Lucy's acquired tastes!

What else is there to say? Not all kids enjoy the taste of dirt, but this one does. What drives a child to eat dirt? Is it their mother's cooking? Is it the taste of bottled baby food? The endless supply of blah baby crackers? Maybe simply a lack of parental supervision? Or perhaps it's the taste of a dry gritty substance transforming into a pudding like dessert that captures their interest. Some kids like it, while others won't touch the stuff. It obviously won't kill you. The dirt after all is somewhat clean which brings up another question, is there such a thing as clean dirt? I think most men would say that it does in fact exist. Whatever your opinion is, one thing is for sure, this kid likes it cause her smile says it's so.

The glamorous side of horse ownership!

Courtney thought she'd be funny by taking pictures as the men in her life scooped poop! Ryan wasn't laughing so much, but Courtney sure was having fun. She felt it necessary to capture the moment on camera. The tides were about to change though. Behind Courtney's back, Kip the horse was thinking, "Oh look, Courtney left the gate open and it's a beautiful evening for a walk. Maybe they won't notice me if I go eat the neighbor's grass. Oh no, they see me, here she comes. I'll leave her a nice surprise right here in the neighbor's yard and then be on my way. Catch me if you can!!"

Ryan popped some popcorn and pulled up a lawn chair cause this was a full blown entertainment extravaganza! The faster Courtney walked, the faster the horse walked. The faster Courtney ran, the faster the horse ran. Ever try to beat a horse in a foot race? A horse that didn't want to be caught? Imagine a runaway horse going through neighbor's yards, running in the street, Courtney getting heckled by drivers passing by, thoughts of looking for a lost horse at the crack of midnight. How much fun were we going to have with this and for how long? Luckily for Courtney that darn horse found a nice old vegetable garden about a block away. So the moral of the story is....horse ownership is not always glamorous, but it is pretty adventurous!

Adam warming up to this horse idea!

Adam wasn't so sure at first, but he was out there riding Kip all by himself today. The kids are all too excited about this and have been very responsible so far, feeding the animals and keeping their water full and fresh and they know that every morning and every night, there are chores to do. We want this to be a great experience for them and it's been great to see how responsible they've been since we moved here.

Londyn and her new best friend Kip!

Londyn looks totally bored and uninterested in this new thing in our backyard. We have to make her get on. Well...not exactly. If you call our house between 3:15pm and 6pm we will not be able to answer the phone. Call us crazy, call us fulfilling a 9 year old's biggest dream. Her name is Kip and she is very kind and gentle with the kids and she'll do just about anything for some sweet molasses oats. If you come by be sure to bring your cowboy boots or in Adam's case, socks!!

Who is that masked man?

Just in case you can't tell, the masked man in the picture is Adam. You probably guessed that already. This outfit has served many purposes this year so far such as, a halloween costume, pajamas, dinner attire, general play clothes, school wear, and out-on-the-town clothes. We suspect this outfit will last for another year or two or atleast until he's 12.