A Great Morning at Another Barn

This morning we did something that I've been meaning to do for a LONG time... we went to visit our friend Lisa at her barn. She has a real barn with horses and everything--- LOTS of horses. She also has two little boys who are ALL boy and are totally at home in the dirt, taking risks, and playin' with the horses. Her oldest, Benjamin, is almost 3 and Belle had a blast with him! He drives his motorized car better than most adults can drive their cars (he can even do 3 point turns), and he took Annabelle off-roadin' all over the place. She LOVED it! She also had lots of fun on their swing set (trying to jump off the sides that are like 3 ft high just like Benjamin), playing with the toys in the dirt, climbing on the hay bales, and shadowing Benjamin as he showed her how to care for and ride his pony, Tater Tot (Isn't that the cutest name for a miniature horse?!). This little boy is awesome with his horse! Seriously he went to get his horse, led him over to the stables, brushed him and cleaned his hooves, led him to the riding arena, mounted him, road him (complete with commands and everything), led him back to the stable, and gave him a bath. And he did all of that nearly all by himself! His Mommy was there guiding him along the way, but he really did it nearly by himself. He's such a fearless ball of energy, and I'm sure Annabelle will enjoy playing with him and his brother, Lucas, in the mud next time we get to go visit. Lucas is smart as a whip and at just a few months older than a year old, he is super independent and a hard-core dirt lover! As soon as he's able to keep up, I can totally see Corgan shadowing little Lucas.

Fortunately, Erica came along with us to get pictures of the horses, Lisa's kids, and my kids. Although I've only seen a small sample of the one-and-a-half memory cards worth of pictures that she was able to email me before taking a nap herself, I'm already totally impressed with the pictures that she took and can't wait to see the rest! In addition to the one above, here are a few that she sent me to tide me over until I can get a cd.

Benjamin takin' Belle for a Spin Annabelle kept asking for Benjamin to drive her all over the place. She loves speed and anything that scares her, and that's what Benjamin is all about!

Corgan and Lucas Sharing a Ride on Benjamin's Pony Corgan wasn't too sure about what was going on, but he seemed to have fun anyway. Lucas was all smiles riding the pony like his big brother. Corgan and Belle both loved Benjamin's Pony Petting the pony got super big smiles from Corgan. And even though she had loads of fun, Belle took caring for and riding the pony very seriously. :) Annabelle and Corgan sittin' in the hay I love their little outfits! I convinced Belle that to ride horses you have to wear cowgirl boots, so she gladly put them on when she was getting ready this morning.

Erica has posted a few more really great pictures from this morning on her blog so be sure to check them out if you haven't already seen them!