Horses and Happiness

On Saturday, a wonderful thing finally happened!   My daughters rode my horse for the first time!

First they brushed her a little, which they so enjoyed.

They wanted to try each and every brush!

I rode Kahlo for just a few minutes to show them what we would be doing and what a good job she does at listening.  Then Charlotte was first to mount up!

I had them each do a few stretching exercises to make them loosen up and realize that they could move around without upsetting the horse.

I didn't think C would enjoy it or even agree to get on Kahlo's back.

But she did so well (mind you, Kahlo is an excellent and experienced lesson horse, she did great, too!)!  C was asking for "More! More!" when her time was up.  I'm so glad we ended on a positive and excited note!

Next up was Flora Lin, who was more than ready after watching her sister!

She did great as well.  I couldn't have been happier!

She even rode with a full leg cast on!  At the end, she was also asking for more!

 

We didn't stay out for long with Kahlo, but it was just the right amount of time.

I know they're only three, but next time I hope to set up a few cones or interactive obstacles.  I'll be a little more organized and have a helmet ready for them.  Riding will be such a great activity for them both.  It provides exercise for balance, strength, appropriate levels of touch, great sensory work, confidence and will be come a healthy avenue of control/being the leader.  Horses are just good for people!

There's one thing I know that I definitely have to do next time...

I plan to ride a little longer,myself! : )

Guess What?!?

Yup!  You guessed it!  

She's FREE (yes, her sweet little legs are two different colors!)

We had our appointment on Monday.  Unfortunately, we waited for over an hour for less than 5 minutes of the doctor's time...  But our long wait was quickly overshadowed by the good news that FLs leg is fully healed with no restrictions!

I immediately put her on the floor where she started running around!  She was SO happy!  Other patients were cheering her on - it was a sweet moment!

She keeps saying and signing, "Flora Lin all done cast!" and holding up two fingers while reminding us she can wear TWO shoes now!

We are so happy that this challenge is over for her now, though she never complained once and seemed to just adapt.  In fact, the day before the appointment she was jumping on a trampoline with her cast on against my advice... And was running on the cast so much that she wore through it and we had to keep taping the bottom!  There's no stopping this girl!  But we knew that already! : )

She amazes me more and more each day.  She reminds me that happiness is a choice and there's good to be found in most everything.

Yay, Flora Lin and praise God for His help and healing!

First Trip to the Zoo!

Well, it was actually the second.    I found out my iPad and phone were full of pictures once we got there the first time.  Disappointing, but we'll try and make up for it!

Our zoo has a small train you can ride around the park.  It doesn't have the most scenic views, but you get to sit down for a minute and the girls really enjoy it (despite all of the crazies that scream at the top of their lungs when we go through the little tunnel).  We were next to get on and I asked the girls to smile for me...

Well, I tried.  The train is the first thing they wanted to do...

I got a few little smiles once we were on!

I decided to get the train ride as part of our package at the last minute.  It only costs four dollars to ride, but we've already saved money at this point!

The zoo I grew up going to seems a bit bigger than this one in my memory, but most of the exhibits are very nice.   The tigers are one of my favorites.  At least one of them is always sleeping or standing right by the window!

The girls like looking at the rhinoceros because he is always "night night" in the mud.  It's so silly to them!

The elephant area has a nice deck to let the girls run around on.  What is also nice is that you can push your stroller up to the fence and it is designed for children to be able to see through, though mine like to run around!

A baby giraffe was born in March and they just opened the exhibit!

He/she is a darling little thing!

The alligator exhibit is new as well.   However, my girls would rather climb the fence that is next to a large pond than study alligators!

Yep.  Trying to climb with a cast on.

There are older parts of the zoo that they will hopefully update soon.  We haven't seen the whole park yet, but we have really enjoyed our visits so far!

Even loud roosters and biting birds! ; )

 We're glad we have a membership!  If you're in the area, you should, too!

A Garden for the Girls

If you grow up on a farm, you should have a garden, right?  When we were planning on briniging the girls home we felt that there was no way we'd have the time or the energy to plant a garden.  Sam and I let almost all of the the beds become part of the yard, cleaned our garden tools off and put them away.

Well, I misjudged these sweet little people!  I'm putting their time and energy into a little garden that's all their own!  It already has leeks and rosemary growing in it, but the girls have been growing plants from seeds since March.

The little garden plot was overgrown with weeds so we (me) pulled what we could and loaded it into the girls' little green wheelbarrow.

The girls did great helping to pick up all of the pulled weeds.  C pushed the wheelbarrow to the chicken pen all by herself!  When we first brought them home, neither Charlotte nor Flora Lin could push it without a good bit of help from us.  Now they both can push in anywhere with a full load!

Even FL pushed it around and filled it with bricks for fun (with a cast on!).

Once the big weeds were pulled and fed to the chickens, I tilled the rest and let the girls help me.

C couldn't believe that I was letting her play in dirt and get dirty.  She kept brushing her feet off!

She was very hesitant to put her feet in at all.

I had to get in it and show her all the fun that can be had in a squishy pile of dirt!

After some encouragement and reassurance that being dirty was ok, she eased in...

FL surprised me and enjoyed it fully with no hesitation!

They played in it for a long time...

I can't say it was good clean fun, but it was fun!

They even made some wedding cake for Aunt Mere!

Finally, finally those little piggies got good and dirty!

It was a great day and I found out I have two eager little gardeners that are fantastic helpers. 

Isn't that how the feet of a farm girl should look?  

We will update you as our garden and our little ones grow!