Pumpkin Patch 2011

Aunt Julie bought the family a pass to the McGee Ranch Annual Pumpkin Patch this year.  We have driven by it in the past but in the hustle and bustle, never made it in.  This is the cutest little ranch in Las Vegas.  The kids got to ride the horses, go on a hay ride, feed the animals and pick out their very own pumpkin.

 Thanks Auntie for such a good time.

Horseback Riding Lessons

Kadee had her second horseback riding lesson. She got to ride a new horse, Rudy, and met her instructor Susan. She got to brush Rudy and help Susan get him ready to ride then they headed into the ring for her lesson. She practiced "steering" the horse and got to do some fun tricks like "Around the World" where she did a 360 in the saddle. She also got to do some horse yoga. She had a blast as usual.

Horse Play

Kadence loves horses. I try to take her to as many horse shows, rodeos and barrel racing events I can because she loves to see these amazing creatures. She has been bugging me about horseback riding lessons so I thought I would look around to see what I could find. Yeah...horseback riding lessons are EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE! Just when I thought there was no chance in you know what, one of my co-workers found out about a program that might make it possible after all. Horses for Heroes is a program where military, law enforcement and fire fighter families can take lessons at a beyond reasonable price. Clarice called to check it out and set us up an appointment for Saturday to go meet the owner and take a tour of the ranch! What a neat set up. There were cows and goats and sheep and lots and lots of horses. Ms. Syd went over the program and gave us a great tour. We got to go in the goat pen and pet all of the goats. One goat, also know as the Mayor, kept trying to eat the paper out of our hands and I had to swat him away once after he took a bit of my purse. We got to pet all of the horses and tour the barn which was full of saddles and tack. Then Ms. Syd took the kids over to find a helmet so they could ride a horse!Ms. Syd took out Lady, a pretty dapple gray horse for the kids to ride. They started out by brushing Lady and then Ms. Syd saddled her up. The kids all got a turn to ride her around the ranch. Kadence jumped right on and wore a huge smile the whole time. Cole was great on the horse, his posture was perfect and he rode like a champ! After the rides were over the kids had to brush her again before Ms. Syd put her away.What a great morning. We signed up for orientation on Tuesday night so Kadee can start her lessons.