amanda & family and look forward to having them over to see our uhm... cat soon. Sorry Amanda... that's all the animal we have here (but you guys know that). :)

Spencer holding a chicken

Feeding the chickens


Brushing the pony

The kids waiting for their turn to ride. See Amanda's big dog in the background. He is so sweet & gentle.

Hudson's turn to ride

Spencer loving every minute of it!

Such a beautiful horse!

The kids loved burning off energy here on the tennis courts. It's just perfect for the kids to ride their bikes round and round and round!

Thanks again Amanda for a super fun time! We look forward to seeing you again soon!