Explorers Day

Last Monday (commonly known as Columbus Day but we know he did not discover America) we all had the day off together so we went for a paddle in our newly acquired canoe. We have discovered the barter section of Craig's list and have been able to trade a couple things we don't need/use for 2 canoes that we have been wanting! We hope to go canoe camping next year.

Scout helps daddy launch our canoe. We went to Great Pond in Eastham. We chose it because it would only be a 2 mile paddle around the edge and we could shoot right back to the truck if Scout decides she isn't having fun. To our delight we discovered Wiley park directly across from our put in. There was a beach, playground, bathrooms and picnic tables. The perfect half way spot for Scout to get out have lunch, potty and play. Great Pond is the largest kettle pond on the Cape.

The canoe gives Scout a lot more room to move then the kayak. Scout and Michelle had the front. We cut a soft cushion out of a pool float that we found at the dump (brand new). Then we added some items on strings, a net, a "paddle" (actually a tiny hockey stick), a small boat and a bucket full of rocks and pine cones. This provided lots of entertainment as well as the bird watching, which she always enjoys.

And finally we had PERFECT weather for a perfect day.

More Music Class

You have seen them before but we just LOVE our music class. Scout has always loved it and is now participating much more (before she ran around the room, paying attention but mostly doing her own thing).

Class always starts with the drum.

bang with little fingers

wind

she plays the drum now instead of sitting on it.

"bye drum"

jumping

clapping

shaker eggs

down dog

she is interested in books now

picking up

scarfs...always a favorite

Cowgirl

Scout loves her horses. They are everywhere! Her real horses, of course, in the back yard. And all the others everywhere else. She set up her 3 little stuffed ponies around her breakfast plate this morning. She chatted away with them while she ate. She has a couple with reins that she "walks" around the house during her training sessions. There are the big "inside" ponies that she rides. She also has the little plastic kind that she will set up and is always trying to give her bears a ride too. We are so happy her imagination is so vivid!

Pretend play

There is so much pretend play in our lives now. It is so much fun to watch her creativity, enthusiasm and vivid story telling. She is such a sponge...learning from everything around her. We will nurture that love of learning so it will always be there.

"walk",  "sit" as she mimics leading her little horse around the house.

playing with Sam's shoes.

Scout, Sam and Zach

watering the tomato plant. Yeah...she doesn't like wearing pants.

Eggs

We have such a great assortment of eggs each day! Different colors, shapes, some with spots and all delicious.

One step closer!

Great news...Zach has received a date for his flight physical!!!! He is getting closer to his dream...a dream he has had since he was 6 years old. He never gave up on his dream ... We are so fortunate to have him here, with us, for this time while he is waiting to fly away.

LIFE IS GOOD!

Horse Camping

We went camping with the horses in Myles Standish State Forest last weekend. It was one of the most fun things we have done! The park has 15,000 acres of riding, hiking, biking, paddling and camping. We stayed in an equestrian only camping loop complete with bathrooms, showers, water, big sites to accommodate trailers and horses with picnic table and fire pit. We were joined by some of our "horsekids" friends...they ranged in age from about 1 year to 8 years old. They did great and had a ball.

The weather was perfect all weekend.

The equestrian camp has a host family that is there every weekend. They were walking around constantly, offering help and advice. They also took us on a 2 hour ride to show us the park Sunday morning. This is the first time Murph and I have been able to ride together since before I was pregnant!

The horses seemed to have just as much fun as we did.

They stayed on a high line for the first time. I attached two prussic knots to each highline. That enabled us to adjust the position of each horse and then it was anchored into place.

They had enough room to move around and eat off the ground. They never got tangled or hung up in any way. We positioned the high line about 8 feet off the ground.

The kids and horses enjoyed each others company.

Everyone got plenty of riding in.

The horses learned to settle into the camping life with a little help. We walked 2 of them around the camp sites while 2 remained in their highline. There was lots of whinnying at first but they settled down after about an hour of it.

We cooked over the campfire.

I mad these saddle racks the day before we left. It worked great to keep the saddles off the ground.

Little whinnied throughout the night. He was raised in Montana...mountain lion country...so being worried about what was in the woods in the dark is understandable.

Satinka didn't like being separated from her pony Tonto. We left Tonto behind on Sunday for the kids. Satinka eventually got into her groove and we had a great ride.

This is my favorite picture from the weekend. The three of them are perfectly in step....just like the weekend.

Our little cowgirl.

Can you believe camping here only costs $12 per night!! And only 20 minutes from home.

Tink and Tonto relaxed in their spot right away...and slept through the night like babies.